Big. Bold. Red.
One can hardly be blamed to indulge in a local offering of Barolo or Barbera, after all, with the Alps circling the border or the four rivers cutting up the City, to feel large as this rugged landscape, it takes a Nebbiolo.
Dear friends. Torino has a cure. Al Bicerin. Espresso with hot chocolate that runs about as thick as your choice of wine. This concoction, served in a glass, also wards off the cold and questions regarding one’s self esteem.
Remember the wine? Also remember that Torino is home to the second largest Egyptian art museum on the planet. Many people come to visit the Shroud of Turin, but the Egyptian art museum is among one of the best arranged and best explained natural history museums you can find. Big and bold are not always a match. The museum can be quite warm and crowded at times. Plan the wine after your visit to the museum.
Torino makes for a pleasant visit. You are invited by about 195 hotels, unlike a thousand to choose from in Firenze. A taxi from the airport is €40 to the city center (2026).
Trains from Milan and Genoa will drop you here, as well as internationally via France. There are two train stations, Porta Suza and Por
ta Nuova. A train will also deliver you from the airport to Porta Suza. Walking is “always” pleasant given 14 miles of colonnaded walkways spread throughout the City.
You are in Italy. Please don’t turn to me for history, but it is here and a ton of it and it surrounds the House of Savoy. You may be thinking that name is familiar with Italy’s Unification, but I cherish it because chocolate, as we now know it, was developed in Torino. (The House of Savory remains through the present.)
Gastronomically, this is among the best cities of the world, and I mean this bearing two criteria. Family owned and local restaurants are the norm, and they support regional cuisine. (In contrast, Milano or Roma have beautiful restaurants, which have largely been sold to entrepreneurs that fail to uphold quality or the tradition of meals in those regions as intended – and, don’t get me started on Venezia.) As your eyes start down a menu, and you see tarajin (thin egg pasta) or plin (a stuffed Agnolotti del Plin), you heard it here first. Think of me and toast me with your Nebbiolo when you don’t take a pass or have to ask the waiter what you may be ordering.
This is a wonderful walking city that retains its European charm. You will see farmers’ markets out all year long, families with dogs and strollers, public art and plenty of public transport to further your adventures.
Get your motor running. Turin is also the home of the legendary Fiat. As a result, you will also find (toward the south) the National Automobile Museum and more spectacularly the Pinacoteca Agnelli (founder’s art collection) with access to the historic rooftop test track, to, round out your visit….