The Venaria Palace is a former royal hunting residence and gardens located on the outskirts of the city. The most efficient transport seemed to be the an express bus from Castello; unfortunately for us it was very late, and we had conflicting information on whether it was even running. Just as we were about to give up – it arrived! It was a rough ride, but we eventually got to the town of Veneria, and from there it was a 10 minute walk to the ticket office. We had our 72 hour pass that let us in free, but still needed stand in line for a ticket which was a bit of a process. After that we were finally in!
You start through the basement with lots of literature about the dynasty and the history of the Kingdom as it it grew and shrank across different time periods between the 1600s-1800s. At one point the house Savoy extended into France (Lyon) and Switzerland (Geneva) and south to Sardinia.
Next the tour route takes you upstairs into the ground floors. For an enormous palace it is surprisingly plain – most of the furniture non-original, and virtually all the interior was removed or degraded in the 1900s. Some of the ceilings were under repair during our visit.
However, the Grand Gallery is the showstopper! Beautiful light and windows the whole way down.
The Church of Saint Hubert was an unexpected surprise, with a soaring ceiling and beautiful detail work.
Finally, we were pleasantly surprised by the Royal stables which had the royal river boat and multiple carriages.
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The palace has a large garden area too, with lots of trees and walking paths. Since it was now late October most of the roses were done blooming, but the cianghale sculpture was fun and views to the mountains were nice on this clear day.
The Fontana dell’Ercole, a recently renovated fountain, was our last stop before heading back into town for lunch.
We decided to try Piadineria Crispino, and we were not disappointed. Naturally, I had the parma ham (with gran padano and arugula) while Leandra ordered the ham, artichokes and brie. She also surprised me by getting a half bottle of a Corner Valdobbiadene Prosecco, always excellent with ham.
On the way back to the bus we stopped for gelato at Fattoria i tre camini. We had to wait a few minutes for them to set up after their lunch break, but it was worth it. Leandra got the salted pistachio (a little icey, but good) while I went for the Bonet (ameratto and biscuits plus chocolate) and a standard chocolate. Enjoyed on a bench in Piazza dell’Annunziata.
From there we walked to the train station to catch a different bus (11) back to our apartment for a much needed 30 minutes rest!