Welcome to Bella Torino, the online guide to visiting Turin, Italy

One of the surprising things about Turin is that it has been so underdeveloped as a tourist destination to date, and until the advent of the 2006 Winter Olympics most people associated the city with the Shroud, perhaps Juventus football club, but little else.

In the north of Italy, sometimes called the Capital of the Alps, Turin was once the home of the House of Savoy. In fact, when Italy was united in the nineteenth century under the rule of the Savoys, Turin naturally became its capital.

One of Turin's biggest successes must be Fiat, although it is also the reason for Turin being overlooked. Although the city was the industrial power house of the post-war Italian economy, with Fiat at its spearhead, it has a rich architectural and cultural tradition that easily surpasses its reputation as an industrial town.

After playing host to the Olympics the city is actively attracting new visitors like never before. With the airport updated to modern standards, daily flights on the low-cost airlines and thousands of new hotel rooms, Turin is ready to embrace its new role as a short-break destination.

And the good news is that with tourism just starting, the city is unspoilt and the people are genuinely friendly with none of the cynicism you find in cities like Rome.

Bella Torino provides information on various topics useful for visitors to Turin - information such as Turin hotels (and our Turin hotel finder), flights to Turin, sightseeing in Turin and restaurants in Turin, as well as information on getting about and what to see and do. We also provide links to other websites that allow you to book travel products online and provide advice on finding the best deals.

To learn more about Turin, just follow the links on the menu in the top left corner. Also, remember to bookmark our site (Ctrl+D) so you can find us again.