Castello di Rivalta
Castello di Rivalta
4.5
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The castle and the medieval village belong to the Zanardy Landi family, a branch of the Landi familily that owns the castle since the 13 th century.The castle is open for guided tours (you can visit the honour room , dining room, copper kitchen , wine cellar, prisons, bedrooms,tower realized by Pietro Antonio Solari, the same architect of the Kremlin of Moscow ), while the guest quarters are used for banquets, events, symposiums, conventions and marriages, (with possible use of the 14th century San Martino church).
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,343 reviews
Excellent
864
Very good
408
Average
46
Poor
15
Terrible
10

el735
Vienna, Austria103 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021
Fantastic castle in the middle of nowhere, hard to find at night, but once you're there, bliss...

The room was typical well-appointed Italian hotel quality and a nice bathroom with - great after a day on the road, a tub!

The best part was the La Rochetta restaurant in a beautiful vaulted hall, exquisite appointments and professional service, and then the food and local wine. Fabulous.
Written March 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sachi Sharma
Phoenix, AZ117 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2019
We stopped here on our way from Bologna to Turin, after seeing the Lamborghini Museum. To be honest, we had NO IDEA of what to expect but we decided to stop anyway. We are so glad we did! We got a private tour from a very friendly guide and a visit from the mayor herself!!!! They both showed us around the beautiful ancient secluded castle which is now being used as a school. It is like a little village and the castle is the town hall of it! Honestly speaking, it was an INCREDIBLE experience and we absolutely enjoyed it! It is not crowded or touristy and the people there are so kind! They gave us gifts at the end and we absolutely enjoyed ourselves. Just 20 minutes outside of Turin, give this place a visit! You won
Written August 8, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

77027
Roseland, VA140 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2012 • Couples
Please trust us. This castello was one of our very favorite experiences, so I'm going to offer you my best advice.
- We found this on a website for historic hotels in Italy, which appears to have morphed into a different name.
- We traveled by train from Milan and took a taxi from Piacenza. Easy. Made no extra stops in Piacenza.
- Our "typical room" was extraordinary. High quality, lovely linens, everything perfect.
- The castello is fantastic and a wonderful extra dimension from visiting other sites in Italy like Venice, Milan, Firenza... One might imagine being a Duc and his family from days gone by.
- The castello has two FANTASTIC museums that we still talk about: the military costumes and the battle museum. We couldn't believe we were seeing artifacts from the last naval battle from human drawn barges.
- There is a very nice restaurant next door, but on the other side there is a charming, local "pizza" place that was great to watch local friends meet and play cards on a rotating basis.
- There is not a town atmosphere, but the remnants of a small village next to a castello.
- Fabulous!
- This was a train-based journey for us. Our next stop was Firenza.
Written June 9, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Olivia Spencer Bower
Rome, Italy64 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2019 • Couples
The Castello di Rivalta is not far from Piacenza towards the Apennines, but not quite in the foothills. It is beside the wide, shingly spread of the Trebbia river, which flows from the Appenines to the Po near Piacenza. It is owned by the original owners, the Landi family, who run it, and its associated Borgo, as a highly successful tourist business, which includes weddings, a hotel, three restaurants including Il Falcone (one of the best in Italy), a day spa, and various other businesses. The borgo is charming. The castle tower, which dates from the fifteenth century, has a highly distinctive shape. The castle is strikingly picturesque as you cross the river on the road bridge, isolated in beautiful country. The whole place is no nice because it is all in the country: the Borgo is essentially a little dependence of the castle
On the tour they don’t let you take photos, unfortunately. You approach up a street with the Borgo buildings on the right (including a medieval tower) , the castle gardens at the left, and the Church of S. Martino (which does not seem to be open) in front. On Thursdays and Fridays there is one tour at 11.00 and another in the afternoon. They offer 40 minute and 1 hour 20 minutes tours, but no-one seems to take the former, and there seemed little point as the castle is not very big. Unless you book a group you are unlikely to get a tour in English. It has the obligatory ghost legend: the 19th c cook who was a great cook but also a great lover, who seduced the major domo’s wife, so the major domo murdered him and threw him down a well that they show you later, to make it look like suicide. As a suicide he was buried in unconsecrated ground, and his ghost therefore haunts the castle … (se non è vero è ben trovato).
They show you the main rooms that open off a loggia around the courtyard, which are interesting but not outstanding. Upstairs in the attic room is a museum of Italian military uniforms on wax dummies. There is also a museum room for the Battle of Lepanto which has some important items. The highlight is going up the tower for the views. You don’t get to see much of the garden unless for a wedding.
Overall, a charming place you don’t want to leave. It might be worth staying a night depending on the price. You need a car to get there. It is not that far from Piacenza but not being a town there are no buses.
Do not leave without having lunch at Il Falcone, one of Italy’s best restaurants (which is moderately priced if you don’t let yourself go). It pays to book (essential at weekends) but we booked just before beginning the tour late in the week. This is in a beautiful wisteria-covered courtyard in the Borgo filled with smart Milanese and Piacentines. The food is an original take on traditional dishes. The coppa (the local pork meat) in the meat antipasto is truly wonderful, as is the bread. The gnocchi with prawns in a leek sauce was the best I have ever eaten. My partner had roast duck cappelleti, which was also fabulous. The wine list was mind-boggling, and the waiter helpful with reasonably priced local recommendations. Desserts are equally good. Italian alfresco lunches don’t get any better than this.
Written June 28, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Samuel007
Exeter, UK335 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2016
We had not really intended to visit the castle, but as luck would have it we arrived just as a guided tour had started and were easily persuaded to join. Rivalta has been owned and lived in by the same family for centuries, and so the impression is not of some impersonal stately home, but of one that has been loved and cared for by its owners through the generations. The rooms are full of original furnishings and pictures, and the collections, especially the one centred on the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, are fascinating. One word of caution - we were with a group of Italians, and the guide conducted the tour, naturally enough, in Italian.
Written October 21, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tord E
Stockholm, Sweden480 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2016 • Couples
The Emilo countryside is dotted with these castle but we decided to visit this one. It has a very nice and quaint feeling to it. It has restaurants, cafés and a shop. It also has a church and a hotel wihthin it's walls. It is also still a residence for the owners which makes is more alive. We enjoyed and admired the old buildings that were all in very good upkeep.
Written September 12, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Margaret035
Caversham, UK63 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2015 • Friends
We stayed in this lovely hotel for two nights while visiting the beautiful little village of Bobbio and the lovely Trebbia Valley. The hotel is very comfortable and peaceful, spacious rooms and bathrooms and lots of room for car parking. The hotel is in a sort of large courtyard almost like a very small village with a couple of shops and some mews type houses of exquisite design, with flowers everywhere. The castle is well worth a visit and the young lady who was our guide spoke excellent English. There are two wonderful restaurants serving delicious food and all the staff are courteous and friendly. The hotel receptionist also spoke excellent English and was very helpful in giving us trains information to visit Milan to see the cathedral as we didn't want to drive there. It took 50 minutes from nearby Piacenza and was an amazing visit. Highly recommended.
Written May 8, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

PennBil
Milan, Italy1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2014 • Friends
The "Locanda del Falco", "inn of the hawk" is one of the best restaurants with traditional cuisine of the province of Piacenza and the village appears as one of the finest ever seen, so I expected to find wonders inside the castle.
Unfortunately, they don't show you the wonders tha certainly are inside, you can only imagine them by the desciption.
Probably the euphoria caused by the excellent lunch made me see a different reality, where the description of the "game of war" , made on a modern pool table and surrounded by three on purpose uncomfortable sofas to prevent players to fall were asleep made me reflect on the human misery and the obvious, unanswered question was: " if it was so boring, why did they play ? "
In other rooms they showed us remakes with small traces of the past and the access to the rooms closed to visitors. The story of the key to the city of Piacenza granting incomes to the earls for over 700 years immediately made me think of the French Revolution or , more modestly, to the fact that the policy of the house is still the same,imposing a price of admission three times more expensive of the one of the much more fascinating " palazzo Farnese "

I was caught by a sudden wish to run away, not fulfilled because of the impossibility to find the way out and I was forced to listen to the ghost tale once again , here told without a shred of irony, where the sinister figure was the butler who dared to rebel against the "Jus primae noctis"

The visit ended, I think the before the scheduled time because of my uncontrolled reaction, with a visit to the cellars, old structure intact containing, apart from some remnant of smashed old wooden barrels, two rows of brand new "barrique" barrels.

From what I see in other reviews I can state that the imagination and manipulated feelings makes things appear different from what you actually see. In a wonderful day, among wonderful old (maybe disagreeing) friends, I've only seen a beautiful landscape, a beautiful village but to enjoy it all I do not need someone to explain to me how and why I should enjoy, I surely enjoyed I myself, with ghosts or not.
Written March 30, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Don D
Sofia, Bulgaria275 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2012 • Couples
It's a romantic place, distant from the autostrada. You can cycle to it and enjoy a hotel and 3-4 restaurants in it.
Written April 11, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

czawicv
San Diego, CA9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2018 • Couples
Spotted spa through my wife who has spent some time in this area this last summer.
Spa located inside the enchanting village and Castle of Rivalta.
The experience of going through the healing hands of Mary, expert in Shiatsu Zen....amazing.
She is a true expert in this discipline who spent 10 years graduating as a physician in healing oriental medicine, specifically in Shiatsu Zen.
Written October 3, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Castello di Rivalta - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Frequently Asked Questions about Castello di Rivalta

Castello di Rivalta is open:
  • Sun - Sun 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
  • Wed - Fri 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Wed - Fri 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
  • Sat - Sat 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM


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