Turin City Guide

Piazza Castello, Museo Egizio & Mole

From Piazza Castello with Palazzo Madama and its arcades into the Savoy royal residence, then down Via Roma to Piazza San Carlo and its historic cafés. On to the Museo Egizio, the largest Egyptian collection outside Cairo, and in the afternoon up the panoramic lift inside the Mole Antonelliana. If you still have energy, add the viewing balcony of Monte dei Cappuccini above the Po.

1. Piazza Castello – The walk starts on the square the Savoys built their capital around. In the middle stands Palazzo Madama - a medieval castle at the back, a dazzling white Baroque façade by Filippo Juvarra at the front. The arcades continue on all sides; Turin has around 18 kilometres of them, so you can cross the city almost dry in the rain. The city's main axes radiate from here: Via Roma south, Via Po to the river, Via Garibaldi west.
2. Palazzo Reale – On the north side of the square stands the Savoy royal residence, UNESCO World Heritage since 1997. One ticket covers several buildings: the state rooms with throne hall and mirror gallery, the Royal Armoury with one of the world's most important arms collections, the Galleria Sabauda picture gallery and Guarino Guarini's Chapel of the Holy Shroud with its dizzying stone dome. The Royal Gardens lie behind. Allow proper time - rushing through doesn't work here.
3. Piazza San Carlo – Locals call this square their drawing room: a strictly symmetrical Baroque space with twin churches at the south end and the equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto in the middle, known in dialect simply as the "Caval ëd Brôns". Under the arcades sit the city's historic cafés, Caffè Torino and Caffè San Carlo, with stucco, mirrors and prices from another era. Order a bicerin, the Turin layering of espresso, drinking chocolate and cream. It was actually invented a few streets away, at Caffè Al Bicerin by Piazza della Consolata.
4. Museo Egizio – The heart of the day: founded in 1824, the Museo Egizio is the world's oldest museum devoted to ancient Egypt and, after Cairo, the largest collection anywhere. Four floors of sarcophagi, papyri and complete tomb assemblages, among them the almost untouched tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit, plus the darkened Gallery of Kings with its pharaoh statues. Book a timed ticket in advance or you'll queue. And take the audio guide or a tour - without one you lose the thread in all that material. Allow two and a half to three hours.
5. Mole Antonelliana & Cinema Museum – 167 metres tall, begun as a synagogue and pushed ever higher by Alessandro Antonelli - today the Mole is Turin's landmark and even appears on the Italian 2-cent coin. Inside sits the National Cinema Museum: you lie back on red loungers in the vast hall watching films, while a ramp spirals up around you through the history of cinema. The glass panoramic lift rises straight through that hall to 85 metres in a little over a minute, and from the top you look across the rooftops to the Alps. Closed Tuesdays, and the lift needs its own ticket - book it ahead.
6. Monte dei Cappuccini – If you still have the energy, add this viewing balcony: across the Po bridge, then 10 to 15 minutes uphill to the church of Santa Maria al Monte. From the terrace in front, the whole city lies at your feet - the Po in the foreground, the Mole in the middle, the Alpine chain closing it off on clear days. The National Mountain Museum sits right next door. It's at its best in the last hour before sunset, when the façades turn warm.