Milan or Turin?

Where in the Alps will you be going? Turin is not very convenient for onward travel to Switzerland or the Dolomites, for example. But the FIAT museum is very good, and the city is very attractive, so it might be worthwhile for your interests.

The Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile in Torino is one of the most enjoyable museums I have ever been in. Also the Egyptian museum. Yeah, I vote Turin over Milan --- we took either the bus or a train straight to the Milan airport from Torino, so you could do it in reverse! Two hours or less.

We will be going to Zermatt from Italy. I am bringing my 11 year old grandson who loves cars and hiking, I thought the car museums in Torino would be interesting and I worked in Zermatt in college so I would love to share my hiking experiences with him. From Zermatt we will stop for a couple of nights in Lucerne then on to Stuttgart for the Mercedes and Porsche museums.

We really liked Turin, or Torino. We did not go to the automobile museum, but we did visit the extensive Egyptian museum. We also went to the film museum that was in the Mole Antonelliana. That’s a really fascinating building - it’s designed to resemble of spool of film unwinding in a spiral fashion. The exhibits are fun and nostalgic, and if you’re brave, you can take a cool glass elevator up to the top of the dome and have a beautiful view of the city and sometimes the Alps if it’s clear. I think both you and your grandson would find it interesting. I believe there’s a Torino city pass that would be worth checking into. We were there in 2019, and the pass was a good value then.

Torino has a great café culture and the streets are beautiful with lots and lots of arcades to provide shade or cover from rain. We really liked Torino a lot and traveled by train from the airport through Milan to Torino. After our stay, we went back to the Milan train station and then took a train to Stresa on Lake Maggiore. I think we had gelato from the Venchi store in the train station three different times on that trip! That particular direction from Milan to Stresa could’ve taken us straight to Switzerland if we’d had the time. It’s a beautiful part of the country.

We only ended up spending 24 hours in Milan, just enough time to get to the roof top of the Duomo first thing in the morning, which was really a spectacular experience. The views were great, being up high in the “marble forest“ was memorable, and the interior of the church was gorgeous.

Laurie

Same here, I love it too.

Another vote for Turin. Near the car museum is the original FIAT factory with the rooftop test track. Also, what I believe is the original Eataly. Easily reached by metro from the city center. We stayed in this apartment, which was not in the city center but had good access by foot or by public transportation. Great market nearby, too.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7251319?source_impression_id=p3_1741369196_P3mDzCAX92cinwGs

If you decide on Milan, the daVinci science museum is great for that age.

You're right, Gerry, it is indeed the original Eataly.

But it's all been sold to a private equity firm now, so (shrug shoulders emoji)

Thanks to everyone for your advice. Looks like we will stay in Torino now instead of Milano. We are car dealers and one of our franchises is Fiat so that will be fun to see the original factory.