Entertainment in Liguria, Piedmont & Valle D'aosta
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Fiorio
There’s something evocative about inhabiting Mark Twain’s old window seat as you contemplate the gilded interior of a cafe where 19th-century students once plotted revolutions and the Count of Cavour deftly played whist. And all this before your coffee has even arrived.
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Lobelix
Beneath the trees on Piazza Savoia, the terrace here is a favourite place for an aperitivo – its buffet banquet is one of Turin’s most extravagant.
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Da Giancarlo
Watch a mixed crowd (dreadlocked, suited, you name it) go right off after hours, with plenty of swaying (to the music, the fumo (pot) and the booze) and lots of laughs. An institution of the best kind - and recommmended by many as the proper way to end a real night out. Grungy, grotty and great.
Be prepared to explain that you're not a member of ARCI (Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana) at the door - but flash your driving licence from home and you're fine.
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Café degli Specchi
A bit of Turin disconnected and relocated 150km to the south, this roaring-’20s, tiled art deco showpiece was (is) a favourite hang-out of the literati. You can sink your espresso at street level or disappear upstairs amid the velvet seats and mirrors for coffee, cake and an aperitivo (happy hour) buffet.
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Stadio delle Alpi
Turin has two football teams, Torino Football Club (www.torinofc.it), and the wildly popular Juventus (www.juventus.it). Both play at the Stadio delle Alpi on the western edge of town, served by buses on match days. Tickets are hard to come by; check the websites for info, or ask at the tourist office.
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Mood
An addictive coffee shop–cocktail bar–bookshop combo that you’ll struggle to escape from. Flick through the design hardbacks or Dante classics while sipping a cappuccino or a €7 aperitivo. The interior’s slavishly hip, all polished concrete and shiny laminate.
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Jammin'
Disco bunnies rejoice! Jammin' is the club along the Murazzi strip for serious butt-shaking, hip-wiggling and move-busting. Recharge your batteries at the bar if you must, but remember - the dancefloor awaits... In summer there's a jumping outdoor dance area.
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Stadio Olimpico di Torino
Stadio Olimpico di Torino, on the southwestern edge of Turin, hosts football matches and is served by buses on match days. Tickets are hard to come by; check the websites for info, or ask at the tourist office.
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Café di Barbarossa
A life-size statue of Elvis rocking out on his guitar greets you at the entrance of this good-time bar set in a medieval red-brick cellar below the towering 12th-century Porta Soprana. Outside there’s a leafy deck.
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Caffè Torino
This chandelier-lit showpiece opened in 1903. A brass plaque of the city’s emblem, a bull (Torino in Italian means ‘little bull’), is embedded in the pavement out the front; rub your shoe across it for good luck.
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Caffè Mulassano
With dozens of customers and only four tables, the art nouveau Mulassano is where regulars sink white-hot espressos a piedi while discussing yesterday’s football scores with the bow-tied barista.
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San Tommaso 10
The Lavazza family started roasting coffee here in 1900. Now modernised, the cafe offers a staggering variety of flavours as well as an excellent restaurant; you can also buy espresso machines here.
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I Tre Galli
Spacious and rustic, this is a fabulous spot for a drink any time, but most people come for the gourmet aperitivi snacks served on a buzzing pavement terrace. Meals cost about €15.
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Teatro Regio Torino
Sold-out performances can sometimes be watched for free on live TV in the adjoining Teatro Piccolo Regio ( [tel] 011 881 52 41), where Puccini premiered La Bohème in 1896.
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La Nouvelle Vague
A bohemian crowd hangs out in this subterranean bookshop and bar. You can sip Italian wine while leafing through a book, or just savour the surroundings over a cocktail.
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Cinema Massimo
Near the Mole Antonelliana, the cinema offers an eclectic mix of films, mainly in English or with subtitles. One of its three screens only shows classic films.
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Hiroshima Mon Amour
Shake your booty at legendary dance club Hiroshima Mon Amour, playing everything from folk and punk to tango and techno.
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Casino
Near Chiesa Russa Ortodossia is the famous casino, built in 1905 and still a winner with punters.
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Docks Home
Away from the city centre, head to Docks Home, set in a converted 1912 warehouse, for house music and exhibitions.
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Caffè San Carlo
Perhaps the most gilded of the gilded, this sumptuous cafe dates from 1822. You’ll get neck ache admiring the chandeliers.
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La Drogheria
La Drogheria’s sofas are coveted by a fun, unpretentious studenty crowd enjoying cheap drinks and aperitivi fare.
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Teatro della Tosse
Casanova trod the boards of Teatro della Tosse, the city’s oldest theatre, which dates from 1702.
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Solentiname
DJ sets and live music draw crowds to this fun pizzeria-pub; you can also have lunch here in July and August.
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Teatro Carlo Felice
Take in a play or opera at Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa’s stunning four-stage opera house.
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La Madeleine Café Teatro
Live bands blast their stuff from 10pm most nights at this energetic cafe-theatre-music bar.
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