5 Turin Museums Worth Your Time

The Egyptian Museum is Turin’s strongest all-round choice if you have time for only one collection. Its statues, papyri and objects of daily life give you several ways into ancient Egypt, without needing a specialist interest.

The other four museums reward a more particular curiosity: film at the National Cinema Museum, court life at the Royal Museums, cars at the National Automobile Museum and Italian art at GAM. Choose one substantial collection before adding a second, so there is still room for Turin beyond its galleries.

Which museum should you choose?

Standard adult admission and access from Piazza San Carlo. Time inside excludes journeys and queues; the Automobile Museum journey adds walking and metro moving time, not waiting.

Criterion	Egyptian Museum	National Cinema Museum	Royal Museums	Automobile Museum	GAM
Adult admission	€18	€18, museum only	€15	€18, exhibitions included	—
Time inside	About 2–3 hours	About 1½–2 hours	About 3 hours	About 2–2½ hours	About 1½–2 hours
Recurring closed day	None	Tuesday	Wednesday	None	Monday
Distance from Piazza San Carlo	about 300 metres	about 1.2 km	about 750 metres	about 5.4 km	about 1.4 km
Outward moving time	about 4 minutes	about 16 minutes	about 10 minutes	about 30 minutes	about 21 minutes
Access	Walking	Walking	Walking	Metro and walking	Walking
Motorised access fare, single	—	—	—	€1.90	—

Choose the Egyptian Museum for a general first visit, or choose the Cinema Museum for film, the Royal Museums for royal history, the Automobile Museum for motoring or GAM for modern art. Specialist interests can outweigh the order here.

The Egyptian Museum is just east of Piazza San Carlo, the Royal Museums north at Piazza Castello and the Cinema Museum farther east in the Mole Antonelliana. You can combine these central choices. GAM lies west of this cluster, while the Automobile Museum needs a separate journey south.

1. Walk from Piazza San Carlo to Porta Nuova: about 800 metres, about 10 minutes.
2. Take Line 1 from Porta Nuova to Lingotto: about 4 km, about 11 minutes.
3. Walk from Lingotto to the Automobile Museum: about 700 metres, about 9 minutes. Allow extra time for reaching the platform and waiting for the metro.

Pair your chosen collection with Turin’s first-visit sights for squares, architecture and outdoor breaks rather than spending the whole day inside.

Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum, or Museo Egizio, earns its place through the variety of its collection. Monumental statues sit alongside papyri, sarcophagi and everyday objects: you can follow rulers and funerary beliefs, then turn to the things people used. It is worth choosing even without a previous interest in Egypt, because these contrasts give a focused visit plenty to work with.

Make the Gallery of Kings a priority, especially its seated statue of Ramses II. Give the sculpture time before moving to the smaller objects, because the shift in scale is part of what makes the collection rewarding. Rather than treating every case equally, choose the subjects that hold your attention.

Allow about 2–3 hours for the permanent collection. The shorter end suits selective viewing. Take the longer end if you want to read more and linger over papyri and funerary material. An early visit suits concentrated looking, while the indoor collection is also a useful choice in rain.

Buy an online timed ticket in advance and build the rest of your plans around that entry. Online purchase is required, with no compulsory reservation fee for standard individual admission. Tickets can still be bought shortly before entry when capacity remains, but buying ahead gives you a firmer plan.

The museum opens daily. Monday’s shorter window makes an early start particularly useful, while Saturday’s later closing gives you more flexibility.

National Cinema Museum

The National Cinema Museum makes film history a reason to enter the Mole Antonelliana, not just to admire it from outside. Film clips, posters, objects and sets form an exhibition route through the building. Choose it over ancient history if watching and exploring film interests you more than studying archaeological objects.

Allow about 1½–2 hours for the galleries, longer if you want to explore slowly. Follow the displays rather than rushing through them on the way to a view: the museum and the panoramic lift are different experiences. In rain, or when time is limited, the indoor galleries make a complete visit on their own.

The museum-only ticket excludes the panoramic lift. There is no compulsory reservation fee, and a timed reservation is optional. Reserve a slot for public holidays and busy periods to give your visit a clearer starting point. The museum opens on public holidays.

Wheelchair-accessible lifts reach the exhibition rooms, and the galleries and museum facilities are wheelchair-accessible. The helical ramp is a separate part of the route: it can be used on foot or by wheelchair, but the internal lift does not reach it. Use the gallery lifts for the step-free exhibition route, rather than assuming they also serve the ramp.

Royal Museums

The Royal Museums offer three different ways into Turin’s royal past. The Royal Palace rooms show the setting of court life, the Royal Armoury brings you close to weapons and armour, and the Sabauda Gallery turns the visit towards paintings. Choose this complex if royal history and art appeal more than a single themed collection.

Give yourself about 3 hours for that circuit, or closer to 3–4 hours for a slower visit. Choose a focus rather than giving every room equal attention: spend longer in the palace if interiors interest you, in the armoury for its objects or in the gallery for paintings. This is a substantial museum choice in its own right, not a quick palace stop between other attractions.

The €15 standard ticket includes all three recommended collections. Individual visitors and groups of up to six can buy at the museum or online without reserving, and no compulsory reservation fee applies to them. Groups of seven or more and schools must reserve, and group reservation fees apply.

The principal circuit opens Thursday–Tuesday, 09:00–19:00. Its setting beside Piazza Castello lets you step back into the central squares afterwards, or combine it with the Egyptian Museum or Cinema Museum if you still have the appetite for another collection.

National Automobile Museum

The National Automobile Museum, also known as MAUTO, is the specialist choice most closely tied to Turin’s automotive history. Its cars and displays trace changes in vehicle design and use, so the interest is not simply in recognising favourite models. Look at how the shape and purpose of the car change across the collection.

Set aside a half-day including the journey if motoring is a priority. Allow about 2–2½ hours inside at a comfortable pace. Unlike the central museums, this is a deliberate trip south rather than an easy addition while exploring the main squares.

The €18 full-price ticket includes the museum and temporary exhibitions. Standard admission does not require advance reservation, but groups of more than ten and schools must reserve. For a Tuesday–Sunday visit, the museum opens 10:00–19:00.

From Porta Nuova, take Line 1 towards Bengasi and get off at Lingotto, with no change, then walk to the museum. The outdoor approach remains exposed in rain even though the collection is indoors.

The City 100 ticket is valid for 100 minutes and includes one metro journey, so you need another ticket for the return. Line 1 runs a frequency-operated service from 07:00–21:00; allow for waiting as well as the moving time in the comparison.

GAM modern and contemporary art

GAM, Turin’s modern and contemporary art gallery, is the choice for Italian painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century onwards. Choose it if you would rather spend time with artworks than follow royal history, film or motoring. Its collection takes you into a different period from the palace’s paintings.

Allow about 1½–2 hours for the permanent collection. Pick works that interest you and give them time, rather than trying to read every label. Treat temporary exhibitions as a separate choice from the collection visit: an exhibition-led visit has a different focus from exploring the museum’s holdings.

GAM lies west of the main central museum cluster, on Via Magenta. It makes an indoor alternative in rain or peak heat, though the walk there is still part of the outing.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, opening hours, closures, and services.

• Musei Reali di Torino — fares and charges
• Museo Nazionale del Cinema — fares and charges
• Museo Nazionale del Cinema — opening hours
• Museo Nazionale del Cinema — closures
• Museo Egizio — fares and charges
• Museo Egizio — opening hours
• Museo Egizio — closures
• Museo Egizio FAQ
• Per visitare il Museo è necessario acquistare il biglietto online
• Fondazione Torino Musei — opening hours
• GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino — closures
• Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile (MAUTO) — fares and charges
• Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile (MAUTO) — opening hours
• Linea M1 — Percorso: stazione Fermi (Collegno) – stazione Lingotto (Torino)
• Gruppo Torinese Trasporti (GTT) — fares and charges
• LINEA M1 – metropolitana, stazione Fermi (Collegno) – stazione Bengasi
• Metropolitana automatica di Torino