Turin

Wednesday 15th April 2026,

All rested and refreshed we decided to walk into the city rather than get the bus or metro. Meg is allowed on them, but after quite a few days in the van we were all hankering after a good walk.

Exiting via the back gate of the campsite we walked through a wooded meadow. There are two fenced dog areas here too.

Meg was off lead and having a fun time tigger-jumping in the long grass. It was lovely to see.

The path lead us down to the River Po, busy with rowing teams of different numbers, and then on into the first of 2 parks. Along the way we passed the ancient castle, sadly but unsurprisingly for us, it was closed 😊.

By now we were in need of a coffee and luckily a few kiosks came into view, one of which was already open. Yay 😀.

All in all the walk the outskirts of the old town was about 1.5 hours (7km) but the parks made it very pleasant.


At the edge of the last park there was a small triumphal arch and a bridge adorned with amazing statues. The arch is a monument to the Italian Artillery Corps.

Turin has big ancient buildings, including Romanesque and Baroque styles with grand archways at junctions for vehicles to pass through. The roads are very wide and busy, as well as the usual cars and bicycles you also have to dodge the many trams and buses. As we have seen in other big cities the public transport proves very popular.

Today was a busy day for tourists, though we think it may be the same every day.


Our first stop was the most famous building, the Museum of Cinema. It has an amazing roof and spire and was once a synagogue. There were crowds of students and tour groups milling around, so after a quick pic – difficult as the area is quite built up, we moved on. Just around the corner there is a Broadcast and Radio Museum too, though the premises are not so elaborate.

Once again our tour guide app, mapmycity came in very useful.

Our next stop was to Castle Square, which houses the Savoy palace and Armory amongst others.

The Duomo has a chapel linking it to the Royal Palace. This houses the Turin Shroud, protected by a climate controlled case of glass. It’s not on public view.

From here we wandered round to the ancient, 1st century CE Palantine Gate. The best preserved in Italy. We thought it unusual in all it’s red brick glory rather than the usual stone.


Café Mulafsano was our stop for lunch. We had read about it in the guide from the campsite. A lovely, famous old place decked out in gorgeous deep brown wood and cute little chairs and tables outside. They make these delicious little sandwiches AND a cocktail – the Mugla Spritz. When in Rome or Turin 😁.

The sandwiches were rather tasty as was my cocktail and Gareth’s fresh peach juice.

Everywhere you look in Turin you find beauty tucked away. In the same arcade as Café Mulafsano is an amazing space housing some upmarket clothes stores and a cinema!


Onwards we headed to Piazza Carignano to see its gorgeous red brick Baroque Palace. This building housed the first Italian Parliament and saw the birth of royalty under its roof. The square is also famous for coffee and gelato.

And yes, we did partake, making Gareth very happy indeed 😊.

Finishing our visit was a walk down Rome Street, the fashionable shopping area, portico lined and now being fully pedestrianised.

We ended up in front of the lovely Metro Nuovo station but decided we needed to walk off some gelato excess so headed to the parks to start our meander back to the van.

Turin is a compact city with lots to see. We really liked it. All in all we walked just shy of 12 miles today 😇


Trip summary

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