Cappuccino Experience

Turin “The Undiscovered Gem”

A guest article by my parents who write about their recent stay in Turin and include useful websites that will help you plan a visit to this incredible city.

Less than a month ago we were enjoying the beautiful weather and culture of Turin. This was our fourth visit to this most attractive Italian city. We have visited most other Italian cities but Turin always remains our favourite, partly because it has less tourists than the others, even though it has much to offer in buildings, monuments, history and culture. It was the main city for the Savoy Royal Family, who later became the kings of a united Italy. Therefore there are so many palaces and collections connected with them, which the general public are fortunate enough to be able to visit with very little effort or expense, particularly if you purchase one of the Piemonte Cards, which entitles you for entrance into most of the palaces, museums, art galleries and on public transport.

Piemonte Cards can be bought for two, three or seven days, depending on how long you are staying in and around Turin. Our seven-day card cost 35 Euros and entitled us to see all the places of interest free of charge. We probably saved more than double that amount, even though we only used them for 5 days, having spent the other 2 days with our son, daughter-in-law and the extended Italian family in Cherasco and Bra. It was easy to buy these cards from the Tourist Information Office at the airport when we arrived and even entitled us to 25% off the fare for the airport bus into the city. The lady at the Tourist Information Office was very helpful in pointing out how useful this card would be and what it entitled us to. We were given a very useful book and a map giving us details of the 185 museums and cultural sites which we were entitled to visit free of charge. As we had a limited time we had to be selective as to where we could visit and arranged them in priority of choice. These included Palazzo Madama Museum, Palazzo Reale, The Mole lift and Museum, The Egyptian Museum, Royal Armouries Collection, Royal Library and The Sassi-Superga train to see the Basilica, tombs of the kings and Royal Apartments.

A Turin tram

The main purpose of our visit this time was to see the Exposition of The Shroud of Turin (known as La Sacra Sindone in Italy) at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist. Even though we had tickets to see The Shroud at 7.30 in the morning, we had to stand in line for an hour before entering the church where we were first shown a detailed film and explanation of the marks on The Shroud (unfortunately only in Italian). However we were given a prayer translated into different languages before we came in front of The Shroud which was in a glass case where we were allowed to stay and pray for approx. three minutes. The people were allowed on three different levels. Fortunately we were on the middle level, which proved to be the best for viewing “The Shroud”. Close to the Basilica there was an excellent Catholic repository where we were able to buy souvenirs of “The Shroud”. We felt privileged to be able to see the actual Shroud after reading so much about it, particularly a very detailed history in a book called “The Shroud” by Ian Wilson, who has been researching it for the past 50 years. We would recommend anyone interested in “The Shroud“ to read this book.

Discovering The Shroud (La Sacra Sindone)

Most people are aware that Italy has some of the most magnificent churches and Turin is no exception. The Basilica of St. John Bosco, which is the Motherhouse for the Salesian Congregation, is somewhere not to be missed with its wonderful chapels, repository, restaurants and rooms used by John Bosco himself. We also saw the body of the Saint in a glass coffin in the main chapel. It is evident that his work for the young and deprived children is now widespread through the world. It is like a place of pilgrimage, with crowds coming on bus tours from different places to see where St. John Bosco first began his mission for the children. Also there we saw an excellent display of the Shroud of Turin in negative, which showed up everything in detail. It was an excellent complex of buildings and you probably need a half-day to do justice in seeing them all. It isn’t difficult to get to either on public transport as it is on the Corso Regina Margherita. Also there is a Museum connected with Don Bosco in another part of the city at Viale Thovez. It is a Museum of Science and Natural History, exhibiting mineral and rock collections from all over the world as well as scientific equipment and about 5,000 specimens. There is no charge to see it and it is also a large high school during the week with almost a thousand students.

Basilica Maria Ausiliatrice, Valdocco

Our Piemonte cards proved invaluable to us, since we hardly spent anything else the whole time we were there, apart from food and buying souvenirs. The buses and trams are frequent and such an easy way to get around the city quickly and free with the Piemonte card. Beforehand we had downloaded and printed a transport map from the Internet, which was very useful for finding the direction of these trams and buses.

The Sassi to Superga

We did mention briefly the places, which we chose to visit, and it was a difficult decision, since there are so many to choose from. We left out those we had seen on previous visits, such as Santa Maria al Monte dei Cappuccini, which you have to get there by foot but well worth the effort when you reach the top with the panoramic view of the city, as well as a church and Exhibition centre. One place we had always wanted to visit was the Superga (one of the few places opened on Mondays). The little tram from Sassi took 20 minutes to go up to the Superga, which is the highest point in the area and the Basilica houses the tombs of the Savoy Royal Family. The scenery from the train is superb and when you reach the top you can climb the spiral stairs of the Copula for stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The Mausoleum also housed beautiful sculpture and a room which had paintings of every Pope from St. Peter to our present Pope Benedict XVI. There are also the apartments of the kings to visit but unfortunately we ran out of time, as they are guided tours which only take place at certain times of the day.

Superga

The other places which we visited closer to the town centre were the Palazzo Madama Museum, including ten centuries of magnificent Italian and European productions; Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), with the private rooms and apartments of the Savoy family; Egyptian Museum founded by the Savoy family and with the largest acquisitions outside Egypt; the Mole with its lift and Museum of the cinema from late 18th century to the present day. The trouble with the Mole is that the queues for the lift can be very long, especially at the weekend so we went into the Museum first which we found very interesting and returned at 10 AM the next morning to get the lift to the top when there were no crowds so we were able to enjoy the uninterrupted views from the top and didn’t feel that we should hurry down because of those waiting to ascend. There were also other places to visit in the centre such as the Royal Armouries, and Royal Library as well as a tour of the theatre at certain times when there are no performances. If you are feeling energetic a walk in the Parco Del Valentino is a must, with its medieval reproduction buildings and interesting shops selling quality souvenirs. It is also a good place for taking some photographs.

Palazzo Madama

Palazzo Reale

To this point we haven’t mentioned eating. You have to be careful about where you eat and drink because some places can be very expensive, particularly some of the more famous places like Baratti or Mulassano which are famous in Turin but if you would like to experience going there then like us just buy a coffee and stand at the bar. There are limits to the price that they can charge then. We had cappuccino for 1.30 Euros each, which would have been more than double if you had been sitting down. To avoid the high service charges there is a large self service Restaurant called “Brek”, which is close to the city centre and has very good food at reasonable prices. It is very popular and gets busy at lunchtime. One very good tip for the evening is to go for an “Aperitivo” at one of the many good bars, which offer a selection of buffet food when you purchase a drink. These vary in price and quality so it is best to see the food first before you decided to buy the drink, which costs in the region of 7 Euros. The food at some of these bars is excellent and you can get quite full on just a selection of this food. The Aperitivos usually begin at 7PM, which is also the time at which the restaurants re-open for the evening meals.

Coffee time (standing of course!)

Spending 5 days in Turin wasn’t enough time to do all that we would have liked but we did see more this time than on previous visits. We also had the most wonderful time with our son, his wife and their relatives, because the Piemonte countryside is so beautiful. They used to live in Turin but now that they are in Cherasco we are able to see more of that area. They took us to La Morra, which is close to Cherasco and the highest point in the area so we could see a panorama of beautiful countryside. Piemonte really is scenic and we think that it is the most beautiful part of Italy so close to the Alps. We would certainly recommend people to visit Turin and see for themselves just how easy it is to see so much in a city, which offers everything, including sunshine. Rest assured that we shall certainly be returning to continue where we have left off, as there will always be something left for us to see.

La Mole

Useful Websites for Turin

Click title to visit the website.

AIRPORT Excellent site. Very good plan of the airport with map showing all levels. Provides information as to where to find the Tourist Information, where to buy b coach tickets and where to board the coach.

AIRPORT COACH TO CITY Sadem coaches. All the information you need to take the coach into Turin.

PIEMONTE CARD Provides all the information about this excellent value for money card. Can be bought at the airport and commences as soon as you fill in the date and time. Comes with a pack including a map of Turin and a booklet with information on all benefits included.

ROUTE PLANNER Useful site for calculating route, either walking or on public transport.

WIKITRAVEL Useful information on getting around Turin.

TORINO IS BEAUTY AND PASSION Useful information on sightseeing trips and passes.

BASILICA OF SUPERGA Included in the Piemonte Pass. Take the bus no. 61 or 68 from Porta Nuova or the No 15 tram to Sassi. The Superga tram is a bus on Tuesdays

MAP OF TURIN A useful web tool.

USEFUL INFORMATION ON ATTRACTIONS

LINK TO TRANSPORT MAP Very useful map to download (9Mb) showing all the transport routes for trams, buses and the metro in Turin. The central area can be printed and is most useful when travelling around Turin.

TRANSPORT INFORMATION English Version provided by Gruppo Torinese Transporti. Everything you need to know about travelling around Turin on public transport.

Mr Cappuccino with his dad, mum and brother

Gallery

Please enjoy a selection of the photos taken during our stay.