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Voykit pocket guide · Italy
Turin
Torino
Give Turin 2 nights: one for the Savoy palaces and museums, one for the arcades, cafés and the Mole. Skip it as a base for the Alps — that's a separate trip.
Turin is Italy's first capital and the Savoy dynasty's baroque showpiece: 18 km of arcaded streets, five UNESCO-listed royal residences in the city and nine more across Piedmont. It is a working northern city, not a museum town, so the sights sit among offices, trams and aperitivo bars. Two nights covers the centre on foot; three lets you add a royal palace or the mountains.
- Country
- Italy
- Local name
- Torino
- Best months
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (humid, 30 °C+), late Dec (cold, fog)Jul–Aug (humid, 86 °F+), late Dec (cold, fog)
- Stay
- 2–3 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
- Daily spend
- Budget €60–90 excl. bed · Mid €110–170 excl. bed · High €220+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
- Emergency
- All emergencies 112 · Police 113 · Ambulance 118
- Plugs
- Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
- Tipping
- Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
- Water
- Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
- Toilets
- Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Espresso at the bar | €1.20–1.50 |
| Cappuccino | €1.50–2 |
| Aperitivo drink with buffet snacks | €8–12 |
| Pizza or pasta in a trattoria | €9–16 |
| Museum entry | €10–18 |
| GTT 100-minute ticket | €2 |
| Taxi, 5 kmTaxi, 3.1 mi | €12–18 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- TRN · Turin Airport (Caselle)
- 15 km north; train to Porta Susa about 19 min, bus 40–55 min9.3 mi north; train to Porta Susa about 19 min, bus 40–55 min
- MXP · Milan Malpensa
- Direct SADEM coach to Porta Susa, about 2 h
- LIN · Milan Linate
- Reach via Milan Centrale, then high-speed train
- BGY · Milan Bergamo
- Reach via Milan, then train
Typical fares
- TRN airport → Porta Susa, train
- about €4, 19 min (check)
- TRN airport → centre, bus
- about €8 single, 40–55 min (check)
- Taxi airport → centre
- about €36–40 fixed (check)
- Turin → Milan, Frecciarossa
- about €28, 50 min (check)
Get around
The centre is flat and arcaded, so walk it: Piazza Castello to Porta Nuova is about 20 min. GTT runs buses, trams and one driverless metro line (Linea 1, Lingotto–Fermi via Porta Nuova and Porta Susa). Buy and validate a ticket before boarding; a 100-minute ticket covers buses plus one metro ride. Taxis wait at the stations and at Via Sacchi; book with the WeTaxi app rather than hailing.
See and do
Known for
- Savoy palaces and the UNESCO royal residences
- Mole Antonelliana and the cinema museum
- Egyptian Museum
- Arcaded streets and historic cafés
- Aperitivo and gianduja chocolate
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Venaria Reale | GTT bus from Porta Susa or the Venaria Express, about 30 min | About 45 min |
| Superga | Tram 15 to Sassi, then the rack railway | About 1 h |
| Stresa and the Borromean Islands | Train to Stresa, about 1 h 30 min, then boat | About 2 h |
| Biella | Train via Santhià, about 1 h 30 min | About 2 h |
| Ivrea | Train toward Aosta, about 1 h | About 1 h 15 min |
| Novara | Regional train from Porta Nuova, about 1 h | About 1 h 15 min |
Sleep
- Centro / Piazza Castello
- Palaces, Egyptian Museum and arcades on foot; quietest at night, priciest.
- Porta Nuova
- Main station, metro, airport bus; good for one night with bags.
- San Salvario
- South of Porta Nuova; bars, cheap eats, 10 min walk to the centre.
- Vanchiglia / Piazza Vittorio
- Riverside aperitivo strip, Mole views, 15 min walk to Piazza Castello.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Good morning | Buongiornobwon-JOR-no |
| Please / Thank you | Per favore / Grazieper fa-VO-reh / GRAH-tsyeh |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa?KWAN-to KOS-ta |
| The bill, please | Il conto, per favoreeel KON-to per fa-VO-reh |
| Can I pay by card? | Posso pagare con la carta?POS-so pa-GA-reh kon la KAR-ta |
| Where is the toilet? | Dov'è il bagno?do-VEH eel BA-nyo |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
- Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
- Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
- Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
- Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
- Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
- Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly
Scams and watch-outs
- Validate your ticket on boarding: the on-the-spot fine is €25.
- Trams, scooters and cars treat red lights loosely — look twice at crossings.
- Restricted-traffic (ZTL) cameras cover the old town: don't drive in.
- Museums close one weekday (often Monday) and many shut 13:00–14:00: check each site.
- Turin's aperitivo is generous but not free — you pay for the drink, food comes with it.
Turin is a safe big city by day; the real annoyances are pickpockets on packed trams and around Porta Nuova, and late-night drink spiking in San Salvario and Vanchiglia. Keep bags zipped, avoid the Porta Palazzo and station edges after dark, and you'll be fine.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Turin yet. Suggested stay: 2–3 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Savoy palaces and the UNESCO royal residences
- Mole Antonelliana and the cinema museum
- Egyptian Museum
- Arcaded streets and historic cafés
- Aperitivo and gianduja chocolate
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Turismo Torino — official tourist board: www.turismotorino.org/
- GTT — Turin public transport: www.gtt.to.it/cms/en/
- Turin Airport: www.aeroportoditorino.it/en
- Trenitalia — Torino–Ceres airport line: www.trenitalia.com/en/services/torino-caselle-airport.html
- Wikivoyage: Turin, revision 5329091 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5329091
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
TurinTorino
A questo indirizzo, per favore
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
The US has a consulate in Turin (check the address); most other countries: consulates in Milan, embassies in Rome.
Tipping is not expected; a coperto (cover charge) of €1–3 a person is normal on the bill.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/turin). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.