Turin

Turin is one of the Italian cities that has the right to be considered an open-air museum: its architecture, the elegant palaces, the arcades... every corner holds surprises and wonders. This is a selection of experiences to enjoy in just 48 hours to tiptoe into a unique urban background.

The National Cinema Museum in Turin celebrates and narrates the seventh art in detail. It is located inside the scenic Mole Antonelliana, a symbolic monument of Piedmont's capital city, and follows the history of the film industry from its origins to the present day.

The capital of Piedmont never ceases to amaze and with its unusual architecture, the Royal Chocolate Time and sustainable and innovative projects hides small and large characteristics to experience and explore.

A true capital of taste and cuisine, let’s give it up for Turin, the city where countless snacks, small dishes, bar snacks and mini desserts were born and went on to take the world by storm.

The heart of the Kingdom of Savoy for centuries, Turin was the stage and driving force behind national unification, as well as the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Visiting Turin offers the perfect opportunity to discover the splendid royal residences that the Savoy family had built between the 17th and 18th centuries: a journey through time among the symbols of the dynasty's hegemony, from hunting castles to holiday resorts and the imposing residences declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ready for an adventure in the beautiful Turin of the Savoy dynasty?

The continuing love story between Turin and chocolate began as far back as 1560: in celebration of the Ducal Capital’s move from Chambéry to Turin, Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy served a symbolic cup of piping hot chocolate to the city. An authentic passion that has created specialties now known throughout the world has also continued to stimulate the imaginations of the master chocolatiers over the centuries. Indeed, it was here in the Savoy Capital that the Bicerin – a glass of hot coffee, cacao, and milk cream – was conceived in the 1700s. By way of chocolate, the maestros of Turin knew exactly how to express their taste for innovation, so much so that they experimented with new mechanisms to mix cacao, vanilla, water and sugar into a malleable paste (beginning 17th Century). They discovered that they could transform the chocolate into solid bars, thus giving life to chocolates, or cioccolatini, of every type – from bon bons to pralines, truffles and cremini.

The visit to royal complex of Turin is a museum tour that extends almost seamlessly for three kilometres over an exhibition area of thirty thousand square metres. The Royal Museums is a collective name that includes the Royal Palace, the Royal Gardens, the Royal Library and Armoury, the Sabauda Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, the Chiablese Rooms and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud The museums unite the buildings and institutions around the Royal Palace in a single complex. Some of them are on the small square in front of the Palace, which forms part of Piazza Castello. Some rooms of the Royal Palace are only open occasionally for special guided tours advertised on the website, for which a separate ticket is required. These include the Apartments of the King (Victor Emmanuel III) and of Queen Elena on the ground floor and the royal kitchens below them, preserved in 19th-century style; the Apartment of the Foreign Princes on the first floor; and finally the Wedding Apartments of the Princes of Piedmont and the Dukes of Aosta on the second floor.

What is now Palazzo Madama in Piazza Castello, practically opposite the Royal Palace, was originally a city gate, was made into a fortress in the Middle Ages, and then became the castle of the princes of Acaja. The civic collections of ancient art were formed separately elsewhere from 1863, to collect and pass on the historical and artistic heritage of Turin and Piedmont. The respective fates of the ancient building and the century-old collections were joined in 1934. In the meantime, the building had been, among other things, the seat of the first Senate of the unified Italian state. The present-day museum, which is divided into several routes dedicated to history, architecture and collections, has over seventy thousand works of painting, sculpture and decorative arts from the Byzantine period to the 19th century. The development of European art from the early Middle Ages to the Baroque is also illustrated by illuminated manuscripts, majolica and porcelain, gold and silver, furniture and textiles. Among the most famous works are a Portrait of a Man by Antonello da Messina, the codex of the Très belles Heures de Notre Dame by Jean de Berry, and a series of artistic objects from the Cabinet of Wonders of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. The Senate Hall, the Medieval Court and the Atelier Hall host temporary exhibitions. The museum is incorporated with the GAM-Galleria Civic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Museum of Oriental Art as part of The Turin Museums Foundation.

Egyptian Museum a Journey into Ancient Egypt "The road to Menfi and Thebes passes through Turin." (Jean-François Champollion) It is the oldest museum in the world dedicated to Ancient Egyptian culture. It houses more than 40,000 finds including ancient plaques, mummies, papyrus, objects, stuffed animals, statues and sphinxes that make this venue the sixth most visited place in Italy. The Museum offers the opportunity to join thematic visits, admire temporary exhibitions and take part in educational tours and workshops to explore the knowledge preserved here. Several exhibition spaces and tour itineraries with a broad offering in terms of knowledge and experience. Visitors absolutely must see the Silvia Curto Library with its interesting ancient works and collections of immense value. At the Egyptian Museum in Turin: with the tablet Tablets, interactive tables and clever lighting effects for total immersion in the courts of the pharaohs. The Egyptian Museum in Turin, second only to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, underwent an impressive renovation in 2015, with the collaboration of the famous Oscar-winning set designer Dante Ferretti. And today it allows a plunge into ancient Egyptian culture, brought to life by multimedia. An Oscar-winning set design Dante Ferretti is a star of the Italian firmament that shines on the international stage. A set and costume designer, he has won three Oscars, including one for Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator, and other prestigious awards. His talented visionary touch is also at the Egyptian Museum in Turin. As part of the complete renovation of the museum in 2015, he was asked to take care of the lighting and some of the installations. Not to be missed is the one entitled The Great Nile, which reproduces the course of the legendary river all the way to its estuary, created with gelatin and fibreglass as a giant jigsaw puzzle of fabric panels. It will be spectacular to admire it as you make a 24-metre leap through an escalator system, above a Mesopotamia recreated today in a very modern style. Immerse yourself in the play of light and mirrors Semore by Ferretti the lighting of the Statuary, one of the most spectacular rooms of the Egyptian Museum, all based on LED technology with a high level of environmental sustainability. It is a highly evocative space, with Pompeian red walls, where the individual statues are illuminated both from above and below, multiplied by a play of mirrors that allow you to observe the masterpieces in their three-dimensionality. You will feel as if you are standing next to the pharaohs, you, in the first person. Thanks to studied lighting technology and special shaping projectors, you can admire every single detail of Ramesses II, the most famous pharaoh, and the Sphinx of the New Kingdom; of King Amenhotep II and Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess, and the bovine-horned goddess Hathor. Linger over the shades of pink granite of the statue of Ramesses with the god Amun and the goddess Mut. Let yourself be enchanted by the hieroglyphics engraved on the sarcophagus of Gemenefherbak and the inscriptions on the stone. Why Turin? In the early 19th century, in the wake of Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt, the fashion for collecting antiquities from that country spread throughout Europe. Bernardino Drovetti, consul general of France during the occupation, boasted a collection of 8,000 pieces and later King Charles Felix also acquired countless pieces: from the union of these two collections, the museum in its embryonic state was born. Exponents of the House of Savoy, over decades of expeditions, continued to enrich the collection and consequently the museum. Turin thus became a great centre for the study of Egyptian culture. A truly pharaonic route More than 2 km of exhibition space on four floors, 8,000 findings covering a span of history from 4000 BC to 700 AD: these are the record numbers of the largest Egyptian Museum, second only to Cairo in terms of the quantity and importance of its collections, and the oldest in the world entirely dedicated to Egyptian culture. Funerary furnishings, statues, sarcophagi, jewellery and papyri are on display. The itinerary is well-maintained and you do not run the risk of getting lost. If you prefer, you can choose a tour entirely guided by experts or opt for the multimedia audio guide on your smartphone, framing the QR.codes in the rooms. The rooms are dotted with tablets and interactive tables: have fun exploring the aspects that interest you most. Don't miss the 3D videos, which will make you experience the thrill of feeling like an archaeologist for a day. Through sequences showing excavation documents and period photographs, you will find yourself inside the tomb of Kha and that of Nefertari, then inside the Chapel of Maia. Two accompanying experiences One of the experiences to enjoy, especially if you have children in tow, is the thematic guided tour entitled Life in the Afterlife. The ancient Egyptians devoted a great deal of time to preparing for their future after death, which was considered to be the transition to a subsequent existence just as glorious as their earthly one. An Egyptologist tells you about these sophisticated practices, from the production of sarcophagi to the preparation of the body, which had to remain intact, to the mysterious symbolism of the funerary papyri. Art lovers are advised to visit the Restoration Area, on the second floor, where they can watch live restorations of artefacts in the Museum.

A unique collection of cars in the world The MAUTO - National Automobile Museum is among the oldest museums of its kind. In 1932, Cesare Goria Gatti and Roberto Biscaretti di Ruffia – two of the founders of the Turin Automobile Club in 1898 and of Fiat the following year – had the first idea of creating a museum dedicated to an object whose history had only just begun: the automobile. Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia (son of Roberto) – appointed 'provisional authorising officer' on 19 July 1933 – assembled the initial collection and fought for that visionary idea to become a reality. He passed away in 1959 and the current headquarters on Corso Unità d'Italia were named after him, built to the design of architect Amedeo Albertini and solemnly inaugurated on 3 November 1960. Today, the MAUTO preserves a collection of cars that is unique in the world, enhanced by the spectacular scenic contextualisation created by François Confino and the architectural renovation carried out by architect Cino Zucchi on the 150th anniversary of Italian unification: over 200 original cars of 80 brands from around the world divided into an exhibition itinerary on three floors: The car and the twentieth century, The car and man and Temporary exhibitions and design. Completing the museum itinerary: the Documentation Centre, the Mauto Labs - where the various educational activities proposed by the museum take place - and the Restoration Centre that carries out conservation and restoration activities of historic vehicles in collaboration with ACI – Automobile Club Italia, which is still among the Museum's ordinary shareholders, in order to pass on the cultural, technological and social value of historic cars from generation to generation. Interesting fact: The museum's collection includes 217 vehicles, including 189 cars, 14 motorcycles, motor tricycles and quadricycles, 40 engines and 28 chassis. Among the most valuable cars, the delightful Peugeot Type 3 of 1892, the first car ever to circulate in Italy. In 2013, the Times ranked it among the 50 most beautiful museums in the world. MAUTO has won TripAdvisor's most coveted award: the Travelers' Choice Award, based on feedback and opinions from the global travel community.

The tradition of coffee and the historic Italian brand Interactive museum based in the Aurora district, in the Nuvola Lavazza complex. It traces the coffee tradition from the 1800s onwards and interweaves the history of the Lavazza family with the Italian industrial history of the 20th century. The museum layout is distributed over two floors and it is divided into 5 specific areas, with interactive installations set up by theme: Casa Lavazza: more than 120 years of Lavazza family history and the development of the brand; La Fabbrica: a journey through the sounds, colors, and aromas of coffee, tracing the production processes through to distribution; La Piazza: this evokes a typical 1960s square where all the rituals surrounding coffee are celebrated, with an exhibition of coffee makers, espresso machines and an auto-bar/coffee van; The Atelier: like a movie set, complete with the Carosello advertising show, with the publicity and testimonial advertising sets on display with the interactivity of the cameras; The Universe: a full immersion into the world of coffee, to be explored using the Lavazza cup to activate the interactive installations. The Lavazza Museum also adds a virtual tour accompanied by the voice of the well-known radio and television speaker, Federico Russo, using the first museum audio guide for Instagram stories.

A medieval castle set in Turin’s green haven One of the oldest parks in Turin, along the banks of the river Po, where you can enjoy the fresh air, a stroll outdoors or cycle far from the bustle of the city. The park boasts a remarkable floral and arboreal heritage, with about 1,800 tall trees, and a wealth of bird life with many species of local birds that are well adapted to the river habitat, including herons and mallards. Here you will find more than just nature. Inside the green area there is the Medieval Village created to enhance and promote the ancient historical and cultural traditions of Piedmont as well as the houses, streets and statues including those dedicated to Massimo D'Azeglio and Cesare Battisti, fountains such as the Fontana dei Dodici Mesi with a large Rococo-style fountain pool, and the characteristic Rock Garden with its paved streets, streams and water features. You can stop off at one of the many bars and clubs or take the ferryboat to cruise along the Po. There are also several initiatives, events and entertainment shows held in the park.

Exploring Turin and its surroundings by bicycle is the best way to discover an astonishingly beautiful city and its majestic historic residences, lush metropolitan parks, local specialities and glimpses of nature that resemble paintings: here are five itineraries that reveal all its charms.

Are you a bobsleigh or ice-skating enthusiast? You’ll find slopes and lifts here that won’t disappoint. Or you can indulge in unforgettable horseback riding and snowshoeing.

Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, tobogganing, extreme routes for freestylers, snow parks and the evocative landscapes of the Alps. Experience all this in Piedmont - an unmissable destination for people who prefer sporting holidays on the snow with friends or family. A destination where you will find hospitality, a warm welcome and quality combined with the exciting beauty of high altitude nature.

There is a cycling race that looks backwards: Milano-Torino, the oldest race in Italy, as its first edition dates back to 1876. In this article let us go over its course together: a 199km journey from Magenta to Rivoli, through the history of our country, the forgotten trades, and the culinary menus scenting of tradition. It is a route that seems to be designed to suit the fast men (except for a short sector, it is pan flat), but also the amateurs who prefer a slower pace, interspersed with some stops. In this way, they can turn their gaze to the past in a territory that is still untouched by major tourism flows. Get in your saddle, then, and off we go.

The Langhe, Roero and Monferrato hills are UNESCO World Heritage Sites ideal for slow-active cycling suitable for all ages over trails that can be used by ebikes and mountain bikes. Here are five cycling itineraries immersed in nature to discover the excellent food and wine of the area, complete with stop-offs and tastings in wine cellars.

It is inspired by the GranPiemonte 2022, the autumn cycling Classic that starts in Omegna, on the northern tip of Lake Orta in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and ends just outside Turin. You just have to imagine these characters, and it is not difficult when you are riding your bike through an area so extraordinary that it seems like a small world in miniature, made up of rugged mountains and endless plains, rice fields and vineyards, castles, hunting estates and noble residences. Just slow your pace, look around, get inspired. After all, the course is mostly flat, to the delight of those who like to feel the wind on their skin, but also those who prefer to keep some energy for a cultural pit stop. But pay attention to the kilometers, which are really a lot: as many as 198. The advice is to break the route into two stages, giving yourself a night’s rest, and leave the feat of covering it in a single day to the professionals. So, as they say in Piedmontese dialect, andùma, that is, let’s go!