alwaysluv2travel

Hello fellow Fodorites!

I'll be in Rome in just about a week and can't wait! I've decided to visit Reggia di Caserta while there. Can anyone tell me how much it costs to get in and when they're open? I've searched the other forums but can't find operating hours or fees. Can anyone help?

Also, has anyone driven there from Rome? Advice on that would be helpful too.

Thanks!

kybourbon

It appears to be closed on Tuesday. I hope you aren't planning to rent a car just for this trip because you could train. I hope this link works. Hours are listed along with public transport you would take from Naples.
http://www.artecard.it/site.cfm?id=2

kybourbon

There are several trains from Rome to Caserta including a non-stop at 8:45 with travel time 1:15 (30€ one way). Most of the other trains during the day require changing in Naples and take about two hours.

The official site for the palace.
http://www.reggiadicaserta.beniculturali.it/

alwaysluv2travel

Thank you for your tips KYBourbon! I was thinking that renting a car would be a good way to go since with 2 ppl, it would be cheaper than paying 60E/pp round trip to take the train. Am I still nuts?

A_Brit_In_Ischia

You're not necessarily nuts, but the train is very simple - and the station only the shortest of walks from the Palace..

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/caserta

It needn't cost quite so much - for instance there's a direct IC service at just €21 from Rome at 08:20, which gets in at 10:36... but you'll need to price the car hire, fuel and any tolls on the 175 km journey to compare them?

Peter

alwaysluv2travel

I was thinking of renting a car to go to Orvieto too. Would that be a better use of a car rental / costs?

A_Brit_In_Ischia

With train fares starting at just €7.10, not necessarily!

But how much are you expecting the day's car rental to cost?

Peter

kybourbon

Usually a one day car rental is quite high. If you plan to keep it several days while staying in Rome then you have to pay to park (about 30€ per day) and you can't drive in the center (ZTL cameras will snap your license and you get a ticket in the mail). I don't know if Caserta has ZTL, but Orvieto does so you would have to either pay to park in the hill town and park below in the free lot behind the train station.

There are some mini-fares still available for Rome/Caserta this week if you select round trip on Trenitalia. Combining the IC train Brit mentioned with a return ES gives you 13€ for the IC and 24€ for the ES each person. You can't get mini-fares for routes combining ES and R trains. If you want to see if there are discounts available on a combined route, enter each leg (for this you would put Napes/Rome to see if the ES portion has a sale). You could take the IC to Caserta (13€), tour, take the R train to Naples, have dinner and catch an IC train back (13€)

As for Orvieto, the slower R trains are 7.10 and the faster IC train 14.50 (each way). The IC trains are only 15-20 minutes faster (some only 10 minutes) so you can save half taking the R train. Both trains are frequent throughout the day.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Rather than using it to just go to and from one specific place, you'd perhaps get better value from a day's car hire by touring a few of those covered in this nice pair of leaflets...

Where history meets the sea - Lazio's coastal archeological sites
http://www.italiantouristoffice.se/sv/docs/81.pdf

Walking through time - Lazio's Parks, castles, monasteries etc
http://www.italiantouristoffice.se/sv/docs/82.pdf

Peter

alwaysluv2travel

Thank you all! I think we're going to take the train to Caserta now but I'm still considering renting for the day to drive to Orvieto and visit a few wineries that are not reachable by bus or train (perhaps a taxi?) and hill towns nearby. The daily rental is about $100 (not inc petrol of course).

Still TBD but DO appreciate your thoughts!

kybourbon

Many wineries require appointments and aren't drop in places.

To drive legally in Italy, you need an IDP.

alwaysluv2travel

Thanks KY .... I have an IDP and planned to make reservations, should we go that route. Cheers!

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Probably too late now, but today I've come across news of some interesting extras at Caserta...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._Campania.html

Hopefully your timing was just right?

Peter