Turin

Piazza Castello palaces to a Murazzi nightcap

Two days in Turin covers the Palazzo Reale and the Mole Antonelliana, home of the National Cinema Museum, on day one, and the Egyptian Museum on day two. Allow three hours for the Egyptian Museum. Evenings belong to aperitivo in the Quadrilatero Romano and a late drink on the Murazzi beside the Po.

Start the first morning at Piazza Castello with the Palazzo Reale, whose ticket also covers the Galleria Sabauda and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud. Stop for a bicerin at a café near Piazza Carignano, then spend the afternoon at the Mole Antonelliana: the National Cinema Museum fills the inside, and the glass lift takes you up to a terrace with the Alps behind the rooftops. In the evening, settle in for aperitivo in the Quadrilatero Romano.

On day two, be at the Egyptian Museum when it opens and allow three hours. After lunch, walk the arcades of Via Po down to the river, cross to the Gran Madre church and either stroll through Valentino park or ride the rack railway from Sassi up to the Basilica of Superga. Come back for a dinner of agnolotti and a glass of Barbera, then finish with a late drink on the Murazzi by the Po.

Bicerin, agnolotti and the Porta Palazzo stalls

Turin's signature tastes are agnolotti and tajarin pasta, vitello tonnato, bagna cauda in winter, gianduiotti chocolates and the bicerin, a layered drink of coffee, chocolate and cream. Shop in the morning at Porta Palazzo on Piazza della Repubblica, the city's vast open-air market, when the stalls are busiest.

Piedmontese cooking is rich and slow. Starters often include vitello tonnato, cold veal under a tuna and caper sauce, while tajarin and meat-filled agnolotti lead the pasta course. In winter, bagna cauda, a hot dip of anchovy and garlic, is shared from a pot at the table.

Sweet things matter too. Gianduiotti, the boat-shaped hazelnut chocolates, were first made here, and grissini sit on every table. The tap water comes down from the mountains, and the green bull fountains called turet are safe to drink from. Early evening is for aperitivo: order a drink and help yourself to the food set out on the bar.

To shop like a local, go to Porta Palazzo, a vast open-air market on Piazza della Repubblica, in the morning when the stalls are busiest. Then sit under the arcades of a historic café with a bicerin, the layered coffee, chocolate and cream drink the city claims as its own.

Venaria Reale, the Superga hill and Barolo country

The easiest trip from Turin is Venaria Reale, the UNESCO-listed Savoy hunting palace just north of the city, which fills a half day. The rack railway from Sassi climbs to the Basilica of Superga, and the Langhe hills around Alba, home of Barolo and Barbaresco, are best in autumn during the white truffle fair.

Venaria Reale, the Savoy hunting palace just north of the city, makes an easy half day. It is one of the royal residences on the UNESCO list, with restored state rooms and large formal gardens. Closer in, the Basilica of Superga sits on its hill east of the Po; the rack railway from Sassi climbs through the woods, and on a clear day the view takes in the whole Alpine arc.

For food and wine, head south to the Langhe hills around Alba, home of Barolo and Barbaresco. Autumn is the season to go, when Alba holds its white truffle fair and the vineyards turn red and gold. A car makes the wine villages far easier to reach. In winter, the ski resorts of the western Alps, which hosted events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, are close enough for a day on the slopes.

Savoy residences, the Mole and the Shroud chapel

Turin was the seat of the House of Savoy and the first capital of united Italy, from 1861 to 1865, and its royal residences have been on the UNESCO list since 1997, extended in 2010. The cathedral keeps the Shroud, the Egyptian Museum dates from 1824 and the Mole Antonelliana rises about 167 metres over the centre.

The Egyptian Museum describes itself as the oldest museum in the world devoted entirely to ancient Egypt. It was founded under King Charles Felix and holds more than 37,000 objects, so choose a few galleries and leave the rest for another visit.

The Mole was begun in 1863 as a synagogue and now houses the National Museum of Cinema; it also appears on Italy's 2-cent coin. Turin Cathedral was built between 1491 and 1498, and the Shroud rests in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which Guarino Guarini added from 1668 to 1694. The Shroud itself goes on public display only on rare occasions.

Filippo Juvarra built the Basilica of Superga from 1717 to 1731 to fulfil Victor Amadeus II's vow after the Battle of Turin, and its crypt holds Savoy tombs. In 1949 a plane carrying the Grande Torino team crashed into the rear wall, and Torino FC supporters still visit the memorial; their city derby against Juventus is called the Derby della Mole.

Porta Palazzo on Piazza della Repubblica covers 51,300 square metres and is billed as the largest open-air market in Europe. The arcades of Via Po were built in 1674, and Porta Susa, the international station, has high-speed trains to Paris.

Industry shaped the modern city: Fiat was founded here in 1899 and Lancia in 1906, and the 1902 Universal Exposition in Turin is often taken as the high point of Art Nouveau design.