Personally, I would rank Turin the most underrated of Italy's big cities. Visitors pour into Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan and drive past a place that was the first capital of united Italy, holds the second most important collection of Egyptian antiquities on earth, invented vermouth and the ritual of the aperitivo, and keeps the Alps at the end of its avenues. It is also cheaper and far emptier than any of those four.
The airport connects to the centre by train and bus, fast services reach Milan in about an hour and Paris runs direct, and rooms cost noticeably less than in the famous cities. The city fills for its book fair and film festival, and otherwise stays comfortable. Compare flights and hotels for Turin at https://destination.chat and use it as a base for Piedmont rather than a stop between other cities.
The Egyptian museum alone justifies the trip, older than the one in Cairo and second only to it, with floors of statues, papyri and an intact craftsman's tomb. Above the rooftops rises the spired tower holding the national cinema museum, with a glass lift running up through its dome. The Savoy royal residences in the city and the hunting palaces outside share a UNESCO listing, and the old car factory to the south keeps its test track on the roof, where you can walk the banked curves. The cathedral guards the shroud, though visitors normally see a copy.
Where you stay is a question of atmosphere. Around Piazza Castello, historic and mid-range hotels sit beside the royal palace. In the Quadrilatero Romano, boutique hotels and apartment rentals fill the lanes where the aperitivo bars are thickest. In San Salvario, guesthouses and apartments come cheaper near the station and river park, while at Lingotto, modern hotels stand in and around the converted factory.
Metro, trams and buses cover the city cheaply, and a car is a burden. What repays booking is a museum slot, since the Egyptian collection queues badly, and a day out into Piedmont, where a rack railway climbs to a basilica with the Alpine arc behind it and the wine hills of the Langhe, another UNESCO landscape, lie an hour south. You can check museum ticket and day trip prices at https://destination.chat and keep the evenings open.
Because the evenings are the point. Order a vermouth or a bitter in the early evening and the bar will feed you, generously and free, in a habit this city claims to have started. Follow it with the local chocolate, invented when a blockade made cocoa scarce and hazelnuts filled the gap, then the layered coffee, chocolate and cream drink served in a small glass. Turin does not shout. It simply outperforms.
Q: Why visit Turin instead of Milan or Florence?
A: It costs less, holds far fewer visitors, and offers world-class museums, royal palaces, Alpine views and the birthplace of vermouth, all in an easy centre.
Q: Can you see the Shroud of Turin?
A: Normally no. The cloth is kept in the cathedral and shown publicly only on rare occasions, so visitors usually see a photographic copy and the chapel housing it.
Q: Do I need a car in Turin?
A: No. The metro, trams and buses are cheap and thorough, the centre walks easily, and trains or organised tours reach the palaces and wine hills.
Q: What are the best day trips from Turin?
A: The hunting palaces outside the city, the basilica on the hill reached by rack railway for the Alpine panorama, and the vineyard landscapes of the Langhe about an hour south.
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