Tuscany · Lucca
Camaiore
The Versilia commune that runs from the mountains to the sea, a Roman Campus Maior on the Via Francigena with a beach at its western end.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 2.
We’ve tried
What we got up to
Restaurants, walks, swims: the things we actually did in and around Camaiore, each with the piece we wrote about it.
The mountain hamlet that scratched its dead into the walls: Casoli.
The tordello, the meat-stuffed pasta that is Versilia telling you it isn't Lucca.
Erbe, the bitter boiled greens that make a kilo of rare beef sit like a virtue.
The letter
Camaiore got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 44 min from Pisa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 31,832
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S26°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 29° and coldest in February at 12°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Camaiore stretches from the Apuan Alps to the Versilia coastline, the only Versilia commune with substantial territory in both. The town center sits on the alluvial plain, named Campus Maior by the Romans for a military encampment on the road from Lucca to Luni. That name and that road explain the town's shape: a fixed inland center built around the Collegiata and the medieval grid, connected by the Via Francigena to a coast six kilometers away that the Romans never had reason to build toward.
The inland town and the beach at Lido di Camaiore function as two settlements under one name, joined by the road rather than by contiguous streets, with the Apuan Alps visible from the shore as the backdrop to both. A commune this shape, mountain territory, a Roman road town, and a beach at the end of it, holds together not because its parts resemble each other but because each has stayed distinct while remaining reachable from the others.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 54 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 2 h 1 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 44 min or Florence 1 h 29 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Pisa, Florence or Genoa?
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Camaiore is about 46 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Thirteenth-century parish church with a fourteenth-century bell tower, the central religious building of the inland town.
Badia di San Pietro
The church stands alone now, a single Romanesque nave where a monastery once stood, its stone unadorned in the way that marks the Lombard-era Benedictine houses of the region.
Lido di Camaiore
Fine sand six kilometers from the town center, with the Apuan Alps rising directly behind it, mountain and shoreline visible in the same view.
Centro storico
Medieval grid along Via Vittorio Emanuele, walking distance from the original Roman castrum perimeter.
Via Francigena
Stage 26 from Massa enters at the abbey; Stage 27 leaves for Lucca through the eastern olive groves.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
Il MerloRistorante
Il Merlo has two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
La DoganaRistorante
La Dogana has a Gambero Rosso listing to its name.
NanniTrattoria
Nanni carries one Gambero Rosso prawn.
3 more places the guides name in Camaiore
Quinto QuartoRistorante
A Slow Food snail, at Quinto Quarto.
Locanda al ColleHotel
Locanda al Colle carries one Michelin Key.
Relais Corte RodeschiHotel
Relais Corte Rodeschi carries a place in the Michelin hotel guide.
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?
Camaiore meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 31,832 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Viareggio, a city of 60,618, is 21 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- 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 31,832, down 1.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Viareggio, 21 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,500 to €2,200 per m² to buy, €5.70 to €8.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 91% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Pisa airport (PSA), 54 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 1 h 29 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 203 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, Germany and France. There are 287 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 37% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Lucca province ranks 58th 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. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest major one is in Pisa, 30 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Florence, 80 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Bilingual School Lucca, 19 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.14% 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 between 0.35% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €15,000. 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 Tuscany spends about €2,410 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €770 a year for water, on the Tuscany average. In Lucca, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.30 and a meal in a pizzeria €10.85.
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. 12% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 30% in a high or medium one. 18% 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
LIDO DI CAMAIORE
Wide Versilia beach with Bandiera Blu and a row of bagni concessions running back to the early 1900s belle époque.
VIA FRANCIGENA
The pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome enters Camaiore at the Badia di San Pietro and leaves it eastbound for Lucca.
BADIA DI SAN PIETRO
Twelfth-century Romanesque church, the surviving piece of a Benedictine monastery first documented in 761 under Lombard rule.
Common questions
- What is Camaiore known for?
- Camaiore is the Versilia commune that runs from the mountains to the sea, a Roman Campus Maior on the Via Francigena with a beach at its western end.
- Where is Camaiore?
- Camaiore is a comune in the province of Lucca, in Tuscany, at 34 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Camaiore?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pisa (PSA), about 54 min by car.
- Can you get to Camaiore without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Camaiore?
- About 44 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Camaiore?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Camaiore?
- Viareggio, Torre Annunziata and Piombino.
- How many people live in Camaiore?
- 31,832 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Camaiore a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Camaiore is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Viareggio, is 21 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 91% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 34 m
- Population: 31,832
- Surface area: 85.43 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 Camaiore appears in
- The 6 best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of LuccaLucca provinceserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 4,402 residents
- The best beach towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisaclean beachwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 6,666 residents · closest 29 min away
- The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of FlorenceNear Florencecoastalwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 6,666 residents · closest 78 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisaon a walking routewithin 90 minserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 21,768 residents · closest 34 min away
- The best coastal towns worth staying overnight in TuscanyTuscanycoastalworth staying overnight7 towns · smallest 3,710 residents
- The best coastal towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisacoastalby trainwithin 90 min7 towns · smallest 1,287 residents · closest 29 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 71.
Stazzema
Province: Lucca
A mountain commune of seventeen hamlets in the Apuan Alps, site of the August 1944 Sant'Anna massacre and Italy's National Park of Peace.
6 km away
- Written about. No. 70.
Seravezza
Province: Lucca
The Versilia town where Michelangelo opened the Pope's marble quarries and Cosimo I built his summer palace.
9 km away
- Written about. No. 3.
Pietrasanta
Province: Lucca
The marble-processing town under the Apuan Alps, worked by Michelangelo, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Fernando Botero.
18 min by car
The letter
Camaiore got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.