More Than a Motown

As home to auto giant fiat, this is Italy's unrivaled Motor City. But Turin is no Detroit — or Stuttgart, for that matter. Like most other Italian destinations, this northwestern industrial city surprises with how much built-in beauty — and cultural and culinary wealth — there is to sample.

With the auto plants and assembly lines confined to the outskirts, Turin's center can be pleasantly surveyed with a quick connect-the-squares walk (Piazza Castello to Piazza Vittorio Veneto on the banks of the Po River is a good starting route) that provides some satisfying food for the eyes. The architecture...