Visit the Park

How to Visit the Park

Plan a day in Venafro: guided visits and tastings in the Olive Park, where to buy the oil and local products, where to eat and what to see in town.

Updated on 11 October 2026 Reading time: 7 min

In one day, if you plan ahead, you can visit the historic centre and the Regional Olive Park, and taste the celebrated oil of Venafro. Venafro, together with biblical Ephraim and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, is one of the three symbolic places of historic Mediterranean olive growing.

The Romans considered the oil produced here the finest of the ancient world: Pliny the Elder ranked it first, ahead of Istrian oil and that of Baetica in Spain. Indeed, no place in the world planted with olives can boast the traditions and literary references of Venafro Oil.

The Regional Park’s territory has been entered in the prestigious National Register of Historic Rural Landscapes by Decree no. 6419 of 20 February 2018 of the Minister of Agricultural, Food, Forestry and Tourism Policies; it is a member of the National Association of Landscapes of Historic Interest and of the National Association of Olive Oil Cities (Città dell’Olio).

Visiting the Park and tasting the famous Venafro oil

For an in-depth, hands-on visit including the main sites of interest, contact the Park by email at info@parcodellolivodivenafro.eu

Visit with tasting: for groups of at least six people, the visit to the Park can be combined with tastings of the famous Venafro oil, considered by Pliny the Elder the best of the ancient world, and of products made with Venafro oil, at the Exhibition on the Historic Rural Landscape of the Venafro Olive (Palazzo Liberty). Outdoor tastings can be arranged in some of the most important places of historic Mediterranean olive growing, where the trade in olive oil began (the Lex venditionis of Cato the Censor) and where you may come across the Olive of the Agony, a genetic copy of the thousand-year-old patriarch of the same name in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem.
These tastings with a visit include a short oil-tasting course, a tasting of bread with the golden oil of the very ancient Licinia of Venafro and of the Venafro “Biscotto”, at €15.00 per person, or with the addition of Venafro salad and olive-branch beer at €20 per person.
Information for the visit with tasting:
Best time to visit: autumn, winter, spring
Duration: 2 hours
Route difficulty: easy
Suitable hiking clothing required (long trousers, ankle boots, preferably walking boots)

Where to buy the oil and the Park’s products

The Luca Del Prete farm, producer of organic oil, PDO Molise Aurina, is in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, Venafro, 0865 902105 – 338 8423159. The farm also holds tastings at its shop in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in Venafro. It won the first edition of the international “Plinius, Oltre il tempo” award at Venolea 2019, in the category dedicated to historic olive groves.
The Colonia Julia Venafrana farm, producer of single-cultivar Aurina oil recognised as a Slow Food Presidium, and of Sperone di Gallo oil, repeatedly included in national reviews of single-variety oils and in Gambero Rosso’s Oli d’Italia guide, www.oliocjv.it, mobile 333 8102514.
The Venafro cooperative oil mill, tel. 0865 900181, email: solemolise@libero.it, located on the SS 85 Venafrana road near the Basilica of San Nicandro, produces oil from various olive groves both in the Park and on the Venafro plain. Various local growers bring their produce here, guaranteeing its genuine origin.
Licinius oil, Ernesto Di Muccio farm (mobile 33938.01635), website: www.oliolicinivs.it, produces oil from plots on the plain and in the Park. The farm has received numerous awards, such as the Oro d’Italia and the Oro del Mediterraneo, and is one of the most active businesses in the area, organising events and tastings.
The Pignatelli oil company, Pignatelli, producer of a range of organic Molise PDO oil, with a line dedicated to the Aurina harvested in the Venafro Olive Park. The company is in the locality of Sant’Eusanio, Monteroduni, tel. 0865 491222, www.oliopignatelli.com.
Also worth mentioning, in the neighbouring Municipality of Pozzilli, are the oil mills Carcillo – www.oliocarcillo.com, Galardi – www.oliogalardi.com and Arco Antico – www.aziendagricolalarcoantico.com, with high-quality production from the Pozzilli and Venafro area.

Venafro biscuits

Artisan biscuit bakery “Le quattro cannelle”, Via Mulinello 6, Venafro, 328 0695013, maker of biscuits with Venafro oil, which has sponsored numerous events in the Park.
Biscuit bakery Daniela Centracchio, Via G. Monaco 6, Venafro.
Biscuit bakery Il Boccone del Re, www.ilbocconedelre.it, Via Guerrazzi, Venafro.
Biscuit bakery Aurino, Via Maria Pia 157, 86079 Venafro, Italy.

Olive-branch beer

Brewery “Venafro Brewing Co.”, makers among other things of a highly regarded beer flavoured with Venafro olive branches, Via Maria Pia di Savoia 73, Venafro, venafrobc@gmail.com

Olive oil panettone

Fornai Ricci, Strada Statale 158, Montaquila (IS), 0865 960183. Highly regarded artisan products that have won national awards several times, such as the Mole di Panettoni in Turin. Particularly popular is the Panevo, a panettone made with Venafro Oil, as well as the traditional biscuits.

Where to eat traditional dishes made with Venafro oil

Restaurant “L’Argine del Ghiottone”, Via Publio Ovidio 3, Venafro, mobile 338 5779093, on the banks of the San Bartolomeo, serves polenta with caurigli (a local broccoli); baccalà alla ‘mntanara, made with large fillets of desalted salt cod cooked in a soffritto of garlic, chilli and Venafro extra virgin olive oil and laid on a bed of steamed potatoes following an old recipe; patate alla ‘Mntanara; Boccone del Re, made with local tomatoes, local onions, Venafro celery, extra virgin olive oil and Venafro Biscotto; Centofoglie escarole from the vegetable gardens of Mr Marciano Gatti or Mr Sinagoga, served with beans or sautéed; traditional “Canescioni” filled with chard, anchovies and black olives; Zuppa alla santé, made with mixed soup greens such as wild chicory, escarole and chard, various kinds of meat, hard-boiled eggs and small beef meatballs.
La Cascina “Le Noci” in the hamlet of Le Noci, the only agriturismo within the boundary of the Regional Olive Park of Venafro – http://www.cascinalenoci.it/ – mobile 331 7959838 – email: info@cascinalenoci.it, offers the area’s traditional dishes in a truly evocative setting.
The “Dimora Storica Del Prete di Belmonte”, Via Cristo 49, Venafro, tel. 0865 900159, www.dimoradelprete.com, in the historic centre of Venafro, with its old 18th-century kitchen and a tour of the Palazzo included.
Palazzo Licinio, B&B, info@palazzolicinio.it, tel. +39 0865 195 6714 – WhatsApp +39 320 053 8222, where visits and tastings can be arranged on site.
Café and shop “La Golosa” (https://la-golosa-cafeteria.business.site/), Via Colonia Giulia 72, Venafro, with the “boccone del conte”, a typical Venafro dish, the “v’scuott”, traditional twice-baked biscuits made with Venafro extra virgin olive oil, and other local specialities.
Restaurant “Il Monsignore”, on the historic Tenuta di Santa Cristina estate, Via Sedia di Monsignore 5, Venafro, mobile 347 8605504, (tenutasantacristina.eu), in addition to its menu offers tastings of Venafro oil accompanied by pinzimonio and other seasonal vegetables with oil, mini fried bites, bruschetta for the oil, boccone del conte, a selection of local cheeses with honey, a selection of cured meats, home-made breadsticks and bread, and oil and prosecco foam.
Venafro Palace Hotel km 18.40, SS 85 Venafrana, Venafro – 0865 902367 – email: venafropalacehotel@virgilio.it. The Verlasce restaurant at the Venafro Palace Hotel guarantees excellent local and international cuisine, including traditional local dishes made with Venafro oil, some of them reinterpreted creatively.

Visiting Venafro, a city of art

The best way to immerse yourself in the age-old culture and cultivation of the Venafro Olive is to visit the Park and the historic centre of Venafro together, booking your visits in advance.

Not to be missed is a visit to the Castello Pandone National Museum, Piazza Antonio De Curtis – Venafro (opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 8.15–19.00, closed Monday) – ME.MO. Cantieri culturali – Info: mobile 345 5068 036 – 3892191032– email: memovenafro@gmail.com

http://www.castellopandone.beniculturali.it/ (https://www.musei.molise.beniculturali.it/musei?mid=214&nome=museo-nazionale-di-castello-pandone),

the Santa Chiara Archaeological Museum (guide), Corso Garibaldi 8 – Venafro, opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 8.15–13.45 (https://www.musei.molise.beniculturali.it/musei?mid=213&nome=museo-archeologico-di-venafro),

the splendid Church of the Annunziata (https://www.piaunionevenafro.com/ss-annunziata/) – tel. 0865 900021 – info@piaunionevenafro.com – Tourist Office, Palazzo Liberty – 331 2205 733 (Mr Nicandro Biasiello)