Torino Piemonte Card & Abbonamento Musei Piemonte – Are they worthwhile buying?
You’ve just arrived in Turin ready to start your fabulous vacation. You’ve checked into your hotel or Airbnb and you’re heading out to explore all the amazing historical and cultural POIs of the city. But you’re faced with a dilemma.
Do you buy a Turin Piedmont museum card (such as the Torino+Piemonte card or the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte card) in advance to save yourself money for when you visit the individual museums? Or will it be more cost-effective to just pay at the door given how long you will stay?
Don’t worry, I’m here to help you make that decision. I’ve visited all of the key places, calculated the costs and determined the best choices for you having visited Turin many times as a tourist and having lived here as a resident for many years.
Table of Contents
Museum cards available in Turin
First, let’s review all your options. There are two different types of cards that you can buy that will give you free access to all the most important (and many lesser-known) museums, exhibits, castles and royal residences. The first is the Torino+Piemonte card from Turismo Torino & Provincia (Turin & Province Tourism), and the second is the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte card (Piedmont Museum Membership) from the Association Abbonamento Musei.
Torino Piemonte Card
This card is primarily targeted to tourists who are visiting the city and the surrounding areas for short trips, like a weekend getaway in Turin. It will give you free entrance to all of the main museums and royal residences in Turin and the surrounding area as well as discounts on other purchases and transportation. It comes in 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 5-day formats (prices are listed in the Useful INFO section at the bottom of the post).
It also has the advantage that it bestows free entrance privileges not only to the owner but also to a child under 12. However, this benefit is negated somewhat by the fact that the State Museums and the Municipal Museums already give free access to those under 18.
Turismo Torino also sells a Royal Pass for 30€ valid for 4 days that gives free access to all the Royal Residences of the House of Savoy of Turin and Piedmont. It also gives you a reduced entrance (20% off) to other museums like the Basilica of Superga, the Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Cinema. If you are just interested in seeing only royal residences, then this card is a good deal. Otherwise, for the average tourist, the Torino+Piemonte Card is better value as it gives you access to a much wider variety of museums even if it does cost a bit more.
All the Turismo Torino cards come with other benefits such as discounts on public transportation and bus tours, but these are typically only a 10% discount and they also require you to spend money to get something. I prefer to judge by what you really get when you buy the card, which is the free entrance to the museums and ignore the extra stuff you have to pay for to get a benefit.
Abbonamento Musei Piemonte Card
The Abbonamento Musei Piemonte card (Piedmont Museum Membership) is a museum membership card that gives you free access to all the museums, royal residences, castles and temporary exhibitions in Turin, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. You can use it as many times as you want to visit for a year from the purchase date. This card is targeted towards residents and those who will be staying in the region for a week or longer.
Free things to do in Turin
In reality, there are a lot of things that you can see for free during your visit to Turin. The only things you need to and should pay for are entry to the museums and royal residences. Otherwise, there are a lot of free things to see in Turin such as the churches, the piazzas, the architecture of the palaces and historic buildings, the parks, the cafes, and the lovely tree-lined boulevards that earned Turin the nickname, the “Paris of Italy”.
1 Day in Turin – What can you do in Turin for a day?
If you just have one day to spend in the beautiful city of Turin and you want to visit some museums, my advice is to visit the Royal Museums (15€) (which is actually a fascinating collection of museums including the Royal Palace, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, the Royal Armory, Sabauda Art Gallery, and the Antiquity Museum) and then the Turin Egyptian Museum (18€).
If you buy the Torino+Piemonte Card – 1d (29€) you can visit up to 3 places (e.g. add the National Cinema Museum and Panoramic lift at the Mole Antonelliana (20€)), but I don’t recommend it. You would be too rushed and would not have enough time to appreciate all the free things in Turin such as the piazzas, churches and parks. Thus, if you buy the 1-day card and visit the two museums you would only save 4€ (14%), which is not really worth it.
2 – 3 Days in Turin – What can you do in Turin for a Weekend?
If you have a few more days to spend in fabulous Turin, such as a weekend getaway, then the Torino+Piemonte cards start to make a lot of sense. On a two-day trip, in addition to the Royal Museums and the Egyptian museum, I would also recommend adding the National Cinema Museum and Panoramic Lift in the Mole Antonelliana (20€) and one other royal residence a little further out of town such as the Royal Hunting Residence of Stupinigi (12€). This would be a total cost of 65€ if you visited them all individually but with the 2-day Torino+Piemonte card (39€) you can enter them all for free and save 26€ (40%).
For a three-day trip, you can really start branching out based on your personal tastes. Don’t miss the Reggia of Venaria (20€), a spectacular palace reminiscent of Paris’s Versailles.
And then choose one of the following: sports fans can visit the Juventus Museum (29€), car aficionados can visit the National Automobile Museum (15€), art lovers the Gallery of Modern & Contemporary Art GAM-Torino (10€), coffee drinkers have the Lavazza Museum (10€) and for history buffs, there is the Palazzo Madama Museum (18€). So, adding the Reggia of Venaria and one of the above to the 2-day trip, if you visited them individually you could pay between 95€ and 114€. Instead, if you buy the 3-day Torino+Piemonte card (45€), you get free entry to all and you would save between 50€ (53%) and 69€ (61%), a huge savings.
The other thing to consider though is that six museums in three days is a lot and it doesn’t give much time for exploring the free attractions that I mentioned before. In fact, you may be better off just buying the 2-day card and using the third day of your trip (or maybe the first) just to explore, relax and enjoy the beauty of Turin.
If you are staying for four or five days and you want to max out your savings by visiting museums and palaces every day, then, by all means, buy the 5-day Torino+Piemonte card (50€). You’ll want to visit at least four places, such as the list above for the 2-day trip which would cost individually 65€. Then for any extra places that you visit, you would essentially be saving the normal ticket price.
Otherwise, for a more relaxed vacation, you may want to consider just buying the 3-day card, relax on days one and five and then visit all the museums from days two to four. This is the only concern with the cards is that once you start using them, the clock starts ticking. So, you must use the cards for consecutive days and cannot pick and choose the days to visit museums on your trip.
Staying longer than a week or moving to Turin and Piedmont?
If you are travelling throughout Turin and Piedmont for a week or longer or you are moving here or are already living here, I highly recommend that you invest in your cultural education and buy an Abbonamento Musei Piemonte (Piedmont Museum Membership). At 52€, it is only 2€ more than the 5-day Torino+Piemonte card but it gives you free access for a year to pretty much every museum, palace, castle, residence and exhibition in Turin, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. And for 87€ you can also throw in all the museums in Milan and the Lombardy region.
We’ve travelled a lot throughout Piedmont this year but have barely scratched the surface of what is available to be visited. What was great was that in every place I was able to use my Abbonamento Musei Piemonte card to visit for free such as Casa Menabrea and the Cittadellarte – Pistoletto Foundation in Biella, the Grinzane Cavour Castle in the Lange, the Staffarda Abbey in the Po Valley, to name a few.
Also, if you are living in Turin and it is a rainy day or you just want some culture, art and/or history to view, you can pop into any of the museums or residences such as the GAM-Torino Art Gallery, the Egyptian Museum, or the Queen’s Villa (Villa of the Regina) and always have an enriching and rewarding experience. It beats sitting at home and watching TV or your cell phone all day!
Final Thoughts on the Museum Cards of Turin & Piedmont
Hopefully, our guide has helped you make sense of the variety of choices for museum cards to visit for free on your trip to Turin and Piedmont. Remember, if you just have one day, skip the card and make the most of the free sites. If you have between two and five days, buy the Torino+Piemonte card 2- or 3-day version and visit as many great museums, exhibits, castles and royal residences as you can, while enjoying the great savings and convenience of free entry wherever you go.
And if you are staying a week or longer, travelling around Piedmont, or moving to live in Turin or another part of Piedmont, treat yourself to the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte card. You’ll be able to visit so many fascinating places and really immerse yourself in the history and the culture of the region. You won’t regret it!
Useful INFO:
Torino Piemonte card
Prices:
The Torino+Piemonte card is available in the following formats:
1 Day* – 29€ (* you can only visit a maximum of three sites during the 24 hours)
2 Days – 39€
3 Days – 45€
3 Days Junior (under 18) – 18€
5 Days – 50€
Where to buy it:
Online: TORINO+PIEMONTE CARD | Turismo Torino e Provincia.
In-Person: WHERE TO BUY | Turismo Torino e Provincia list of locations.
Call: +39.011.535181.
The best location to buy the Torino+Piemonte card is at the Turismo Torino – Tourism Information Centre in Piazza Castello at the corner of Via Garibaldi (see on map). When you enter the office, there is a separate line to the left just concerning the museum cards.
Abbonamento Musei Torino Piemonte (Turin Piedmont Museum Membership)
Prices:
Full Price – 52€
Discounted – 48€ (see the website for the various organizations that if you are a member, you get a discount, and also for the disabled)
Seniors – 45€ for those 65 and over
Youth – 32€ for those from 15 to 26 years old
Junior – 20€ for those 14 and under
Where to buy it:
Online: Acquista – Abbonamento Musei.
In-person: Punti vendita – Abbonamento Musei list of locations.
Call: +39 800.329.329 from 9 am to 6 pm.
The best location to buy the Abbonamento Musei Torino Piemonte is at the “InfoPiemonte – Torino Cultura” Tourism Information Centre in Piazza Castello at the corner of Via Garibaldi (see on map). When you enter the office, there is a separate line to the left just concerning the museum cards.
Ticket Prices for all the Main Attractions in Turin
| The Royal Museums | 15€ |
| Madama Palace + Exhibits | 18€ |
| Turin Egyptian Museum | 18€ |
| Carignano Palace | 10€ |
| National Cinema Museum + Panoramic Lift at Mole Antonelliana | 20€ |
| Juventus Museum | 29€ |
| Lavazza Museum | 10€ |
| The Royal Tombs and Dome at the Basilica of Superga | 8€ |
| Villa of the Regina | 7€ |
| Hunting Residence of Stupinigi | 12€ |
| Reggia of Venaria Reale | 20€ |
| Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art GAM-Torino | 10€ |
| National Automobile Museum | 15€ |
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