Christmas in Turin, a walk through Luci d’Artista

Dates, location and route

Turin’s Luci d’Artista runs from 23 October 2026 to 10 January 2027. The light installations in streets and squares are free to see. Start in Piazza Palazzo di Città and continue to Piazzetta Reale, Galleria Subalpina and the Mole Antonelliana. Allow about two hours, including time to stop and look at the works from more than one angle. Porta Nuova is a useful railway station for the city centre. Go after sunset and save the map for this edition. The 31 works are spread across Turin and some have changed address.

Start with Daniel Buren’s Flying Carpet

Piazza Palazzo di Città is a good place to begin if you want the first work to be above your head. Look at Daniel Buren’s Tappeto Volante from the edge of the square first. You can see how it hangs in relation to the buildings. Then cross the square and look again. The picture changes as you move. With children, see if everyone can pick the side where the carpet looks largest. It is a simple thing to look for when the square is busy and you might otherwise take a quick photograph and leave.

Decide here how far to go. With an hour, continue to Piazzetta Reale and Galleria Subalpina. With the whole evening, reach the Mole and go as far as Piazza Vittorio Veneto. If someone is joining you later, give them the name of the square and a specific corner. The town hall, the entrance to a gallery and the nearest stop are useful in different ways. Before moving on, take a last look from the side opposite the one where you arrived.

Piazzetta Reale and a new work

Piazzetta Reale has Flavio Favelli’s Poetiche del confine, one of four new works in this edition. Walk there through Piazza Castello. The scale of the space changes as you move from one square to the other. Take a first pass to see how the work fits into its surroundings and return for a closer look at a detail you might have missed. In the centre it is easy to change your route without needing to get back on a bus or tram.

If you already know some of the older works, you can use this square to begin with the new installations. Tony Oursler’s Star*(life) is on the Polytechnic façade at Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24. Samson Young’s Inversions is in the East Court of OGR Torino. CANEMORTO’s The Radiant Van moves between sites. Keep the Polytechnic and OGR for another walk if you want to look at them at leisure. For a single evening, choose the two western venues or the whole route in the centre.

A gallery to shelter in and a street to continue along

Valerio Berruti’s Ancora una volta is in Galleria Subalpina, at a different address from previous editions. The covered passage gives you some shelter if rain starts or you would like a few minutes out of the wind. Look at the installation from the entrance before you walk closer and see how the light changes. If your group has only an hour, this can be the last stop, with time for a drink nearby. With longer, continue to Via Carlo Alberto for Luigi Mainolfi’s Luì e l’arte di andare nel bosco.

The city’s arcades can be part of the route. Before changing direction to find shelter, look at the map for the next work. An indoor pause is easier to fit in when you can return without retracing the entire walk. If you have a buggy, allow room to move in the busy parts of the gallery and pick a spot where the group can stop before going inside. Leave a clear passage if you want to take a photograph.

The Mole, the Po and the light that changes squares

At the Mole Antonelliana, Mario Merz’s Il volo dei numeri is worth seeing from far enough back to make out the shape of the tower. Go closer to see where the figures run and then look again from farther away. Via Po leads towards the river and Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Across the Po, Monte dei Cappuccini has Rebecca Horn’s Piccoli spiriti blu. Save the hill for a longer outing if you have time and energy after the central walk.

The Radiant Van has two dates to save. It is in Piazza Vincenzo Arbarello from 30 November to 20 December. It moves to Piazza Vittorio Veneto from 21 December to 10 January. If you are going out specifically to see the van in December, the date decides which end of the centre to start from. Before Christmas you can begin at Arbarello on the days the work is there, then head towards the central squares. From 21 December you can end your walk in Piazza Vittorio Veneto after the Mole.

A short evening, a long one and the way home

For a short evening, choose two squares and the gallery. With two hours, add the Mole. Give yourself longer if you want to see both sides of the river and choose how to get back to the station or your accommodation. A few spare minutes are a good chance to return to a work from another angle. Compare two photographs from different positions or ask everyone to choose one work to remember from the walk. You may find different favourites even if you have followed the same route.

Most of the route is outdoors. Comfortable shoes and an extra layer help when you switch from walking to standing still. If you are getting the train, save the station and the way there from your last stop. Between Christmas and 10 January, pick the neighbourhood you want first and use the nearest works to make a manageable evening walk. From the tower to the gallery, the distances you spend looking are part of the visit too.

A second route through the west of the city

The Polytechnic and OGR make a useful pair for another evening. Start on Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, where Star*(life) meets a building devoted to research. Continue to the East Court at OGR for Inversions. Save the entrance in your map and check venue hours before leaving. Porta Susa can be a useful reference for the way back. Keep the central walk for another day if you want time to look properly at both installations.