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Last updated on Sep 18, 2024
Things to do in Turin

Areas to visit

Parco del Valentino

Beautiful park on the Po river. There are some nice bars like the Imbarchino. Inside the park there are the Castello del Valentino, and a fake-but-beautiful medieval castle built in 1884 for the General Exhibition.

Via Roma, via Lagrange, Piazza Castello

Walking from the central station you can go to piazza Castello and wander around the royal palace, and other prestigious buildings.

Turin’s city centre is extremely beautiful but highly underrated, in my opinion.

Notable places:

  • Piazza San Carlo: one of the most beautiful squares of the city
  • Egyptian Museum: crazy (and sad) but it’s the second biggest after the one in El Cairo
  • Piazza Vittorio: the main square, just above the Po river.
  • Café Caval d’Brons: One of the best coffee in Turin. You should also try tramezzini (small sandwiches). Google Maps
  • Guido Gobino Chocolate: Delicious artisan chocolate. The sea salt cremino is a must. Google Maps
  • Café Fiorio: A historic café that used to be frequented by artist, writers and people like Melville, Nietzsche, Camillo Benso, etc. They have an amazing coffee and gelato (especially the coffee one). Google Maps
  • Roma già Talmone: The best gelato in town according to my girlfriend. Google Maps

Quadrilatero

The oldest area of the city, built on top of a roman camp (which is why all the streets are orthogonal). It’s full of narrow streets, vintage shops, and small restaurants.

Haven’t been in ages but we used to go to a restaurant called Pastis and to some other ones in the same square. A really famous one (and with a different budget) is Tre Galline.

Notable places:

  • Piazza Palazzo di Città: really small and cozy square that will remind you of Paris. Google Maps
  • Sofreria Piemonteisa: street food from north Piedmont. Google Maps
  • Café al Bicerin: you can probably skip this one, especially in the summer since it’s where the bicerin (coffee with cream and chocolate) was invented. Google Maps

San Salvario

Once a poor part of the city, San Salvario recently became a nice and hip area where to eat, drink, and spend the night.

Notable places:

  • Baladin: a brewery from Piedmont who also offers gourmet street food. Google Maps.
  • There are probably a lot of other great places but I haven’t been there in a while.

Esoteric Turin

In the esoteric world, Turin is part of both the Light Magic Triangle (with Prague and Lyon) and the Dark Magic one (with London and San Francisco).

Even if you don’t believe in all of this, the stories behind buildings, statues, and doors that you can find around Turin are extremely interesting. Walking by night in Turin’s empty streets can be really suggestive.

Esoteric Turin: A journey between white and black magic | Musement

Lingotto building and museum

A bit outside of the usually walked path, this building (which is now mainly a shopping centre) is interesting for two main reasons:

  • It’s where FIAT used to assemble their cars and it has been built with that process in mind but with an interesting spin: “it was unusual in that it had five floors, with raw materials going in at the ground floor, and cars built on a line that went up through the building. Finished cars emerged at rooftop level to go onto the test track.”
  • On top of it there is the Agnelli Museum, a small but incredibly rich collection of works from Matisse, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Picasso, Modigliani, Balla. Insane to think it’s a private collection.

Restaurants