Luca Faloni’s insider guide to Turin

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Turin has a reputation of being cold and industrial – Fiat, the car manufacturer, is one of its most famous exports. But the city has many other angles too. For me, born and raised here, Turin is the hidden gem of Italy. As well as being family-friendly, it’s very charming: it has a river, hills and parks such as Parco del Valentino, an island of nature on the Po river. You can see the mountains from the city and go skiing within an hour.

I left Turin when I was 19 to study at Bocconi University in Milan, and now live between London and Bergamo, with my brand’s main warehouses, production offices and factories nearby. I still go back to Turin once or twice a year – I stay at the Principi di Piemonte, a five-star hotel in the city centre. The hotel has an amazing view of the Alps, the hills and the Mole Antonelliana, a tower shaped like a reverse champagne glass that houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema.

I’ve noticed that I buy my clothes while in Turin because I know where to go. Via Lagrange is a new area with a lot of high-end boutiques, but I’ve gone to Sebastian Torino for shirts since I was a child: everything can be completely bespoke and personalised for each customer. Locals dress with a humble elegance, while in Milan you feel the business element of the city in people’s clothing. When I started my business, I wanted to bring the way of dressing I knew from home to a global customer.

San Carlo dal 1973 is another favourite clothing shop that was opened by its founder, Giorgina, in the 1970s. It has an amazing ambience: I was inspired by it in my own flagship stores, where I’ve recreated typical Torino lounges, serving aperitivo over the weekend. L’ibrida Bottega is Turin’s answer to Daunt Books.

Eating at Del Cambio is like being transported back 200 years

Turin is a city where you walk everywhere. There is a metro now, but not when I was growing up in Crocetta, a neighbourhood near the city centre. I love walking around here, particularly through the portici, traditional covered walkways built like arches under the buildings. When it rains, you can walk for kilometres without getting wet. The portici run through two of the city’s main squares, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello. Between the two is a fantastic little square, Piazza Carignano, which is very old-school Italian and contains my favourite restaurant, Del Cambio. Italy’s first prime minister, Camillo Benso, used to eat there: it’s just across from Palazzo Carignano, Italy’s former parliament, so they could call him back if something was happening. Eating there is like being transported back 200 years.

While Del Cambio is good for expensive fine dining, Porto di Savona offers an experience for everyone, serving authentic Piedmontese food osteria-style. I love vitello tonnato, a sliced veal dish with a mayonnaise made from tuna and anchovies invented in Turin, and agnolotti, pasta stuffed with meat. Turin is also famous for its red wines and truffles: if you visit in truffle season – November and early December – you have to try them. For coffee and desserts in an old-school setting, go to Stratta, Pfatisch or Caffè Torino.

The Agnelli family, who founded Fiat, have done a lot to put Turin on the map. They own one of its football clubs, Juventus, the team I support; a game between Juventus and the city’s other team, Torino FC, is something you don’t want to miss. They also run an annual tech week in the city and own the Pinacoteca Agnelli gallery (which occupies the top floor and rooftop test track at the former Fiat car factory) and the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, one of the nicest museums in the city. Museo Egizio, another favourite, is one of the biggest Egyptian museums outside Cairo.

The good thing about Turin is that it’s always the same. Its architecture is both sophisticated – it’s often referred to as Little Paris – and humble. It’s not on all the tourist maps, but that’s the beauty of it. It’s a fantastic place for people who love Italy.