Skip to content

Photo: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo credit

Photo: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Bicerin and the coffeehouses that invented it

  • 🇮🇹 Turin, Italy
  • Live video tour
  • 1 h
  • Italian, English
  • Up to 9 people
  • Food & Drink
Your local guide Giorgia Fontana 7 years guiding View profile

Highlights

  • A layered coffee and chocolate drink explained
  • Two historic coffeehouses compared
  • A craft explained by a trained pastry chef
  • Turin's specific culinary history
  • A drink meant to be drunk in a particular way

About this tour

This session covers bicerin, Turin's layered coffee and chocolate drink, using two of the historic coffeehouses credited with inventing it. You see the exterior of the first cafe and a comparison with a second nearby, with Giorgia explaining how the layered structure is meant to be drunk. She trained as a pastry chef and treats the drink as a specific craft rather than only a tourist stop.

She moves between the two coffeehouses, explaining the history at each before comparing their versions of the same drink. She answers questions about the recipe and its history throughout.

This suits anyone interested in food history or local culinary traditions specifically. It pairs naturally with the chocolate history call for a fuller picture of Turin's sweet traditions.

Included

  • Live video session with a local guide
  • A close look at the dishes and where locals buy them
  • A short list of places and dishes to try later

Not included

  • Food and drinks shown on camera
  • Travel to the city

Itinerary

  1. Welcome and sound check 5 min

    The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Turin before heading out.

  2. Historic Coffeehouse Exterior 21 min

    Giorgia stands outside a coffeehouse credited with inventing bicerin, explaining the drink's layered structure.

  3. Second Coffeehouse Comparison 21 min

    At a second historic cafe nearby, she compares how their version of the drink differs slightly.

  4. Your questions 9 min

    Time to ask anything about Turin: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.

  5. A short list to keep 4 min

    Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Vitello tonnato and Quadrilatero Romano, worth a slower look.

Good to know

  • A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
  • Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
  • Times are shown in Rome time, so check the time where you are before you book.
  • The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
  • Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
  • Sessions run in small groups, up to 9 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.

Questions about this tour

What will the session cover?

The guide walks through Turin, showing you Historic Coffeehouse Exterior and Second Coffeehouse Comparison live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.

What happens if my connection drops?

Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.

Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?

Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.

Do I need to buy or cook anything?

No. This is a conversation: the guide describes the dishes and where to find them, so you can try them yourself whenever suits you.

How it works

  • You get one join link after booking.
  • Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
  • We connect on Google Meet with the link in your booking. I hold the phone steady on the drink and the cafe interiors throughout.

Times shown in Rome time (CET)

Cancellation

Flexible

  • Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
  • Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
  • If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
  • Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.

Reviews

No reviews yet. Reviews appear here after travellers have completed this tour.

How reviews work

Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.

Next: Mon 2 Nov · 9 seats left From 24,00 €

Report this tour

Tell us what is wrong. Reports are reviewed by our team, usually within 2 business days. Knowingly false reports may lead to action against the reporter.