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Said to be the most French city in Italy or the most Italian city in France, Turin offers you the best of both of countries historically and architecturally. Perhaps it is because Turin used to be the capital of the House of Savoy, and the Savoys were described to be as French as they were Italian. The city was inspired by the flavor of the French courts so much that Turin’s Francophile 17^thand 18^th century architects laid the city out with extensive avenues and spacious piazzas and lined them with low-slung neoclassical buildings.

Most of Turin’s guests come to visit the city for business purposes but for those who would like to take a tour of the city, they will surely find Turin to be the most pleasant big city of all of northern Italy as elegant and sophisticated with a gracious charm that is quintessentially Italian despite its Francophile leanings.

Turin will surely captivate many a tourists’ hearts with its refined atmosphere and its stately arcaded Via Roma lined with shops and cafes. When you’re the type who would like to enjoy the beauty of a new city by taking a walk around to see the sights, the circular Piazza Carlo Felice, which is built around a garden and surrounded by outdoor coffee shops, is a favorite place among many to linger around.

Another great place in Turin to go for a leisurely tour is at the gardens of Palazzo Reale, just off the Piazza Castello. Palazzo Reale was the residence of the Savoys from 1646 to 1865. Palazzo Reale’s gardens provide a pleasant reprieve from the usual traffic and paving stones of the city.

The best time to visit Turin is at the time of its many festivals. In June and the first week of July, dance, opera, theater and musical performances abound as companies around the world gather for the Sere d’Estate Festival. If you are an avid fan of classical music, Turin devotes its month of September with more than 60 classical concerts held on stages throughout the city with its month-long Settembre Musica Festival.

Saturdays at Turin are fun-filled with bric-a-brac of all kinds at the stalls of Mercato del Balon at the Piazza dela Republica. And if you are planning to tour Turin on a second Sunday of the month, Gran Balon fills the piazza with genuine antiques and artworks.

Another sight to enjoy at Turin is the building of Mole Antonelliano which houses Turin’s National Cinema Museum. If you are hoping to catch some ancient ruins, the Palatine Towers are among the best preserved remains of the Roman civilization in northern Italy.

Another famous site in Turin is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist which houses the famed Shroud of Turin. This old linen cloth has an imprint of a man’s face on it and is believed by many to be the same cloth that was used to cover Jesus in his grave.

One can never leave Turin without visiting the historical and architectural buildings of the Savoy Residences, a myriad array of residences and castles scattered throughout the city center and in the surrounding towns. In fact, the complex of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy in Turin was declared by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites in 1997.

But probably what put Turin on the map was chocolate. The city is where the first solid chocolate was born, courtesy of Mr. Doret and his revolutionary that enabled solid chocolate to be made. Turin pays tribute to chocolate with its two-week chocolate festival run called the cioccolaTO’, an event one with a sweet tooth surely shouldn’t miss when visiting Turin.

Nightlife at Turin is filled with lively classical musical and regular classical concerts by the National Symphonic Orchestra at Auditorium della RAI. For a taste of contemporary Turin, visit a host of clubs which dot the Old Industrial Docks Dora for night time entertainment that is a contrast to Turin’s classical ambiance. When you are visiting Turin in the summer, catch a host of outdoor venues along the banks of the Po River where a lot of bars and clubs stay open until dawn for you to party the night away.

At Turin there is always something different that turns up in any corner. One can definitely enjoy a great vacation here.
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