Torino+Piemonte Card: how it works and when it pays off

How the Card works

The Torino+Piemonte Card is the official visitor pass of Turismo Torino e Provincia, the local tourist board. It is a digital QR code that arrives on your phone straight after purchase, so there is nothing to collect or print. Validity starts at your first entry to a museum or partner service and runs in consecutive hours, not calendar days.

Three rules matter. Each museum can be visited only once while the card is valid. The 24-hour version allows a maximum of three free entries. Each card covers one adult plus one child under 12, who goes in free alongside them, which is a real saving for families with young children.

Durations and prices

These are the prices on Turismo Torino’s official list:

• 24 hours: €29.90 (maximum three entries)
• 48 hours: €39.90
• 72 hours: €45.90
• 120 hours: €52.90
• Junior 72 hours (ages 12–17): €18.90

The most interesting jump is from 24 to 48 hours: ten euros more buys you a second day and removes the three-entry cap. The 120-hour card makes sense if you also take trips into Piedmont, for example to the Sacra di San Michele or the Castle of Rivoli. You can buy the Card online and at the Turin tourist office; the 24-hour version is also on Tiqets at the same price, from €29.90.

What is included for free

The scheme covers around eighty museums, exhibitions, royal residences, castles and forts. In the city, the names that matter are:

• the Egyptian Museum, the most important Egyptian collection outside Cairo
• the Royal Museums: Royal Palace, Royal Armoury, Galleria Sabauda, Museum of Antiquities, Royal Gardens and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud
• the National Cinema Museum inside the Mole Antonelliana (the museum, not the lift)
• Palazzo Madama and its Civic Museum of Ancient Art
• GAM, the modern art gallery
• the Borgo and Rocca Medievale, once they reopen after restoration

The Automobile Museum, the MAO Asian art museum, the Lavazza Museum and Choco-Story are also part of the scheme: check the current list to see whether entry is free or reduced.

Outside the city

The Card also covers the Palace of Venaria, the Stupinigi hunting lodge, the Castle of Rivoli with its contemporary art museum, Moncalieri Castle, the Sacra di San Michele and the Fort of Exilles. These are the visits that really push up your savings, since the Venaria palace ticket alone costs about €18.

What is only discounted, and what is left out

Some of the benefits are a reduced price, not free entry. With the Card you pay less, but you still pay for:

• the Mole’s panoramic lift up to the viewing platform at 85 metres
• the Sassi–Superga rack railway
• the City Sightseeing buses and the Eco City Tour minibus
• the Venaria Express shuttle
• temporary exhibitions, guided visits and activities at participating museums

GTT public transport (metro, trams, city buses) is not included, apart from the optional 48 or 72-hour transport ticket sold at the tourist office. Juventus matches and the Juventus museum are not covered either, nor are privately run activities such as food tours and tastings.

Bookings: where you need them

The Card is not a universal skip-the-line ticket. At the busiest museums you still need to book a time slot, and the places set aside for Card holders depend on availability.

• Egyptian Museum: book your date and time on the museum’s online ticket office; compulsory at weekends and on public holidays.
• Cinema Museum: booking strongly recommended, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.
• Palazzo Carignano (Princes’ Apartments): booking compulsory.
• Palace of Venaria and castles outside the city: best booked on their own websites.

On long weekends and holidays slots sell out fast, so if your dates are fixed, book right after buying the Card. Some online ticket offices add a small booking fee.

When it pays off: worked examples

The single-ticket prices below are approximate and should be checked on each museum’s website, but they give you the right order of magnitude.

• One day, two museums: the Egyptian Museum (about €18) and the Royal Museums (about €15) come to €33. The 24-hour Card costs €29.90: a small saving, but a saving.
• One day, three museums: add Palazzo Madama (about €10) and you reach €43, about €13 less with the Card. It is a very full day, though.
• A weekend: Egyptian Museum and Royal Museums on day one, the Palace of Venaria (about €18) on day two: €51 against €39.90 for the 48-hour Card. Add the Cinema Museum and the saving grows further.
• Just one museum: the Card is not worth it. Buy a ticket for the Egyptian Museum or the Mole.

Watch the closing days: the Royal Museums and Venaria close on Mondays, Palazzo Madama and the Cinema Museum on Tuesdays. A card activated on a Monday morning is worth far less. If you want a guided visit, the Card will not do it for you: the Egyptian Museum guided tour with fast-track entry, from €49, includes a guide that the pass does not. Residents of Piedmont and frequent visitors should look at the Abbonamento Musei, a pass that lasts a year.