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Cuneo packs its sights into a compact, arcaded historic centre you can cross on foot in 20 minutes, with the Maritime Alps and the Langhe wine country as the day-trip draw. Most indoor sights cluster around Via Roma and Piazza Galimberti, and many close on Mondays. This page is part of our complete Cuneo travel guide, and it lists the specific places with opening details and prices where they are fixed.
Things to Do in Cuneo: The Historic Centre
Piazza Galimberti and Via Roma
The city’s main square, Piazza Tancredi Galimberti, is a wide open space ringed by neoclassical arcaded palaces and is open 24 hours a day, free. On Tuesday mornings it fills with the weekly market, the best time to see it at full life. From the square, the pedestrianised Via Roma runs north as the shopping spine under continuous porticoes, which is handy in rain or snow. Allow an hour to stroll both and stop for a cuneese al rum, the local rum-filled chocolate praline, at a bar under the arcades.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Bosco
The cathedral on Via Roma dates from the 17th century and holds the altarpiece of the Madonna del Bosco. It is free to enter and typically open mornings and afternoons outside service times. The quiet interior is a good first stop to get your bearings before tackling the museums around it.
Museo Civico di Cuneo
Housed in the former church and convent of San Francesco on Via Santa Maria, the Museo Civico covers archaeology and local history from the Neolithic to the Resistance. The building itself, a Gothic complex from the 13th century, is part of the visit. It is normally closed on Mondays and has a small entry fee in the region of €5; check the desk for seasonal hours. Next door, the Museo Diocesano San Sebastiano holds sacred art and shares a similar schedule.
Museo Casa Galimberti
This small house museum on Piazza Galimberti was the home of Duccio Galimberti, the anti-fascist lawyer and Resistance leader shot by the Nazis in 1944, and it reconstructs the family’s rooms and story. It is one of the more moving and personal stops in town and works well before or after the Resistance monument on the square. Entry is usually free or a few euros, closed Mondays.
Things to Do in Cuneo: Sanctuaries and Views
Santuario della Madonna degli Angeli
This baroque sanctuary sits at the end of a tree-lined avenue that runs for more than 3 km from the centre, a straight approach laid out in 1751. Inside, the dome frescoed with the Assumption by Tommaso Amedeo Caissotti is the highlight, along with the incorrupt body of the Blessed Angelo Carletti and the tomb of Duccio Galimberti. The dome collapsed on 30 December 1996 and was rebuilt by Christmas 2000, a detail you will notice in the restored masonry. It is free and open daily, and it hosts the processions listed in our Cuneo events and festivals guide.
Torre Civica
The civic tower, on Via Roma, is the town’s old bell tower and a useful landmark for orientation. Climbing is limited and hours are irregular, but even from the base you get the sense of how the streets fan out toward the Alps on clear days.
Parco Fluviale Gesso e Stura
This riverside park wraps the south and west of the city along the Gesso and Stura rivers, with flat cycling and walking paths that run for kilometres through poplar woods and gravel bars. It is free and open year-round, best from April to October. Rent a bike or walk a loop in the late afternoon when the light hits the Alpine foothills, along the southern edges described in our Cuneo neighbourhoods guide.
Things to Do in Cuneo: Day Trips
Langhe Wine Country
Alba, the truffle town, is about 60 km northeast and the Barolo and Barbaresco vineyards sit just south of it. Driving is easiest, roughly an hour each way, and winery tastings generally run €15 to €30 per person. Go in September or October to catch the harvest and the white truffle season that peaks around the Alba truffle fair; the best time to visit Cuneo guide sets out the exact months.
Limone Piemonte and the Maritime Alps
Limone Piemonte, about 28 km south, is the closest ski area with 52 km of slopes between 1,046 and 2,060 metres, plus summer hiking on the same lifts. In winter the drive is around 40 minutes, and a train from Cuneo serves the line toward Ventimiglia and the coast. A day ski pass runs roughly €40 to €50 in high season, and our Cuneo weather by month page shows when the snow is most reliable.
For where to base yourself for these sights, see our where to stay in Cuneo page, and for transport and practicalities, the Cuneo travel tips guide.
