Eating My Way Through Torino (Vegetarian Travel)

My last Italy recap post! And this one is all about the lovely, little northern Italian city, Torino.

You may be familiar with Torino for some of the same reasons I was: it hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics, and there’s some sort of Shroud of Turin there. It’s also known for its automotive history, as Torino is the headquarters for FIAT, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo.

Being in Torino was the true reason I was in Italy, as I had to be there at a conference for work. So even though my days in Torino were filled with many work-related things, I still saw a good bit of the city and ate…a lot of really great pizza.

Just like my Milano and Modena/Maranello recaps, we’ll cover:

• How I got there
• Where I stayed
• How I got around
• What I saw
• Where I ate

Let’s do this!

How I got there

I ended up taking a Frecceciarossa high-speed train from Milano to Torino. It wasn’t a very long train ride (about an hour), and I caught it at the Milano Centrale station and took it to Torino Porta Susa.

I did end up booking this ticket (and my return ticket back to Milano to catch my flight back home) ahead of time, so I knew exactly when and where to be. I’d definitely recommend booking in advance if you can––one less thing to worry about!

That said, my return to Milano hit a bit of a snag, as there was a scheduled train strike that day. So I ended up booking a bus from Torino direct to the Milano Malpensa Airport (two hours total) instead. It was an easy swap!

Where I stayed

A lot of my coworkers and I ended up staying in the same hotel:

DoubleTree by Hilton Turin Lingotto
Via Giacomo Mattè Trucco, 1, 10126 Torino TO, Italy

Overall, I really liked this hotel, and it actually is part of the old FIAT factory and has their old test track on the roof. Nuts.

They served a very substantial buffet-style breakfast with croissants, fresh fruits, muesli, and more “American-style” options like waffles. They were also able to book me a taxi to the bus station when I had to leave super early in the morning.

It had super reliable and powerful air conditioning (which is a must for me if I want a decent night of sleep), and I overall really enjoyed my stay here.

How I got around

As soon as my train got to Torino, my coworker/friend, Fabio, met me and we ran/bussed to a bakery. I was able to tap-to-pay on the bus for easy transport.

Other than that, I walked or took the metro pretty much everywhere. Again, I just used Apple Pay at the turnstiles to buy a one-way metro ticket each time.

The metro is actually pretty interesting: it was the first driverless metro in Italy! And all of the stations I saw were super clean and very easy to navigate.

What I saw

Since I was at a conference for most of my time in Torino, I didn’t see a ton of the city. But I did really love what I saw.

Torino is a city for sure, but there’s a lot less hustle and bustle there. Coming from Milano, which is, by contrast, very very busy, walking around Torino was a bit of a breath of fresh air.

There are lots of lovely buildings, parks, and marble statues all throughout the city.

So even though I didn’t see a lot of the city, we did have an event at MAUTO, the National Automobile Museum. It was just a short few-block walk from our hotel.

Museo dell’Automobile di Torino (MAUTO)
Corso Unità d’Italia, 40, 10126 Torino TO, Italy

This museum was sort of unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. On one hand, it housed a ton of beautiful, rare cars. On their website, it says that they have over 200 cars from 80 brands. That’s insane. And all under one roof! Their “Cars on the Track” display was amazing:

On the other, some of the displays just seemed completely random and kind of silly. There was a whole display of a kitchen table with plates of plastic foods set up to look like cars.

There was also an Ayrton Senna exhibit on display while I was there, and it was so cool to see some of his cars, racing suits, and helmets. There was so much racing history on display here, and it’s definitely a can’t-miss for racing fans.

Where I ate

This section is actually going to be a little short.

Because, I kid you not: I ate the same meal at the same restaurant three different days in Torino.

Why?

First of all, it was great. More on the specifics in a sec.

Second of all, if you’ve ever attended a conference, you’ll know they can be a lot. My brain just didn’t want to make another decision at the end of the day when it came time to find something to eat.

Third, it was extremely easy to get to from our hotel.

Fourth, I wanted to take everyone I knew there.

SO…that’s what we did.

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele Torino
Via S. Quintino, 2, 10121 Torino TO, Italy

After we ran/bussed from the train station, Fabio took me to this pizzeria just a few blocks from the Porta Nuova metro stop.

It’s a famous Neapolitan pizzeria with locations in a few different cities, including New York City.

But…these pizzas are giant. They’re thin but mighty.

Fabio and I split these pizzas, and it was definitely a lot. But gosh. So good. They’re known for their Doppia Mozzarella Pizza Margherita (at the top of the picture), and it’s simply a margherita pizza with double the mozzarella. And since the dough was super thin, eating most of a full pizza didn’t feel like oh gosh this is way too much.

I got a white pizza topped with zucchini blossoms, ricotta, and lemon zest. I often opt for a white pizza, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed with the choice here.

We had such a good time catching up and eating pizzas that were, quite literally, bigger than our heads.

So we went back.

And back again.

I just really clearly hated all of this.

But seriously, it was such a fun place with excellent pizza and just a really chill vibe. I think I got a spritz alongside my pizza every time. Wouldn’t change a thing.

Farmacia Del Cambio
Piazza Carignano, 2, 10123 Torino TO, Italy

Fabio and I met in-person a few months ago, and when we both knew we were going to be in Torino this year, we decided to go on a mission to try the famous sphere and cube croissants from Farmacia Del Cambio.

Unfortunately, after looking at our schedules and knowing that they sell out quite quickly each day, we realized it was going to be really tough to get our hands on these prized confections.

That said, Fabio swooped in and saved the day and managed to reserve some for us. So we sat in a park and ate our sphere-shaped croissants as a dessert to our giant pizza lunch.

These. Croissants. Were. Crazy. They were filled with a gianduia (chocolate + hazelnut) cream, and the outside was so perfectly caramelized and crisp. It was a beautiful mess to eat, and I loved every second.

And they were SPHERE-SHAPED. I think this was the coolest thing I’ve ever eaten.

…until breakfast the following morning when we split the cube version. This one was filled with a simple vanilla cream.

Both were great (I preferred the sphere, but I’m a chocolate girl through and through), and I’d definitely recommend getting your hands on some if you can.

Poormanger
P.za Pietro Paleocapa, 2, 10121 Torino TO, Italy

I met Fabio, his cousin, and another co-worker of ours at Poormanger for dinner my first night in Torino. They have a pretty small menu, but their “thing” is stuffed baked potatoes.

Say less.

Potatoes are one of my favorite food groups, so if I have a chance to eat one stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and cheese, I’ll do it happily.

I will say that I would have loved some seasoning on the potato (from what I could tell, it wasn’t salted or peppered or anything after it was baked), but dang. Brilliant.

Alberto Marchetti Gelaterie
Via Cernaia, 18, 10122 Torino TO, Italy

I ate gelato from here three times too. LOL.

It was right around the corner from L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele and Poormanger, and it was just really tasty.

AND…they had a salted peanut flavor. And, as you probably know, peanut butter is another one of my favorite food groups.

They also had this really deep, rich dark chocolate flavor that was a dream.

10000/10.

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And that was my trip to Italy!

It was seriously such a dream of a trip, and I can’t wait to go back.

Have you ever been to Milano, Modena, Maranello, and/or Torino? What did you do? What did I miss? What should I do next time? Give me the deets!