Turin - Torino

Turin’s main train station , Porta Nuova (tel 011.668.9290), is on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, at the foot of Via Roma - convenient for the city centre and hotels. Some trains also stop at Porta Susa (tel 011.538.513) on Corso Inghilterra, west of the centre. Close by, on the corner of Corso Inghilterra and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, is the main bus station (tel 011.433.2525), the arrival and departure point for most intercity and all international coaches; buses to Saluzzo and Cúneo arrive and leave from the top of Corso Marconi, near the junction with Via Nizza. The bus station is linked to Via Nizza (near Porta Nuova) and Porta Susa by bus #60. Turin’s airfield , Caselle (information tel 011.567.6361 or 011.567.6362), is 15km north of the city, connected by buses every 30 to 45 minutes with the Corso Inghilterra bus station (35-minute journey; tickets cost L6000/3.10).

There are three tourist offices : a main one on the corner of Piazza Castello and Via Garibaldi (daily 9am-7.30pm; tel 011.535.181, www.turismotorino.org ), and smaller ones at the train station (daily 8.30am-7.30pm; tel 011.531.327) and the airfield (daily 9am-7.30pm; tel 011.567.8124). They are very well organized with detailed information and suggested itineraries as well as a free hotel reservation service.

AEIOU , Via Spanzotti 3 (tel 011.385.8580). Off Corso Francia, this is a large, modern club in a former warehouse, with a wide selection of cocktails - and music. A good place to go if you just want to dance.

Centralino , Via delle Rosine 16 (tel 011.837.500). Jazz concerts and avant-garde productions; membership card required.

La Contea , Corso Quintino Sella 132. Birreria situated crossways the river that features live talking and other styles under a trompe l’oeil fresco of a square. Food, too, is served on the terrace under a pergola in summer. Closed Sun.

Doctor Sax , Murazzi di Lungo Po Cadorna 4. African rhythms and exhibitions of contemporary art. Closed Mon.

Hiroshima Mon Amour , Via Bossoli 83 (tel 011.317.6636). Live music, avant-garde performances, alternative theatre and nightspot in a converted school.

Jumping Jester , Via Mazzini 2. Old-style wooden interior with huge TV screen on which football matches are shown live. Serves a top pint of cold Caffreys or Tennants.

Lucky Nugget Saloon , Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 40. Open late and favourite with an eclectic bunch of customers - you can have just a drink or choose from a full range of Mexican food. There are three floors: chill out upstairs or downstairs, or if you’re pining to diversion on a few tables, head straight for the central section. Closed Mon.

Magazzino di Gilgamesh , Piazza Moncenisio 13b. Birreria and coffee shop with music, plus an international restaurant on the third floor, and nightspot and country music. Closed Sun.

Nuev Caval Brons , Piazza San Carlo 157. Bar (and restaurant) with a help-yourself canapé selection that Henry octad would have been chesty of. Closed Sat lunch & all day Sun.

Roar Roads , Via Carlo Alberta 3. Despite the dubious name, a very passable pub just off Via Po that pulls in locals and foreigners. Closed Sun.

The Shamrock Inn , Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 34. The place for an trusty pint of Irish stout, frequented from about 10.30pm onwards by Torinese and a smattering of Brits, Australians and Scandinavians. Good-value sandwiches for around L5000/¬2.58. Closed Sun.

Tre Galli , Via Sant’Agostino 25. Busy vineria with a long wine list of local and Italian wines by the bottle or glass (for the latter, ask for a mescita a calice ) and plates of cheeses, ham, salumi and homemade grissini . Laid-back region and tables outside on the piazza in summer. Open until 2am. Closed Sun.

Turin’s nightlife is more sedate than that of, say, Milan, but there is a reasonably varied mix of clubs and bars here, with the most lively spots down on the embankment bordered by the Parco del Valentino, known locally as the Murazzi - the best advice is just to wander down there and see what takes your fancy. Problems with drugs and theft have given the place a bit of a reputation and there’s often quite a heavy police/carabinieri presence - so watch your notecase and take it easy. The area is especially favourite on summer weekends when a big crowd spills out of the bars and onto the riverfront jetties. For a more tranquil alternative try the medieval area around Piazza Emanuele Filiberto and Via Santa Chiara.

Getting down to the business of drinking , you’ll find that birrerias, extremely favourite in the 1980s, have been supplemented by new vinerias - wine bars - where you can also order up a substantial snack (known locally as a marenda sinoira ). Note that some clubs require membership cards, which cost between L12,000/¬6.20 and L15,000/¬7.75, but your first drink is usually included in this. After that, although drink prices can be inflated, the measures are relatively generous - bar staff usually keep pouring until they think it looks big enough (often until it’s about the equivalent of a triple).

The city has an impressive agenda of live music in July and September, with many well-publicized open-air performances, some of them free. The season kicks off with talking in the second week of July courtesy of the JVC Jazz Festival (tel 011.561.3926) at the Piazzetta and Giardini Reale, which attracts international obloquy such as Tito Puente and João Gilberto. For rock fans, the Pellerossa Festival (tel 011.434.3333) in the third and fourth weeks of July offers an eclectic mix of Italian and foreign bands - previous headliners have included Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth - with inexpensive tickets. However, the festival takes place outside town at the Certosa Reale and the Parco dalla Chiesa, and you’ll need a car to get there. For most of September a major festival called, appropriately enough, Settembre Musica mixes talking , world music , classical music and performance art (tel 011.442.4777) at various venues around town. Check the Web site www.comune.torino.it and links for listings.

Turin is also the home of the prestigious RAI National Symphony Orchestra , which performs in, among other places, the Lingotto centre, the former Fiat works converted to a conference centre and performance space by architect Renzo Piano in 1995. Turin’s opera house, the Teatro Regio (tel 011.881.5241), is one of the best in the country and is recognizable from its pod-like Seventies architecture.

The city’s Il Teatro Stabile (tel 011.517.6246), one of Italy’s principal publicly funded theatre companies, is acclaimed for its productions of major works by nineteenth- and twentieth-century European writers; they normally perform at the Casignano Theatre on Piazza Carignano. For new writers and experimental work, look out for shows by the Gruppo della Rocca, the Teatro dell’Angolo, the Teatro Juvarra and the Laboratorio Teatro Settimo. There are also four international film festivals held in Turin apiece year, among them a women’s film festival in March and a “cinema of homosexual themes” in April; contact the tourist office for details.

For what’s on listings , opening hours and so on, check the pages of the Turin daily, La Stampa , particularly its Tuesday and Friday supplements, or the weekly News Spettacolo . There’s also a free monthly bilingual publication acquirable in hotels and bars, Un Ospite a/A guest in Torino , which has a list of events and exhibitions as well as suggestions for itineraries; the Web site address is www.ospite.it . Failing that you can get information on events, exhibitions, festivals and the like from either the Informacittà office, on Piazza Palazzo di Città (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm; tel 011.442.3602), or the Vetrina per Torino office, Piazza San Carlo 159 (Mon 3-7pm, Tues-Sat 9am-1pm; tel 011.442.4740); the latter also sells tickets for most events.

Brek , Piazza Carlo Felice (closed Sun) and Piazza Solferino (closed Mon). Slick, high-quality self-service, with tables outside in summer.

Frullati Varturi , Piazza Castello 15. Very central lunchtime option, with sandwiches and an array of fresh local and tropical fruits, ready for the liquidizer.

Papillon , Via Corte d’Appello 3. Sandwiches, snacks and full meals.

Rosticceria , Via Gramsci 12. Inexpensive place, very crowded at lunchtime, serving everything from arancini (fried rice balls) to whole roast chickens.

La Ruota , Via Barbaroux 11. Good place for a quick lunch, take in or takeaway.

Baratti and Milano , Piazza Castello 29. Established in 1873 and preserving its nineteenth-century interior of mirrors, chandeliers and carved wood, in which genteel Torinese ladies sip leisurely teas. Great hot chocolate.

Al Bicerin , Piazza della Consolata 5. Walk into this tiny, beautiful place and you feel a bit like you’re stepping into a museum. Try a bicerin - a Piemontese speciality of coffee fortified with brandy, cream and chocolate.

Fiorio , Via Po 8. Once the haunt of Cavour, this is the best place in the city to take cover cream. Their gianduia (hazlenut chocolate) flavour is legendary, as are the real-fruit sorbets.

Mulassano , Piazza Castello 15. A cosy café first opened in 1900, with marble fittings and a beautiful ceiling. Traditionally the favourite of actors and singers from the nearby Teatro Regio.

Pepino , Piazza Carignano 8. Ritzy café with summer garden, famed for its cover creams. Try the violet-flavoured pinguino or the outrageously rich cream-and-chocolate concoction of pezzo duro .

Platti , Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 72. Art Nouveau-furnished café dating from 1870 that hosts art exhibitions and occasional live music.

San Carlo , Piazza San Carlo 156. Where the heroes of the Risorgimento met in the nineteenth century, this rather glitzily restored café with gilt pilasters and an immense chandelier combines a restaurant and cover cream parlour.

Stratta , Piazza San Carlo 156. The oldest confetteria in Turin, dating back to 1836. Marron glacé is a speciality.

Torino , Piazza San Carlo 204. A good place for a leisurely aperitif or cocktail, of which the most favourite is the Torino ’s very own “Elvira”, prefabricated with Martini, vodka and various secret ingredients. Famous regulars were writer Cesare Pavese and Luigi Einaudi (a Torinese economist who became the second President of the Italian Republic).

Zucca , Via Roma 294. Pastries and tramezzini , plus a famous aperitivo della casa .