Emilia-Romagna · Forlì-Cesena
Bertinoro
A 254-meter Romagna-hill borgo above the Via Emilia, with a twelve-ring hospitality column from 1300 and the slopes that grow Albana DOCG.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bertinoro is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Città del Vino.
Subscribe and you get Bertinoro's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 45 min from Rimini
- Population
- 11,102
- J8°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J28°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- O20°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bertinoro sits on Mount Cesubeo, a few kilometers south of the Via Emilia between Forlì and Cesena, the Romagna hills rolling toward the Adriatic on a clear day visible from the panoramic balcony locals call the Belvedere. The town's signature object is the Colonna delle Anella in Piazza della Libertà, a white-stone column with twelve iron rings, erected in 1300 by the noble families of the borgo so visitors arriving from the Via Emilia could tie their horse to a ring and be hosted by the family it belonged to. The Albana grape grown on the surrounding slopes became, in 1987, the first Italian white wine to receive DOCG status; the artist Guerrino Bardeggia's Campana dell'Albana still rings to mark the opening of the harvest.
Bertinoro joined the Borghi più belli d'Italia network in 2025. The municipality holds two designations: Borghi più belli and Città del Vino. Population 11,102.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 1 h 3 min by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 1 h 10 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 50 min.
Coming by train into Forlì? Bertinoro is about 18 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Colonna delle Anella
White-stone column with twelve iron rings, erected 1300 in Piazza della Libertà so visitors could tie their horse to the ring of the family who would host them.
Rocca Vescovile
Tenth-century fortress on the summit of Mount Cesubeo, expanded by the Ordelaffi and Malatesta and used as the bishop's residence from the sixteenth century.
Cattedrale di Santa Caterina
Sixteenth-century cathedral on the upper part of the borgo, rebuilt over an earlier Pieve dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
Balcone di Romagna
Panoramic terrace below the Rocca, with views across the Romagna hills to the Adriatic on clear days and to the Apennines southward.
Piazza della Libertà
Central square framed by the Palazzo Comunale, the Palazzo Ordelaffi and the Torre dell'Orologio, with the hospitality column at its center.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bertinoro meets our one rule for a small town.
- 11,102 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Cesena, a city of 95,730, is 16 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
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 11,102, down 0.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Cesena, 16 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Cesena, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,350 to €1,550 per m² to buy, €4.60 to €5.20 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 33% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Forlì airport (FRL), 17 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 12 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 23 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany. There are 199 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 18% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Forlì-Cesena province ranks 11th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Cesena, 8 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 36 km as the crow flies.
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 between 0.7% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €12,000. 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 Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Forlì, the provincial capital, in September 2026, a meal in a pizzeria €12.18 and a man's haircut €22.59.
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. 16% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 52% in a high or medium one. 11% 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
ALBANA DOCG
First Italian white wine to receive DOCG status, in 1987, grown on the clay-sandstone slopes around the borgo.
COLONNA DELLE ANELLA
Twelve-ring stone column from 1300; arriving visitors tied their horse to a ring and were hosted by the noble family who owned it.
BALCONE DI ROMAGNA
Panoramic terrace below the Rocca, looking out across the Romagna plain to the Adriatic on clear days and to the Apennines southward.
Common questions
- What is Bertinoro known for?
- Bertinoro is a 254-meter Romagna-hill borgo above the Via Emilia, with a twelve-ring hospitality column from 1300 and the slopes that grow Albana DOCG.
- Where is Bertinoro?
- Bertinoro is a comune in the province of Forlì-Cesena, in Emilia-Romagna, at 254 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Bertinoro?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Forlì (FRL), about 17 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Bertinoro?
- About 1 h 50 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bertinoro?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bertinoro?
- Verucchio, Casamassima and Mercogliano.
- How many people live in Bertinoro?
- 11,102 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bertinoro a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bertinoro is a small town that meets our one rule. The nearest city, Cesena, is 16 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Cesena, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 33% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 254 m
- Population: 11,102
- Surface area: 57.25 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 Bertinoro appears in
- The best hill towns within 75 minutes of BolognaNear Bolognahill townwithin 75 min8 towns · smallest 1,779 residents · closest 26 min away
- The best wine towns within 75 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 75 minwine zone8 towns · smallest 6,505 residents · closest 30 min away
- The best towns known for what they grow within an hour of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 60 minproduce zone9 towns · smallest 6,505 residents · closest 17 min away
- The best towns known for what they grow within two hours of AnconaNear Anconawithin 2 hoursproduce zone9 towns · smallest 926 residents · closest 91 min away
- The best wine towns within two hours of AnconaNear Anconawithin 2 hourswine zone9 towns · smallest 2,120 residents · closest 25 min away
Featured on
Bertinoro appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Bertinoro
What all six share with Bertinoro: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Read a sample letter
Chioggia | Everyone is wrong about this town
It’s not an alternative to Venice
Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.