A Sunday Morning Walk in Parco del Valentino, Turin, Italy

It’s been a joy to come to Turin again and have such glorious weather. The sun has been shining in a clear blue sky; temperatures during the day hit the low to mid-20s (though it gets chilly at night) and it’s just the perfect weather for making the most of a long weekend in this beautiful city. I read about Parco del Valentino, Turin’s oldest park, and saw that it was close to my hotel - just 0.7km away. It runs along the edge of the Po River to the south and seemed like an ideal place to go for an early morning Sunday walk. There are botanical gardens in the park, but unfortunately they don’t open until April. However it turned out there was still plenty to see and enjoy.

It was some time between 8.30 and 9.00am that I set off from my hotel in via Carlo Alberto and walked southwards. It was very quiet and peaceful and gave me time to enjoy the beauty of the city with hardly anyone else around. I cut along via Mazzini, passing through Piazza Bodoni where stallholders were setting up a food market. I followed the road right down to Lungo Po and the river.

Turning right, I walked close to the river. A little way ahead the Umberto I bridge crossed the Po. It was built in 1903-7, replacing the old bridge dating from 1840, which was closed for safety reasons in 1897. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).