Tomato Backpackers
The new-school San Salvario hostel everyone's reviewing — tomato-bright design, hypoallergenic beds, the highest rating in Turin.
Tomato Backpackers opened on Via Silvio Pellico in San Salvario in 2024 and has been racking up near-perfect ratings ever since. Bright primary-color rooms, private bathrooms in every dorm, an indoor games room and an Italian breakfast served à la carte — small, sharp, and walking distance to the aperitivo strip.
Tomato Backpackers opened in 2024 in a renovated five-story palazzo on the quiet end of Via Silvio Pellico, three minutes' walk from Porta Nuova station and the same distance from the bars on Largo Saluzzo. The visual is unapologetic: tomato-red doors, mustard-yellow accent walls, photogenic by design. It looks like a place built by someone who watched what was working at The Hat and Generator, then sized it down to a 30-bed boutique hostel.
The rooms are the differentiator. Every dorm — even the 6-bed mixed — has a private bathroom with walk-in shower attached, hypoallergenic bedding, and lockers under the bunks. Inner courtyard windows mean even the budget bunks are insulated from Via Pellico traffic. There's an elevator (rare in San Salvario's old buildings), AC in every room, and the breakfast is Italian à la carte: order what you want from a small menu instead of fighting over a buffet.
Communal life happens on the ground floor: a coffee shop, a games room with ping-pong and a small indoor play area for backpacker families, and outdoor seating on the back patio. There's no on-site bar — by design — because the San Salvario strip is a 90-second walk and management knows it.
Location puts you at the seam between San Salvario (cheap eats, late bars) and Centro (museums, royal palaces). The Egyptian Museum is a 12-minute walk, Mole Antonelliana 18 minutes. Tram 9 runs along Via Nizza two blocks away, so you're three stops from Porta Susa for high-speed trains to Milan. Aperitivo at Affini is six minutes on foot. The fact that this place is not yet famous (28 reviews when we visited) is the only argument for picking somewhere else in Turin.
- 01The dorms are actually quiet — hypoallergenic linens and inner-courtyard windows mean you sleep
- 02Indoor games room and ping-pong table, useful when Turin's winter fog rolls in
- 03Walking distance to the San Salvario aperitivo strip without being on top of the noise
- 04Italian breakfast à la carte (not buffet) makes morning feel like a café, not a canteen
- 05Front desk staff actually know the city — they'll route you to Affini or Magazzino di Gilgamesh
- Highest-rated hostel in Turin (9.1) on a small but very recent sample
- Every dorm has a private bathroom with walk-in shower (rare in Turin)
- Italian à la carte breakfast included, not the usual stale-cornetto buffet
- Three-minute walk to Porta Nuova and seven minutes to the San Salvario bars
“Beautiful and comfortable room, very clean, pretty common room, and the breakfast was delicious. The staff were super welcoming.”
“Nice location near the station and the bars of San Salvario, perfect room with private bathroom inside the dorm. Will come back.”
“I was pleasantly surprised — I thought I had booked a hostel but it felt more like a small boutique. The walk-in shower in the dorm was unexpected and excellent.”
- Porta Nuova Train Station300 m
- Largo Saluzzo aperitivo strip550 m
- Egyptian Museum950 m
- Mole Antonelliana1.6 km
- Parco del Valentino850 m
- Tram 9 stop (Marconi)180 m
