10 Reasons why Turin should be on your Italy bucket list

Turin must be one of Italy’s most unsung cities. While most travelers to Italy head to the triptych Rome-Florence-Venice, Turin appears to remain off the tourists’ radar. It seems that, nowadays, the city is merely associated with the automobile industry. Indeed, it is here that Agnelli, the founder of Fiat, chose to build his automobile empire.

However, that would be forgetting that eight decades earlier another dynasty, not an industrial one, but a royal one, chose Turin as its capital. Nineteenth century Turin was also a favorite among intellectuals and artists, such as Nietzsche, who liked the city for its austere elegance, its atmosphere, its literary cafés, and its food.

Here are at least ten reasons why this bubbling and inspiring city definitely should be on your Italy bucket list.

 

1. Turin is Italy’s only true royal city

Palazzo Carignano bearing the inscription "Qui nacque Vittorio Emanuele II" (Here Vittorio Emanuele II was born).
Palazzo Carignano bearing the inscription “Qui nacque Vittorio Emanuele II” (Here Vittorio Emanuele II was born).

While Rome is associated with Antiquity and Florence with the Renaissance, Turin is Italy’s regal city per excellence. Other Italian cities did have their noble dynasties, but these reigned as princes over city-states or as emperors, before the country was unified into the State bearing the name Italy. Only Turin can lay claim to being the first capital of unified Italy, when the Kingdom of Italy was founded in 1861.

Cavour's birth house in Via Lagrange 29, Turin.
Cavour’s birth house in Via Lagrange 29, Turin.

The city is also the birth town of the first King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy. Also born here were some of the major political figures and influential thinkers of that time, among whom Cavour, a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification and Italy’s first Prime Minister. Nearly all of Italy’s history leading to the unification was centralized in Turin.

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The grandeur of Turin can be witnessed all over the city: in the Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, Palazzo Carignano, the large, majestic boulevards and the arcaded shopping streets, and, of course, in La Venaria, Turin’s equivalent of Versailles.

 

Galleria Grande of the Palace of Venaria, Turin
Galleria Grande of the Palace of Venaria, Turin

 

2. Turin’s historic cafés

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The city counts the greatest number of cafés per capita, many of which are historic cafès. About every second or third house on Via Po, Turin’s famous promenade, is a café, confectionery or pasticceria. Piazza San Carlo, one of the main squares of Turin, alone counts three of Turin’s historic cafés.

There is probably no other city in the world with as many historic cafés still in operation, where you can soak up the revolutionary and literary atmosphere of the 19th century. Turin was a literary center 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. See also: Turin’s historic cafés.

 

3. Italy’s capital of Chocolate

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Turin is the Italian capital of chocolate. The famous gianduja, a hazelnut and chocolate paste at the origin of Nutella (which was originally called pasta gianduja), and the gianduiotti were created here. Originally, they were the direct result of the English embargo on cocoa during the Napoleonic wars. To curb the embargo, Turinese chocolate makers had the idea to mix hazelnuts (which were abundantly available in Piedmont), into the chocolate, creating the famous hazelnut and chocolate mix.

Another chocolcate-based icon of the city is the bicerin, a favorite drink among Italian and European aristocracy, made of espresso coffee, chocolate and whipped cream.

Another proof of Turin’s long chocolate tradition is CioccolaTo, a 10-day-long chocolate fair, a must-be rendez-vous for chocoholics from around the world, running yearly from the end of November through the beginning of December.

 

4. Birth place of the aperitif

Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you’re still going to love Turin, as it is here that the concept of aperitivo was born. It was in Turin that Gaspare Campari, the inventor of the eponymous drink, did his apprenticeship as maître licoriste in the mid 1800s. The many historic cafés are actually not just caffeine hubs. After work, people gather on the delightfully busy terraces of the cafés, chatting and enjoying a “Slow drink” with tasteful toasts and appetizers. Remember the tapas from your travels in Spain? Well, this is their Italian ancestor.



 

5. One of the food capitals of Italy

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Turin is also renowned for its food. We already mentioned the aperitivi, but Turin also offers a wide range of Piemontese and Savoyard delicacies, among which, of course, the white truffle, served with pasta (the local tajarin) or risotto. Gnocchi and agnolotti are other types of local pasta, which can be served with Alp cheese or mushrooms.

Famous main dishes include the bollito misto, bagna càuda and fritto misto. The latter comes as a unique dish, usually containing six to twelve different veal pieces, including liver, brain, bone marrow, sweetbreads, and, (beware!), even testicles!

As for the bagna càuda, it is a kind of fondue with a hot dip made of anchovies, garlic and olive oil. The dish is eaten by dipping vegetables (raw, boiled or roasted), such as cardoon, broccoli, carrots, fennel, onions, peppers, celery, cauliflower and artichokes into the anchovies mix. I would have liked to add that you have to eat this dish at least once in your life when you are in Turin, but no… you may want to skip this one and try the other delicious Turinese specialties instead. 🙂

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Then there is, of course, also the fantastic local wine: Barolo, Barbera, Barbaresco and Nebbiolo for the reds and Arneis, Gavi and Favorita for the whites.

 

6. Tollywood

Long before Bollywood (India) and Nollywood (Nigeria) there was Tollywood. Turin is the city where Italian cinema was born at the beginning of the 1900s. Major inventions and improvements made in Turin contributed to turn filmmaking into what it is today. The spectacular National Cinema Museum traces the history of the seventh art from its early beginnings until today.

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The design and structure of the museum make it unique in its kind in the world. It is housed in the city’s iconic building, the Mole Antonelliana, which also happens to be the world’s tallest museum. The building was once also the tallest masonry building in the world, until the 1953 collapse of its pinnacle. Since then, the structure has been reinforced with iron, reason why it can no longer be considered exclusively a masonry structure.

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Add to that the yearly Torino Film Festival, Italy’s most important film festival after Venice, and you’ll get a hint why the city is nicknamed ‘Tollywood’.

 

7. World’s most important Egyptian museum outside Egypt

Turin boasts the world’s second most important Egyptian museum after Cairo, not necessarily in terms of number of artifacts (as, when comparing collections, every single minute statuette or small piece is being counted), but because of its outstanding quality.

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At one time the grandeur of a royal family was measured by the number of Egyptian mummies they counted in their collections of archeological trophies and the House of Savoy counted among Europe’s most active collectors of Egyptian treasures.

 

8. Turin’s “Movida”

Whether on the banks of the river Po (the Murazzi), on Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in San Salvario or in the Quadrilatero Romano, Turin offers plenty of places to enjoy the Turinese night life.

 

9. Modern art and design

The city boasts a number of modern and contemporary art museums, architecturally interesting buildings and futuristic projects. Light street art such as Luci d’Artista and ManifesTo adorn the city’s streets and house façades with lights, posters and banners from November to January.

 

10. Unique cultural treasures, religious relics and some esoteric stuff

Codex on the Flight of Birds by Leonardo da Vinci. Photo: Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be
Codex on the Flight of Birds by Leonardo da Vinci. Photo © Luc Viatour / www.Lucnix.be

Last but not least, Turin also hosts some of the world’s most valuable historic pieces and religious relics, among which the famous shroud of Turin, as well as Leonardo da Vinci’s self-portrait and his Codex on the Flight of Birds, and in the Egyptian museum, the most complete Egyptian ‘death books’ in the world.

Shroud of Turin - front image.
Shroud of Turin – front image.

On a more esoteric note, the city is also supposed to detain the key to deciphering Nostradamus prophecies, as well as the Holy Grail, the chalice from which Jesus drank during the last supper. The first one is said to be now safely guarded ‘somewhere’ in Turin as part of a private collection, while the latter is believed to be buried in the Church of the Great Mother of God.

 

Ideas for Day Trips from Turin:

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Sacra di San Michele: a Mysterious Monastery high up in the Mountains

 

 

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Superga : a basilica, a tragedy and the birth of a legend

 

 

 

Related articles:


 
Best historic cafés of Turin

 

 

Photo credits: all photos and photo collages © Slow Italy, except (from top to bottom): Piazza Castello by Fulvio’s photos; Palace of Venaria by *Vly*; Gianduiotto © DAV/Fotolia.com; spoon with cocoa powder © Elena Moiseeva/Fotolia.com; Museo del Cinema wide view by Edoardo Forneris; Museo Egitto Sphinx by ChrisGoldNY; Da Vinci Codex © Luc Viatour;

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29 thoughts on “10 Reasons why Turin should be on your Italy bucket list

  • November 20, 2013 at 9:49 pm
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    I haven’t been to Turin and didn’t know much about it, so thank you for this information. I have a big goal to visit the less-known cities and towns of Italy, and I’m adding this to my list 🙂

    • November 21, 2013 at 9:24 am
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      Well done, Jenna, you will not be disappointed. Turin has really a lot to offer, even more than this excellent article displayed … especially if you like parks

      • December 22, 2013 at 5:40 pm
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        I love Torino and the whole of Piedmont and I am always afraid to admit I prefer it as a city to Milano in front of any Milanese. I always tell people it’s a must see city.

        • March 21, 2014 at 9:17 am
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          I totally agree Maria!

    • November 21, 2013 at 4:42 pm
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      Waitng for you…

    • November 23, 2013 at 11:02 am
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      It’s unfotunately an underrated city in an underrated region of Italy.
      Not only the city itself, but also the nearby areas are fantastic, in particolar I suggest you these places:
      -Sagra di San Michele (near Avigliana, about 25 km from Turin)
      -Monferrato (it s the area of the Hills near Turin, fantastic countryside and good wine.. it’s a big area with little and beautiful cities in it: Asti and Alba, famous for food and wine just like Turin.. trust me: nothing to envy to Tuscany)
      -the olympic mountains
      If you will ever come, I really hope you can enjoy some of it 🙂

      • November 23, 2013 at 1:48 pm
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        You’re so right that the whole region is underrated. Of course, I will come back! 🙂 I hope to see and write a lot more on my next visit!

    • November 23, 2013 at 1:50 pm
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      Thanks so much for your comment, Jenna. I am so glad that you have decided to add Turin to your list. I’m sure you will enjoy it! Especially if you like the less-known and more ‘humble’ towns, which have so much to offer.

    • November 24, 2013 at 6:50 pm
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      Jenna, you should also try visiting Alba and Guarene. While in Guarene go to Mira Laghne restaurant for the best meal you will find in Northern Italy!!!!

    • November 25, 2013 at 12:14 pm
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      Then, add Trieste as well. It has the most magnificient square in the whole world

  • November 21, 2013 at 3:51 am
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    I was in Torino in October for one day and can’t wait to go back. I loved the people, the chocolate, the beautiful city, and the Egyptian museum. My visit to Cafe Bicerin was unforgettable. The Bicerin was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten . Bella Turin

    • November 23, 2013 at 1:56 pm
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      I couldn’t get enough of Caffè Bicerin. 🙂 Their bicerin is indeed amazing! Have you tried their zabaglione? It is one of the best we ever had! I can’t wait to go back either. 🙂

  • November 23, 2013 at 11:40 am
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    bellissimo sito, anche per gli italiani! bravissima

    • November 23, 2013 at 1:46 pm
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      Grazie mille Francesca! Mi rallegro che ti sia piaciuto!

  • November 23, 2013 at 3:51 pm
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    Ho la fortuna di essere nata e sempre vissuta a Torino e penso anch’io che sia da sempre sottostimata, come tutto il Piemonte. Mi fa piacere che venga apprezzata dal resto del mondo, visto che l’Italia non si accorge di essere cio’ che e’ per merito di Torino!!! Le altre meravigliose citta’ italiane, compresa la capitale, non hanno lo stesso peso storico, culturale ed artistico che Torino ha avuto nella creazione dell’Italia unita…

  • November 24, 2013 at 12:10 pm
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    Una cosa manca a noi torinesi e ben sappiamo che il resto c’è e chi ci vive non se vuole andare, il mare 🙁
    E sì vabbè c’è la Liguria

  • November 25, 2013 at 3:06 am
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    About the aperitif – rather than Campari, who’s more important for Milan, I’d focus on the Dottor Carpano, the inventor of vermouth, one of the basic element of mixology and an amazing drink on its own.

    • November 25, 2013 at 12:47 pm
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      Yes, you’re right, I may have added a mention about Antonio Benedetto Carpano, too. As the inventor of Vermouth is one of the first things mentioned in about every article about Turin, I deliberately chose another angle, but I understand that some readers may feel that something is missing, so I’ll fix that. Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s really appreciated! ☼

  • November 25, 2013 at 3:36 pm
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    Siiiiiiiiiii !!! And finally … There’s somebody out there that likes Torino!!!! Yeeeeeeee!!! 🙂

    • December 3, 2013 at 12:25 pm
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      🙂

  • November 25, 2013 at 7:45 pm
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    I was lucky enough to spend a month in Torino a couple of years ago. The city never ceased to amaze me in. First and foremost, the people are wonderful! The city is filled with art, culture, history and let’s not even talk about food and wine. From a piece of farinata or cutting board filled with salumi e formaggi in a simple osteria to the most elaborate meal in a grand restaurant,I was never disappointed. I especially liked being able to see the Alps in the distance everywhere I looked and riding the fully automatic and clean subway (Metro). Living in NYC, that was a lot different from what I’m used to. All in all, one of the best months I’ve every spent. Should more people discover Torino? Yes, it’s amazing. Do I want them to? NO, I’m selfish and want it to myself. Torino, mi manchi !!

    • May 5, 2014 at 8:03 am
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      Frank, Torino is the city where I live and where I was born and only today I read your post that emotioned me.
      I had the fortune to travel a lot in the world and many many times I saw places and cities full of tourists (…and not always at the height of their fame ) while nearly nobody come or even knew Torino in the 60’s,70’s,80’s,90’s etc.
      I’m so happy and glad that this wonderful city is now loved and appreciated ! Thank you so much !

  • November 26, 2013 at 8:23 am
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    Hi! I loved your post… I was born and raised in Torino, and now that I live abroad, I am starting to apreciate it even more! I have a blog where I post about music, travels, books… could I re-blog your post (of course I will give you full credits for the article)? Thank you 🙂

  • December 2, 2013 at 1:11 pm
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    Agnoletti should actually be “AgnOlotti”, otherwise nice article!

    • December 3, 2013 at 10:36 am
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      Thanks! Overlooked that.

  • February 18, 2014 at 12:19 pm
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    Wow!! I loved this post. I came to Italy in September 2013 and trust me words fall short to tell how much I love that place. I did the touristy places but I do plan to come back again some day soon and definitely visit Turin! The entire country is beautiful! 🙂 I also want to see South Tyrol. Any recos? Lovely to read your posts.

  • March 7, 2014 at 1:10 am
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    Grazie molto per il suo blog, l’informazione e interessante e utile. I am currently choosing between the numerous intensive Italian language courses available and Turino or Piemonte have been high on my list – you may have helped me decide. Andro a Turino!

    • March 21, 2014 at 9:13 am
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      You will love it! Wishing you all the best with your Italian language course and your stay in this beautiful city! Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

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