Turin

Turin is an inland city on the Po plain with no beach of its own. The nearest warm water is the Ligurian Riviera around Savona and Varazze, about an hour and three-quarters by train or car. That is a long day out, not part of a city stay. In summer, locals who stay in town head for small lakes such as Avigliana or Viverone, or go further to Lago Maggiore. Anyone who wants sea swimming should spend a few days on the coast rather than base themselves here.

Turin eats very well. Piedmontese cooking is rich and exact: vitello tonnato, agnolotti del plin, tajarin with butter, bollito misto, bagna cauda in winter and, in autumn, white truffles from the nearby Langhe. Wine lists lean heavily on Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and Dolcetto. The city is also where vermouth and the early-evening aperitivo began, and the ritual is still taken seriously in the old centre and in San Salvario.

Sweet things matter just as much. Gianduja and the gianduiotto were born here, and the historic cafés under the arcades serve bicerin, a layered drink of coffee, chocolate and cream. Porta Palazzo is one of Europe's largest open-air markets, a good place for produce and cheap snacks. What the city does less well is street food, and its range of international food is modest.

The Museo Egizio is the reason many visitors come. Its collection of Egyptian antiquities is one of the most important outside Cairo. Around it lies a stately baroque and neoclassical capital, the first seat of united Italy. There is the Royal Palace and its armoury, Palazzo Madama, the Galleria Sabauda, and the cathedral that holds the Shroud. The Savoy residences, UNESCO-listed, ring the city, with the vast Reggia di Venaria just beyond the centre.

The Mole Antonelliana, with the National Cinema Museum inside its tower, is the city's emblem. The Museo dell'Automobile tells the story of an industrial town, and the Lingotto, the old Fiat factory with a test track on its roof, is part of the same story. Contemporary art is strong, with the Castello di Rivoli and the GAM. Superga basilica looks down on the city from its hill.

Evenings start with the aperitivo, a drink with plenty of food alongside, between about seven and nine. From there the crowd moves on to the bar streets. The Quadrilatero Romano has wine bars and small cocktail bars in its old lanes, San Salvario fills with students and young locals on the pavements, and Vanchiglia is slightly more alternative. In summer the riverside Murazzi along the Po come alive. There are clubs, some in old industrial spaces, but the scene is relaxed and sociable rather than wild, and it is quieter outside term time.

On clear days the Alps stand along the horizon, and they are close enough to use. The Susa valley, the Gran Paradiso national park, with ibex, chamois and high trails, and the ski slopes of the Via Lattea around Sestriere are about an hour or an hour and a half away. Winter brings skiing and ski touring, and summer brings hut-to-hut hiking, climbing and mountain biking. Monviso, the source of the Po, rises to the south-west.

Nearer to town, the green hills across the river have walking paths up to Superga, and the Mandria park to the north is a large walled hunting forest with deer. Valentino park lines the Po, with cycle paths running along the river and rowing clubs on the water. Anything wilder needs a car or a train, and the city itself sits on a flat plain.

Turin is a fine base for days out. The Langhe and Roero hills, UNESCO-listed wine country, are about an hour south. There are the truffle town of Alba, the castle villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and La Morra, and Bra, home of the Slow Food movement. Asti and the Monferrato hills offer more vineyards and sparkling wine. Milan is about an hour away by fast train.

To the west, the Sacra di San Michele abbey sits dramatically on its rock above the Susa valley. Aosta, with its Roman remains, and Genoa's old port and palaces are each about two hours away. Ivrea, the Sacri Monti pilgrimage chapels and the shores of Lago Maggiore widen the choice.

Turin is easier with children than most Italian cities. The centre is flat, laid out on a grid, and its long arcades keep pushchairs out of the rain and the summer sun. Crowds are rarely heavy. The National Cinema Museum, with a glass lift up through the Mole, the Museo dell'Automobile and the mummies of the Museo Egizio go down well with older children, and the hilltop planetarium suits curious ones. Valentino park has space to run beside the river, and the rack railway up to Superga is a small outing in itself.

The main family day out is Zoom Torino at Cumiana, a large zoo park with animals in open habitats and bathing pools in summer, about 45 minutes away and best reached by car. Within the city there is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and summers can be hot and sticky.

The historic centre is compact, flat and laid out on a regular grid, with many kilometres of arcades. Most visitors walk between the main sights, from Porta Nuova station through Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello to the Mole and the river. One driverless metro line runs from the western suburbs through Porta Nuova to Lingotto. Trams and buses cover the rest, but they are slower and take some working out. A car is useful only for the wine hills and the mountains, and the main stations link well to the rest of the country.

Via Roma, under its arcades, carries the luxury and big-name fashion labels. Via Garibaldi is a long pedestrian street of mainstream shops, and the streets around Via Lagrange and the Quadrilatero hold smaller boutiques. The most distinctive shopping is for food: chocolate makers, pastry shops and delicatessens selling truffles, cheese and Piedmontese wine. Antique dealers line Via Maria Vittoria and nearby streets. The Balon flea market behind Porta Palazzo is busy every Saturday, and on one Sunday a month it grows into the larger Gran Balon. High fashion, though, is a short list here, and anyone shopping seriously for designer clothes will find the choice limited.

Turin is moderately priced for a large Western European city. Central hotels are fairly priced for most of the year, though they fill and cost more during big trade fairs and events. A generous aperitivo can easily replace dinner, and neighbourhood trattorie, bakeries and food from Porta Palazzo market are good value. Public transport is inexpensive, and much of the centre is walked anyway. Fine dining, the white truffle season and entry to the main museums are where costs add up. Overall a stay here is comfortable rather than cheap.

Turin has a serious year-round programme. The Teatro Regio, with its striking modernist hall behind a historic facade, stages a full opera and ballet season. The RAI National Symphony Orchestra plays at its own auditorium, and concerts also fill the Lingotto auditorium designed by Renzo Piano. The Teatro Stabile performs prose theatre in the baroque Teatro Carignano and its other stages, though almost entirely in Italian. Jazz clubs and small live venues dot the centre, and the calendar carries long-running festivals of classical, jazz and electronic music. It is strong for a city of its size, but has no single tradition that draws visitors from abroad.

Turin has no bathing culture of its own. The spas are mostly in hotels and a few day centres. What the city does offer is an unhurried pace. Long coffee breaks in historic cafés, evening walks under the arcades and along the Po, and quiet afternoons in Valentino park make it a calm place to stay. For real thermal waters, visitors travel out to Acqui Terme in southern Piedmont, or to the Alpine baths of the Aosta valley, each close to two hours away.