First published: 08/12/18.

Clyde 2.5

Royal Palace At Caserta

Royal Palace at Caserta (Inscribed)

Royal Palace at Caserta by Clyde

I visited this WHS in October 2018 and made good use of the underground parking. Its location is quite in the middle of nowhere and perhaps together with its enormous size, this helps to keep the number of visitors down. Then again, apart from its size, it definitely isn't one of Italy's best WHS and certainly not one of the best palaces on the WH list.

Unlike other palaces, you have to pay an entrance ticket to view both the gardens and the interior. You cannot view the gardens for free (unless you specifically visit the great restaurant near the fountains and are happy with just a panoramic view of the gardens and palace - more on this later). The interior itself was enjoyable as we had the palace completely for ourselves but I wouldn't recommend paying just to view it. The highlight of the interior is the magnificent Teatro di Corte, one of Italy's best theatre interiors by far, which is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00 to 13:00, thanks to the volontary work of Touring Club Italiano. The palace and gardens are so huge that most of the time there isn't enough staff to look after it!

The gardens are quite simple but make for a lovely walk in Autumn (there's also a shuttle service to the fountains or a horse cab). The highlight of the gardens are the lovely fountains with marble statues and the artificial cascades which reminded me a lot of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, Germany. Moreover, there's also a pleasant English garden near the biggest fountain and opposite is a convenient cafe and restaurant called Diana e Atteone which serves excellent pizzas and salads. They also have a panoramic view of the gardens and the palace in the terrace (and many locals by-pass the entrance ticket after having a meal here).

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