Campania · Caserta
Caiazzo
A Cittaslow hill above the Volturno, turned by Franco Pepe's pizza into a destination for 800 covers a day in eighteenth-century rooms.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Caiazzo is on our list
It holds Cittaslow, Città del Vino and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 53 min from Naples
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 5,083
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J29°
- J33°
- A33°
- S28°
- 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
Caiazzo sits on a small hill above the Volturno, forty kilometers north of Naples, between the Matese foothills and the Caserta plain. The town is older than the surrounding province: Caiatia was already a Samnite then Roman center, and the medieval cathedral preserves a Lombard crypt under its eleventh-century floor. What pulls visitors today is not the cathedral but a pizzeria.
In 2012 Franco Pepe, third-generation baker, opened Pepe in Grani in an eighteenth-century palazzo on Vico San Giovanni Battista, working long-fermented doughs with local Pallagrello flour, Conciato Romano cheese and Caiazzo olive oil. Tre spicchi from Gambero Rosso for ten straight years and a Michelin world-best ranking in 2018 turned the centro storico into a destination that handles 800 pizzas a day. Caiazzo is a Cittaslow, a Città del Vino for Pallagrello and Casavecchia, and a Città dell'Olio.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 48 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 37 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 53 min or Salerno 1 h 17 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Naples?
Coming by train into Napoli Centrale? Caiazzo is about 53 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Eleventh-century cathedral with a Lombard crypt beneath the floor, baroque interior and the relics of San Stefano Minicillo, patron of Caiazzo.
Castello di Caiazzo
Medieval castle of Lombard origin on the highest point of the centro storico, remodelled under the Normans and later princes of Caiazzo.
Pepe in Grani
Franco Pepe's pizzeria in an eighteenth-century palazzo on Vico San Giovanni Battista, ranked best in the world by Michelin in 2018.
Centro storico samnitico-romano
Old town built on the Roman and Samnite Caiatia plan, with Lombard, Norman and Renaissance layers and the Cittaslow palazzo as administrative seat.
Pallagrello and Casavecchia vineyards
Slopes around Caiazzo planted to two indigenous grapes recovered in the 1990s, with Conciato Romano sheep cheese aged in nearby cellars.
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.
Pepe in GraniRistorante
Pepe in Grani carries a Slow Food snail.
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?
Caiazzo meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 5,083 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Caserta, a city of 72,793, is 31 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 5,083, down 9.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Caserta, 31 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Caserta, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €700 to €950 per m² to buy, €1.70 to €2.50 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
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 62% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 48 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 53 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, India and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 12 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United States. There are 225 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 24% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Caserta province ranks 101st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Caserta, 11 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 175 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Teodoro Monticelli International School, 39 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 qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 5% in a high or medium one. 4% 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
PEPE IN GRANI
Franco Pepe's pizzeria, opened 2012 in an eighteenth-century palazzo, ranked best in the world by Michelin in 2018 and serving 800 pizzas a day.
PALLAGRELLO
Indigenous Caserta grape recovered in the 1990s, vinified in white and black versions on the Caiazzo slopes alongside Casavecchia red.
CITTASLOW
Member of the slow city network, with policies on local sourcing, sustainable tourism and protection of the Volturno valley landscape.
Common questions
- What is Caiazzo known for?
- Caiazzo is a Cittaslow hill above the Volturno, turned by Franco Pepe's pizza into a destination for 800 covers a day in eighteenth-century rooms.
- Where is Caiazzo?
- Caiazzo is a comune in the province of Caserta, in Campania, at 200 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Caiazzo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 48 min by car.
- Can you get to Caiazzo 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 Caiazzo?
- About 53 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Caiazzo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Caiazzo?
- Balsorano, Sammichele di Bari and Manoppello.
- How many people live in Caiazzo?
- 5,083 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Caiazzo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Caiazzo is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Caserta, is 31 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Caserta, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 62% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 200 m
- Population: 5,083
- Surface area: 37.04 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 Caiazzo appears in
- The 6 best wine towns you can reach by train in CampaniaCampaniawineby train6 towns · smallest 756 residents
- The best olive oil towns within 90 minutes of NaplesNear Naplesolive oilwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,542 residents · closest 53 min away
- The 7 best hill towns that eat well in CampaniaCampaniahill towneats well7 towns · smallest 5,083 residents
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of NaplesNear Napleshill townby trainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 5,083 residents · closest 28 min away
- The best towns known for their meat within two hours of NaplesNear Napleswithin 2 hoursmeat zone7 towns · smallest 619 residents · closest 53 min away
- The best wine towns that eat well in CampaniaCampaniawineeats well7 towns · smallest 683 residents
Similar
Towns like Caiazzo
What all six share with Caiazzo: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Balsorano
Province: L'Aquila
both have a railway station in the comune
Sammichele di Bari
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Manoppello
Province: Pescara
both have a railway station in the comune
Canossa
Province: Reggio nell'Emilia
both have a railway station in the comune
Borgo Val di Taro
Province: Parma
both have a railway station in the comune
Castell'Arquato
Province: Piacenza
The letter
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