Have you ever thought of going to Turin? It’s not on the tourist must see list in Italy as usually Florence, Venice and Rome scoop the top spots for city visits but we happily ended up there for a few days in the school holidays. Now it must be said that travelling with children isn’t quite the same as journeying solo / in a couple / for work. With les enfants in tow more planning is required and the itinerary needs to be very flexible. Also one of les enfants becomes very hangry if food is not available on call and I don’t always remember this pertinent fact. If you don’t use this word already well it’s a mix of hungry and angry and I believe is the cause of many melt downs.

Our best discovery was actually on the outskirts of the city – La Venaria Reale. It’s a beautiful palace once  home to the Royal House of Savoy and now on the UNESCO Heritage List. A museum detailing the history of the palace and the ruling houses was up first and then the majestic gardens were open for viewing and were well worth the admission price.

Top left : Bronze, 2009, Courtesy : Studio Copernico – Milano : Bottom left : The Alps, 2003, Paolo Borghi.

There were also a number of exhibitions on show including an excellent collection of photographic works by Peter Lindbergh (which merits a separate post) that was our main focus for the trip. I will recommend it as a great place to visit and the exhibitions were good, particularly the Lindbergh which is a stand out.  A Caravaggio experience where  paintings (not the originals) are set to music that change shape and form was also on offer. They have something similar in France at the Carrières de Lumières near Les Baux de Provence, although on a much larger scale.  There was a perfume link here too with a scent from Santa Maria Novella called Maledetto used in the experience. I wasn’t sure if it was sprayed in the main room or not although undoubtedly it was a good idea.

Special mention must be made of the delicious ice creams as well. I know there was a lot more to see but we only had limited time and were happy with what we’d seen. All up it was a good day out and worth taking a detour from the city sights.

Have you visited this city? What was your experience?

The Caravaggio Experience. 

Notes : Images all by Megan In Sainte Maxime