Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
or design firms—most frequently
il grande
Fiat itself (usually once a month), but
also one of a quartet of pen makers (from Aurora's classy engraved fountain pens
to Lecce Pen's famous biodegradable ballpoint) as well as a trio of top-notch
design firms. These include Bertoni (designing Fiats and Lancias since the
1920s—not to mention cars for MG, Maserati, Aston Martin, BMW, Volvo,
Ferrari, and the incomparable Lamborghini Countach), Giugiaro (a firm that
helped assemble the winning Olympic bid), and Pinin Farina (their 1947
Cisalpino high-bullet train was the first vehicle ever honored by New York's
MoMA as one of the “eight wonders of our time”).
The tourist office runs intriguing
themed walking tours on Saturday
evenings
(book ahead;
%
011-535181; www.turismotorino.org;
€
6 each).
Among the themes are a “Tasty Turin” tour of historic cafes. “Literary Turin” visits
places where Nietzsche, De Amicis, and Alfieri lived. “Turin is Cinema” highlights
film locations around town; “Aperitif under the Mole” is a stroll to cafes and funky
bars to sample Turin's famous pre-meal alcoholic innovation, the aperitif; and
“Walks Under Artist's Lights” visits locations where you can admire Turin's contem-
porary art. All tours are in Italian, English, and French, and depart at 6pm from the
Atrium info pavilion on Piazza Solferino. Oddly, and unfortunately, the “Your First
Time in Turin” Saturday morning tours are done only in Italian (the tour is in two
halves: a 10am city tour and an 11:30am Egyptian Museum tour; do either for
€
6
or both for
7). Holders of the Torino Card get 20% to 25% off all tours.
Somewhere
(
%
011-6680580; www.somewhere.it),
a private tour agency, runs
another series of guided tours. Get the dirt on the city's secret side with either the
“Magic Turin” tour, which traces the city's traditions of black and white magic
(meet at Piazza Statuto;
€
20; Thurs and Sat at 9pm), or on the “Underground
Turin” tour, which takes you under the baroque
palazzi
to cellars, air-raid shelters,
and other spaces laced with stories of mystery, intrigue, and murder (meet at
Piazza Vittorio Veneto;
€
25; Wed and Fri 8:30pm). Gourmands in a hurry might
prefer the “Dinner Tram,” a gourmet meal, with a guide and a sax player, aboard
a trolley car converted into a roving restaurant (meet at Piazza Carlina;
€
45; Sat
9pm), or the “AperiTram,” which is the same deal, only instead of food you sip
cocktails while getting a city tour by trolley (meet at Chiesa Gran Madre di Dio;
€
€
15; Fri 7:30 and 8:30pm). Torino Card holders get a 20% discount on “Magic
Turin” and “AperiTram.”
A SIDE TRIP FROM TURIN
The little town of Cogne (29km/18 miles south of Aosta; seven buses daily, 50
min.) is the most convenient gateway to the
Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso,
one of Europe's finest parcels of unspoiled nature—a third of it lies on the
Piemonte side of the regional boundaries, accessible from Turin.
The former hunting grounds of King Vittorio Emanuele II comprise this vast
(3,626 sq. km/1,400 sq. miles) and lovely national park. In five valleys of forests
and pastureland, many Alpine beasts roam wild—including the ibex (a long-
horned goat) and the chamois (a small antelope), both of which have hovered near
extinction in recent years. Cogne also offers some downhill skiing, but it is better
regarded for cross-country.
Humans can roam these wilds via a vast network of well-marked trails. Among
the few places where the hand of man intrudes ever so gently on nature is in a few
