Reggia di Colorno

The route takes in three parts of the palace:

• The Piano Nobile, the reception floor, with stuccoes, frescoes and period furnishings from the ducal court.
• The apartment of Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon, the 18th-century duke. It is not accessible to visitors with reduced mobility, the Reggia says; the rest of the route has a lift.
• The ducal chapel of San Liborio.

The Castelli del Ducato circuit also mentions an astronomical observatory in the complex. The official route description does not list it, so do not assume it is included. The Reggia warns that routes and times can change during exhibitions or restoration work.

For the history behind the rooms, read our piece on Marie Louise, the Duchess who made Parma. Her portraits and belongings are in the city at the Museo Glauco Lombardi.

Reduced tickets are for ages 7 to 18, university students with a card, over-65s, Castelli del Ducato passport holders, FAI members and Touring Club members with one companion. Family tickets for two adults cost €25 with one child aged 7 to 14, €30 with two and €35 with three. Children under 6 are free. The garden audioguide is €3.

Guided visits in English must be requested when you book; French, German and Spanish tours are by booking too. Bags larger than 55 x 35 x 20 cm are not allowed in the museum rooms; lockers at the ticket office are free.

From March to November, guided visits leave at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day it is open. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays there is also a 5 p.m. tour, and you can go in with the audioguide from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (last entry noon) and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry 5 p.m.).

The palace closes on non-holiday Mondays in January, February, March, June, July, August, November and December, according to its own site. So April, May, September and October Mondays are open. (The Castelli del Ducato page gives a slightly different list; we follow the Reggia.)

December to February: the Reggia's own page says visits are by booking for groups; the Castelli del Ducato circuit lists weekend guided and audioguide visits in those months. The two do not agree, so call +39 0521 312545 before a winter trip. The garden stays open all year.

Train: the regional train towards Brescia leaves Parma at 12 minutes past the hour on weekdays (8:12 a.m., 9:12 a.m. and so on through the afternoon) and reaches Colorno in 16 minutes. It costs €2.70. Trains back leave Colorno at 26 past and take 23 minutes. On Sundays there are gaps: on a sample Sunday in October, trains left Parma at 8:12 a.m., 10:12 a.m., 12:12 p.m. and then hourly. Colorno station is about 1 km, 13 minutes on foot, from the palace.

Bus: TEP lines 2812, 2820 and 2830 run from Parma to Colorno. A single is €3, slightly more than the train.

Car: 17.8 km (11 miles), about 22 minutes north of the city. Taxi: Radio Taxi Parma charges a fixed €30 one way by day to the Reggia, tolls included; the train is €2.70.

For a morning plan: the 9:12 a.m. train, the 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. tour, a walk in the garden, and lunch. For the afternoon, the 3 p.m. tour and the 4:26 p.m. or 5:26 p.m. train back.

The classic pairing is a culatello lunch at Al Vedel, the old trattoria at Vedole on the edge of Colorno; see its page for prices and opening days before you plan around it. If you have a car, Colorno is the gateway to the Bassa and the Po, culatello country, and to culatello at its source.

Colorno also works as a half day before an evening back in Parma: the last afternoon tour ends around 5:50 p.m., and trains run hourly.

It depends on what you want. The "Versailles" line oversells it: the palace is big and handsome, but after the Province bought it in 1870 it spent nearly a century housing families in hardship and service staff, and it reads as a restored monument rather than a lived-in court. What survives is worth 80 minutes if you like court history. The French parterre, restored between 1998 and 2000 to the original designs, is free and pleasant on a fine day.

If you have one or two days in Parma, spend them in the city first: the Pilotta tells the Farnese story better. On a third day, or combined with a culatello lunch, Colorno earns its place.