Shopping streets: between art and fashion in the heart of the city

A walk through shops on the main streets of the city center, without neglecting Turin’s beauties

Turin is a city that offers a wide range of shopping options, with a selection spanning from high-end fashion brands, to independent boutiques, to second-hand stores. The city is famous for its tradition in producing high-quality fabrics and high fashion, a heritage that is reflected in the numerous fashion stores in the city center.

This itinerary through the heart of Turin will guide you through the most renowned shopping streets, such as Via Garibaldi, one of the longest pedestrian streets in Europe, where you can find casual clothing stores, the Galleria Subalpina, with its historic storefronts, Via Lagrange, where you’ll find major brands, or Via Roma with its megastores.

Let’s start the tour through Turin’s shopping streets

Via Garibaldi

The ancient Roman decumanus turned into Europe’s longest open-air mall

Our walk begins here, the old main decumanus of Roman Turin, later becoming “Dora Grossa” street, for the central channel that once flowed through it. It is one of the longest pedestrian streets in Europe and connects Palazzo Madama to Statuto Square. Always very crowded for shopping, especially on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You can find many stores of all types, with a prevalence of casual clothing and accessories, and at number 4, the Juventus Store for football enthusiasts.

Along the walk, the Chapel of the Merchants and Bankers Congregation is worth a stop — a small baroque jewel, little known, hidden behind a door at Via Garibaldi 25.

Contrada dei Guardinfanti and Quadrilatero Romano

Roman alleyways, indie signs and the best whipped cream to go in town

Between Via Barbaroux, Via dei Mercanti and Via San Tommaso, the most ancient heart of Turin beats: here the street layout remains faithful to the Roman plan of ancient Augusta Taurinorum, and walking through these narrow, evocative streets you can discover small shops and antique stores among the most charming corners of the city. One unmissable stop is Latteria Bera, at Via San Tommaso 13 — a historic dairy shop offering Piedmontese specialties and their signature fresh whipped cream to go, eaten straight from a cone as you walk.

Another historic shop is Antica Passamaneria Massia at Via Barbaroux 20/f, producing textile trimmings since 1843 — decorative braids and fringes used on garments, curtains, furniture and theatre costumes, with clients ranging from the White House to Venice’s La Fenice.

At Via dei Mercanti 8, you’ll find one of Turin’s strangest shops: Nautilus, a small store with skulls, ancient handcuffs, globes, scientific and surgical instruments, stuffed animals, and many other treasures. A wunderkammer of macabre and curious objects.

In Piazzetta Andrea Viglongo, you can come across a particular building: the Palazzo delle Ombre, a work created by American artist Nancy Dwyer. The shadows of the wavy structures reveal the word “more” in five languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German) on the building.

Along the narrow Via Barbaroux, there are many great places to stop for tea or a bite. We often stop at Panetteria Cerea for their cinnamon buns. For those looking for streetwear, there’s Freshstore, an independent men’s clothing store, or Born in Berlin, a refined clothing atelier — entirely Turinese despite the name. Le Coquettes is a small unmissable boutique with a carefully selected collection of high-quality bijoux with a chic French flavour.

Take a detour to Via Stampatori to admire one of the few examples of Renaissance architecture in Turin: Palazzo Scaglia di Verrua with its frescoed facade and charming loggia courtyard.

Step inside the courtyard: on the right you’ll find a small and fascinating perfume shop, Via Stampatori Fragrances, offering a selection of artisanal fragrances inspired by the Piedmontese territory.

On the other side of Via Garibaldi, towards Piazza Emanuele Filiberto in the heart of the Quadrilatero Romano, you’ll find more independent realities worth exploring. Laboratorio Zanzara at Via Bonelli 3 is a social cooperative promoting inclusion through creative workshops, selling handcrafted products made by people with mental health difficulties. Along Via Bellezia, at the corner with Via Santa Chiara, Serien°umerica is an experimental atelier collaborating with local artisans to create unique knitwear and leather pieces, and Pressato at Via Bellezia 16/b combines a passion for specialty coffee with a love for independent publishing and contemporary art.

On the same publishing theme, head to Via Pietro Micca at the corner with Via San Tommaso, where Ridicola has transformed an old newsstand into a space dedicated to independent magazines and art journals. The window displays also host artworks — a one-of-a-kind spot that Turin was missing.

Galleria Subalpina

A fragment of Paris hidden between Piazza Castello and Piazza Carlo Alberto

An extremely elegant covered passage in iron and glass connecting Piazza Castello with Piazza Carlo Alberto. Created by Pietro Carrera (1873) with furnishings and decorations typical of early 20th-century Art Nouveau architecture. It takes its cue from Parisian commercial passages and hosts several historic storefronts: the Arcadia restaurant, a sophisticated sushi venue, Gilibert specialised in art prints and collector’s posters, the Sfashion Cafè designed by Piero Chiambretti, the historic Libreria Luxembourg and one of Turin’s most elegant historic cafés: the Baratti & Milano confectionery, established in 1875. For tea lovers, the Via del The shop with 230 varieties of tea and infusions.

Want to know more? Visit the page dedicated to the Galleria Subalpina.

Exiting the Galleria Subalpina, you find yourself in Piazza Carlo Alberto, at the centre of which stands the monument to King Carlo Alberto.
Here, on the second Saturday of the month, Extravaganza takes place — a sophisticated vintage clothing market.

Via Roma

The marble arcades where locals once dressed up just to take a stroll

It is the most famous shopping street in the city, although in recent years many major brands have moved to Via Lagrange.

750 metres of arcades from Piazza Castello to Porta Nuova station allow you to reach some of Turin’s most important boutiques while sheltered from the rain: Gucci, Hermès, Vuitton, Calvin Klein, along with major flagship stores like Apple, H&M, Cos, Ovs, Nike, The North Face, Bershka, Kway and many others.

The street was entirely rebuilt in the 1930s, clad in marble — so luxurious that Turin residents were said to put on their best clothes just to walk along it.

Step into the elegant Galleria San Federico, a covered pedestrian area popular for high-end shopping, with fashion boutiques, jewellery stores and design shops: even Coop has opened a chic point of sale here!

How about a souvenir photo under the Fellini-style neon sign of the Lux cinema?

Piazza San Carlo

Historic cafés, artisan chocolate and an upside-down David’s head in a courtyard

We are in the “living room of Turin“, the perfect spot to discover some of the city’s most famous historic venues, ideal for a coffee, lunch, or a gourmet and refined purchase. Formerly the Royal and Market Square, it preserves the “twin churches” of San Carlo and Santa Cristina (the latter with a facade by Filippo Juvarra) to the south. Elegant Baroque buildings line the sides, with wide arcades dating back to the mid-17th century.

Beyond the refined historic cafés with their elegant outdoor seating — Caffè Torino, Caffè San Carlo and Caval ‘d brôns — don’t miss the Stratta confectionery: one of those shops where time has stood still, with 19th-century furnishings, hand-painted tin boxes and marrons glacés still made in the basement laboratory. Their pralines and chocolates packaged in historic boxes are among the most elegant souvenirs you can bring home from Turin.

For the rest of your food shopping, at number 188 you’ll find Biraghi: occupying the premises of the historic Paissa delicatessen — closed in 2013 after nearly 130 years — with its original 19th-century wooden fittings and crystal chandeliers carefully restored. Inside: over 1,200 Piedmontese products including 300 wine labels, local liqueurs and specialties like tiramisù and fresh whipped cream with pasta di meliga. Outside, a long queue of people waiting to try the milk gelato.

At number 177, Domori has opened its first flagship store in the world: a temple of cacao. Next door, Dammann Frères dedicates an entire wall to 133 varieties of loose-leaf tea in their iconic black tins, weighed to order.

For fashion, the square covers very different registers: Armani for those who want classic tailoring without compromise, Stone Island for those who experience fashion through material research. Y Piazza San Carlo, heir to the legendary Olympic, carries on the tradition of great Turinese men’s tailoring: made-to-measure garments with historical roots and a contemporary eye. De Wan is one of Turin’s most prestigious jewellers: bespoke bijoux, collector’s watches and handcrafted bags in a space with the quiet discretion of truly rare things.

The Bookshop of Gallerie d’Italia in Piazza San Carlo offers a selection of art and photography publications, with a close eye on current and past exhibitions. Entry is free, accessible from Piazza San Carlo 156 and Via Santa Teresa 1G — no museum ticket required.

A pedestrian passage connects the square with Via Lagrange, passing through the elegant courtyard of San Carlo dal 1973 — a historic concept store of five hundred square metres where research fashion coexists with art, design and historic architecture. In the courtyard you’ll also find the much-photographed upside-down head of Michelangelo’s David, a work by Andrea Salvatori.

Via Lagrange

The street that dethroned Via Roma as Turin’s luxury address

In recent years, the most prestigious brands have settled in this extremely elegant pedestrian street: Chanel, Prada, Diesel, Lacoste, along with several luxury multi-brand stores.

Not only boutiques, but also megastores like La Rinascente and Eataly. For food lovers, the shop of the renowned chocolatier Guido Gobino is worth a visit — set in the premises of the historic Villarboito typography, whose original signage and fittings have been preserved. Those looking for home décor can stop by Zara Home.

On Via Lagrange, with access from Via Cavour, stands Palazzo Cavour, one of the city’s most significant historic residences and one of the best examples of 18th-century Piedmontese Baroque architecture. Here the statesman Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, was born, lived and died.

Via Carlo Alberto

Along the street where Nietzsche wrote The Antichrist there’s now a shop called Inferno

Via Carlo Alberto is one of the last streets to be pedestrianised and immediately became one of locals’ favourite streets for strolling. More romantic than Via Lagrange, midway along it overlooks the gardens of Palazzo Cisterna: one of Turin’s most fascinating spots, well worth a pause on a bench after a long shopping walk.

At the corner with Piazza Carlo Alberto, Friedrich Nietzsche once lived: between 1888 and 1889 he occupied a room on the third floor of this building, where he wrote The Antichrist, Twilight of the Idols and Ecce Homo.

Along the street you’ll find shops of all kinds, some truly unique: the Piloni luthier workshop and the Caffarel store, known above all for its gianduiotti chocolates.

Along the pedestrian street there are many restaurants, both traditional and ethnic — including the Kirkuk Kaffè, a historic Kurdish restaurant in Turin.

Closer to Corso Vittorio, Libreria Bodoni Spazio B offers a beautiful selection of books and magazines. At 55/E, Inferno is a long-established gothic/dark clothing store. Creativity is a shop-gallery offering objects somewhere between high craftsmanship and art.

A little further along, in Via Andrea Doria, the antiquarian bookshop White Lands has become very popular on social media for its owner’s videos about rare books — well worth a detour.

Piazza Bodoni and Via Mazzini

Antique shops, bookstores and craft stores

Walking from Piazza Lagrange along the block leading to Via Mazzini, you reach the square that hosts the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, a work by architect Giovanni Ricci. Sit on the benches for a while — if you’re lucky, you’ll hear students’ notes drifting out from the windows.

At the centre of the square — opened in 1835 — stands the equestrian monument to Alfonso Lamarmora, general and minister of the Savoy State. Two curious shops are worth mentioning: the Olfattorio, where you can try all kinds of fragrances with an olfactory sommelier, and Provasoli, a historic fabric store. Music lovers will find every kind of instrument at Merula, which also has a specialist bookshop for music editions. A little further on, the windows of Creative Cables display their customisable lampshades.

On Via Mazzini you’ll find other unusual shops: the bottega of Antonio Minchillo, full of vintage chandeliers, and the Freddi antiquarian bookshop, which displays fantastic antique pop-up books in its window.

Bagni Paloma — one of Italy’s most beautiful stores according to Vanity Fair — converted from an old garage, offers a selection of designers and artisanal productions.

Further along, in a quiet courtyard at number 50 of Via Mazzini, you’ll find the workshop of Josean Garcia Diaz, a master glassblower. Studio and exhibition space coexist in a genuinely magical place.

At number 52, Ocularium Ottica & Cappelli is an eyewear shop full of curious objects.

Via Po

Since 1674, the arcaded corridor leading straight to the Po, with a few unmissable stops

Ideal for a shopping walk in the city centre when it’s raining, thanks to the arcades originally built so the king could ride on horseback without getting wet. Here you’ll find several second-hand book stalls, bookshops like La Bussola — specialised in remainder (warehouse stocks of books no longer in circulation or reprinted in new editions) — the Mercurio bookshop and the Bourlot antiquarian bookshop since 1848.

At the very beginning of Via Po, at number 1, stands the oldest jeweller in Italy and the second oldest in Europe: Musy, founded in 1707. Continuing along, you’ll find clothing shops like the historic Frav, an urban brand born in Turin in 1996, and the Cristianini hat shop. Historic cafés like Florio and Ghigo. For graphic design lovers, Op Shop stocks original illustrated posters and printed collectibles.