Compound
Towns 20 minutes from a famous city, in a different world
Ten towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €820 in Monreale to €4,700 in Cetara.
Comuni 25 minutes or less from their nearest major hub city. One is on every itinerary; the other is in this catalogue. 10 pairs shown, closest first.
Table no. 51 · Ranked by min · 10 towns
Twenty five minutes is nothing, a podcast segment, a metro delay. It is also the full distance between cities every traveler knows and towns almost none visit.
Each comune here sits that close to its nearest major hub. One of the pair is on every itinerary; the other is in this catalogue, closest first.
- 1.San Giuliano Terme8 min from PisaPisa · TuscanyBest for everyday life on foot. Eight of the ten everyday services we look for are mapped within 500 meters of the center.homes €1,400 to €2,050 a m² in the center · 30,832 peopleA thermal spa ten kilometers from Pisa, where the springs were bathed since the Romans called them Aquae Pisanae.
- 2.Aci Castello12 min from CataniaCatania · SicilyBest for a trip without a car. The train stops in the commune.homes €1,400 to €2,000 a m² in the center · 17,713 peopleA coastal town just north of Catania on the Riviera dei Ciclopi, where the basalt headland holds the 1076 Norman Castello d'Aci and the seven volcanic Faraglioni dei Ciclopi rise from the sea, the rocks the Cyclops threw at Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey.
- 3.Monreale13 min from PalermoPalermo · SicilyBest for a World Heritage site. UNESCO lists a site in the comune.homes €820 to €1,100 a m² in the center · 38,759 peopleAbove the Conca d'Oro at 310 meters, the cathedral William II built between 1174 and 1182 holds 6,340 square meters of Norman mosaics.
- 4.San Dorligo della Valle-Dolina15 min from TriesteTrieste · Friuli-Venezia GiuliaBest for olive oil. It belongs to the national association of olive oil towns.homes €1,500 to €1,800 a m² · 5,671 peopleA Slovene-speaking Karst commune ten kilometers from Trieste, with its own valley, its own wine, and a canyon Roman aqueducts once crossed.
- 5.Abano Terme15 min from PadovaPadova · VenetoBest for a soak. The comune has thermal baths.homes €1,250 to €1,700 a m² in the center · 20,464 peopleEurope's oldest thermal town on the Euganean Hills' eastern slope, where 80°C bromo-iodine springs have been drawing bathers since the eighth century BC.
- 6.Ercolano16 min from NapoliNapoli · CampaniaBest for walks in a national park. Part of the comune lies in a national park.homes €1,200 to €2,450 a m² in the center · 49,505 peopleErcolano is the modern town built directly over Herculaneum, the Roman seaside resort buried under 25m of pyroclastic mud in AD 79 rather than the ash that fell on Pompeii, which is why its wood, papyrus, and upper floors survive when no other Roman site's do.
- 7.Vietri sul Mare16 min from SalernoSalerno · CampaniaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.homes €2,600 to €3,700 a m² in the center · 6,962 peopleThe eastern end of the Amalfi Coast at 80 meters, the ceramics town since the fifteenth century, the gateway between Salerno and the cliff road.
- 8.Bogliasco16 min from GenovaGenova · LiguriaBest for a long lunch. A food guide lists Il Bistrotto here.homes €2,650 to €3,900 a m² in the center · 4,298 peopleA fishing village on the Riviera di Levante just east of Genoa, built around a 13th-century stone bridge over the Bogliasco torrent and a tight grid of pastel-coloured houses opening onto a pebble cove.
- 9.San Gemini16 min from TerniTerni · UmbriaBest for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.homes €850 to €1,250 a m² in the center · 4,628 peopleA medieval borgo at 337 meters above ancient Roman paving, four kilometers below the ruins of Carsulae.
- 10.Cetara17 min from SalernoSalerno · CampaniaBest for a World Heritage site. UNESCO lists a site in the comune.homes €3,300 to €4,700 a m² in the center · 1,928 peopleThe Amalfi Coast's working tuna and anchovy port, where colatura di alici is still aged in chestnut barrels in the cellars behind the marina.
THREE OF THE TOP TEN ARE IN CAMPANIA
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.
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