Lazio · Roma
Bracciano
The Lazio lake town with the eighth-largest lake in Italy below it and one of the best-preserved Renaissance castles in the country above it.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Bracciano is on our list
It holds Città della Nocciola and Infioritalia.
The nearest town with a letter is Capranica, No. 64, 17 km away.
Subscribe and you get Bracciano's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 58 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 18,379
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J32°
- A32°
- S26°
- O22°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Bracciano stands above the southern shore of Lago di Bracciano, the volcanic crater lake known historically as Sabatino, the eighth largest in Italy. The Castello Orsini-Odescalchi was begun by Napoleone Orsini in 1470 and completed by his son Virginio Gentile in 1485; the architect was Francesco di Giorgio Martini. It is one of the better-preserved examples of Renaissance military architecture in Italy, a five-towered pentagon on a polygonal base, with frescoes by Antoniazzo Romano and the Zuccari brothers.
The Orsini lost it through debt in 1696 to Livio Odescalchi, nephew of Pope Innocent XI; the Odescalchi still own it. Bracciano supplies a significant part of Rome's drinking water through the aqueduct that begins in the lake. The town is also a hazelnut commune, member of the Città della Nocciola network. Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes in the castle in November 2006, which is how most people outside Italy heard of the place.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 45 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 3 h 2 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 2 h 25 min or Pescara 2 h 56 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Bracciano is about 59 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Orsini-Odescalchi
1470-1485 Renaissance castle, five round towers on a pentagonal plan, frescoes by Antoniazzo Romano and the Zuccari brothers.
Lago di Bracciano
Volcanic crater lake, eighth largest in Italy at 57 square kilometers, source of part of Rome's drinking water.
Centro storico
Medieval town below the castle walls, organized in concentric rings around the rocca, with two surviving medieval gates.
Collegiata di Santo Stefano
16th-century parish church with works by the Zuccari school and a relief by Giulio Mazzoni.
Parco Regionale di Bracciano-Martignano
Regional park covering the two volcanic crater lakes and their wooded shorelines, established in 1999.
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.
Cucina ai MontiRistorante
Cucina ai Monti holds one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100).
ErbacceLabTrattoria
ErbacceLab has two Gambero Rosso prawns to its name.
Percørsi al Vecchio PonteRistorante
Percørsi al Vecchio Ponte has one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100) to its name.
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?
Bracciano meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 18,379 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Fiumicino, a city of 82,829, is 35 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 18,379, down 4.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Fiumicino, 35 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,200 to €1,750 per m² to buy, €5.70 to €8.00 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 95% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO), 45 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 58 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Poland, against 9% across Italy. 182 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. There are 215 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 17% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Rome province ranks 46th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Rome, 34 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Rome, 34 km away. The nearest IB school is Institut Saint-Dominique, 24 km as the crow flies. There are 4 within 30 km.
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 at the 2025 rate, 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. In Rome, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.21, a meal in a pizzeria €11.54 and a man's haircut €17.23.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
CASTELLO ORSINI-ODESCALCHI
1470-1485 Renaissance fortress by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, one of the best-preserved military castles in Italy.
LAKE SABATINO
Volcanic crater lake at 164 meters, eighth largest in Italy and the source of part of Rome's aqueduct supply.
TOM CRUISE WEDDING
Married Katie Holmes in the castle on 18 November 2006; the international event that put Bracciano on world tabloid maps.
Common questions
- What is Bracciano known for?
- Bracciano is the Lazio lake town with the eighth-largest lake in Italy below it and one of the best-preserved Renaissance castles in the country above it.
- Where is Bracciano?
- Bracciano is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 280 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Bracciano?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 45 min by car.
- Can you get to Bracciano without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Bracciano?
- About 2 h 25 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bracciano?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bracciano?
- Castiglione del Lago, Omegna and Arona.
- How many people live in Bracciano?
- 18,379 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bracciano a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bracciano is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Fiumicino, is 35 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 95% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 280 m
- Population: 18,379
- Surface area: 143.06 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 Bracciano appears in
- The 7 best lake towns in LazioLaziolake7 towns · smallest 1,650 residents
- The best towns that eat well within an hour of RomeNear Romewithin 60 mineats well8 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train in the province of RomaRoma provinceby train8 towns · smallest 8,543 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romeby trainwithin 90 mineats well9 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train within an hour of RomeNear Romeby trainwithin 60 min9 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 64.
Capranica
Province: Viterbo
A medieval hill town on the old Via Cassia, taken by the Anguillara family in 1305 and remembered as the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.
17 km away
- Written about. No. 67.
Cerveteri
Province: Roma
An Etruscan capital seven kilometers inland from the Tyrrhenian coast, with the Banditaccia necropolis holding 1,000 tombs in the largest ancient cemetery in the Mediterranean.
26 min by car
- Written about. No. 58.
Ronciglione
Province: Viterbo
A tufa-brick borgo above Lake Vico, fortified by the Prefects of Vico and crowned Borgo dei Borghi in 2023.
21 km away
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 21 km away
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscia guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.