wandering in Turin

In the blink of an eye, May is almost gone, as well as the 37th International Book Fair of Turin where 'Lucia of Turinepi' was invited as a guest speaker by Dr Naila Clerici, the Italian expert about the Native Americans, First Nations and Aboriginal People of North America. In 2026 the Turin Book Fair will be on May 14-18.

If you can read and understand Italian, this is the perfect event for you because you'lI find all the Italian publishing houses, including the indie ones, plus tons of guests, presentations, talks and events within the book fair AND many more all around Turin. So, you'll get to hear many authors and will also have the possibility to buy many Italian books, often, those you don't usually find in bookshops.

Photo by Mr B. Menegatti: Dr Naila Clerici, Lucia Hannau and Maura Valleri

The 3rd season of "The Law of Lidia Poët" is currently being filmed around Turin and it will be on Netflix in 2026: if you are planning to visit Turin or moving over, it is a great way to discover our city. All details count: the royal 1800s architecture that looks like it's built in CGI but it is real; the elegant sense for fashion and design - after all the ministry of fashion was based here in Torino AND our wider region of Piedmont is the European cashmere hub!

The weather has been warming up: we are in full asparagus and strawberry season, and cherries have just made it to our tables. Traditionally, our local cherry season is only one month long, up to St John's Day on June 24th.

the garden of Palazzo Cisterna

Finally, you can now also visit the garden of Palazzo Cisterna in Via Carlo Alberto. Palazzo Cisterna is one of our many aristocratic palaces built in 1675 in Baroque style (read decorations). The Palazzo itself is now closed for renovation but its gorgeous 'secret garden' is open! 

This is a real peaceful corner of quiet in the bustling heart of Turin with 200 year old trees that reach the fifth floor of the nearby buildings.

As we often mention in our IG / FB stories, Via Carlo Alberto is one of our 3 luxury shopping streets, one wasn't enough in Turin 😅and it is also one of our many pedestrian streets that connects Via Po - near Piazza Castello, near our 1400s University - to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, a couple streets to the Porta Nuova train and subway station.

Museo del Risorgimento in Piazza Carlo Alberto

Compared to Via Lagrange and Via Roma, our other 2 luxury shopping streets here in Turin, Via Carlo Alberto is not fully commercial because real people live and work in those historical buildings, yet you can still find many eateries of different kind: restaurants, bistrots, street food, ethnic restaurants, cafés, shops and, in the Piazza Carlo Alberto, right in the final stretch before reaching Via Po: the Biblioteca Nazionale in front of Museo del Risorgimento aka the resurrection of the Italian nation.

In fact, Turin was the very first capital of Italy and the political and intellectual movement that brought to the unification of the Italian kingdom in 1861 started right here in Turin, in our royal cafés.

famous Kirkuk Kaffé in Via Carlo Alberto, Kurdistan cuisine and gallery

When in Turin, do it like the Turinese do: get lost in Turin's many central streets, walk without checking the time, peek through all the courtyards you can find open and enjoy gelato, hot chocolate or a cappuccino whenever your stomach calls for one. There's really no schedule for pleasure in Turin 😎

On google maps you'll see how Palazzo Cisterna has actually a front entrance in Via Maria Vittoria  while you get into its garden from Via Carlo Alberto. Following Via Maria Vittoria you'll see many interesting shops - fashion, forniture, art galleries and more - leading you to Piazza Carlina where you can board the restautram or eat in one of the many restaurants, bars, tapas / aperitif places before resuming your stroll ending up to the river banks. 

the bridge leading to the Gran Madre church

Right here, by the Po River aka the Mississippi of Italy, you can see the hills surrounding Turin with their churches and our very Parisian-like bridges. And yes, this is the beginning of more waderings for the days to come. 

For instance, you can go to the right, and walk along the river till Parco Valentino or even up to the Automobile Museum - and you can come back by subway; or you can go to the left up to Piazza Vittorio, cross the bridge and then walk up to the Queen's Villa. If you can read Italian, you'll enjoy our Italian short story about the Devil vacationing in Turin.

Walking around is the best way to get to know a city, its rhythms, organization, lifestyle, vibes and in Turin, this is truer than ever: wherever you end up, you'll love it! 

As you get a sense of how to easily move around through the grid of our streets, you'll realize how Turin is unique: we have virtually only high quality restaurants, beautiful museums, great designer shops and stores, and the nightlife areas are spread out over different hoods that have enough to see and visit during the day too!

take advantage of Turin's pedestrian streets

This is why we always recommend you to spend 5-7 days in Turin - because yes, you will have enough to do, see, eat and drink! 

If you are considering a move over here and maybe even buying real estate, do your homework: learn Italian, its culture and get acquainted with Turin's different hoods, so that you'll make an informed choice based on your personal needs.

waiting for the restautram

📧Email Lucia: turinepi@gmail.com 

to book your private tours, tastigs, private classes, relocation services and more!

 

Turin will amaze you, amici 😍

 

3-1 gin risotto

Surprisingly amici, we made it to Easter 🐇 and the Spring veggies and fruits 🍓and as customary, we are sharing with you one of our risotto recipes that you can make into 3 different versions, according to your preferences and occasions.

We are sure that at least one of these 3 versions will save your meal bringing you culinary stardom among your family and friends.

To us risotto is conforting, elegance, tradition, history and identity and this is why it is often what we teach in our cooking classes, available online too.

chocolate, one of Turin's core biz since the late 1600s

Why Turin or Piedmont?

It is officially spring 🌷 in Turin too where we have just finished the Special Winter Olympic Games and are now in full Easter mood with bakeries, pastry shops and grocery stores full of huge chocolate Easter eggs and our traditional dove cake.
Because many people are planning their summer trips and more are considering moving over to Turin, or Piedmont anyway, today we are sharing some of our considerations for travelers, movers and students.

For more resources, at the bottom of this post 👇we linked all our Social Network accounts. On Instagram and Facebook we do daily stories so you can get a real life impression of our vidaroyal 👑 and on our YouTube channel you'll find some sample Italian, yoga and pilates classes, and many other videos.

Mimosa cakes in Turin for the International Women's Day on March8th

moving to Turin or Piedmont

Our February means: Carnival 👯, Valentine's Day 🌹, the Turin Wine Salon (Feb 24- Mar 3) 🍷 approaching together with the Turin Chocolate Festival (Feb 27 - Mar 2) 🍫basically a short but intense month that honestly, this year, has been feeling more like a whole year!

So, if you need something to distract your mind and to help you visualize a different life, this is the post for you! Whether you are thinking about a short break or a trip to Italy, or if the idea of moving over is tickling you, we are going to give you some good points to support your project!

Merchants, gold and calendar

Like a Russian doll, the longer you'll spend in Turin, the more she will amaze you with a crescendo of surprises.
Most people are totally unaware of what Turin holds; a few know about Juventus (one of our two soccer teams); some are familiar with her industrial past thanks to FIAT, but only wine and culinary professionals can easily put her on the map. And yet, Turin has always occupied a very distinctive spot in the European map. 

Thanks to her central position, for over ten centuries, Turin has created a broad network of cultural and economical connections, granting her a privileged relationship with the European royal courts and the commoners who quickly integrated her name in their own language. This is why Turin has the same spelling in most languages.

At the European level, Turin has always been synonym of refinement in many domains, from art to technology, from education to economy, but especially agriculture and industrial innovation. This is how she won many nicknames like the Philadelphia, the Paris, the MoTown and the Chicago (because we have famous bulls too!) of Italy and her legacy is visible all around town from the university founded in 1404 to her many churches, especially the Chapel of Merchants, Shop Keepers and Bankers! 

This is a stunning Roman Catholic church following the usual Turin rule: unassuming from its façade and majestic when you enter. Renovated in 2017, this Baroque church is fully gilded and literally glistens during the service. 

Thanks to its excellent acoustics, it is also often used as a concert hall.

Located in Via Garibaldi 52, it was commissioned by the guild of merchants, shopkeepers and bankers as a place to pray and network; finally, in 1692 it was inaugurated. Interestingly, its decorations are about the Epiphany or the manifestation of Christ to the powerful people on earth. Consequently, this church celebrates January 6th - the Epiphany Day, as its official holiday.

Most paintings and decorations date back to the late 17th - early 18th centuries: all the paintings in the main hall are about the three wisemen visiting the baby Jesus, and they alternate along the walls, with statues of saints and popes.

In 1695, the beautiful fresco on the vault was completed with its representation of the Paradise, the prophets, the sybils (female seers who could foretell the coming of Christ) and episodes from the Bible.

Behind the 1797 altar and at both sides, there are two reliquaries and three paintings about the nativity, the adoration of the kings and the flight into Egypt.

Facing the altar on the opposite wall there is a 1700 pipe organ.

This Baroque church is definitely stunning on its own but the real gem is actually the sacristy aka 'the priest's locker room'- where the priest gets ready for the service.

Here you can see an altar piece about the Adoration of the Magi, different antique pieces of furniture like a small throne (1792), a 1712 closet, many religious objects, the archive of the guild and the perpetual calendar!

This perpetual calendar is a 1700 computer: a machine that perfectly calculates all the calendar information for 4000 years starting on year 0. The calculation of the lunations, days of the week and Christian holidays is extremely precise too.

Follow the yellow brick road to Turin, amici, get in touch with Lucia 📧 turinepi@gmail.com 

to plan your travel with all the insider's information you need to make the most of your time in Torino, Piedmont and Italy but especially, to book your private tours, tastings and private classes.

We recommend you:
- devote a whole week to discover Turin and her many gems, 
- land at TRN ✈ and 
- travel with an empty suitcase to stock up on all our local products🎁: art, wines, chocolates, cookies, candies, cashmere, and souvenirs just to tickle your fantasy 😜

Turin will amaze you!

2025 chocolate year

In 2024, Turin Epicurean Capital turned 10 🎆 and we feel very privileged to have grown so much thanks to you who keep supporting us online and in real life 🙏 

May 2025 be a very productive and positive year for you all, as for us in Turin it set to be the year of chocolate 🎇

Get ready and budget at least 5 days here because they will be packed with museums, concerts, shops, food and wine, you will still leave craving to come back for more 😍

Piazza Castello

Lidia Poët tours

Many are the perks of living in Turin and many are the brands founded here and famous all over the world. Turin also holds many records as well as many interesting people who changed Italy and the world.

If you subscribe to Netflix, after Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts,  you can now enjoy season 2 of another series set and filmed in Turin - a real love letter to the city: The Law of Lidia Poët about the very first lady lawyer of Europe!

Season 1