We invite you on a journey into the Bourbon 18th and 19th centuries: a themed driving itinerary, to be enjoyed at a relaxed pace over about seven days, among royal palaces, Vesuvian villas and old hunting estates. These are places that tell how the Bourbons ruled the Kingdom of Naples and later the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and several of them are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
When Charles of Bourbon arrived in Naples, he was struck by the beauty of the Kingdom and its forests, perfect for hunting, his great passion. Through purchases, exchanges and expropriations, various estates became reali delizie (royal pleasure grounds), reserved for the court's leisure, each with its own steward. From 1789 these properties even had an administration separate from the State finances, and more were added under his son Ferdinand.
The stops on the itinerary
1. Royal Palace of Naples
Built in 1600 as the residence of the Spanish viceroys to a design by Domenico Fontana, it became truly royal in 1734, but Charles found it almost bare. The king began extensions and new decorations, with furnishings partly from the Farnese collection; the Belvedere overlooking the sea was lengthened and in 1753 Luigi Vanvitelli strengthened the portico of the façade. We recommend the Historic Apartment, with its monumental staircase, the Hall of the Ambassadors and Murat's Study.
👉 Place page: Royal Palace of Naples
2. Capodimonte Museum and Royal Forest
Among other treasures, this is home to the d'Avalos Collection, one of the great collections of 17th-century Naples, which passed to the State in 1862 and came to Capodimonte from 1957: paintings of the Neapolitan school and the famous tapestries of the Battle of Pavia.
👉 Place page: Capodimonte National Museum
3. Royal Palace of Portici
Work began in 1738, the same year the excavations at Herculaneum resumed. The finds from Herculaneum and Pompeii were arranged in its rooms, creating the Herculanense Museum, a highlight of the Grand Tour. The large park ran from the slopes of Vesuvius down to the sea. Today the palace houses the Department of Agriculture of the University of Naples Federico II.
4. Villa Favorita (Ercolano)
An elegant 18th-century Vesuvian villa linked to Ferdinand IV and the architect Ferdinando Fuga, with a grand semicircular staircase leading to the park, which once reached the sea, and rooms decorated in Arabic and Chinese style.
5. Villa d'Elboeuf (Portici)
Built in 1711 to a design by Ferdinando Sanfelice, it passed to the Bourbons in 1742, becoming an annexe of the Royal Palace of Portici, with the famous Queen's bath overlooking the sea. Today it is in a badly dilapidated state.
6. Palazzo d'Avalos (Procida)
It dominates the Terra Murata: built in the 16th century by the d'Avalos family together with the walls, it became a Bourbon residence, then a military school and finally a prison, which closed only in 1988.
7. Royal Palace of Ischia
A building from 1735 bought by the Bourbons after 1799: Ferdinand IV used it as a summer residence for hunting, fishing and thermal cures, while Ferdinand II had a large pine forest planted on the Arso lava flow.
👉 Place page: Royal Palace of Ischia
8. Royal Hunting Lodge of Licola
One of Ferdinand IV's favourite places for hunting and fishing, once surrounded by gardens and fountains; a dovecote with its tower is still visible.
9. Royal Estate of Torcino at Ciorlano
Given to Charles in 1738, it became the Real Caccia di Torcino (Royal Hunting Ground of Torcino), later enlarged by Ferdinand IV with the neighbouring districts.
10. Royal Site of Carditello (San Tammaro)
Commissioned by Charles from 1744, it was both a hunting ground and a model farm: buffalo breeding and cheese-making, selection of the royal horses and experimental crops. The elegant neoclassical building is the work of Ferdinand IV and the architect Francesco Collecini, a pupil of Vanvitelli.
11. Ponti della Valle and the Carolino Aqueduct (Maddaloni)
Inaugurated in 1762 and designed by Vanvitelli, the aqueduct runs for about 38 km to supply San Leucio, the Royal Palace and the fountains of the Park. Its most spectacular point is the Ponti della Valle, 95 metres high on three tiers of arches.
12. Royal Palace of Caserta
Charles of Bourbon's great masterpiece, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli to rival the royal palaces of Europe such as Versailles.
👉 Place page: Royal Palace of Caserta
13. Royal Site of San Leucio
From 1789 Ferdinand IV created a silk colony here: a complete silk manufacturing cycle within a royal residence, a unique case in Europe. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.
14. Casina del Fusaro (Bacoli)
Built in 1782 by Carlo Vanvitelli on Lake Fusaro, a Bourbon hunting and fishing area: a neoclassical pavilion linked to the shore by a long jetty.
👉 Place page: Casina Vanvitelliana
15. Royal Palace of Quisisana (Castellammare di Stabia)
Of medieval origin, it was enlarged by Charles and Ferdinand IV with a large terrace, about a hundred rooms, a chapel and a garden with fountains. It was restored in 2009.
👉 Place page: Royal Palace of Quisisana
16. Royal Lodge of the Demanio di Calvi
From the late 18th century it became a hunting ground reserved for the sovereigns, with a royal lodge that housed the farmers on the ground floor and the court on the first floor.
17. Santa Maria della Pace complex (Naples)
A 15th-century palazzo converted into a hospital from 1587, which remained in use until 1974. We recommend the striking lazaretto hall, very long and frescoed, with a gallery from which doctors observed the sick.
Useful information
- Recommended transport: car
- Duration: 7 days
- Type: themed itinerary, 17 stops
Source: Regione Campania – Ecosistema digitale per la cultura
