Palace of Venaria (Reggia di Venaria): tickets, tours and tips

What the Palace of Venaria is

The Reggia di Venaria Reale is the residence the House of Savoy built for hunting and court festivities, about ten kilometres from central Turin. Work began in 1658 for Duke Carlo Emanuele II, to designs by Amedeo di Castellamonte; in the eighteenth century Filippo Juvarra added some of the most theatrical spaces of the European Baroque. After a long period of neglect and a restoration that took years, it reopened to the public in 2007 and is now one of the most visited sights in Piedmont.

It belongs to the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, together with the Royal Palace in Turin and the family’s other homes. Compared with the palaces in the city centre, it feels like a small court town: the palace, stables, churches, gardens and historic village were all conceived together around the same vision of power and leisure.

What to see: rooms, gardens and the old town

The visitor route is long and well signposted. Keep these highlights in mind; any one of them justifies the trip.

The interiors

• Galleria Grande: Juvarra’s long, light-filled hall, its windows facing the gardens, is the image everyone associates with Venaria.
• Chapel of Sant’Uberto: the court church dedicated to the patron saint of hunters, also by Juvarra, where the light is staged like theatre.
• Sala di Diana and the apartments: hunting scenes and court portraits tell the story of Savoy life in the seventeenth century.
• Stables and Citroniera: vast spaces that host the major temporary exhibitions and the Bucintoro, the Savoy family’s lavish ceremonial boat.

The gardens and the old town

The gardens alternate formal vistas with looser corners: the Gran Parterre, the Peschiera fishpond, the kitchen garden and orchard, and Giuseppe Penone’s Garden of Fluid Sculptures. A small train, the Freccia di Diana, runs through the lower park and is handy with children. Beyond the boundary wall lies La Mandria park and its castle, while in front of the palace the old town’s main street, Via Mensa, is lined with cafés and trattorias.

Getting there from Turin

Venaria is a separate town north-west of Turin: you cannot walk there and the metro does not serve it. These are the practical options.

• Train: from Porta Susa station, suburban (SFM) trains reach Venaria Reale station in about 15 minutes, usually every half hour. From the station it is a ten-minute walk through the old town to the palace.
• Venaria Express: GTT’s shuttle leaves from Via Fiochetto and stops at Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Piazza Castello and Porta Susa, Tuesday to Sunday. At weekends and on holidays it uses a dedicated day ticket (about €7, less with the Torino+Piemonte Card); on weekdays ordinary city tickets are valid.
• Bus 11: departs from Porta Nuova; cheap but slower.
• Car: leave the northern ring road at the Venaria exit; there are paid car parks near the palace.

All the ways to get around the city are in our guide to getting around Turin.

Which ticket to choose

For most visitors the right ticket is the official “Tutto in una Reggia”: about €20 on the palace website, covering the interiors, the gardens and current exhibitions. Young people and university students pay a reduced rate, children under 6 go free, and if you only want a walk there is a gardens ticket for around €5.

If you are also visiting the Egyptian Museum, the Royal Museums or the Mole within a few days, consider the Torino+Piemonte Card: from €29.90 for one day, it includes the palace and many other museums, and there are 2-, 3- and 5-day versions. It does not include public transport.

Tiqets offers two alternatives. The guided tour with entry, from €79.90, is for visitors who want a guide through the rooms; reviews are few so far but very positive. The palace + hop-on hop-off bus package, from €48, combines entry with Turin’s sightseeing bus; reviews are few and mixed and the Venaria route does not run all year, so check dates and stops before you book. For the city bus itself, see our hop-on hop-off bus page.

Opening hours and practical tips

• Days: open Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays except public holidays. The palace closes around 5pm on weekdays and around 6.30pm at weekends; garden hours change with the seasons.
• When to go: the gardens are at their best in spring and early autumn. Weekday mornings are the quietest; weekends with a big exhibition bring queues at the ticket office, so booking online helps.
• Comfortable shoes: between the rooms and the gardens you will easily walk several kilometres.
• Food: there is a café and a restaurant inside the palace, or try the old town, a few steps from the entrance.
• Accessibility: the main route is largely accessible; if you have specific needs, contact the palace before your visit.
• With children: the gardens, the little train and the open spaces work well; inside, alternate the rooms with breaks outdoors.

What to combine it with

The palace takes time, so the most natural pairing is to stay local, with a stroll through the old town or an afternoon in La Mandria park. If you still have energy, stop on the way back at the Juventus Museum, which is on the same side of the city and served by the same Venaria Express shuttle (watch out for match days).

The Royal Museums on Piazza Castello are the ideal complement for understanding the Savoy court, but they deserve a day of their own. Do not put Venaria and Zoom Torino on the same day: they are on opposite sides of Turin. More ideas outside the city are on our day trips from Turin page.