After the pandemic faded in Europe, we took a road trip from Lausanne (in Switzerland, where we lived) to Tuscany. The 2-week long round trip took us across the Alps, south to the Mediterranean Sea where we made stops along the Ligurian coast before heading inland towards Tuscany.
The towns where we stayed overnight were Turin (Torino), Genoa (Genova), La Spezie, and Florence (Firenze), before we reached the tiny Mensanello in Tuscany (Toscana). You can skip ahead to see these towns, just click on the link.
Good music is a must for a successful road trip. Here is a short sequence of the songs on our massive playlist.
I (Chris) loves road trips and route planning. So, here we go: from Lausanne, we took the motorway A9 to Martigny in the Valais, ascended the foothills of the Alps on E27 and then crossed the Swiss/Italian border under the Alps using the Grand Saint-Bernard tunnel (See photo). There is a scenic but tortuously winding old road to traverse the Alps through the Great St Bernard Pass (Colle del Gran San Bernardo or Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard); we did that a few years ago (click here).
Upon exit from the tunnel, we descended to Aosta and bypassed it to join E25. Then we switched to the Autostrada della Valle d’Aosta (A5) which is an arrow-straight motorway cutting through endless fields. We must have disregarded the 130 km/h speed limit there as we arrived Torino in good time.
Getting into the center of Torino was fairly easy. We stayed at the Hotel NH Collection Piazza Carlina (more about this hotel chain in a later post) which provided private underground parking.
Wished we were that lambo street-parked in front of the hotel. Squeezing through the narrowest of all entrances and then getting into the car elevator was a real test of patience and maneuverability. It was work.
Arrival at Turin
Our hotel room had a balcony that overlooks Piazza Carlo Emanuele II. Dinner was pizza on the Piazza al fresco.
For the first leg of this road trip, our friends A, O and B from Lausanne met us in Torino. We all stayed in the same hotel and enjoyed cocktails before venturing out to dinner. It is their favorite city but it was our first visit. So they took us for nice walks through the historic city center (Centro) from one piazza to another.
The public square nearest to our hotel is Piazza Carlo Alberta where the Museum of 19th century Italian History (Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano) is located. Risorgimento, (“Rising Again”), is the 19th-century movement for Italian unification that culminated in the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Facing the museum across the piazza are thematic sculptures belonging to the university’s library (Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino).
Piazza San Carlo is the main city piazza with 17th-century baroque architecture.
Piazza Castello, a prominent square in Centro, and housed in its center is the Palazzo Madama, a museum of applied arts.
Shops and cafes in arcades surround the piazzas.
< Cafe Mulassano at Piazza Castello
There are beautiful shopping galleries inside the buildings surrounding the piazzas. With high ceilings and lit by sunlight, they are a pleasure for strolling and browsing.
Galleria Subapline near Piazza Castello >
Cinema Lux in Galleria San Federico near the pedestrianized Via Roma, the main shopping street.
We walked through a courtyard among the boutiques near Via Roma and came across this “iconic” planter.
Walking towards Porta Palatina after a relaxing lunch near Giardino Bottero
Porta Palatina – a Roman-period gate of the city, it was built around 1 B.C. When you come to think about it, that is more than 2000 years old !
Parco Archeologico Torri Palatine – an archeological park comprising the remains of a theatre
Musei Reali with Chapel of the Holy Shroud (Cappella della Sacra Sindone) just rising above the museum on the left. This chapel was constructed to contain the Shroud of Turin, said to show the face of Jesus.
And on the right in the back, it is Torre Campanaria del Duomo di Torino, the bell tower of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist.
Giardino Ducale with the Musei Reali in the background
Courtyard inside the Musei Reali.
What did we miss – a concert, a dance performance … ?
If you like to follow us on this Italian road trip, click here for the next post.
Torino left a very good impression on us – as you will read about our visit to the two National museums in the city, one dedicated to automobiles (MAUTO) and the other to films (Mole Antonelliana). This is the first of a series of posts written about our journey to Tuscany with side trips to Genoa, Cinque Terre, Portofino, Pisa, and Florence. Click on the links to skip ahead and see posts on those locations on our blog.