Islands
Italy's island towns
Ten towns at the top of the list: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €1,300 in Calasetta to €11,000 in Capri.
Italian towns reachable only by ferry: the islands. 18 towns shown, drawn from our ferry-only routing list (Pontine, Tremiti, Ischia, Capri, Aeolian, Egadi, Pelagie, Tuscan archipelago, and the Sardinian small islands).
Table no. 3 · Ranked by residents · 18 towns
A ferry ticket is a filter. It removes the day-trip crowd, the coach tours, and everyone whose itinerary cannot absorb a missed sailing. What remains on the far side of the crossing are these comuni, from the Tremiti to the Pelagie.
Island time is real and administratively enforced: shops close when the last boat leaves, restaurants cook what the morning boat brought. Book the return leg loosely and let the schedule win.
- 1.Anacapri6,757 residentsNapoli · CampaniaBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.homes €5,300 to €8,100 a m² in the centerThe upper half of Capri, 150 meters above its famous twin.The catch: Homes in the center cost up to €8,100 a m².
- 2.Calasetta2,790 residentsSulcis Iglesiente · Sardiniahomes €1,300 to €1,800 a m² in the centerThe Ligurian town founded by Tabarka exiles in 1770 on the northwest tip of Sant'Antioco, where Tabarchino is still spoken in the streets.
- 3.Capraia Isola358 residentsLivorno · TuscanyBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.homes €2,550 to €3,800 a m² in the center
- 4.Capri6,722 residentsNapoli · CampaniaBest for a long lunch. Food guides list ten tables here.homes €7,200 to €11,000 a m² in the centerThe 142-meter Tyrrhenian island town where Tiberius governed Rome for a decade from twelve villas above limestone cliffs.The catch: Homes in the center cost up to €11,000 a m².
- 5.Carloforte5,887 residentsSulcis Iglesiente · SardiniaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.homes €1,400 to €2,000 a m² in the centerA Ligurian-speaking fishing town on the Isola di San Pietro, founded in 1738 by coral fishers returning from Tunisian Tabarka.
- 6.Casamicciola Terme7,428 residentsNapoli · CampaniaBest for a soak. The comune has thermal baths.homes €2,150 to €3,300 a m² in the centerIschia's thermal town on the flank of Monte Epomeo, levelled by the 1883 earthquake and again in 2017, rebuilt on the Gurgitello springs.
- 7.Favignana4,531 residentsTrapani · SicilyBest for a long lunch. A food guide lists Sotto Sale here.homes €1,500 to €3,200 a m² in the centerThe largest of the Egadi Islands off western Sicily, ringed by calcarenite cliffs and flooded quarries in place of beaches, with a 19th-century tuna fishery at its center.
- 8.Forio17,531 residentsNapoli · CampaniaBest for everyday life on foot. Eight of the ten everyday services we look for are mapped within 500 meters of the center.homes €2,550 to €3,900 a m² in the centerThe largest Ischia commune by area, a Tyrrhenian coastal town facing the island's only sunset.
- 9.Isola del Giglio1,271 residentsGrosseto · TuscanyBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.homes €1,650 to €2,450 a m² in the centerA granite island in the Tyrrhenian Archipelago, walled village on the ridge, port below, where the Costa Concordia ran aground in January 2012.
- 10.Isole Tremiti486 residentsFoggia · PugliaBest for a swim. The comune's beach holds a Blue Flag.An Adriatic archipelago of five islands twenty-two kilometers off the Gargano, the only Italian commune scattered across an open-sea group.
FOUR OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN CAMPANIA
- 11.La Maddalena10,488 residents · GALLURA NORD-EST SARDEGNA
- 12.Lampedusa e Linosa6,492 residents · AGRIGENTO
- 13.Lipari12,766 residents · MESSINA
- 14.Pantelleria7,199 residents · TRAPANI
- 15.Ponza3,294 residents · LATINA
- 16.Procida10,004 residents · NAPOLI
- 17.Ustica1,319 residents · PALERMO
- 18.Ventotene687 residents · LATINA
We write letters from the Italian towns we visit: the town, what is worth eating there, and when to turn up. It is free, and you can leave whenever you like.