The German writer and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche described Turin as 'a princely residence of the seventeenth century ... aristocratic calm is preserved in everything; there are no nasty suburbs'. Well he was writing a century and a half ago, and since then the rise of the automotive industry has seen to it that Torino has suburbs aplenty ... and all those Fiat workers are neither princes nor aristos. And yet, this busy, sometimes traffic-clogged city retains much of the charm that pulled the writers and thinkers of the Victorian age here. Its baroque streets, rococco palazzi and splendidly over the top churches can still beguile. And Torino's fin-de-siecle cafes are unbeatable for that typically Italian breakfast of a strong coffee and a light, warm pastry.
Historically, Turin was the seat of the Dukes of Savoy. Much more than mere dukes of course, they eventually became the de facto royal family of Italy, swallowing up Sardinia and ruling a kingdom that straddled the northern borders into France. The city went into some decline when the capital was moved to Rome after Unification, but World War I, when Turin saw food shortages and riots, was something of a turning point. Fiat was the engine that drove the population up (between 1870 and 1950 it rose from 200,000 to 700,000), though much of the workforce were poor immigrants, living in shoddy flats ringing the city, little better than a shanty town.
Today Turin thrives on textiles and fashion, publishing and banking, and the old Baroque centre, a manageably small grid, offers much to the visitor. Head north from Turin into the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso and thence north to Mont Blanc, or south into Le Lange. Bordering Switzerland, France and of course the Alps, skiing is on your doorstep.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Turin hotels.
