Nightlife in Turin

What a Turin night proposes
Nightlife in Turin was always reputed to be a bit "lifeless". In reality, since some years the city has become lively from this point of view and today's Turin offers innumerable opportunities of night entertainment that are able to satisfy every taste.

In fact a short inquiry among some Torinese young people between 20 and 35 years has provoked that Turin's offer of pubs and scopes for nightlife has become richer and more varied; probably in the same way as it has happened in many other Italian city.

Apart from satisfying everyone's taste, it seems that Turin is able to satisfy additionally all pockets, offering good alternatives also to those who don't want to spend too much money.

The variety of choices from discos (the dance floor now steadily imports the best sounds of the world and offers more fashionable DJs of the international scenery to lovers of music and dance) to clubs, from cultural associations to social self-managed centres, from ethnic pubs to wine clubs, multiplied in an exponential way over the last few years:

In fact the city has rediscovered its roots and, although dominated by english pubs after the 80s, today it wants to bet on night clubs without compromising about quality.

Summer
When the heat becomes unbearable, Torineses move to Murazzi, the embankment, that becomes more lively every night, is placed between corso Vittorio and piazza Vittorio: from aperitif hour till breakfast, underneath the ancient arches, you can find everything.

On the right bank of Piazza Vittorio you can lie down on the deckchair of The Beach from aperitif hour till late at night with music of the best DJs: generally they play tech-house and electronic music.

Instead on the other bank you can find music more commercial in places like the Pier or the Jammin and there is an ample choice of clubs (Alcatraz, Arcata 35, etc.) and if you really aren't sleepy yet at 4 a.m., you must go to Giancarlo (club Arci on Murazzi), a meeting point for all torinese night-owls from 15 to 45 years.

Moving to parco del Valentino there are the Imbarchini (hirers of canoes), very pleasant if you arrive early and you still find a free seat, otherwise it is better to stay on meadows in front of them with a couple of beers and watch (or to take part in) spontaneous concerts of djembes (skin covered hand drum that originated in West Africa).

Winter
When the climate becomes harsh but you want to sweat, you can go to Via Valprato: Docks home, Dock (that have programme tech-house and rock music respecitvely, but remember that you must get the pass for entrance, if you don't have it already: AICS for Docks home and Arci for Dock) and Cafe-Blue wait for you.

At friday evening, there is a regular meeting at the Supermarket (viale Madonna di Campagna 1), by then integrated in the european circuit of musical research of electronic kind; in fact, next to resident DJs, world-famous DJs are often guests.

As an alternative for those who love traditional discos, there are the Hennesy (Traforo del Pino street), the Vertigo (Corso Massimo d'Azeglio) seat of the Isef holidays, the Gare, the Big (Corso Brescia), the Naxos (Piazza Guala), and Capriglio (Traforo del Pino street) with his characteristical atmosphere created by the location in an eighteenth-century old palace.

On the contrary, for a peaceful winter evening, certainly the Arci Cafe Liber club has to be remembered, endowed with table games, Pool games and a fairly good video library. In the same district, we can't forget about the pubs and excellent wine clubs for drinking and for talking quietly: among these we'd reccommend the Tre Galli, the Hafa Cafe, the Bacaro and the Las Rosas.

Concerts and cultural initiatives of every kind are hosted by many social centres: the historic El Paso, the Gabrio, the Barocchio (Barocchio street), the Barrumba, the Hiroshima are the most important ones.

Finally we have some advice for you how to save and to enjoy your evenings. First of all, you must have the passes: in particular Arci e AICS, after two saturdays you will have saved money; the passes are essential.

Then, you can look for cheap or free invitations hovering around bars and shops of via Po and its surroundings. Finally, you can drink an aperitif at Caffe Elena, Roberto, the Tre galli or at Achille Cafe: you can have dinner spending only 5 euros!
Torinese night hours
Nightlife doesn't begin before 10:30-11 p.m., in some places also around midnight.

For some people it is preceded by newfound customs of aperitifs; this last can also substitute a sheer dinner (especially for who is single), and it begins in average towards 8 p.m..

Who loves to stay up late, must know that most of clubs close at 3 a.m., afterwards it's nearly obligatory to go to Giancarlo or at some social centre where DJs keep going all night long.

Often it happens that people stay up late in the open air, in front of a club in which they have remained till the end, on a bench, or moving to a bakery, where you can buy a brioche or have breakfast; in summer maybe you remain to talk for hours when an evening open-air show is being performed.

Almost every day of the week is a good one for a night out, even if fridays and saturdays remain preferred (especially by those who work), while the title of "boring evening", if it must be assigned, falls to wednesday.

However, many clubs commit themselves to satisfy different tastes, especially through themed events, and therefore they have involved every day of the week.

Clubs in detail:

The Beach
It's one of the younger and more modern meeting places of Murazzi: recently restructured with frosted glasses, steel and video-projection, evening dances with the Beach and before dinner there are good aperitifs.

You can meet creative young people that sing, Subsonica and others.

In summer the deckchair that overlooks the Po is very nice.

1. Address: Arcate 18 20 22, Murazzi del Po
2. Web: http://www.thebeachtorino.it
3. Closing: never

Jammin'
It's one of the most important disco such as the disco of the Murazzi: essentially you dance, without losing time with other things while sipping a long drink. Everything is accurate, everything is efficient.

1. Address: Murazzi del Po 17/19
2. Phone: +39 011 882869
3. Closing: never

Pier 7-9-11
If you come down off Ponte of p.zza Veneto to Murazzi it's the first club on the right, it's a very trendy and popular disco. In particular you can dance commercial music, have long-drinks and talk outside on banks of the Po .

1. Address: Murazzi del Po, arcate 7, 9, 11
2. Phone: +39 011 835356
3. Closing: Sunday

Alcatraz
If you go beyond an iron door, you come into the reconstruction of the Alcatraz prison: characterized by an atmosphere in the style of Club Music, the disco doesn't offer commercial but rather rock music, but also house and alternative music. You can dance till 5 a.m..
Located in the clubs resort par excellence, the Murazzi, Alcatraz is pleasant and offers good music that is always up-to-date; the long-drinks are very good.

1. Address: Murazzi del Po 37
2. Phone: +39 011 836900
3. Closing: never

Aqua<Arcata 35
They are two communicating clubs, characterized by a rich calendar of events during week. The best evening is the friday night with "unified systems", together with a handful of DJ behind the console.

1. Address: Murazzi del Po, on the right side

Giancarlo's
It isn't a club, it's an institution. The distrisct is excellent, it's Murazzi, opposite the Po; the structure is new and nice (recently Giancarlo moved a few hundred metres down the street). There is an unique atmosphere that all the young musicians, artists, intellectuals and simple Torinese youth love. You can meet the Subsonica, the Africa Unite, the director Davide Ferrario and also the singer-songwriter Vinicio Capossela when he stops under the Mole.

1. Address: Murazzi del Po
2. Phone: +39 011 817472
3. Closing: Monday

(ex Docks 8) Xdox
Docks 8 means wild dances and freaks. There are local and foreign DJs, some live concerts and especially Sunday-morning afterhours, for the night owls that are in perpetual motion.

1. Address:Via Valprato 68 - Torino
2. Phone: +39 011 285936
3. Web: http://www.sonorika.com/xdox

Docks Home
The club is essential and prefers house music, but often there are live sets, performances. The best and famous DJs of the city go to this club regularly. Often, around 7 p.m., interesting aperitifs are organized: the three sisters that manage stoves offer assorted delights (from vegetables to boiled meats), banishing classic canapes.

1. Address:Via Valprato 68
2. Phone: +39 011 285936

Cafe Blue
The district is one of the most intriguing discos of the city: the ex-plants at the end of via Cigna are reconverted into the centre of Torinese nightlife. Amid many clubs, the Cafe Blue is one of the most popular. It's perfect for dancing every kind of music at thursday, friday and saturday night.

1. Address: Via Valprato 68
2. Phone: +39 011 280251
3. Web: http://www.digilander.iol.it/cafeblue
4. Closing: Sunday

Supermarket
It's a big disco with London and cosmopolitan characteristics. All the best DJs of Europe have been there; sometimes there are also live concerts.

1. Address: Via Madonna di Campagna 1
2. Phone: +39 011 259450
3. Closing: Sunday

Hennessy
It's one of the memorable discos of Turin, as well as one of the most exclusive ones. When you pass the difficult selection of entrance, you can spend a chaotic evening among numerous VIPs that go to the Hennessy regularly and dance fashionable house-techno music. You can book a table or dance in the prive, if someone allows or invites you. Atmosphere is fashionable, in the setting of a hill, near Pino Torinese; during summer the disco becomes more lively taking advantage of a large open-air space.

1. Address: Strada Traforo del Pino 23
2. Phone: +39 011 8998733
3. Web: http://www.hennessyclub.com/

La Gare
The name is suitable for this disco that overlooks the railway. The dance floor is large, lights are stratospheric, music is commercial.

1. Address: Via Sacchi 65
2. Phone: +39 0115805554

Capriglio

1. Address:Strada Traforo del Pino 67
2. Phone:+39 011 8994288 - 3284617618
3. Web: http://www.villacapriglio.it/

Cafe Liber
It's an historic club of Turin now, and it's a meeting point of young artists and intellectuals of the city, it came back to stage with a new structure and an old administration in Borgo Dora. Abandoning the official site of via Barbaroux and after one year of " hospitality " in piazza Montebello, the Cafe Liber reinvents itself in a district that is a bet, having as objective to go back to be one of the centre of cultural city entertainments, behind the Balon. You can always drink beer, wine and cocktails at a low price, and you can attend frequent shows, festivals and concerts, immersed in the red colour that commands the structure, in just reorganized rooms that follow the latest fashion.

1. Address: Corso Vercelli 2
2. Web: http://www.cafeliber.it

I Tre Galli
It's a nice wine club that reproduces old ones (even if the current version has opened a few years ago). The windows overlook the beautiful pedestrian precinct of Quadrilatero Romano; you can eat well (chopping boards, dishes ecc) but especially you can drink very well.

1. Address: Via Sant'Agostino 25
2. Phone: +39 011 5216027
3. Closing: Sunday

Hafa Cafe
Creating a Moroccan atmosphere, it's a nice place where you can have a drink in the evening, maybe a glass of tea and a desert. Furnishing is stylish and warm, lights are soft and the confectionery is maghrebina. In a side room it's possible to watch (and in case to buy) a wide range of ethnic handmade articles. It is strictly Italian property and is in the centre of Quadrilatero Romano.

1. Address: Via Sant'Agostino 23 c
2. Phone: +39 011 4367091
3. Closing: Sunday

Il Bacaro
The location is maybe the most beautiful of the city: piazza della Consolata, near the church and the Bicerin. Cooking is venetian, furnishing is very nice and very warm (the structure expands on two floors), quality is respectable, prices are high, but setting is worth the cost. It's perfect for a drink, but also for a lunch or dinner.

1. Address: Via Maria Adelaide 3/e
2. Phone: +39 011 4369064
3. Closing: Monday

Las Rosas
There are few tables, few frills, bright colours at the walls: roses are simple but incisive. Tacos are excellent, Antohitos are good and you must try the meat. If you want to be typical, you must not renounce the Meztcal.

1. Address: Via Giachino 71
2. Phone: +39 011 290485
3. Web: http://www.lasrosas.it/
4. Closing: Monday

El Paso
It's a social centre and a den of a pair of "very angry" concerts during the week; it's in the south part of Turin. The area is Mirafiori near the station Lingotto and piazza Bengasi.

1. Address: Via Passo Buole 47
2. Phone: +39 011-3174107

Gabrio

1. Address:via Revello 3
2. Email: gabrio@ecn.org

Barrumba
It isn't an historical club but it's became quickly one of the most important centres for city live-music; all the Italian people and many foreigners go there. It's a quite little disco 5 meters from via Po. Attention: it's not adviseable to go there early, given that, for neighbourhood reasons that has a cinema upstairs, the disco doesn't start to play music until around midnight.

1. Address: Via San Massimo 1
2. Phone: +39 011-8194347
3. Web: http://www.barrumba.com

Hiroshima Mon Amour
It's one of the more memorable and cultural club-associations of the city, that has had all the big personalities of Italy and of the world on its stage. Contrarily the triumphal structure, that since a couple of years has add three rooms in which you can dance, listen to concerts and have a drink, is new.

1. Address:Via Bossoli 83
2. Phone: +39 011 3176636
3. Web: http://www.hiroshimamonamour.org

Caffè Elena
It's a memorable café overlookin a little pedestrian precinct that is on piazza Vittorio: during summer, with the wide bank, maybe it's the most beautiful place of the city where you can have an aperitif that won't disappoint you: you can eat much and well, and wines are delicious. Certainly, now this café is less charming than the time when the owners were two old gentlemen, but today the young management has created a trendy club that people love. Moreover, here you can meet famous people: for example Subsonica, that have their study nearby.

1. Address: Piazza Vittorio Veneto 5
2. Phone: +39 011 8123341
3. Closing: Wednesday

Caffe Roberto
Is offers a beautiful breakfast: in via Po, near to Teatro Regio. It's a very busy bar, that hasn't renounced the quality, considering the quantity of people that go there. Probably it's the best café of the area, it's perfect for who goes to the theatre. Aperitif is strong and areppetizers are rich.

1. Address:Via Po 5
2. Phone: +39 011 8177665