Turin or Milan: which is better ?
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One of the key questions I typically get is whether it’s better to visit Turin or Milan. In my opinion Turin wins and below you can read why. Below I summarized the top 5 things to do in Turin and in Milan so you can choose yourself which city works better for you . Having said that, both cities are stunning and as they are only 45 mins away you could visit both easily!
Quick Summary
- Turin or Milan which is better: the verdict
- Turin and Milan: key highlights
- Top 5 reasons to pick Turin
- Top 5 reasons to pick Milan
- How to visit both cities in a week-end
1. Turin or Milan: the verdict
In my humble opinion, if I need to make a choice between the two cities I recommend choosing Turin . Here are the key reasons why:
- Elegant architecture: due to its Royal past and Baroque touch
- Affordable: restaurants & accommodation is up to 50% cheaper
- Smaller dimension: you can walk your way around it
- Green: thanks to its hills & several parks it is much less polluted
- Day-trips: It’s 1h 20 from the beach, 1h from the Alps and 45mins from UNESCO Langhe vineyards
If you are planning to visit Turin, discover the perfect one-day itinerary in my other post.
2. Turin and Milan: key highlights
- TURIN: is the city in which the King of Italy resided and it was the first capital of Italy when it became a republic (in 1861). It is characterized by its baroque architecture and its royal palaces. The city is surrounded on the northern front by the beautiful Alps which can be admired from the city-center and on the Eastern front by a natural continuation of hills.
- MILAN: is the economic capital of Italy, it is where most of the bank and companies have their head-quarter and where the Italian stock-exchange is located. It is a city well-known for glamour due to the number of popular fashion houses it hosts such as Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Versace and Prada.
- POPULATION: Milan has a population which is 50% greater than Turin (1.4 mln vs 0.9 mln people). If we look at the full metropolitan area the difference is much greater (8.2 mln vs 1.7mln).
3. Top 5 reasons to pick Turin
3.1. Its breath-taking Baroque squares
The city-center of Turin is characterized by 17th and 18th century elegant squares, gardens and palaces thanks to the genius of two architects such as Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra.
The most widely renowned squares are: Piazza Castello, Piazza Vittorio Veneto and Piazza San Carlo which are truly stunning. Many others are less popular but still worth seeing such as: Piazza Carignano, Piazza Carlo Alberto, Piazza Carlo Emanuele II and Piazza Carlo Felice.
3.2. The city of the king of Italy and its royal palaces
The House of Savoy was a powerful dynasty which originated in 1003 A.D. that became the royal family of Italy. They made Turin capital of their reign in 1572 A.D. and invested a lot in the city’s architecture to make it a symbol of their power.
The Savoy family hired the celebrated architects Guarino Guarini and Filippo Juvarra which gave Turin its sophisticated look.
Among the many buildings which are now part of UNESCO World Heritage list we have the royal ones such as: the Royal Palace, Venaria Reale and the Stupinigi Hunting Lodge. In addition to, other greatest examples of Baroque are: Palazzo Madama, Chiesa di San Lorenzo, Castello del Valentino and Villa della Regina.
3.3. Premium food & wine at affordable price
The area around Turin is becoming more and more a popular destination for food lovers. Discover the Top 15 most famous food from Turin in my other post.
As a matter of fact, the Piedmont region hosts the Slowfood largest gastronomy exhibition (Salone del Gusto), it is the World Capital of the prestigious White Truffle and has a total of 46 Michelin star restaurants.
There a lot of typical dishes from the area that are truly delicious. This is also the region of high quality wine: from the fine-wine Barolo and Barbaresco to the more affordable Nebbiolo and Barbera.
To discover how to spend a unforgettable weekend doing wine tasting in the Barolo Wine District check out my post on The Perfect Barolo Wine Tour: Unforgettable weekend on a Vespa
3.4. Its unique and fascinating museums
In terms of museums Turin offers the unique museum of the Holy Shroud, the 2nd biggest in the world Egyptian Museum (after Cairo), the #1 in Italy museum on cars “Museo dell’Automobile” and the #1 in Italy museum on cinema with its “National Museum of Cinema”.
3.5. One of the greenest cities in Italy
Turin is surrounded on the east side by beautiful hills which in addition to the great views offer a relaxing quick escape from the bust of the city life due to their proximity to the city-center.
In addition to that, it is one of the greenest cities in Italy with large fabulous parks and beautiful walks or bike rides by the two rivers which cross the city-centre: the Po river and the Stura river.
My favorite one is the Parco del Valentino, walking distance from Piazza Vittorio Veneto which offers a large green area, a gorgeous Castle to visit, a stunning botanical garden and a medieval village.
3.6. Turin Guided Tours & skip the line tickets
If you’d rather opt for an organized tour of Milan or if you’re interested in saving time by buying “skip the line” tickets to visit the Duomo or the Last Supper you may want to considerhe below experiences.
Let me point out that if you click on the below links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost for you.
4. Top 5 reasons to pick Milan
4.1. The stunning Duomo of Milan
The Duomo of Milan is one of the biggest and most marvelous churches in the whole world. In beautiful gothic style, the Duomo was built in the 13th century and it took about 600 years to complete. This is for sure a must see if you go to Milan. In addition to the beauty of the church’s architecture the roof offers a really stunning panoramic view on the city which you absolutely should not miss.
Tip: Make sure you purchase the ticket online so you can avoid the queue. No need to print you can easily scan the bar code from your phone at the entrance.
Dress code: make sure cover your knees and shoulders.
Ticket cost: 11€ or 15€ if you want to take the elevator to the terrace
4.2. The marvelous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
This is a luxury shopping venue with prestigious boutiques, restaurants and cafes, it is the emblem of Milan. It was built in 1860 and it quickly became a meeting point of the Milan bourgeoisie. It offers a beautiful iron and glass roof structure and as it is very close the Duomo it is definitely worth to see.
4.3. Da Vinci’s “Last supper”
This is one of the most famous paintings in the whole world, it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1498 and represents the last dinner that Jesus had with his disciples.
In the Second World War some bombs damaged the roof of the Church and the fresco was partially damaged as it was literally in the open for several years.
Contrary to what one may think it is not a painting on canvas or wood but it is a rather a huge fresco (4.6 meters high and 8.8 meters wide) painted on the wall of the dining room (or Cenacolo) of the convent inside the Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan.
The Santa Maria Delle Grazie premises include both the Church and the Convent of Frati Dominicani which are both part of UNESCO Heritage. They were built between 1465 and 1482 and renovated in 1490 by Ludovico Sforza who involved the most important artists of the time such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Donato Bramante..
The excellence of Da Vinci’s fresco transformed the refectory from a simple place where the Church community would normally spend their day, into a place for contemplation.
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Tickets: Tickets must be booked 1-2 months in advance and cost 12€.
4.4. Good vibes in the Navigli District
One of liveliest districts in Milan is the one called “Navigli” which is famous for its excellent restaurants, cocktail bars and nightlife. The Navigli name refers to a system of canals inside the city of Milan joining five different waterways or (Navigli) which were built over several centuries (XII-XIX century) and used as means of transportation.
I suggest to go for an Aperitivo at sunset on the Naviglio Grande, the atmosphere is really great and it reminded me a bit of Amsterdam. Great vibes here.
4.5. The Castello Sforzesco & Michelangelo’s Pieta’
The Castello Sforzesco is a nice Medieval castle not too far from the Duomo of Milan which is definitely worth a visit if you are visiting Milan. The name Sforzesco refers to the Sforza Family which ruled Milan during the renaissance period.
The Castle is free to enter and to walk around but you need to pay to visit the museums. I recommend visiting the Museo del Castello Sforzesco to wonderful piece of art the Pieta’ Rodanini built by Michelangelo in 1553. This is not to be confused with the famous Pietá di Michelangelo located in Rome in the San Pietro Basilica but it is nevertheless a fantastic sculpture and it was built by the same artist.
4.6. Milan Guided Tours & skip the line tickets
If you’d rather opt for an organized tour of Milan or if you’re interested in saving time by buying “skip the line” tickets to visit the Duomo or the Last Supper you may want to considerhe below experiences.
Let me point out that if you click on the below links and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost for you.
5. Why not visit both cities? Milan and Turin are only 1 hour away!
If you really can’t decide which city to pick why not visit both? If you take the fast train (Frecciarossa or Italo) you can get to Milan in 45 minutes and the return ticket will cost you approximately 50 €.
If you want to opt for this option and you are not tied to a particular airport I would recommend you to book the hotel in Turin as it would be much cheaper. Turin has two train stations: Torino Porta Nuova and Torino Porta Susa. I would recommend to stay in the area close to Porta Susa for the below two reasons:
- The fast trains to Milan start their journey in Porta Nuova and pass by Porta Susa. So you will save 10-20 mins on your total trip
- The Porta Susa neighborhood is simply nicer to stay at
