Things to do in Turin

Two to three days. Day one for the Egyptian Museum (the world's largest collection outside Cairo) and the Mole Antonelliana with the cinema museum inside. Day two for the Royal Palace complex and Quadrilatero Romano. A third lets you do a day trip to the Sacra di San Michele or the Langhe vineyards.

The Museo Egizio. The recent renovation by Christian Greco is the gold standard for archaeological museums in Europe — three floors of papyri, mummies and a full reconstructed tomb that beat the British Museum at its own game. Book a late slot, it's quieter.

The Quadrilatero Romano (north of Piazza Castello) for grid-pattern Roman streets full of aperitivo bars, the Via Roma arcade for window shopping, and San Salvario behind the train station for the multicultural food scene and craft bars open late. Murazzi by the river is the summer nightlife strip.

Bicerin — a layered hot drink of espresso, drinking chocolate and cream from Caffè Al Bicerin (where the recipe was invented in 1763). Vitello tonnato (cold sliced veal with tuna mayonnaise), agnolotti del plin (tiny pinched ravioli) and a Barolo from the Langhe hills.

Yes — the porticoed arcades let you cross the centre in shade or rain, almost 18 km of them. The single Metro line 1 connects the two main stations (Porta Susa, Porta Nuova). Trams are useful for reaching Lingotto in the south, where Fiat's old factory and the rooftop test track are now a mall.

The Basilica di Superga on the hill east of the city — a baroque cathedral by Juvarra with a panorama over Turin to the Alps. Take the historic rack railway from Sassi station up the hill (Sundays only sometimes), then walk the ridge to the football memorial for the Grande Torino plane crash.