Campania · Caserta
Caserta
Italy's answer to Versailles, built by the Bourbons on the Campanian plain with 1,200 rooms and a three-kilometer water axis.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 38 min from Naples
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 72,805
Known for
REGGIA
Vanvitelli's Bourbon palace, larger than Versailles by volume, 1,200 rooms, UNESCO-listed in 1997 with park and aqueduct.
SAN LEUCIO SILK
Ferdinand IV's 1778 silk colony with utopian labor code; the royal factory still produces silk for Italian state ceremonies.
CASERTAVECCHIA
The medieval predecessor village at 401 meters, kept its Romanesque cathedral when the Bourbons emptied it for the new plain city.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S28°
- O22°
- N17°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: San Sebastiano, 20 January
Why come
Caserta sits on the Campanian plain, 25 kilometers north of Naples at the foot of the Tifatini hills. The city exists because Charles III of Bourbon decided in 1750 to build a palace that would rival Versailles and the Royal Palace of Madrid, far enough inland to be safe from naval bombardment. Luigi Vanvitelli laid the first stone in 1752: five floors, 1,200 rooms, 1,742 windows, 34 staircases.
The gardens stretch three kilometers from the back façade to a cascade fed by the Carolino Aqueduct, also Vanvitelli's design. The complex was listed by UNESCO in 1997 together with the silk village of San Leucio, the utopian industrial colony Ferdinand IV built on a hill four kilometers away. Up the road, Casertavecchia, the medieval village abandoned when the Bourbons moved everyone down to the plain, keeps its 12th-century Romanesque cathedral. The modern city below is a working provincial capital, not a tourist town.
The Sunday letter
Caserta is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Caserta comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Caserta in our articles
The best towns that eat well within 45 minutes of Naples6 towns, Caserta among them.
The 7 best hill towns that eat well in Campania7 towns, Caserta among them.
The best towns you can reach by train within 45 minutes of Naples7 towns, Caserta among them.
The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of Napoli8 towns, Caserta among them.
How to get there
From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 34 minutes by car.
Rome (FCO) is about 2h 51m away.
By car from the centre of Naples 38 minutes or Salerno 56 minutes.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Napoli Centrale? Caserta is about 38 minutes away by road.
What to see
Reggia di Caserta
Bourbon royal palace begun in 1752 by Luigi Vanvitelli, five floors, 1,200 rooms, UNESCO-listed since 1997 with the park and the Carolino Aqueduct.
Parco Reale e Giardino Inglese
Three-kilometer formal park ending in a cascade, with an English Garden added by Maria Carolina in 1786, the first of its kind in Italy.
Casertavecchia
Medieval hilltop village at 401 meters, 10 km from the city, abandoned when the Bourbons relocated the population to the plain.
Duomo di San Michele a Casertavecchia
Romanesque cathedral built between 1113 and 1153, with Arab-Norman influences in the dome and the sculpted portals.
Belvedere di San Leucio
Bourbon silk colony at 145 meters, founded 1778 as a planned industrial community with its own laws; the royal silk factory still operates.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Caserta fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Le ColonneRistorante
Le Colonne holds two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Sunrise RestaurantRistorante
Sunrise Restaurant has one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Antica LocandaRistorante
Antica Locanda carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Gli ScacchiRistorante
Gli Scacchi carries a Slow Food snail.
I MasanielliRistorante
A Slow Food snail, at I Masanielli.
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
Sagra della Mulignana Imbuttunatafood festival
usually held in September. TrovaSagre
Living here
- Population 72,805
- A local hubi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 34 min drive
- Regional capital Napoli, 38 min drive
Common questions
- What is Caserta known for?
- Italy's answer to Versailles, built by the Bourbons on the Campanian plain with 1,200 rooms and a three-kilometer water axis.
- Where is Caserta?
- Caserta is a comune in the province of Caserta, in Campania, at 68 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Caserta?
- Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 34 minutes by car.
- Can you get to Caserta without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Caserta?
- About 38 minutes by car.
- When is the best time to visit Caserta?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Caserta?
- Yes. Sagra della Mulignana Imbuttunata. September is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Caserta?
- Benevento, Nola and Lecce.
- How many people live in Caserta?
- 72,805 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 68 m
- Population: 72,805
- Surface area: 54.07 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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🏛️ UNESCO
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