Turin's nightlife is more sedate than that of, say, Milan, but there is a reasonably varied mix of clubs and bars here, with the most lively spots down on the embankment bordered by the Parco del Valentino, known locally as the Murazzi - the best advice is just to wander down there and see what takes your fancy. Problems with drugs and theft have given the place a bit of a reputation and there's often quite a heavy police/carabinieri presence - so watch your wallet and take it easy. The area is especially popular on summer weekends when a big crowd spills out of the bars and onto the riverfront jetties. For a more tranquil alternative try the medieval area around Piazza Emanuele Filiberto and Via Santa Chiara.

Getting down to the business of drinking , you'll find that birrerias, extremely popular in the 1980s, have been supplemented by new vinerias - wine bars - where you can also order up a substantial snack (known locally as a marenda sinoira ). Note that some clubs require membership cards, which cost between L12,000/¬6.20 and L15,000/¬7.75, but your first drink is usually included in this. After that, although drink prices can be inflated, the measures are relatively generous - bar staff usually keep pouring until they think it looks big enough (often until it's about the equivalent of a triple).

The city has an impressive agenda of live music in July and September, with many well-publicized open-air performances, some of them free. The season kicks off with jazz in the second week of July courtesy of the JVC Jazz Festival (tel 011.561.3926) at the Piazzetta and Giardini Reale, which attracts international names such as Tito Puente and João Gilberto. For rock fans, the Pellerossa Festival (tel 011.434.3333) in the third and fourth weeks of July offers an eclectic mix of Italian and foreign bands - previous headliners have included Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth - with affordable tickets. However, the festival takes place outside town at the Certosa Reale and the Parco dalla Chiesa, and you'll need a car to get there. For most of September a major festival called, appropriately enough, Settembre Musica mixes jazz , world music , classical music and performance art (tel 011.442.4777) at various venues around town. Check the Web site www.comune.torino.it and links for listings.

Turin is also the home of the prestigious RAI National Symphony Orchestra , which performs in, among other places, the Lingotto centre, the former Fiat factory converted to a conference centre and performance space by architect Renzo Piano in 1995. Turin's opera house, the Teatro Regio (tel 011.881.5241), is one of the best in the country and is recognizable from its pod-like Seventies architecture.

The city's Il Teatro Stabile (tel 011.517.6246), one of Italy's principal publicly funded theatre companies, is acclaimed for its productions of major works by nineteenth- and twentieth-century European writers; they normally perform at the Casignano Theatre on Piazza Carignano. For new writers and experimental work, look out for shows by the Gruppo della Rocca, the Teatro dell'Angolo, the Teatro Juvarra and the Laboratorio Teatro Settimo. There are also four international film festivals held in Turin each year, among them a women's film festival in March and a "cinema of homosexual themes" in April; contact the tourist office for details.

For what's on listings , opening hours and so on, check the pages of the Turin daily, La Stampa , particularly its Tuesday and Friday supplements, or the weekly News Spettacolo . There's also a free monthly bilingual publication available in hotels and bars, Un Ospite a/A guest in Torino , which has a list of events and exhibitions as well as suggestions for itineraries; the Web site address is www.ospite.it . Failing that you can get information on events, exhibitions, festivals and the like from either the Informacittà office, on Piazza Palazzo di Città (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm; tel 011.442.3602), or the Vetrina per Torino office, Piazza San Carlo 159 (Mon 3-7pm, Tues-Sat 9am-1pm; tel 011.442.4740); the latter also sells tickets for most events.