ESCAPE TO… Turin
Don’t overlook Turin in favour of Italy’s more high-profile cities, says travel writer David Wickers
Probably best known as a manufacturing city that’s the powerhouse of the Italian economy and birthplace of the Fiat car company, Turin is often neglected by holidaymakers who see only its industrial past. Yet this beautiful city is home to many fine things besides the Panda and the Punto.
For starters, it’s one of the most opulent, baroque cities in Europe, a place of piazzas and palazzi linked by grand boulevards. With many streets and elegant squares pedestrianised, Turin is also a walker’s paradise.
Much of what you’ll see today was created during its so-called Golden Age, when the ruling dynasty, the Savoyards, flashed and flaunted their imperial powers. They employed the top architects of the day to create elegant buildings, including the richly embellished Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), home for two centuries to a succession of Savoyard princes, as well as theatrical settings such as San Carlo, the city’s drawing room.
In more recent times Turin, which grew up on the banks of the river Po, also played a key historic role. Just over 150 years ago, it became the first capital of a united Italy. This story is best told in another palace, the Palazzo Carignano, which houses a museum devoted to the Risorgimento (Italy’s unification).
But the reasons to go extend beyond the handsome, historic setting. Outstanding museums, timeless cafes and arguably Italy’s number one regional cuisine will all figure on the script. Turin will leave you both reeling and mystified as to why it should have been ignored for so long. And it will fill a long weekend just as richly as any of Italy’s premier-league tourist cities.
WHY I LOVE TURIN
WHAT TO SEE
Although doubts have been cast as to its authenticity, the most important object in Christendom, the Holy Shroud, is housed in the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista (left). Not that there’s anything to see; the last ostensione, or exhibition, took place in 2015. Nearby San Lorenzo, a baroque extravaganza of angels, cherubs and semi-precious stones, houses a replica of the Shroud.
The Egizio Egyptian Museum, museoegizio.it, is the biggest in the world outside Cairo, stocked with mummies, sarcophagi, papyrus scrolls, amulets, and even bread and soup taken to the afterlife. Mole Antonelliana, museocinema.it, is the first museum in Europe dedicated to the cinema and also has superb views of the city from the top.
Palazzo Madama (2), whose exquisite staircase will steal your breath away before you take a single step, will be familiar to fans of the movie The Italian Job as the location for the famous car chase when Mini Coopers were driven down the flight of steps. WHERE TO SHOP
Choose anywhere on the 12 miles of arcaded pavements such as via Roma, where all the big designer brands will happily relieve you of your worldly assets. At the other end of the ‘price and style’ rainbow is the Balon (5), the Saturday morning bric-a-brac/antiques/ vintage clothing market at Porta Palazzo.
WHERE TO EAT
In 1859, after declaring war on Austria, the politician Cavour declared, ‘Today we’ve made history: now let’s go to dinner’, and headed for his usual table in Del Cambio
(3) delcambio.it, just across the road from Parliament on Turin’s piazza Carignano. Other restaurants serving classic Piedmonte dishes include Tre Galline, 3galline.it, or its newer offshoot Tre Galli, 3galli.com.
CAFE CULTURE
For a coffee break, Turin’s historic 18thand 19th-century cafes, with their frescoes, chandeliers and marble-topped tables, are the very finest in Europe. Among the most atmospheric is Al Bicerin (4) bicerin.it, famous for its rich blend of hot chocolate, coffee and cream. Others include Caffe Fiorio, caffefiorio.it, on whose tables the Italian nation was planned, the Art Nouveau Baratti & Milano, barattiemilano.it and the Belle Epoque Caffe Torino, caffe-torino.it, where local custom dictates you step on the testicles of a bronze bull inlaid in the pavement as a ritual to bring good fortune.
WHERE TO STAY
The NH Torino Lingotto Congress (1), nh-hotels.com, forms part of the brilliant Renzo Piano conversion of the old Fiat factory. The original rooftop test track is the perfect spot for an early morning jog. The building also houses the Agnelli Foundation, pinacoteca-agnelli.it, displaying works from the Agnelli private collection. Another option is the Hotel Victoria hotelvictoria-torino.com, which feels a little like an English country hotel and has a spa and pool.
Find out more at turismotorino.org