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Caserta a fine day trip from Naples

I was just in Naples for several days and decided to spend some time in Caserta, a 45 minute direct train ride away. The main site there is the Reggia di Caserta, a huge Baroque palace which is actually the largest palace in all Europe. It is a five minute walk from the train station, so it works well as a day excursion from Naples. The palace itself is amazing, 1200 rooms, but mercifully you can only tour 50 or so of them. The EU has poured lots of money into restoration, so the rooms open to the public are beautifully redone. And the gardens with incredible statuary along the 2 mile cascading pools, ending with a waterfall, will take your breath away. There is a shuttle for 2.5 euros that takes you to the base of the waterfall, and you can return on the same ticket. Personally, I prefer to walk back for better views of the fountains and palace. It is slightly downhill on the way back.
There is an English language audioguide that you can skip unless you really want to know who designed each room and which Bourbon royalty stayed there. There are signs in almost all the rooms with plenty of information inItalian and English, so I stopped playing my audioguide after a while and just depended on the signage.

This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it amazingly is not crowded at all! The town of Caserta is pleasant enough, but not much to see other than the Reggia. Hotels cost about 50 percent of similar hotels in Naples, and the restaurants are also less expensive. Also, it feels much safer walking around there. As a single woman traveler, I felt quite comfortable walking back to my hotel at night. Since I stayed two nights there, I took a local bus to the hillside town of Casertavecchia, a medieval town with twisted streets, old stone buildings, snd no American tourists at all.

Naples can be intense, and the Amalfi coast, while breattaking, is overrun with tourists. A daytrip or even overnight to Caserta would be a good addition to a Naples itinerary.

Posted by
385 posts

Thank you for this trip report and the information on Caserta. We are planning our second trip to Italy and will be spending 5 nights in Naples. We'll definitely look into taking a day trip to Caserta!

Posted by
84 posts

I appreciate your thoughts on Caserta. We plan to visit in September (if I can figure out the car rental). I debated whether we would enjoy the Palace, but it sounds worthwhile from your report...especially the garden and water features. I understand there aren't too many places to eat there. Did you find that to be true?

Posted by
124 posts

I wish we had done this on our trip several years back, especially as my relatives are from that area! Thanks for the tips. I look forward to spending time there in the future.

Posted by
15806 posts

Indeed, it is well worth a visit. I went last year and agree with everything JER says - except for the review of the town, only because I day-tripped from Naples so I didn't see the town at all.

Posted by
990 posts

The only restaurant I tried in Caserta was Tre Farine, about a five minute walk from the Reggia. The pizza there was very good, Neapolitan style of course, but the mains looked good as well. And fairly priced. Another option is the restaurant at the Hotel Royal Caserta--about a three minute walk from the Reggia. They have a daily menu, and since i stayed there, I ate there twice and found it fine, though not a gastronomic must-do. As between the two, I'd go for Tre Farine.