A Weekend in Turin, Turin, Italy

There are lots of good reasons to make Turin a city break destination. It’s a city rich in history (it was the first capital of a unified in Italy in 1861) with beautiful architecture, magnificent piazzas (squares) and 18km of lovely arcades lining the main streets. It is an important economic and industrial centre and is the base for such companies as Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lavazza and Martini. Turin also boasts many art galleries, palaces and museums and is home to the Shroud of Turin (although you can’t actually see it). As the capital of the Piemonte region, it also offers some of the finest food and wine to be found in Italy and is home to the Slow Food movement.

I like to be as central as possible when I go for a short break to a city so that I can walk to all the places I want to go. There are trams and a Metro in Turin but many of the sights and restaurants are easily accessible on foot. I booked through British Airways - a flight + hotel deal - and chose Grand Hotel Sitea, a 4* hotel in Via Carlo Alberto very close to the central squares of Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello.

It was a beautiful hotel, very sumptuous and lived up to its ‘grand’ name inside. The location was perfect. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).