In order to be frank, though, one has to admit Turin does not have that much of Italy's famed antiquity, or even the Middle Ages.  Fortunately, the city's predominantly modern atmosphere does not make it one iota less interesting.  Once a city leaning heavily on industries, of which Fiat is the primary example, Turin of today has turned more towards contemporary art and design.
Not that the city does not have a history.  Quite the opposite, even if Turin's most magnificent architecture comes from just a while ago - by Italian standards - as it was in the 18th Century when three great architects filled the city with exquisite palaces, squares, and churches.  A hundred years later Turin became the first capital city of the re-united Italy, but eventually it must have given back the title to the obvious favourite Rome.

This did not stop the city from developing.  Now the chief city of the Piedmont region, Turin embraced the coming of the industry.  The Fiat factory became one of the symbols of the city, alongside the football team Juventus, or fashion designer houses of Armani, Valentino, Cerruti, and Ungaro.

Turin's most interesting quarter is the Baroque city center, with the shopping lane of Via Roma, then Piazza San Carlo with its royal palaces.  South of the center, as you walk to the river Po (Italy's longest), you will find - unsurprisingly perhaps - Museo dell'Automobile, a must-see for all car lovers

Of other museums, Turin boasts Museo Egizio, the finest collection of ancient Egyptian art outside Egypt itself.  The 17th Century chapel in Via XX Septembre is also a museum of sorts, though it hosts but one exhibit - the far-famed Shroud of Turin.  Thousands flock to see the cloth in which the body of Jesus was wrapped, even if scientists have long claimed it simply cannot be that old.  The Shroud of Turin chapel is part of the Duomo, the only Renaissance building in Turin that is now open for visitors after a fire seriously damaged it in 1997.  Another architectural feat is Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, that features on the UNESCO-sponsored world heritage list.

Turin is not all about monuments, cars, and museums, however.  It does not host the Winter Olympics without a reason.  The city's surrounded with ski resorts, all of them easily available by car or by Turin's own municipal transportation system.