Attractions

The tourist office sells an extremely worthwhile Torino+Piemonte Card for 19€, valid for one adult plus one child younger than 12. The card grants you 48 hours of free public transport within Turin; access to more than 160 museums, monuments, castles, royal residences, and the like; and discounts on car rentals, ski lifts, theme parks, concerts, and sporting events. The card is also available in 3-, 5 -, and 7-day versions. You can purchase the card at the tourist office at Piazza Castello; visit www.turismotorino.org for more information.

In December 2008, Turin welcomed a new museum: the Museo di Arte Orientale (Oriental Art Museum). Italian newspapers have already dubbed it one of Italy's best museums for Asian art.

Since 2006, when Turin hosted the Winter Olympics, the city has been doing an excellent job of converting its Olympic venues into long-lasting structures that continue to be used. The Palasport Olimpico (Olympic Arena), designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, was used for ice hockey competitions during the 2006 Olympics, but since then it has hosted performances by Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., the Harlem Globetrotters, Depeche Mode, and many of the events in the Settembre Musica festival. Check the Olympic Park website (www.torinolympicpark.org) for a list of upcoming events.

A Rare Glimpse: The Shroud of Turin -- The Shroud of Turin -- the garment that Christ was allegedly wrapped in when he was taken from the cross -- is scheduled to be on display in the Museo della Sindone in spring 2010 for the first time in a decade.

Parks & Piazzas

Piazza San Carlo, Turin's most beautiful square, is the city's outdoor living room, surrounded by arcaded sidewalks that house the terraces of the cafes for which Turin is famous. In the center is an equestrian statue of Duke Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, and facing each other at the northern end of the piazza is a pair of 17th-century churches, San Carlo and Santa Cristina. The overall effect is one of elegant harmony.

The Borgo e Rocca Medioevale (tel. 011-443-1701), built for Turin's 1884 world exposition, is a faithful reconstruction of a medieval village based on those in rural Piedmont and the Valle d'Aosta, with shops, taverns, houses, churches, and even a castle. The walk through the village is free, and pleasant enough, but since Piedmont and the rest of northern Italy are home to hundreds of bona fide fortresses, in the case of the Rocca, it's hard to find a good reason to pony up 5€ for a look around a make-believe castle.

The nearby Castello del Valentino is the real thing -- a royal residence, begun in the 16th century but completed in the 17th century for Turin's beloved Marie Christine ("Madama Reale," wife of Savoy king Vittorio Amedeo) as a summer residence. It's a sign of Madama's Francophile leanings that, with its sloping roofs and forecourt, the castle resembles a French château. Used as a school of veterinary medicine, a military barracks, and currently as a university facility, the castello is continually undergoing renovations, and much of it, including many frescoed salons, is open to the public only on special occasions.