Visiting castles in Italy: how to plan your visit

Italy has thousands of castles, fortresses and towers, but only some are open to the public, and the rules vary widely. Some are state museums open all year; others belong to towns or foundations and open only at weekends; others are private homes you can see only on special occasions. This guide helps you work out in advance what kind of castle you are dealing with and how to plan around it.

1. Find out who runs the castle

The operator decides the opening hours, prices and how visits work.

• State-run castles (Ministry of Culture) follow national rules on free and reduced entry, including free admission for under-18s and free entry on the first Sunday of the month, which applies to all visitors.
• Castles run by towns or regions set their own prices. In autonomous regions such as the Aosta Valley, the state rules do not apply.
• Castles run by foundations and associations are often open at weekends and in high season, with guided tours at fixed times.
• Private castles are often lived in or used for events. Many open only by appointment or on special days, such as the Giornate FAI, the spring and autumn open days organised by FAI (Italy’s equivalent of the National Trust), when places normally closed to the public can be visited.

Our place pages show the official website when it is recorded on Wikidata or OpenStreetMap. That is the first place to look. If there is none, it may be a sign that the castle is not regularly open.

2. Opening hours and seasons

Many castles, especially in the mountains and small villages, are open seasonally: from spring to autumn, then closed or open by appointment only in winter. Others open only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

• Check the last admission time, often 30–60 minutes before closing.
• Watch out for closures for private events such as weddings and conferences, common at castles that host receptions.
• If a place page shows hours in OpenStreetMap format (e.g. “Tu-Su 09:00-19:00”), treat them as a guide to be confirmed.

3. Guided tours and bookings

At many castles you can only visit with a guide: groups go in at fixed times with a maximum number of people. In practice:

• arrive a little before your tour starts;
• book ahead at weekends, on long weekends and in August, when Italians are on holiday;
• ask whether tours are available in English or other languages: at smaller castles tours are often in Italian only, sometimes with printed notes or an audio guide in English;
• allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half for the visit.

Some castles belong to networks. In Piedmont, Lombardy and the Aosta Valley many residences and fortresses are part of the Abbonamento Musei annual pass (see our guide to museum passes in Italy). Even with a pass you may need to book a tour slot.

4. Accessibility

Castles are, by design, hard to reach: hilltop positions, steep ramps, narrow staircases and battlement walkways. Some can be reached only on foot from a car park below. Before you travel:

• check whether there is parking close to the entrance or a shuttle;
• ask which floors and rooms can be reached by lift or stairlift;
• ask about alternatives for inaccessible areas, such as videos, models or virtual tours.

Our place pages show wheelchair access when it is recorded on OpenStreetMap, with three values: accessible, partly accessible, not accessible. It is crowd-sourced data and may be incomplete, so contacting the castle directly is the safest option. If you find an error, you can fix it on OpenStreetMap or let us know.

5. With children

An hour-long guided tour can be long for small children. Many castles offer family tours, workshops and treasure hunts, often at weekends. Also consider:

• pushchairs are often impractical on stairs and cobbles, so a baby carrier is easier;
• outdoor areas such as gardens, parks and walls give children room to move;
• under-18s enter state-run castles for free.

6. Seeing several castles in one day

Castles tend to cluster in particular areas: Alpine valleys, the hills of southern Piedmont, the Apennines between Tuscany and Emilia, the Marche, Puglia. To plan a day:

1. open the list of castles and pick a region (for example castles in the Aosta Valley or in Tuscany);
2. look at the Nearby places section of each page, which lists castles, fortresses and villages within 25 km;
3. save the places and use the itinerary planner to order your stops;
4. remember that with fixed-time guided tours you will rarely manage more than two or three castles a day.

Do not forget fortresses and towers and walled historic villages: they can often be explored freely and round off a day of castles nicely. Opening times, prices and visiting arrangements change from season to season, so always check the official website before you set off.