36 Hours in Turin, Italy

The San Salvario neighborhood, once a scruffy area near the central train station, now bursts with cafes and bars of every stripe. Scannabue, a much-loved restaurant that opened in 2008, feels at least 100 years older because of its gilt-framed mirrors, sepia cityscape photos and timeless Piedmontese comfort food. The vitello tonnato is textbook — deli-thin slices of veal amid dollops of fish-infused mayonnaise — and the beef jowl is slow cooked in barbera wine. For pastaphiles, the knife-cut tajarin (a thin local noodle made with ample egg yolk) arrives larded with ground sausage. Dinner for two, without wine, runs about 80 euros, or about $86.

A panorama of Turin history unfolds around Piazza San Giovanni, a central square. To the north, see the Porta Palatina, a red-brick Roman-era gate to the city. To the east, and down some stairs, the ruins of a Roman amphitheater (free admission) hide in the shadow of the Galleria Sabauda (€15), a Neoclassical museum that houses art collected by the dukes and kings of the House of Savoy, a historic royal dynasty. Next to the museum, the tall bell tower of the Renaissance-era Cathedral of St. John the Baptist soars over the unattached main building, whose chapel holds the Shroud of Turin, a 14-foot cloth bearing the faint image of a bearded man that some believe to be Jesus Christ. The cloth is not displayed to the public, but the Museum of the Shroud (€8), a short walk away, explains its history and some of the scientific studies done to determine its origins.

Who knew that cherubs had so many hobbies? Apparently those apple-cheeked children love to ride sleds, play flutes, collect fruit, climb trees, catch birds and guzzle wine. That’s what you might glean from the 18th- and 19th-century canvases in one room of the Gallerie d’Italia (€12), a giant new museum in a renovated Baroque palazzo that opened in 2022 around the corner from the Museo Egizio, Turin’s famous museum of Egyptian artifacts. The new institution contains sumptuous period rooms filled with glittering chandeliers, elaborate wallpapers, ornate painted ceilings and paintings from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. There are also rotating exhibitions of contemporary photography and video, like Luca Locatelli’s “The Circle” (through Feb. 18), whose large-scale photographs and immersive video art depict vast alien-like landscapes, from the ocean floor to Iceland’s volcanic expanses.

Wine is the star at Magazzino 52, a contemporary bistro drawing a well-attired middle-aged crowd just off the Po River in the classy Vanchiglia neighborhood. Under the arched brick ceiling, a maze of tall wine shelves divides up the open space, creating private zones while showcasing vintages from the 51-page wine list, which spans from the Loire to Lebanon. Choose a bottle and pair it with the kitchen’s reverent and expert takes on Piedmontese cuisine, which have included silky veal tartare with mustard, hazelnuts and Sicilian anchovies; housemade shoelace tajarin noodles with shredded leeks, guanciale (cured pork jowl) and grated sheep’s milk cheese; and soft-cooked eggplant topped with striped bass and local tomatoes. Three set courses plus cheese or dessert, €51 per person. Seatings at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. — reserve ahead.

No brand is more associated with Turin than Fiat, whose factory in the southern Lingotto district manufactured cars from the 1920s until the 1980s. Today, the multipurpose building (which was renovated by the Italian architect Renzo Piano) includes the Pinacoteca Agnelli (€10.60), an art gallery showing some two dozen paintings — by artists including Manet, Matisse, Modigliani and Picasso — collected by members of the Agnelli family, the founders of Fiat. The former factory’s most impressive addition is La Pista 500 (€2.10), an outdoor art space that opened in 2022 on an oval-shaped rooftop walkway that once served as Fiat’s test track. The circuit is lined with thousands of plants and large-scale outdoor artworks, including a photo billboard by the Iranian artist Shirin Aliabadi and a neon sign reading “YES TO ALL” by the Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury. But the marquee attraction is the view of the white-capped Alps. Take a final snapshot and say arrivederci.