Did you know that Italy has a royal palace that rivals Versailles in size and splendor? Located about 40 minutes north of Naples, the Reggia di Caserta was built in the 18th century by King Charles III (known as Charles of Bourbon), who looked to the famous French palace for inspiration.

Designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, the Reggia di Caserta has 1,200 rooms, a 123-hectare royal park, and English gardens with more than 200 species of plants and 24 sculptures. So why does nobody seem to know about it? The palace welcomed 770,000 people in 2022, which may seem like a lot, but not when you consider that around 10 to 15 million people visit Versailles annually. As a Rome-based travel writer, I was curious to see this under-the-radar palace.