Turin Walking Tour: A Self-Guided Route Through the Baroque City Center

Turin is one of Italy's most underrated cities, an elegant former royal capital of arcaded avenues, grand baroque squares and cafes where chocolate and coffee were perfected, all framed by the snow-capped Alps on the horizon. If you are planning a walking tour in Italy, this Turin self guided walking tour explores the stately center laid out by its royal dukes, from the great palace square through the finest baroque piazzas and elegant shopping streets to the soaring spire that has become the city's symbol, ending on the banks of the river. It is a graceful, aristocratic walk, largely sheltered by the famous porticoes that let you stroll for miles out of sun or rain.

Before you set off, a few practical notes. This walk covers about four to five kilometers and takes around two hours of easy strolling, entirely flat and much of it under Turin's celebrated arcades. Wear comfortable shoes and enjoy the shelter of the porticoes. Late afternoon is a lovely time to start, when the golden light catches the facades and the elegant cafes fill for the ritual aperitivo. If you are following along by audio, keep your eyes up on the grand architecture and the mountains beyond, watch for the trams crossing the squares, and pause whenever a cafe, an arcade or a piazza invites you to slow down.

Piazza Castello

You begin in Piazza Castello, the monumental heart of Turin, a vast square ringed by grand porticoes and dominated by a curious palace that shows two completely different faces, a medieval brick castle on one side and an ornate baroque facade on the other. Stand in the center of the great square and turn slowly to take it in, the arcaded buildings marching around the edges, the grand palaces, the theater, and the mountains sometimes visible down the long straight streets. This has been the seat of power in Turin for centuries, the square from which the royal city was planned and ruled. Elegant and expansive, it sets the tone for the whole walk. Take in the porticoes and the palaces. Then head to the northern side of the square, where a grand gateway and a screen of railings mark the entrance to the royal residence itself.

Palazzo Reale

The Palazzo Reale, the Royal Palace, was the official residence of the dukes and kings who ruled from Turin, a grand but restrained baroque palace whose plain exterior hides sumptuous royal apartments within. Pass through the ornate iron railings, topped with statues of mythical horse-taming twins, into the courtyard, and take in the long, dignified facade. This was the center of a royal court that eventually unified all of Italy, and the palace complex sprawls to include a library holding a famous self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, a royal armory, and gardens behind. Even from the courtyard you feel the quiet confidence of a ruling dynasty. Appreciate the grandeur of the royal seat. Then walk to the side of the palace, where the plain rear of a great church and its dome rise close by, sheltering one of Christianity's most mysterious relics.

Turin Cathedral

Turin Cathedral is a relatively simple Renaissance church of white stone, but it holds the most famous and controversial relic in the world, the Shroud of Turin, the length of linen said by some to bear the image of the crucified Christ. Step into the square beside the cathedral and take in its plain, dignified facade and the tall bell tower beside it. The precious shroud is kept locked away and only rarely displayed, but a photographic copy is usually on view inside, and a special chapel with a distinctive dark dome, visible from around the building, was built to house it. Nearby lie the scant remains of a Roman gate and theater, hints of the ancient town beneath. Reflect on the mystery held within these walls. Then head back through Piazza Castello and turn south down the grandest shopping street in the city, a long avenue entirely lined with arcades.

Via Roma

Via Roma is Turin's most elegant shopping street, a long, straight avenue running south from the castle square, lined the entire way with grand porticoes that shelter luxury boutiques, historic cafes and glittering shop windows. Stroll beneath the arcades, where the marble underfoot gleams and the columns march away in a long perspective, and you can walk the whole street sheltered from sun or rain, as the Turinese have done for generations. The street was rebuilt in a grand, uniform style, and its consistency gives it a stately elegance. Window-shop your way south, admiring the displays and the architecture. Partway along, the arcades open dramatically to reveal one of the most beautiful squares in all of Italy, a perfectly balanced baroque space that draws you in. Step out from under the porticoes into its grand openness.

Piazza San Carlo

Piazza San Carlo is the drawing room of Turin, one of the most harmonious baroque squares in Italy, a grand rectangular space framed by matching arcaded palaces and anchored by two near-identical churches standing side by side at its southern end like twins. In the center rises an equestrian statue of a duke, nicknamed the bronze horse by locals, raising his sword in triumph. Beneath the surrounding arcades sit some of the oldest and most famous cafes in the city, where the elegant tradition of coffee and chocolate was refined, their interiors all mirrors, marble and gilt. Walk into the middle of the square and turn to admire the perfect symmetry all around you. This is the heart of Turin's café society. Soak in the grandeur and perhaps the aroma of coffee. Then head east through the streets toward a towering spire that dominates the skyline, unlike anything else in the city.

Mole Antonelliana

The Mole Antonelliana is the unmistakable symbol of Turin, an extraordinary tower topped by a slender, needle-like spire that soars far above the rooftops, once one of the tallest brick buildings in the world. As you approach, it grows more improbable, a great domed base tapering to an impossibly thin pinnacle crowned by a star. Originally begun as a synagogue and later taken over by the city, it now houses a wonderful national cinema museum inside its cavernous vertical hall, and a glass elevator rockets visitors up through the middle to a viewing platform near the top for a panorama over the city and the Alps. Even from the street, its strange, soaring elegance is captivating. Crane your neck to follow the spire skyward. Then walk south a few blocks toward the river, where the streets open into one of the largest squares in the city, framing the water and the hills.

Piazza Vittorio Veneto

Piazza Vittorio Veneto is a vast, elegant square that slopes gently down toward the river, ringed by uniform arcaded buildings and opening at its far end to a magnificent view across the water to the green hills beyond. As you walk into it, the sense of space is grand, one of the largest arcaded squares in Europe, its porticoes sheltering rows of bars and cafes that make it a favorite spot for the evening aperitivo. The square frames a beautiful vista, drawing your eye across the bridge to a domed church rising on the far bank and the wooded hills climbing behind it. In the evening, this becomes one of the liveliest gathering places in Turin. Cross the great sloping square toward the river, taking in the framed view of the hills. At the bottom, you reach the embankment of the river that has shaped the city, the final stretch of your walk.

Po Riverfront

You finish on the Po Riverfront, the elegant embankment along the great river that curves past the eastern edge of the center, offering a tranquil, leafy contrast to the grand squares and arcades behind you. Walk along the tree-lined riverside, where rowers glide past on the green water, couples stroll, and the wooded hills of the far bank rise gently, dotted with villas and crowned by a grand basilica. Grand bridges span the river, and a beautiful classical church faces the water from the square you just left. The pace here is slow and restful, the city softening into nature at its edge. Find a bench along the embankment and watch the river slide by beneath the hills. After the baroque splendor of the center, this green riverside is a serene and fitting place to end, the elegant royal city easing gently down to the water.

Why Turin Is a Joy to Walk

Reaching the river, you have walked the length of Turin's stately center, from the royal palace square through its perfect baroque piazzas and arcaded avenues to the soaring Mole and the banks of the Po. Turin is a city made for walking, not least because of its miles of porticoes, which let you stroll from one grand square to the next sheltered from the weather, as the royal court once did. On foot you feel the deliberate elegance of a city that was planned as a stage for kings, each avenue framing a landmark or a glimpse of the Alps, and you notice the quiet pleasures a car would miss, the gleam of an old cafe, the aroma of chocolate, the mountains floating at the end of a long straight street. If you would like company for the next walk, open the Walk With Me map to find other walkers out exploring the city right now.