We are arriving in Turin on Thursday night July 3rd and return home Monday July 7th. We are looking for suggestions on things to do and even taking the train into another city if possible. Our days are pretty much open except the night of the 6th I am taking my daughter to a concert so we need to be in Turin for that. My husband and I are traveling with 2 older teens. Thank you for any tips and suggestions.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
You only have a couple of days. Just visit Turin.
Posted by
7 posts
You can go see the royal palace of the Savoia house, who unified Italy and ruled until the ww2, many frescos, art museum and a long weaponry full of armors, swords, crossbows, firelocks and guns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_1tBmvTGYg
Venaria reale, residences of the Savoia house used as base for hunting expeditions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMH4paX2m74
Both world heritage sites.
Museo del Risorgimento, National museum of the Risorgimento (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risorgimento)
http://www.museorisorgimentotorino.it/index.php?l=en
You can also climb the mole antoneliana for a view of the city center, and when the weather permits it, the alps.
If you are interested in shopping you may want to have a walk in these streets: Via Garibaldi, Via Roma, Via Po, Via Lagrange.
Other people probably can help you more, i visited Turin only one time cos i had a girlfriend there.
Posted by
Happy Valley, PA
672 posts
We spent 1.5 days in Turin last month. After arriving by train and checking into our hotel on a Saturday afternoon, we met our friend (a native of Turin) who took us on a walking tour of the city that ended at the Mole Antonelliana, where we waited on line for about one hour to take the elevator to the top for the amazing view (well worth it!). Due to a lack of time, we did not tour the National Cinema Museum, but it looked very interesting. During our walk, we stopped for some terrific gelato at Gelati Fiorio and also visited the church which houses the Shroud of Turin, where there is a video running since the Shroud is only shown to the public every 10 years. In addition, since it was a Saturday afternoon, the Torinesi were out in force - shopping, strolling, attending a political rally, or just hanging out. I did not hear another person speaking English and saw no foreign tour groups, which was a nice change from the mobs in Florence. The next day, our friend drove us to Lago Maggiore. We arrived at Arona, parked the car, walked around, and then took a boat to Stresa (45- minute cruise - beautiful!). After exploring Stresa on foot, and stopping for a drink and a spectacular view from the outdoor "Sky Bar" on the 7th floor of the Hotel La Palma, we then took a funicular/chair lift to the top of Mount Mottarone (about 5,000 Ft. elevation) for a truly amazing view of the lake and Alps (see this link). Also, at the top of the mountain was a fun bob-sled on rails ride (5 Euro) that your teens would enjoy. There is a hand brake so they can control the speed, and it didn't really go too fast. Well, that is what we covered in a day and a half. I also heard that Aosta, near the Swiss border is a town worth visiting. Hopefully, next time!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11852 posts
Check out 36 Hours in Torino and try to see the Museo dell’Automobile . Wonderful exhibit centering on Fiat and the Italian motor industry from the 1890s forward.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I was in Torino for a few days last year using Lonely Planet's $5 chapter. My family particularly enjoyed the auto museum, and from there you can walk to a branch of the Eataly supermarket. A historian would love all the original documents and artifacts at the Risorgimento museum, but there's not much English translation. Egypt museum is world-class, and at the moment, not large, since I think they were doing some remodeling. The film museum is not a must-see, but I was glad I went.