Head straight for wide, open Piazza Castello square's armoury and art museums, royal palaces and churches on your first trip to Turin. Take in the Turin Shroud at the Duomo di San Giovanni cathedral close by. Stop for a hot chocolate in the famously decadent coffee houses on Via Roma. Then visit Baroque palaces built by the House of Savoy and wander alongside the River Po. Dine amid the gilt mirrors and chandeliers of Turin's highly regarded restaurants.
Turin's grand grid of Neoclassical streets and sequence of squares leads north from Porta Nuova Railway Station. Follow the wide covered walkways along Via Roma to Piazza Castello square. This is the suitably impressive former hub of the House of Savoy, dominated by the Madama Palace, home to the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art, and the 17th-century Royal Palace. Or take the streets leading east, down to the River Po's riverside walkways and huge Piazza Vittorio Veneto square.
Enjoy the walk along Via Roma to Turin's sightseeing hub, Piazza Castello square, home to several museums, but make sure you stop to window-shop or relax at a cafe along the way. Browse the medieval and Renaissance art at Madama Palace, and regal furnishings and armaments at the Royal Palace. Take a walk through the gardens behind the Royal Palace, landscaped by Le Nôtre, who also designed the gardens at Versailles. Visit the Cathedral where the Turin Shroud is housed, and check out the Egypt Museum's amazing collection of Egyptian statues and artefacts.
Brush up on your history at the Italian Risorgimento Museum, site of united Italy's first parliament in 1861, near Piazza Castello square. See great 20th-century artworks at Turin's Modern Art Gallery and some classy cars, including plenty of locally produced Fiats, at the Automobile Museum. Take the lift to the top of the Mole Antonelliana building for stunning views of Turin and the Italian Alps. Back on the ground, enjoy the clips and memorabilia of the National Film Museum. Round it off with a walk in the gardens beside the River Po.
