Turin Travel Guide: 3-Day Itinerary

Day 1

Torino is the capital of the Piedmont region in Northern Italy, and even though you can find stunning and very old architecture and a lot of rich history here, it is not such a touristic city, so tourist traps are not common.

It actually reminded me of Bogotá (my hometown) in certain ways, only here the streets were built to fit in a perfect grid and actually make sense.

You might need to move around what I recommend for your first day based on what time you arrive. If you arrive mid-afternoon though, my schedule should work perfectly for you.

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Check-in at your hotel

The very first thing you'd want to do if possible is to check into your hotel and drop your bags. I didn't stay in a hotel as I stayed with a friend, but based on his teachings and my eager eye for neighborhoods, I would recommend you look for a place right in the center.

I recommend any of these 3 based on your budget:

• Budget Stay: Casin Piccin al Cuor 'd Turin: You'll be right at the train station here, so if you plan to use Turin as your base to do some day trips in the area or you're arriving late or leaving early, this studio apartment is a good choice.
• Mid-Tier Stay: Golden Eagle: There are a handful of different apartments to choose from in this complex, ranging in size, decor, and price per night. It's near the train station as well but heading towards the center.
• Luxury Stay: Residence Cloud 9: For those that want a more local feel to their space while still being centrally located, this pet-friendly one-bedroom apartment is a great choice. It's recently renovated and well-furnished.

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Stroll around the city center

Compared to other cities like Venice or Florence, Torino has a bit of a big city vibe, with its graffiti and predominant cement alleys. I wasn't expecting Torino to look so urban, as I'm now getting used to the charm that most cities in Italy are still able to maintain, regardless of size.

While there are some grand boulevards and parts that give it the air of an elegant city, in general, it's more urban than anything else.

To get yourself acquainted with the city, I recommend you take yourself on a mini walking tour before dinner. A good place to start is the city center, so make your way to Piazza Castello and start strolling around.

You will find yourself in the middle of a thousand years old square (built around 1st century AD) which houses the Palazzo Madama, a giant 4 floors art museum. Love museums? On Day 2 I'll share some other options.

Once you have your fix of old things, you can make your way towards via Giuseppe Garibaldi, a bustling shopping street perfect for strolling.

Hungry yet? It's about time you start looking for some good local Italian food but before you do, it's good that you know there's a lot more than pasta in Torino.

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Pasta is good, but have you had raw meat before?

Although you can find all the famous dishes Italy is known for here, I always recommend you try the local delicacies. Trust me, each city in Italy offers a completely different cuisine than the next. From Rome to Bologna, get ready to eat your heart out while in Italy.

Italians have a beautiful tradition of drinks and snacks before dinner called aperitivo, and to start your culinary experience, opt for a local popular: the Vitello tonnato (Sliced veal with a creamy tuna sauce) and wine or beer.

The typical pasta in Torino is agnolotti del plin, small ravioli-like pasta stuffed with beef and cabbage, served with butter and cheese sauce. It's very good indeed, but the best food in the Piedmont region however is not pasta.

People here really like to eat meat, so much so that sometimes they can't wait for it, so they eat it raw. Nothing unsanitary, of course, but very much uncooked.

Since it's your first day in Torino and likely your first time feasting on raw meat, I recommend you try some of these raw antipasti. Even better if you are with a group of friends, as several restaurants offer a platter of them.

The quality of the meat is fundamental for the success of these dishes and, once I got the courage to try it, I quite liked them. A few local delicacies of raw meat to try are:

• Battuta a coltello di Fassona piemontese: Piedmontese beef tartare with a touch of olive oil. At first it just takes a bit of courage, if it's your first time eating raw meat, but then you'll find yourself going for another bite.
• Salsiccia di Bra: This veal sausage is a favorite among locals for aperitivo. Bra is the region where this cylinder of raw goodness was created back in the 16th century. Eating it raw or with just a bit of lemon juice is the best way to appreciate the mix of herbs, meat, and wine.

Fun fact: Salsiccia di Bra might be the only Italian food ever protected by a royal decree. The exact recipe for salsiccia di Bra is a closely guarded secret of the Consorzio Macellai Braidesi - Consorzio Salsiccia di Bra or Consortium for the Protection and Enhancement of Bra Sausage (not kidding, look it up!), which preserves the region's rich butcher traditions. However, certified producers reveal that the secret lies in achieving the perfect balance of meat, white wine, and local herbs.

I personally am not a wine person, so my personal selection of them is quite limited. Nevertheless, I found a red wine common in Torino that is now included as one of my preferred ones, the Barolo.

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Day 2

After hopefully a good night's rest, it's time for another great day in Turin, Italy. Since this is the only full day you'll have in the city, we're going to take full advantage.

Let's dive right in.

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Start the day with something sweet

Similar to most other Italian regions, breakfast here is simple: a good coffee served with a pastry on the side. Now, be advised dear reader, everyone out there is going to recommend you go to Baratti & Milano because what are you doing if you don't. Yes, it's an iconic cioccolateria (chocolate shop) that is rooted in Turin's history and one of the "gems of the city", and I also wanted to try it. Until I saw the line.

I'm not here to tell you not to go, but if you'd rather not spend your day in a queue, there is no shortage of cafes and bars to choose from.

We went for a locally acclaimed place, Farmacia del Cambio at Piazza Carignano. This place is hard to describe with words other than "if you like sweets, come here." Everything is made to make you crave it, all the pastries and mini cakes look like little works of art.

If I were to recommend something specific for your first time, it would be a bicerin coffee with the "king of Italian chocolates", the gianduiotto.

I have a soft spot for sweets, so when I heard the descriptions of both of these things I knew it would be a problem. The bicerin is a blend of espresso, hot chocolate and frothed milk.

"Don't mix it!" the waitress was quick to point out, "just drink it." There's always rules when it comes to Italian food and drink.

As for the gianduiotto, you can find them everywhere in Torino and they come in different presentations. You can even buy them packed to take back home as fantastic souvenirs. But the Farmacia has its own version. I'm not going to try and convince you to try it, but I will leave their own description here for you: crunchy base of IGP hazelnuts and milk chocolate, gianduia mousse, anise, Bavarian cream, and blackberry jelly. Do with that information what you will.

When you have a sweet tooth and are in Torino, your sugary senses will probably be a little overwhelmed by the amount of goods everywhere. While you don't need to go here unless you're as intrigued as I was, when in Turin, you have to start your day with a coffee and chocolate.

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Soak up Torino's history

Did you know that back in the 19th century Torino used to be the capital of Italy before Rome?

There is a lot happening inside of Torino and outside as well. This city is packed to the brim with history, and if you are a fan of all things old, you are in for another kind of treat.

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Museums galore

If you are into museums, you just hit gold my friend, Torino has plenty of them, including:

• The Automobile Museum, or Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile
• The cinema museum which is inside Mole Antonelliana; Turin's most iconic building (you should check out the building, even if you don't care about seeing Darth Vader's helmet on display)
• Musei Reali, which features Italian paintings from the 14th–18th centuries
• The second biggest Egyptian museum in the world after Cairo, the Museo Egizio
• There's even a coffee museum for crying out loud!

Parts of the city itself could be considered a giant open air museum. Want proof? Go to Porta Palatina, a giant gate with two towers that goes all the way back to Roman times.

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What would Jesus do?

I'm personally not into churchy things, and I was sent to a all boys catholic school run by Franciscan priests (I know), but if you are, you can check out Cappella della Sacra Sindone (Chapel of the Holy Shroud) which houses ...drums please🥁... the holy shroud.

Believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, the shroud is not always on display for preservation purposes but the next scheduled viewing is in 2025 for the Jubilee Year. In 2025, Italy is expecting to see a huge amount of tourists, so keep that in mind when you plan to come and see the holiest of all clothes.

If you're into catholic mythology, I'm sure you don't need me telling you to go. But even if you aren't religious, the inside of the building is a stunning showcase of classical Italian architecture.

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Historical day trip

And that is only inside the city. If you're up for a day trip outside of Turin, you're in for something really unique in Superga.

If you are a fan of both history and football (yes, football, it's not soccer) you might have heard about the story of The"Grande Torino", a football club in the 1940's so good that they won the Italian championship 5 consecutive times. They were so good that they even won a match without playing it (their accumulated points were enough to win).

You might also know that the entire team died tragically in a plane crash in 1949 when it crashed into the back of the Basilica of Superga.

I didn't go to Superga as it's about 20 minutes by car ride from the city center, although you can also see it from the city, especially if you look for it at night. The Basilica has some halo shaped lights turned on at the back as an homage for every player from Grande Torino that died in the crash. I was able to spot the lights from Turin, which you could do too if you don't have the time to go to Superga.

But, if you're up for the day trip, that isn't all the Basilica has to offer, as the building itself is an impressive landmark and I hear the views are stunning from up there.

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What I actually did

I ended up deciding for the old Fiat Factory. You can find it at the Lingotto building which was turned into a mall. The place has a private car circuit on the roof, which is where they used to test the vehicles fresh out of assembly.

I chose this one because I thought it was very clever to repurpose the entire building into modern times without losing its history.

They only charge you €2 to see the circuit, but you'll need to pay more to visit the museum inside.

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The way to a man's heart is definitely through his stomach

At this point your head must be full of history, but the abdominal department is surely asking for some attention.

Two options for lunch, one place.

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Mercato Porta Palazzo

If you want to buy your own ingredients for lunch at the largest open-air fruit and vegetable market in Europe, head to Mercato Porta Palazzo. It operates daily from 8 AM to 2 PM.

Many restaurants in Turin get their fresh ingredients from here and you can too, but keep in mind that this is very much an Italian-preferred environment as there's a lot of movement, so be ready to say "pomodoro" and "formaggio" if you want your fresh tomatoes and cheese.

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Mercato Centrale Torino

If you rather sit down and recuperate from the long walk while waiting for your food, next to the outdoor market, there's the Mercato Centrale Torino.

Think of it as a mall's food court that took over the entire mall, because food!

This magical indoor space features communal tables and a lot of local restaurants where you can choose from. Pasta, grilled and smoked meats (locally known as arrosto), fish, bread, you name it. It also has a coffee bar, a beer house, a cooking school, and 20+ artisan shops.

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You earned some free time

Because I believe in doing whatever you want, you have the rest of the day to do just that. Torino is a bit rough around the edges, but it's still a very "walkable" city, so go ahead and wander around.

You might find a cool coffee shop (there's too many to even start a list), stroll the number of shopping streets, and enjoy an aperitivo or two.

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What's for dinner?

Torino has a not surprisingly high number of great restaurants to choose from. Anyone that tells you that they know the best restaurant in town is lying to you as so many are delicious, so I'm just going to share the one I went to: Il Deposito.

As a general rule in Italy, dinner time starts at around 7 pm and you need to have a reservation, especially between Thursday and Sunday. So gather some courage, pick up your phone and say:

Salve! Una prenotazione per due (2, or the amount of people) alle ore diciannove 19 (or time you want. We use military time here, so 7 pm is 19 hours).

Congratulations! You're eating tonight.

Carlos and I had:

• Preti Liguri for antipasto: Cooked cabbage stuffed with fish and veggies.
• Risotto con cachi e gorgonzola naturale: Delicious risotto with persimmon and Gorgonzola cheese.
• Tagliolini con fegatini di pollo: Pasta with cornmeal and chicken livers.
• Agnolotti del plin con la nocciola for dessert: A spin on tiny ravioli, only this time they were stuffed with hazelnuts and bathed in a sweet sauce.

After a good dinner, it's normal to have a little digestive drink, or digestivo, called amaro. Although it literally translates to "bitter", it's a semi sweet drink and, as its name suggests, it helps to digest the food. It's quite good.

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Day 3

Depending on how much time you have left, use the rest of my Turin city guide where possible. If you have the time, I have a pretty big day 3 for you as well.

Torino is best appreciated by foot, so if you're up for it, there's still a couple more places to cover your bases. If you don't want to carry your bags around after check-out you can use a service like RadicalStorage to store them for you for the day.

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(More) coffee and (more) pastries

I'm sure by now you have spotted one or more coffee shops that you want to try, to that I say go for it! There's an incredibly small chance you go wrong, but if you can't make up your mind about where to sit, do as I did and take it to go.

About what to choose, you have sweet breads, pastries, tarts, mini cakes... but if you want to feel trendy, go for the cube. You might have seen an interesting looking pastry shaped in a cube. This decadent geometrical marvel is called in Italian cubo (very fitting) and it's basically a different take on a filled croissant.

The cubo made its way to the top on social media and represents the pastries of Torino online. I tried several different fillings; crema (cream), nocciola (hazelnut), cioccolato bianco (white chocolate), and honestly you can't go wrong with any of them.

Now, time for a walk.

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A walk in the medieval park

There's two important rivers that go through the city, the Po and the Dora, and people here like them so much that they made statues for them.

You can see their "souls" immortalized as humans in stone in front of the amazing Piazza San Carlo. After you see their statues, you can make your way to the actual River Po and travel back in time to the 15th century at Parco del Valentino.

Torino has a lot of green spaces that you can visit, and one of the most famous ones is Borgo Medievale at the Valentino Park.

Originally constructed for an international exhibition to highlight 15th-century craftsmanship, the Borgo Medievale is a faithful replica of a 15th-century castle, designed for educational purposes. However, when I visited a big part of it was under construction and I couldn't give it a good peep, but from the distance it looked quite impressive.

No 15th century experience this time for me but I encourage you to check it out. I did enjoy the astounding park. So lush and beautiful, it's definitely a place you want to spend some time at. I recommend you take some time to appreciate the Fontana dei dodici mesi (Fountain of the 12 months) which is a remarkable monument from the 19th century that represents each month with a statue of a woman.

This is a great time to take things slowly, just walk around and contemplate the surroundings...

Time for lunch already?

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A pizza slice a day...

Makes me happy, ok?

Today is pizza for lunch. The typical pizza from Torino is called padellino, which is very different from the usual pizza, so be prepared to be "surprised".

What makes padellino (frying pan) so different is that when the pizza goes in the oven the dough sits on top of a little iron pan, resulting in a crispy crunchy base and edges but soft and fluffy in the middle. You still can find pizza in Naples or Roman style, but after what you just read... is that what you really want?

For my fix of padellino, I went to Cecchi. Cecchi is good. Not only do they know what they are doing with their pizzas, they also offer a local favorite: the farinata, also known as the belecauda (pretty and hot). Baked cuts of garbanzo beans and flour thick tortillas that will make you wonder why you have never had them before.

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You've got to slow down

The last day is coming to an end and what a better way to say goodbye to the birthplace of Slow Food. And before the food nerds take out their forks, the Slow Food movement technically started in Bra back in 1986 when the first McDonald's opened in Rome, but close enough and still Piedmont!

Anyways. Take a slow afternoon by going for a beer in front of river Po and just enjoy the views surrounded by nature. There are a couple of places to do this, but I really liked Valentino Park so we went back there to a place called Imbarchino.

Simple, chill, and the perfect way to wrap up your 3 days in Turin, Italy.

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The vibe of Turin

I started thinking about what to write about Torino on the train back to Trieste and I couldn't help it but compare it in my head again to Bogotá and how it compares to other famous, more tourist-centric cities in Colombia.

I love Bogotá but I would be lying if I tell you that I think Bogotá is prettier than Medellin, or more fun than Cartagena.

It's a very cool place when you know what it has to offer outside of typical food and the biggest church. You have to know what you're looking for. And that's exactly how I felt about Turin.

It's likely you will find content about this city online calling it "underrated" and a place you should see, and it might be true but to really appreciate it, it's best if you know about it first. While many of my favorite cities in Italy are pretty easy to just hit the ground running in and walk around, seeing what you can spot, you have to work a little harder for it here.

I have lived in Italy for about two years now and have seen a lot of the country, and while I liked Torino, I can also understand if you don't. If you were expecting to compare it to the likes of Florence or Rome, you could say that the city lacks luster and kind of falls into the category of "just a big city".

And you could be right, it could be that Torino isn't as romantic as its Italian counterparts, but it compensates its looks with character, and I respect that. A lot of what makes Italy a great country started here and still happens here.

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How will you spend your 3 days in Turin?

So, there you have it. A big, old, flavorful city full of history that certainly knows its roots and what it stands for.

If you can swing it, you definitely need more than three days to say that you got to know everything it has to offer, and I for one would like a round 2 against the gianduiotto.

Whether you choose to eat as much as possible, check off the museums, or simply wander around a city most tourists skip, I hope you enjoy your time in Torino.