Category: Adventure Travel in Italy

Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi - Hunting Residence in English, is a former hunting castle turned summer residence located just 10km SW of Turin. If you like castles as much as I do, this UNESCO World Heritage Site should be on your list of places to visit. As expected in any royal residence, some of the rooms are grand as the one shown above, but it's much simpler than the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace of Turin). Now that is something to see if you're seeking grandiose! Unfortunately, no photos are permitted inside that palace, but it's definitely worthy of checking out and is conveniently located in the heart of Turin near Gelati Pepino, where I did a heavenly gelato tasting. The Hunting Residence of Stupinigi isn't exactly slumping it though. It holds its own with an impressive 137 rooms, 17 galleries and over 31,000 sq m. (not all are open to the public). Just a typical summer residence, non? The grounds are equally impressive, as the illustration below shows (photo taken of a sign): The highlight of the residence is the main gallery, which also stands out when viewing the residence from the outside: But without a doubt, my favorite part of the residence were all the paintings of animals. I tried to ignore the fact that most of these animals were likely hunted, inspiring the paintings. Sometimes that was easy to do as with the cute photo below: Other times, not as much: I took the City Sightseeing bus to the Residence of Stupinigi. It operates two lines and stops at all the major tourist destinations complete with an audio guide so you learn about the highlights while in transit. But on a nice day, I would recommend cycling there instead if you have the time. It's only 10km