Cultural site in Turin

The spire on every Turin postcard, built as a synagogue, finished as nothing in particular, and now holding the national cinema museum. A glass lift runs up the middle of the hall to a viewing deck with the Alps across the rooftops. The museum spirals around and below it and is far better than a building-with-a-lift deserves.

The Savoy royal palace at the head of the old centre, opening into a complex that also takes in the armoury and the gallery. Grand state rooms and a garden, rarely crowded. Two hours, and it sits three minutes from the Egyptian Museum, which makes a natural morning of the two.

A French-looking Savoy residence on the Po, inside the riverside park that Turin actually uses — runners, rowers and families rather than visitors. The castle is a university faculty and mostly seen from outside; the park and the river walk are the reason to come. An easy hour on foot from the centre.