According to the New York Times, Turin, in Northern Italy, is one of the top destinations everyone should visit in the next years. With its spectacular Egyptiam Museum-the only museum other than the Cairo Museum that is dedicated solely to Egyptian art and culture- Porta Palazzo, the Europe’s largest open-air market, and may galleries and underground clubs, this city offers so many reasons to being added on your bucket list. Let’s discover in details what this wonderful Italian city can offer to you during a 2-day trip.
Attraction
Monte dei Cappuccini
Monte dei Cappuccini is a late-Renaissance-style church on a hill overlooking the River Po near the bridge of Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in the centre of Turin. Although you have to walk a bit to reach it, the view of Turin from the hill will repay the effort. Recommended in the evening, perhaps after enjoying a gelato in via Po!
Park of Valentino
This park is the oldest and most famous public park in Turin, where anyone can enjoy a walk or relax during a sunny day. Covering 421,000 square metres, it takes its place alongside the Mole Antonelliana as one of the great icons of the city. Set in a splendid position, the park contains the Castello del Valentino, a royal residence of the House of Savoy and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Porta Palazzo Market
The Porta Palazzo Market, located in Piazza della Repubblica, is the largest open air market in Europe with around 800 stalls from Mondays to Fridays and its 50,000 m2 surface. The market attracts Torinese customers even from distant neighborhoods, as well as foreign visitors, due to the excellent products’ quality and the very affordable price. The open-air market is strengthened by 4 coexisting covered markets (clothing covered market, fish market, IV food market and V food market) and by the shops and cafes that are on the same square. The presence of farmers is remarkable (100 stalls every day directly selling the farmers’ own products), and any typical goods can be found (fruit and vegetables, cold cuts, cheese, flowers, clothing, shoes, household goods, second-hand goods).
Egyptian Museum
Turin boasts the world’s second most important Egyptian museum after Cairo. Both the total number of artifacts and the quality of this renewed museum are outstanding. The museum is open every day, on Monday from 9am to 2pm, on Tuesday-Sunday from 9.00am to 6.30pm (href=”http://www.museoegizio.it/en/info/”)
The ticket (Museum + Exhibition) costs 15 €, but children have special discounts. Admission for children up to 5 is free, tickets for children from 6 to 14 cost 1 €, teenagers from 14 to 18 pay 11 €.
The National Cinema Museum of Torino
For those who find traditional museums too boring: this is the place for you! The National Cinema Museum, with many different scientific and educational activities carried out, is not far from being a traditional museum. It offers visitors continuous and unexpected visual and acoustic stimuli, just like when we watch a film that involves and moves us. Furthermore, what makes this museum truly unique is its special exhibit setup: it is located inside the Mole Antonelliana, a bizarre and fascinating monument which is the symbol of the City of Torino. For a full experience, take the panoramic lift and admire the city from one of its most famous building.
Museum tickets are free for children up to 5, for children up to 18 they cost only 3 €, while for adults they cost 10 €.
Museum+ lift tickets are free for children up to 5, cost 8 € for children up to 18, and 14 € for adults.
Remember: if you are a student, don’t forget your student ID! University students under 26 years old, 65 and over pay less: 8 € for the museum, 11 € for museum+lift (href=” http://www.museocinema.it/orari.php#txt_2”)
Food and drink
Historic cafés
Turin is probably one of the cities in the world with the highest number of historic cafés still in operation, where you can soak up the cultural and revolutionary atmosphere of the 19th century. This Italian city was a cultural centre for many centuries, from the establishment of the court of the Duchy of Savoy to the period after WWII. Nietzsche, but also Alexandre Dumas, Puccini, Rossini, Cavour and Cesare Pavese were all habitués of these famous coffee houses.
If you want to try the typical Turinese coffee, go to the Al Bicerin. In this chocolate house adorned with mirrors and elegant, marbled-topped tables, you will have the opportunity of sipping a traditional drink made of espresso, hot, bitter chocolate and whipped cream carefully layered and served in a small rounded glass. The word bicerin is actually Piedmontese for “small glass”, the price of one bicerin is around 6 €.
For one of the best ice-creams of the region, move to another historic café, founded in 1780 and redecorated in 1845: Fiorio. Fiorio is famed for its gelato cups, that can be enjoyed walking in the city centre or in Fiorio’s maintained original lay-out, with its impressive chandeliers, yellow Siena marble counters, velvet upholstery and vintage mirrors. Prices starts from 2 €.
Cheap typical lunch
Do you need a cheap place to have a 5 € lunch? Turin is plenty of bars and restaurant ready to offer you delicious traditional food at very reasonable prices! If you want to get a taste of the University Life, go to Poormanger, a short walk from Piazza Vittorio. The basic idea is to mix the receipt of the jacket potatoes with genuine Italian ingredients. Choose your filling from a wide menu including the tastiest Italian salumi, good fresh cheeses, and seasonal vegetables from Italian regional recipes. Price starts from 5 €. Do you dream a very Italian hand-made pasta dish? Try Zamy, in the wonderful via Carlo Alberto, where you will be asked to choose among 10 different kinds of pasta (such as trofie, ravioli and tagliatelle) and 15 types of sauces (pesto, carbonara, amatriciana, puttanesca and much more!). Choose your pasta and you sauce, add a bottle of water and you will pay 5.40 €.
Affordable typical dinners
Would you like to have a true Italian Pizza admiring a stunning landscape? Then you have to go to Sfashion Cafè, where its Certified (Traditional specialities guaranteed) Pizza Napoletana is accompanied by the wonderful glimpse of piazza Carlo Alberto, with its majestic National Library and Palazzo Carignano. The price for a pizza and a glass of wine is around 20 €.
The piole are typical of the Piedmont and Turin’s gastronomic tradition. They are restaurant where good traditional dishes and wine are served at affordable prices. One of the best piole in Turin is Da Cianci. This is a great restaurant in Quadrilatero area offering aperitivi, pasta and regional dishes at very good prices. Tajarin (a typical hand-made pasta) with sausage, pumpkin and radicchio; polenta with sausage and cheese, aperitivi and good wine, what do you want more? Prices start from 10 €.
Accomodation
Turin offers many accommodation options. If you want to visit the city, the best locations are near the stations Porta Susa and Porta Nuova, a few steps from the most important squares and attractions of Turin. Many B&B offers single and double bedrooms at affordable price (in general from 25 €), but if you travel with your family, another smart option might be renting a complete flat (Booking.com you can find very convenient offers). If you and your friends are looking for a friendly atmosphere, Turin offers a wide range of nice hostels where you can rest after an intense trip and cook something using the communal kitchenettes. The best ones are the Tomato Backpackers Hostel Young and the Bamboo Eco Hostel.
The Tomato Backpackers Hostel is in the San Salvario area, a few steps from the Park of Valentino and close to the centre of Turin. The hostel offers wi-fi in the whole structure, with computer workstations to be able to use, television, bicycle rentals and a kitchenette for those who want to prepare lunch or dinner. A small continental breakfast with coffee, toast and jam is included in the price (20 € per night).
The Bamboo Eco Hostel is located not far from the centre of Torino, offering clean and colorful rooms (each room has a different colour) and modern design. This is the first Italian hostel completely built according to the environmental sustainability’s principles. Amongst the hostel facilities, there are organic breakfast, a kitchenette available to travelers, coffee and tea offered at all times of the day. The city centre is reachable by bus 27, which stops right outside the hostel. Price from 24 €)
Finally, if you would rather a nice hotel room close to the city centre, we suggest Hotel Dock Milano (3 stars). This hotel has very nice rooms overlooking the Porta Susa station, and often it offers very good price if booked in advance (around 35 € per night per persons). Its location will allow you to walk to the city centre without taking any bus, and to reach the bus to the airport in 5 minutes.
Transportation
Turin-Caselle Airport (Aeroporto di Torino-Caselle), is located at Caselle Torinese, 16 km (9.9 mi) north-northwest of the city of Turin. The bus service between the Airport and the centre of Turin is secured by a SADEM bus every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on holidays. The bus takes 45-50 minutes to arrive to Torino Porta Nuova (one of the most important train stations in Turin), and the ticket costs 6,5 € (7,5 € if bought on the bus, 12 € if you want a return ticket). You can buy the ticket at the Airport Arrivals (you will find a SADEM ticket machine) or on the bus. If you are in Turin, you can buy it at the Tabaccheria (look at the ‘T’ sign) in front of the bus stop. For the timeline, visit the website href=” http://www.sadem.it/media/6355/000268.pdf”Bus ticket can be bought at every Tabaccheria (look again at the ‘T’ sign). One ticket costs 1,5 € and is valid for 90 minutes from validation on city buses and tube. You can also buy a 1-day ticket (5 €), a 2-day ticket (7,5 €) or a 3-day ticket (10 €).
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