Turin looks like a city drawn with a ruler. The old Roman grid, recast by the dukes of Savoy into broad avenues and arcaded streets, gives it a clarity unusual in Italy, and about eighteen kilometres of porticoes shelter pedestrians from the rain. It was the first capital of unified Italy in 1861, and it still has an air of formal elegance, with palaces, royal residences and baroque churches. Beyond the arcades, the Alps seem to stand at the end of every avenue, with Monviso, the pyramid peak, visible on clear days.
The city's quirks are many. The Mole Antonelliana, a tall tower with a spire, houses the national cinema museum, and the Egyptian Museum is the largest of its kind outside Cairo. The Fiat factory at Lingotto, with its rooftop test track, was once the symbol of Italian industry. Cafes in the old centre serve bicerin, a layered drink of coffee, chocolate and cream, and vermouth was perfected here in the late eighteenth century. The chocolate gianduiotto, a little wedge of hazelnut chocolate, was invented here too.
For a rider, the great reward lies south-east of the city, in the hills of Langhe and Roero, where the vineyards of Barolo and Barbaresco climb in neat rows over rolling ground. The road to Govone, with its royal castle, a Savoy residence, passes through this country, with narrow lanes, medieval villages on hilltops and long views to the Alps. In autumn, the vines turn red and gold, mist fills the valleys and the white truffle fair in Alba draws gourmets from around the world.
Fuel is easy in Turin, and the ring roads are straightforward, though the centre has restricted traffic zones, so check before you ride in. The food is rich and serious: agnolotti, a small filled pasta, vitello tonnato, and bollito misto, a stew of boiled meats. Grissini, the thin breadsticks, were born here. Leave early to beat the traffic, and be ready for fog in autumn and winter, when the plain can be thick with mist and the hills rise like islands above it.