Jettaracer1

Has anyone ever been to Turin? I live in Atlanta but not when the Olympics were here. Has anyone ever went to the Olympics either here in the US or Europe?

I normally like sight seeing and walking around, but I don't think that will be easy during the Olympics.

Any suggestions or experiences would be very helpful.

m_kingdom2

The Olympics are every two years? That's news to me dear.

Mary_Fran

Jettaracer1,

Congratulations! You've told our dear m_kingdom2 something he/she didn't know!

Barbara

mk2, the Winter Olympics.

taggie

I have been at several Olympics, either living in a host city, visiting someone working at a Games, or working myself.
Hotel rooms and meals are more expensive than they are normally. And yes, there can be crowds. But, there's also a buzz that a city gets when it's hosting a games. There are lots of special things going on that are not sports-related (concerts, art displays, etc) so even if you don't attend many athletic events, there's lots to see and do. Lots of parties. Store clerks, restaurant staff, etc. are mostly all on their best behaviour and usually very happy to have the extra business. Plus you will meet more people from more reaches of the world than you might when the Olympics aren't on.
All in all, I have had pretty positive experiences.

Alec

While Turin is indeed the host city for the winter games in 2006, venues are widely spread out and only a few events (indoor events like ice hockey and skating) will be taking place there. Alpine events, for example, will be at Sestrieri. Same thing happened at Albertville 2002, when some alpine events took place at Val d'Isere, 40 miles away.
So I think while it will be busy, the congestion in Turin won't be like it is in Athens at the moment.

Cicerone

Tickets go on sale in November. The website is http://www.torino2006.org. As noted above, the venues are going to be quite spread out; the figure and speed skating will be in Turin, but the ski events will be all over. You could stay in Turiun or outlying mountain areas, and it is probably feasible to even stay in France near the Mt Blanc area. I have been looking into this myself, and not finding a lot of hotels responding at this point. Maybe after Athens.

I have been to Montreal (1976, I feel quite old writing that) and Sydney 2000. Both great experiences.

Bjorn

m_kingdom2 is right: The Olympics are held every 4 years, and traditionally in the lap-years. However, as winter olympics grew bigger and bigger, arranging both games in the same year seemed too be much. Therefore the Winter Games were moved to the middle of the olympic period, starting in Lillehammer in 1994, only two years after the last lap-year winter games in Albertville in 1992. With these two games so close it is easy to understand why the greatest cross-country skier, Norway's Bjorn Daehlie, won so many Gold medals.

Bjorn, Oslo

sera

And 10 years later, m_kingdom2 learns all about it.

taggie

BTW, there is relatively little congestion in Athens right now. Traffic is moving around the city very smoothly.

maitaitom

"there is relatively little congestion in Athens right now."

There doesn't seem to be very many people at a lot of the events, too.

taggie

LOL! That's right! My coworkers there have been told by their drivers that it's never been so easy to get around. Athenians have left the city in droves.

maitaitom

"Athenians have left the city in droves."

Just like 1984 in L.A. There never has been less traffic than those two weeks. It was even an easy drive to see the track events at the Coliseum.

Barbara

But don't Athenians leave the city in droves every August?

sera

They may soon be giving tickets away to fill the seats.

delyan

Does anyone know where I can find hotel and transportation during the Torino 2006. I don't want to use the overpriced sites that offer accommodations starting from $5000! Are there trains from Torino to the Olympic sites? Has anyone traveled from Geneva to Torino on a train. Geneva has direct flight to New York!

Cicerone

There are many trains from Geneva to the Turin area, go to rail.ch or trenitalia.com for schedules. A train will take between 6-8 hours.

If you haven’t seen it, the website for the Olympics is http://www.torino2006.org. They have links to lodging.

I would defiantly NOT stay in Turin, which is not charming and will only host a few events like opening and closing ceremonies and some skating. I would stay in one of the mountain towns. Take trains to get around, as I believe road access will be quite limited due to security concerns. The train system is quite extensive and I assume there will be extra trains laid on for the Olympics. The website for Italian railways is trenitalia.com

Turin is in the state of Piemonte, website is http://www.regione.piemonte.it/lingue/english/index.htm

You might try Villa and apartment rentals:
www.slowtrav.com
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/listings/piemonte.htm
www.domani-usa.com
www.regencyintapts.com
www.rentvillas.com
http://www.villaconcierge.com/

Consider staying in Sauze D'Oulx . Don’t know your budget, but a nice hotel is:
HOTEL LA TORRE ****
Via della Torre,4
10050 - Sauze D'Oulx (TO)
Tel. (+39) 0122.850020
Fax. (+39) 0122.850888
E-mail : [email protected]
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.sauzedoulx-hotellatorre.com/location.html

Other towns to consider are Cesana-San Sicario, Sestriere, Bardonecchia. Can’t help with hotels, but do a search for each town’s website, and there should be links to hotels.

You could also stay in the Mt Blanc/Val D’Aosta area and take the train in for events, albeit a longish trip, but you might found hotels to be cheaper. You would also be away from the crowds of the Olympics and could get some skiing in. It would take about 2 hours on the train to get to Turin and other places.
In Aosta, try the Pavillion Hotel, go to http://www.pavillon.it
In Courmayeur, try the Gran Baita, go to http://www.sogliahotels.com/eng/granbaita/index.htm

grandmere

Another town to consider is Briancon, just over the border in France, gateway to the Serre Chevalier ski domaine. Traditional town, as opposed to the many purpose-built ski areas in France. Beautiful and friendly.

dutyfree

I visited Torino last fall when my son was studying abroad in the city.The Olympics are going to be in numerous areas so I personally would stay in the downtown area and use public transportation everywhere. At the time I was visiting they were putting in a type of "metro" train that will help relieve the congestion of the bus system in town. Torino/Turin is NOT like Rome,Florence or Venice. It is a Baroque city that has lots of interesting things to see and do but is also a business town(think Fiat,Lavazzo coffee,Nutella,etc.). Our family stayed at the Hotel Genio which is a Best Western(former villa in its first life) located across from the main train station.Looking out from our window we could see the Alps in the distance. This area is not like a Termini in Rome-its actually a block from Torino's version of Beverly Hills type shopping,etc. We loved the hotel,its staff and its close proximity to the public transportation. We took the train to Asti(wine country) down to Genoa and Cinque Terre,etc.We flew to Paris and then took Air France from there to Torino-the airport is great and only 20 minutes by bus to the city. Any other questions-I will be happy to try and provide answers.

delyan

Cicerone, grandmere, dutyfree
thank you