My Italy - Walking Tour of Turin

Perhaps the best Turin Italy walking tour starts by the main station Porta Nuova – see photo above by Karl Baer - and heads on up the elegant Via Roma towards Piazza Castello.

Carry on up via Roma until you reach the seventeenth century Piazza San Carlo with it’s famous rearing horse with the Savoy Duke Filiberto in the saddle. The piazza is known as the "Drawing Room" of Turin, its elegance often compared to Place Vendôme in Paris. It is the hang-out of Piedmont's intellectuals and the rich and famous. Do pop into the wonderful but expensive Caffè San Carlo

Two gorgeous sixteenth century churches, the so-called "Twin Churches", look out on the piazza. One is the masculine San Carlo and the other the feminine Santa Cristina.

Carry on walking along the left side of Via Roma to Piazza Castello before returning back to Piazza San Carlo up the other side of the road – just so you don’t miss any of the expensive shops. Once you get back to Piazza San Carlo your wallet should be considerably lighter.

From Piazza San Carlo turn left into Via Maria Vittoria, this is a quite and very upmarket street lined with lovely art galleries and antique shops. Personally I would suggest rather doing your antique shopping at the market in Porta Palazzo – Piedmont's and indeed Europe’s largest open air market, far cheaper than the city centre and the site of the famous Balon flea market, held every Saturday morning and on the second Sunday of the month.

Along Maria Vittoria the church of San Filippo Neri is lovely. Built in 1675, it was restored by Juvarra after the dome collapsed. Opposite the church is Palazzo Carpano dating to 1684 and designed by Michelangelo Garove.

Now head back towards Piazza San Carlo and turn right just before the Piazza into Via Accademia delle Scienze, this street houses the 16th century Palazzo dell'Accademia delle Scienze (Academy of Science), and is home to two great Piedmont museums. The Egyptian Museum and the Sabauda Gallery. For more on Turin's museums visit our museum guide. Keep on this street until you get to Piazza Carlo Alberto and pass throught the piazza into the Galleria Subalpina built in 1873 by Pietro Carrera, who planned it as a bazaar.

At the end of the gallery where it opens onto Piazza Castello you will find another one of Turin’s legendary cafés the wonderful Turin liberty style Baratti & Milano. This is the place that invented the delicious Cremino chocolate – see picture. Chocolate this good you can’t buy outside of Piedmont – a few little towns in France and Belgium come close but don’t think the chocolate you buy in the UK, USA or anywhere else tastes as good, even if it comes from Belgium, Italy or France, it doesn’t. I despair when I’m not in Italy.

The walk is now done and I have gone off at a tangent, as I often do, about chocolate. So much for exploring Italy walking!! To find out more about Turin's great food and wine visit our Turin food and restaurant guide.

For another of our Italy walking options in Turin please click here.


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