Turin has around eighteen kilometres of porticoes, covered arcades running along the main streets, built from the seventeenth century onward so that the Savoy court could move through the city without getting wet or being seen. They are the single most useful thing to know about the place practically: you can cross much of central Turin in rain or snow without an umbrella, which matters because this is a northern Italian city at the foot of the Alps and it gets a genuine winter.
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Turin is also the least touristed of Italy's big cities, which is its other appeal. It has the second most important Egyptian collection in the world after Cairo, the country's national cinema museum inside a 167 metre tower, the royal palaces of the House of Savoy, Fiat's history, and an aperitivo tradition that it invented. The Alps are visible at the end of the streets and the ski resorts are ninety minutes away.
What Makes Turin Different to Pack For
A continental winter with fog
Turin sits in the Po valley with the Alps to the west, and it is colder than most of Italy: January runs minus 1°C to 7°C with fog, frost and occasional snow that settles. Summer runs 19°C to 30°C and is humid, with the valley trapping heat. Spring and autumn are damp.
A merino wool base layer for women under a fleece mid layer covers November through March, and you will want a proper coat rather than a light jacket, which is not true of Rome or Naples in the same month.
The arcades change what rain gear you need
With eighteen kilometres of portico, a light packable rain jacket is genuinely enough in the centre. Outside the arcaded streets and on a day trip it is not, but for walking the city itself the shelter is already built.
If you are going up to the mountains
Sestriere, Bardonecchia and the Via Lattea ski area are ninety minutes west, and the Susa valley and Gran Paradiso are close. That is full winter or proper hiking kit depending on season, and completely different from the city wardrobe.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Turin Packing List
Clothing
Warmer than you would pack for anywhere else in Italy at the same time of year. Two merino tops cover a week and handle the swing between a heated museum and a foggy street. Turin dresses well and rather formally by Italian standards, a legacy of being a court city and an industrial one; a good coat and decent shoes fit in.
Covered shoulders and knees for the Duomo, which holds the Shroud, and the other churches.
Footwear
Flat, comfortable and waterproof in winter, since the pavements outside the arcades hold slush and the cobbled sections get icy. The city is flat and very walkable, so nothing technical is needed unless you are heading for the hills, where waterproof hiking shoes are the right call.
For the Mole and the river
The panoramic lift up the Mole Antonelliana is glass sided and the viewing terrace at the top is exposed and windy, noticeably colder than the street. Take a layer even in summer. The same applies on the hill at Superga.
For summer
A wide brim sun hat, sunscreen and a refillable bottle. The great squares, Piazza Castello, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Vittorio Veneto, are wide and unshaded, and the Po valley holds heat. Tap water is drinkable.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Egyptian Museum
The Museo Egizio holds around forty thousand objects, the second most significant collection outside Egypt, including the tomb of Kha and Merit found intact in 1906. It is a three hour visit at minimum and it is entirely indoors.
Practically: book ahead, particularly at weekends. Comfortable shoes for three hours of standing, and a bag small enough for the cloakroom rules, since large bags must be left.
The Mole Antonelliana and the cinema museum
Begun in 1863 as a synagogue and finished as a civic monument, the Mole is 167 metres tall and houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, which spirals up through the interior on ramps and reclining seats.
Practically: the panoramic lift runs up the open centre of the building in a glass cage with no floor beneath you, which is exhilarating or unpleasant depending entirely on your relationship with heights. There is no stair alternative to the terrace. The terrace itself is small, exposed and windy.
The royal palaces and the Duomo
The Palazzo Reale and the Savoy residences run through the centre, with the Venaria Reale a short trip out and Stupinigi to the south. The Duomo holds the Shroud of Turin, which is kept sealed and is not on display except during rare public showings, so the chapel rather than the cloth is what you see.
Practically: modest dress for the Duomo. The palaces are large, cold in winter and involve a lot of standing.
The aperitivo and the cafes
Turin invented vermouth and has a strong claim on the aperitivo, and the historic cafes along Via Po and around Piazza Carignano have been serving since the eighteenth century. The evening ritual, a drink with a substantial spread included, starts around six or seven.
Porta Palazzo and the Quadrilatero
Porta Palazzo claims to be the largest open air market in Europe, running six mornings a week across several squares and a covered hall, and it is where Turin actually shops rather than a heritage display. Behind it, the Quadrilatero Romano is the grid of the original Roman colonia, now the densest quarter of small restaurants and wine bars in the city.
Practically: the market is busiest and best before ten and winds down by early afternoon. It is crowded and wet underfoot in the food sections, so closed shoes and a bag kept in front. The Quadrilatero lanes are narrow and come alive after eight.
Superga and the hills
The basilica of Superga sits on a hill across the Po, reached by a rack railway from Sassi, with the Savoy royal tombs beneath and a view to the Alps on a clear day. The hillside is also where the 1949 air disaster killed the entire Torino football team, and the memorial at the rear of the basilica is still visited.
What Not to Bring
Leave the Mediterranean wardrobe, which is the standard error for northern Italy in winter. Leave a large umbrella, which the arcades make unnecessary in the centre. Leave the car, since the restricted zone is camera enforced.
Leave the assumption that Turin is a quick stop; the Egyptian Museum alone is half a day, and the city rewards two or three.
Essential Resources for Women in Turin
Emergency numbers in Italy: 112 is the single European emergency number and the main line. The older numbers still work: police 113, ambulance 118, fire 115. Operators on 112 handle English.
Tourist support: Italy has no separate tourist police, but the Polizia di Stato questura in Turin and the Carabinieri both take reports from visitors. A stolen passport needs a written denuncia filed in person before the consulate can act.
US Embassy and consulate: the embassy is in Rome at Via Vittorio Veneto 121, telephone +39 06 46741, at it.usembassy.gov. The relevant post for Piedmont is the US Consulate General in Milan, around an hour away by fast train. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Azienda Ospedaliera Citta della Salute e della Scienza operates the Molinette hospital, the largest in the region, with a 24 hour pronto soccorso. EU visitors should carry the European Health Insurance Card; everyone else needs travel insurance, since a non resident is billed for emergency care.
Official health authority: the Italian Ministry of Health at salute.gov.it.
US State Department travel advisory for Italy: current advisory level and detail. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Italy: entry requirements, safety and health guidance.
Official tourism authority: ENIT, the Italian national tourist board, at italia.it, with Turismo Torino at turismotorino.org for the Torino Piemonte Card, museum opening hours and the Savoy residences, several of which close on Mondays.
Solo women safety assessment: Turin is a comfortable city for a woman travelling alone and is easier than Rome or Naples in the everyday sense, being a working northern city with relatively few tourists and a large student population. Violent crime against visitors is rare, the centre is well lit, the arcaded streets stay busy in the evening, and eating or taking an aperitivo alone is completely ordinary. Street harassment is uncommon and mild by Italian standards. The practical risks are the ordinary urban ones with a couple of local specifics. Pickpocketing happens around Porta Nuova station, on the crowded buses and trams, and at the Balon flea market in Borgo Dora on Saturdays, which is the one place worth being deliberate about a closed bag. The area immediately around Porta Nuova and Porta Palazzo is noticeably rougher after dark than the rest of the centre, and the sensible local practice is a taxi rather than the walk if you arrive very late. San Salvario has the nightlife and is fine but busy and loud at weekends, with the usual drink precautions. The physical risks are the cold, which visitors underestimate for Italy, ice on the pavements in January, and the glass lift in the Mole for anyone with vertigo. Two practical notes: many museums close on Mondays, and Turin's public transport runs late but the last metro is earlier than the aperitivo crowd disperses.
Reading On
Turin is the least visited of Italy's great cities and the gateway to the western Alps. The Italy travel guide for women is the parent for the whole country and covers the regions, the seasons and the trains, and the Italy packing list for women covers a multi region trip. Nearby, the Milan travel guide for women is an hour east, the Genoa packing list for women is the nearest coast, and the Lake Como packing list for women covers the lakes. For the mountains, the Dolomites travel guide for women covers the eastern Alps and the Chamonix packing list for women the Mont Blanc side. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why merino suits a foggy Po valley winter better than cotton, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
