How to Enjoy Turin on a Budget: Money saving Tips
If you are looking for the best way to visit Turin while Travelling on a Budget you’ve come to the right place. Below you will find useful Tips on where to Stay, where to Eat and what to Visit to enjoy the city to the fullest at at the Lowest possible Cost.
QUICK SUMMARY
- Best way to get around the city?
- Safest & affordable areas to stay
- How to eat well with less than 10€
- Top 5 things to do: free of charge
- Four places to visit with less than 15€
1. What’s best to get around the city-center?
While the city of Turin is relatively big for Italian standards, the city-center is not that large.
You can easily walk your way around, no car is needed! For the longer distances you can opt for a quick & cheap bike-sharing rental services called “to-bike” which offers 116 stations around the city to collect and drop your bike off. The first half-hour is free!
2. What’s areas are safest to stay at?
Turin is a safe city. It is one of the richest cities in Italy and as such, crime rate is very low and tourists are very unlikely to run into any incident.
In general, I recommend you to stay anywhere between the areas below:
- between Piazza Vittorio Emanuele to Piazza Statuto
- between Via Po/Via del Carmine to Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
For the avoidance of doubt, you should try stay inside the area highlighted in blue in the map below.
2.1 Best areas to stay at: affordable & safe
The most affordable areas to stay that at the same time safe and at walking distance from the city-center are the following: Vanchiglia, Regio Parco & San Salvario. Let me tell you more a bit each one of them
2.2 Vanchiglia Area
This is basically the neighborhood around the street “Via Vanchiglia”. It extends from Corso San Maurizio to Corso Regina Margherita.
The area is walking distance from one of the main squares of Turin Piazza Vittorio and from the beautiful riverside of the Po river which will take you up to the magnificent Valentino Park.
The area is very crowded at night offers some nice restaurants & cocktail bars specifically near Piazza Santa or near Largo Montebello.
You will notice you are in the right street as the area is very popular and you will see young people enjoying their drinks just outside the bars.
2.3 Regio Parco Area
This area evolves around the street “Corso Regio Parco” and it is walking distance from another of the most popular square in Turin “Piazza Castello”.
The neighborhood is very vibrant and in addition to offering great restaurants it has a fantastic cake-shop “Torteria Berlicabarbis”.
If you are staying in this are you should definitely try the “granita al limone con panna” at Torre Cremeria bar (for the ones who don’t know granita is a very refreshing popular drink made of crushed-ice & fresh fruits).
In addition to that, you should go for Aperitivo at “Le Panche” (in Via Reggio 3) where you can buy a Spritz for 3€.
2.4 San Salvario Area
San Salvario is the area next to the Torino Porta Nuova train station and walking distance to the most elegant square of the city, Piazza San Carlo. This is one of the most popular places to hang out at night for students as it offers restaurants, Pizzerias, bars, pubs and also clubs. It is perfect if you plan to be part of the Movida but challenging if you are not since it gets quite noisy at night.
Among the three options I laid out, San Salvario is the least safe of the three as you are very close to the train station you might run into some weirdos. Nothing will happen to you but if you walk back to your room after 2am it can feel a bit awkward.
3. How to eat well with less than 10€
Below you will find five tips to eat amazing food with less than €10.
3.1 Pizza slices
Pizza, what else. There are several places that offer very tasty pizza slices, they normally cost around €2.5 each. Two slices are usually enough. The interior of such places is rather small, with few small tables inside but you can easily take the pizza slice “to go” and eat it while walking.
My favorite place is “Tipica Focacceria Ligure” there are a few of these shops around the city center. Having said that there are other still valuable options such as “Focacceria Lagrance”, “Da Ciro” or “La Piramide”
3.2 Piadina
Piadina is a thin Italian flat bread. It is quite typical for students to go to a “Piadineria” at lunch to eat this specific type of sandwhich.
The most famous places to eat one are “La Piadina Romagnola” or “Brûlé Piadineria” and they are served warm so that the cheese melts.
The price for a Piadina normally starts at €3.5 . As they are typically quite light if it is two of you, I suggest to buy three Piadinas so you can eat 1.5 .
3.3 Italian Panini
There are quite a few places where you can taste the true Italian Panini experience: fresh Italian ingredients, typical of the area. The cost of a good Panino typically is €5-6 Eur.
The places I recommend are: “Accademia del Panino”, “Crostone.it” and “Mollica”.
3.4. Restaurant: pre-set “lunch menu”
Most restaurants offer pre-defined lunch menu, they normally include: main dish (pizza or pasta), water and coffee for €10. Some of them also offer the chance of choosing a single-course menu at 6€.
My recommendation in this case is “Sfashion Café” or Da Angelino.
3.5 Apericena (Food+ Drink for 10€)
As of 6 pm it’s happy hour! Most restaurants or café offer pre-defined Apericena menu where you can take a drink and eat as much as you want from the buffet menu for only 10€. The buffet typically include warm and cold dishes, from pasta, pizza, vegetables, quiche and much more.
Best places are: Lobelix, Lanificio San Salvatore and Beerba.
4. Top 5 things to do: free of charge
In Turin there are plenty of stunning outdoor places to visit which are free of charge:
4.1 Visit the elegant Baroque squares
The nicest squares to see are: Piazza Castello, Piazza Vittorio Veneto and Piazza San Carlo
4.2 Enjoy the Valentino Park
The Parco del Valentino is the perfect place to take a short break from your city sight-seeing, . It is conveniently located in the city-center, it offers a huge green area to stop for a picnic and a beautiful promenade by the Po river.
In the park there is also a gorgeous little Medieval village replica called “Borgo Medievale” that you can visit and walk through free of charge.
4.3 The view from Monte Cappuccini
The best panorama view can be admired from a place which is walking distance from the city-centre: Monte dei Cappuccini.
This sits on a hill 1.3 km away from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. The walk is a bit steep but very easy to reach and totally worth it.
4.4 Stroll through the shopping streets
The best shopping streets are Via Roma, Via Garibaldi, Via Lagrange.
4.5 Admire Chiesa della Consolata
Chiesa della Consolata is located in Piazza della consolata, just in front of the famous bar “Al Bicerin”. From the outside, it seems an average church but the inside is stunning.
Don’t miss this one!
4.6 Go into the Hidden Chiesa di San Lorenzo
You can see this church from Piazza Castello but it is not easy to see the entrance of it.
The interior is stunning, it was designed by Guarino Guarini in 1666, it represents a Baroque masterpiece.
Last but not least, don’t miss the chance of taking advantage of booking the Free walking tours across the city to learn interesting details about the city from local guides first-hand.
4.7 Don’t miss the Superga Basilica
it is free of charge!
5. Top 4 things to visit with 15 €
5.1. Museo Pietro Micca
Ticket price: 3€ (reduced ticket 2€)
This Italian museum celebrates a soldier, called Pietro Micca, died when Turin was under attack by France in 1,705. In order to prevent the French to enter the city via the network of tunnels underneath the city of Turin, he blew up some barrels of gun-powder and in doing so he sadly lost his life.
The visit is extremely entertaining, as you will be guided through the tunnels underneath the city!
5.2. Villa della Regina
ticket price 5€ (reduced ticket at 2.5€ if you are 18-25 years old)
This is an elegant Villa built in the 17th century by Prince Cardinal Maurizio di Savoia and modernized by the popular Baroque genius Filippo Juvarra. The villa is surrounded by beautiful gardens and vineyard.
5.3. Sightseeing on historic tram 1930s
ticket price 1.7€
This can be a nice and unconventional way to visit a city, the price of which is the same as for a regular bus or tram ride in the city.
The Historic tram Linea 7 will guide you through Turin’s main attractions & landmarks: Gran Madre, Piazza Vittorio, Via Po, Piazza Castello, Via Pietro Micca and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.
5.4. Museo Diffuso della Resistenza
ticket price 5€ (3€ if you are 18-25 years old)
This museum tells the story of the Italian Resistance at the end of World War II . This has video recordings of people who witnessed first hand this difficult moment of history.
