The Palace and Park of Venaria Reale

We decided at the last moment to go and see the palace and park of Venaria Reale, in the province of Turin. It was Saturday and it fell in the long holiday weekend of All Saints; the queue at the ticket office was over an hour long.....the signs to the place were barely visible, and the overall organisation of the whole thing.....poor! The park is very big, with trees, a narrow, long and rather bare waterway.....no statues, no little fountains, no bushes — in short, very few embellishments. The day was sunny and at least we enjoyed the colours of autumn nature. There is a large pool near the palace, with water and trees nearby that showed an orange-red colour and were reflected in the water... very evocative.

A big cafe was set up with an outdoor terrace; in front of the royal palace the gardens are more elaborate and beautiful, with hedges, a fountain, some works displayed in the grounds, pots and flowers; the lawns were green and the park as a whole is large — near the palace it is very beautiful, elsewhere it is very bare. A little train takes tourists around the park; beside the palace there is a plantation of bare little trees sunk in soil full of hazelnut shells..... certain details catch the visitor's attention, benches scattered here and there; to visit the whole park comfortably it takes 1.5 hours, if not more. The palace, on the other hand, is always packed with people, guided tours and otherwise; inside there is an exhibition of paintings and statues, drawings of various Italian and foreign castles, reconstructions of palaces and castles in wood, all in an atmosphere of grandeur.

There is no furniture and no signs of real life on display. A small exhibition of nineteenth-century clothes made of papier-mache is very pretty and colourful. No photographs allowed.....as always! In the end you can visit a church, a chapel, large and recently restored, very beautiful and bright. The park entrance is far from the palace entrance, and if you visit the park first you can enter the palace from a secondary entrance at the back, from the park. At this time many complaints have arisen about Venaria, since there have been episodes of disorganisation and poor logistics, with tourists complaining about queues and the lack of information and signage.

All of this is indeed noticeable, but if you manage to get a ticket (12 euros each for park + palace without a guide) the visit is then nice, takes up a whole afternoon, and if you are lucky enough to find a fine sunny day it is lovely to take photographs. I did not visit the Mandria park, which is yet another thing but still connected to Venaria Reale; I hope to do it in spring. Oh, paid parking!!!!! But in the end it was worth it! The exhibition of paintings inside the palace was nice: hunting scenes, love scenes and portraits of historical figures. Sculpted busts and faces, the large rooms and the wooden floor gave a feeling of splendour.

The last, very long room before entering the chapel is very beautiful, from the worked ceiling to the chequered floor, well lit by many large windows on the sides — it is an evocative room; I....well, I took a few photos but....I was taking a risk! The indoor visiting route is poorly signposted and a little confusing; there are audio guides or proper guided tour groups but at a higher price. At the end of the visit there is a bookshop and a kind of shop room with a few books, postcards and some nice knick-knacks, but the prices are a bit exaggerated. The cafe of the complex opens onto the lawn next to the park; there is no set visiting route in the park — the route is free and also a bit confusing..... in front of the palace there is a kind of old ruined fountain, very evocative, filled with some glass-like material that sparkles in the sun, a great effect.

The village street that leads into the square in front of the palace and the entrance is full of cafes and shops; the ticket office is there. The car park is at the back of the palace, which they have not yet finished restoring; the palace as a whole is very large and a good part has already been restored, but there is still a lot of work to do. To reach Venaria you need to take the Turin ring road heading for Milan and exit either after c.so Regina Margherita or at the stadium exit. The website of the Reggia di Venaria is:

It is not possible to buy tickets online because of an error.....better to phone and ask for information. The checks are quite strict inside and outside the palace.... If you put a foot wrong....they pull you up immediately.