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If filling up with fuel before you enter Italy - I'd suggest leaving the motorway on the 'LOCARNO'  turning and there are plenty of petrol stations less than 1Km from the junction,  Significantly cheaper than the motorway services.

Its about 20 pence [18 EuroCents] a litre more expensive in Ita;lyFor info on fuel prices throughout Europe, see;-          http://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/driving-costs/fuel-prices 

That is probably the route I would take - once out of Basel [can be crowded] its a pretty straight run.Going over the top at Gotthard is good, take the RH lane of the motorway as you get near the tunnel.  If you stop on top for a coffee etc, go to the loos first, as [unless it has changed] there is a charge to use them, but yoyu get a discount ticket to use in the cafe itselfFill up with petrolbefore you leave Switzerland - its very expensive in Italy

I must admit, my first preference would be to have a hire car - very useful for touring the area, buses aren't that great, and may not go where you want to. Driving is very easy/safe in this area, no reason to be worried about how mad drivers can beIf you do want a taxi - use a local [Orta] firm like  http://www.taxilagodorta.it/.Orta itself is beautiful [but packed at weekends - This weekend there was no available parking by midday, and the traffic warden was really enjoying himself]  You can get the ferry to the island, Pella and up the lake to Omegna [early ferry Thursdays for the Omegna Market].However, I would really suggest you hire a car from the airport - Use Hertz or Avis, but there are cheaper alternative companies, but you tend to get what you pay for.EnjoyAlan[just got back from a couple of weeks there]

According to an RSPB site Great TitWatch for bold, cheeky great tits on the feeders. Their distinctive song is prominent in spring - it sounds like a squeaky bicycle pump and is often described as 'teacher, teacher...' Males and females both have a black stripe on their belly, which is wider in males. 

"..... I do mot have any experience of catching trains in Alba so  am unsure what the train service is like especially to Torino.........."I have found that the German Railway website is great for train times anywhere in Europehttps://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml 

In the early 2000s I bought my place.  My wife and I agreed that, in order to make selling the house easier, and payment of annual taxes like IMU etc, I would be the sole owner.Told the Notary - he had no problem with getting the papers drawn up, but he did request that my wife initialed/signed each page to indicate her agreement to the arrangement.  [But then, he was ½ûÂþÌìÌà and we were English, so he probably thouht we were mad]

My old system - I drained it every winter - bit of a faff when you do a 1 week visit.  However - you will note when draining that the water isn't clear - its usually has a brown tinge.  This is rust.  Each time you recharge the system with clean water, you are adding water with dissolved Oxygen in it, and are therefore setting up the next session in the rust cycle. The way to add antifreeze to your system [it is also a rust inhibitor], is so simple.  It took my plumber 10 minutes, but it was easily a DIY project.  The way is;-

1. Choose a radiator
2. Close off all the valves to it
3. 'Crack' one of the lower joints to let some water out.  If you have a radiator with a drain cock fitted use that one, rather than cracking a joint.
4. When the required amount of water is out of the rad [required amount = amount of antifreeze to add], do the lower joint up tight.
5. Remove the bleed nipple arrangement [relatively easy]
6. With a funnel and short length of small diameter hose, pour the antifreeze in.
7. Refit the nipple.
8. Open back up the radiator valves
9. Run the system for 20 minutes or so to circulate the antifreeze.

My plumber put enough in to "cover down to about minus 20C" -You can do it yourself, but as it really is a 'One Off' job - get a plumber to do it [mine charged about 40 Euros to do it, including the antifreeze

"Whereabouts in Piemonte are you and where do you go in winter?"Its a holiday home [lock up and leave] about halfway up Mottarone - between Lakes Orta and Maggiore.  So mostly in the UK

"We ............  need a system that can also start automatically if we're not at the house (to stop pipes freezing in the colder months). ...."I leave my place, in Piemonte, empty for months at a time over Winter.  All you need is the correct amount of anti-freeze in the system and it won't suffer damage - no need to run the system at all. Anyway - when would you run it - every time it goes below 0C? [you'd be burning a lot of fuel unnecessarily]