Getting to Reggia di Caserta (“Palace of Caserta”) turned out to be much easier than anticipated. Trenitalia, Italy’s government owned train company, operates Metro Line 2 in Naples, which doubles as a regional train line. So we were able to buy train tickets direct to Caserta from Piazza Cavour (a metro station near our Airbnb). No change of trains required.
Purchasing train tickets from Trenitalia is a breeze, as it has an English language booking site, ItaliaRail, that is easy to understand and use. The only downside is paying a $5 service fee for online tickets. If you are already in Italy and decide to take a trip on a Trenitalia train, purchase tickets from a Trenitalia ticket machine (found at every station served by Trenitalia). The ticket machines operate in multiple languages. No service fee is charged.
Two train tickets to Caserta, purchased from the ticket machine at Piazza Cavour, cost about €8, versus €13 if purchased online.
After a 50 minute train ride we arrived at the Caserta train station, which is located directly across street from the entrance to the palace. It was about 9:45 AM on Monday. We took our time walking to the palace, hanging back from the other tourists and letting them go first.
Reggia di Caserta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the largest royal palaces in the world, commissioned by Charles of Bourbon (King Charles VII of Naples, and later King Charles III of Spain) and constructed in the 1750s.
During World War II, the palace served as the Allied Force Headquarters in the Mediterranean theater. More recently, it was used for interior scenes of Theed City Naboo Palace in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
As usual, we presented our Artecards in the ticket office to obtain tickets (free; otherwise €15). There we were told to go to the bookshop. Having to go somewhere else to pick up tickets was a first for us. Being somewhat confused, we showed our Artecards to an employee at the exit of the main entrance, who ushered us into the palace and pointed out the bookshop.
We declined audio guides, only to find out that just Italian language brochures were available. No worries, signs throughout the palace are in both Italian and English.
After a stop at the cloakroom to drop off my backpack, which was not allowed in the royal apartments, we made our way to the staircase of honor to start the tour.
The tour through the royal apartments covers about half of the top floor. Two things are immediately apparent. First, our necks are going to hurt looking up at all the incredible ceilings. Second, contemporary art is interspersed throughout, which is really weird and downright jarring at times.
We spent about an hour in the royal apartments. Fortunately the ceilings in the rooms towards the end of the tour were not as impressive, giving our necks a break.
Next we strolled over to the royal gardens. The main feature of the gardens is a waterway consisting of a series of ponds, fountains, and statues leading to a large waterfall at the far end. And it is far away. For some reason, I had it in my head that the walk from the palace to the waterfall is half a mile. Nope, it is actually about 1.5 miles (or 2.4 kilometers) one way.
It was Stephanie’s cussing that led me to double check the actual distance. I guess the presence of shuttle busses should have been a clue, too.
Anyway, we walked from the palace to the waterfalls, enjoying the ponds, fountains, and statues along the way. The shuttle busses stop only at the palace and waterfalls, so to truly enjoy the waterway you must walk the length of it at least once.
It was 60° F and sunny out, and we were quite warm by the time we reached the waterfalls. Rather than walk another 1.5 miles back to the palace, directly into the sun, we decided to hop onto the shuttle bus and ride back. After miscalculating the walking distance so badly, I didn’t complain about paying €2.50 each for the ride.
As soon as we got on the bus I realized that we made a mistake. The bus had large glass windows and a glass roof, which is definitely NOT good in full sun. It was hot as hell in that damn bus, at least 85° to 90° F. The ride was miserable, even if only a couple of minutes long. Still, I’d have rather walked.
Our journey in the gardens lasted about an hour. We skipped the English Garden entirely and did not wander around much, as gardens in February are not particularly exciting.
From there it was back to the train station, where we purchased return train tickets, bought a couple of drinks, and settled in for the ride back to Naples.
Garrett and Stephanie
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Think of the patience those artists had. Beautiful