Lazio · Frosinone
Arpino
The Volscian-Roman hill town in the Liri valley that produced Marius and Cicero, with a pre-Roman acropolis above the modern center.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Arpino is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione.
Subscribe and you get Arpino's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 46 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 6,572
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Arpino sits on two hills in the Liri valley, in the Ciociaria region of southern Lazio. The ancient city of Arpinum, on the upper hill now called Civitavecchia, was a Volscian-Samnite stronghold captured by Rome in 305 BC. The lower hill is the medieval and modern town.
Two Roman consuls were born here: Gaius Marius, the military reformer who fought the Cimbri and Teutones, and Marcus Tullius Cicero, the orator and senator killed in 43 BC. The villa where Cicero was born is traditionally placed at the abbey of San Domenico, where the Fibreno meets the Liri, a little north of Isola del Liri. The upper acropolis is ringed by polygonal cyclopean walls of the sixth or fifth century BC, with the Arco a Sesto Acuto, a pointed-arch gate cut into the same stone work. Arpino is on the Bandiere Arancioni list and on the Cammino di San Benedetto, the long pilgrim route from Norcia to Montecassino.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 48 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 1 h 50 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 1 h 54 min or Pescara 2 h 8 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Latina? Arpino is about 1 h 28 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Acropoli di Civitavecchia
Pre-Roman upper city on the hill above modern Arpino, surrounded by cyclopean polygonal walls of the sixth or fifth century BC.
Arco a Sesto Acuto
Pointed-arch gate cut into the cyclopean walls of the acropolis, a corbelled ogival arch often described as the only one of its kind in central Italy.
Torre di Cicerone
Medieval tower on the acropolis, traditionally linked to Cicero by local memory though built more than a thousand years after his death.
Piazza Municipio
Main square of the lower town with the nineteenth-century bronze statue of Cicero, the Palazzo Boncompagni, and a Romanesque-Gothic church.
Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo
Main church of the town, on the site of a Roman temple probably dedicated to Apollo and the Muses, with a Baroque interior and the Cavalier d'Arpino's Saint Michael.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
La PerlaRistorante
La Perla has one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100) to its name.
MingoneRistorante
Mingone holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Arpino meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 6,572 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Frosinone, a city of 43,015, is 42 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 6,572, down 9.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Frosinone, 42 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Sora, 10 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €360 to €485 per m² to buy
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 76% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 31 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 46 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
3% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, against 9% across Italy. 56 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, France and Canada. There are 337 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 35% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Frosinone province ranks 85th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sora, 10 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 64 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 97 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 77 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Lazio spends about €2,270 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €647 a year for water, on the Lazio average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, under 1% in a high or medium one. 5% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
CICERO
Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in 106 BC in a villa below the town, traditionally placed at San Domenico where the Fibreno meets the Liri.
MARIUS
Gaius Marius, seven-time consul and military reformer of the late Roman Republic, was born in the territory of Arpinum in 157 BC.
CYCLOPEAN WALLS
Polygonal pre-Roman walls of the acropolis above the town, with a pointed-arch gate said to be the only ogival arch of its date in central Italy.
Common questions
- What is Arpino known for?
- Arpino is the Volscian-Roman hill town in the Liri valley that produced Marius and Cicero, with a pre-Roman acropolis above the modern center.
- Where is Arpino?
- Arpino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio, at 450 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Arpino?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 31 min by car.
- Can you get to Arpino without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Arpino?
- About 1 h 54 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Arpino?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Arpino?
- Castro dei Volsci, Capranica and Poppi.
- How many people live in Arpino?
- 6,572 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Arpino a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Arpino is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Frosinone, is 42 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sora, 10 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 76% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 450 m
- Population: 6,572
- Surface area: 56.24 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Arpino appears in
- The best towns on the Cammino di San Benedetto in LazioLazioon a walking route6 towns · smallest 273 residents
- The best hill towns in the province of FrosinoneFrosinone provincehill town7 towns · smallest 2,588 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route in LazioLazioon a walking routeserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 5,225 residents
- The best small towns in Lazio for dinnerLazioserious restauranthidden8 towns · smallest 1,650 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in LazioLazioby trainserious restaurant8 towns · smallest 6,572 residents
- The 9 best hill towns with a serious restaurant in LazioLaziohill townserious restaurant9 towns · smallest 3,452 residents
Similar
Towns like Arpino
What all six share with Arpino: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Arpino is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Arpino comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Terni, 130 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.