The Reggia di Venaria Reale lies ten kilometres north-west of the centre of Turin, at the edge of the Piedmontese plain, with the white wall of the Alps visible on a clear day behind the Lanzo valleys. The Savoy dukes built it as a hunting lodge, and it grew into one of the largest palaces in Europe, now at the centre of a town of thirty-three thousand people that carries its name.
Duke Charles Emmanuel II began the work in 1658, with the architect Amedeo di Castellamonte, who also laid out the town around it as a service area for the court. The building was damaged in the French wars and later used as a barracks, and it fell into serious decay. In the early eighteenth century the Sicilian architect Filippo Juvarra added the great gallery, a hall of white stone flooded with light, and the church of Sant'Uberto, named for the patron saint of hunters. After a long and expensive restoration the palace reopened to the public in 2007, with the gardens following later. It belongs to the group of Savoy residences inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1997.
Beside the palace lies the park of La Mandria, a huge walled royal hunting estate with woods, meadows and an old farm complex, now open to walkers and cyclists, where deer and boar still roam. Behind the palace, the Alpine foothills begin, and the roads into the valleys of Lanzo reward a rider with a series of bends. The Colle del Lys, a pass to the north-west, is a modest climb with a pleasant surface, though traffic around Turin on weekdays is heavy and the ring roads are fast and confusing, so plan the exit carefully.
Venaria Reale itself has everything: fuel, parking, cafes and restaurants in the old town streets, and a daily pace that feels more provincial than the nearby city. The Savoy kitchen was rich in game, truffles, hazelnuts and the creamy chocolate, gianduja, invented in Turin, and a glass of Barbera or Nebbiolo goes well with the local salami. The palace has a lot of rooms and walking inside takes a couple of hours, so go in the morning, and choose spring or autumn for the best light on the gardens. In August the plain is hot and humid, and the city is half empty.