Visiting the Royal Palace of Caserta

Commissioned by Charles of Bourbon in 1752 and created by architect Vanvitelli to compete against the famous Palace of Versailles in Paris, today the Reggia di Caserta is the largest royal palace in the world. We recommend you spend an entire day here as you need to visit both the rooms and the gardens.

The interiors

As soon as you enter the palace, you’ll be struck by the Grand Staircase of Honour, which leads you to the first floor of the residence – it’s a masterpiece of Baroque architecture.

Head to the Royal Palatine Chapel right at the end of the stairs and marvel at the frescoes on the vaults representing the four seasons, which is a recurring theme in this impressive building. Take in the marvellous Royal Court Theatre, which has a peculiar horseshoe shape to achieve better acoustics and visibility – it’s a scale reproduction of the San Carlo Theatre in Naples and was used by the king for private versions of the main shows of Neapolitan theatre. But your visit should not stop here – there are plenty of rooms to visit, including the stunning Palatine Library with its elegant reliefs and frescoes representing the different constellations and signs of the zodiac.

The gardens

Once you’ve finished visiting the interiors, have a nice stroll in the gardens – we recommend you dedicate 3-4 hours of your time to them.

What strikes the most about them is that they extend as far as the eye can see – Vanvitelli designed a huge straight avenue from Naples to the waterfall at the ending part of the gardens to give this ‘telescope effect’. The English garden is one of the oldest and most picturesque gardens created in Europe, perfect for that Instagram shot. Discover the story behind each of the fountains located between the Italian and the English gardens – the Fountain of the Three Dolphins, the Margherita Fountain, the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon are only some of the marvels dotting the gardens.

Hollywood’s favourite location

Did you know that the Royal Palace of Caserta has always been one of Hollywood’s favourite locations? You can see the Grand Staircase of Honour and other rooms of the palace in a lot of movies, including Star Wars, Mission Impossible, Angels & Demons and many more.

Opening times and tickets

The palace is open every day from 08:30 to 19:00, except on Tuesdays. Ticket prices aren’t too high despite the splendour of this place. Students and seniors are usually entitled to a discount and you can enter the palace (not the gardens) for free on the first Sunday of each month – sounds great, doesn’t it?

Getting there by train

You can easily reach the stunning Caserta Palace by train. If you’re in Naples, simply take one of the regional trains operated by Trenitalia and get off at Caserta train station, which is only a 5-minute walk from the palace. If you’re coming from Rome, hop on a Frecciarossa high-speed train bound for Naples and continue the rest of your journey on a regional train. On Frecciarossa you’ll get to enjoy plenty of high-quality services, including free WiFi, onboard entertainment portal, large leather armchairs, the FrecciaBistrò catering service and much more – there’s no better excuse to travel in Italy by train!

Getting from Salerno to Caserta and from Benevento to Caserta is very quick and easy too – you’ll be taking in the breath-taking view of the palace in less than an hour.