Marche · Macerata
Camerino
A university city at 661 meters on the ridge between the Chienti and Potenza, rebuilding after 2016.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Camerino is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione and Città del Miele.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 13 min from Perugia
- Population
- 5,984
- J7°
- F10°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N12°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Camerino sits at 661 meters on a long ridge between the Chienti and Potenza valleys in the Marche Apennines, sixty-four kilometers from Ancona, the town strung along the high ground rather than gathered at its foot. The palazzo and the Rocca Borgesca, built in 1503 for Alessandro VI Borgia to a design by Lodovico Clodio, are joined by an underground passage, a defensive arrangement that ties the ducal residence to the fortress above it and speaks to how exposed the ridge position could feel despite its height. The cathedral stands on Piazza Cavour alongside the Palazzo Comunale, the civic and religious centers of the centro storico set side by side rather than separated.
The 30 October 2016 earthquake damaged most of the centro storico, the cathedral included, and the central square remains partly closed. The university, older than the palazzi it now partly occupies, kept teaching through temporary quarters rather than closing. What the ridge town adds up to is a place where governance, faith and learning were built close together on purpose, and where that same closeness has kept the town functioning while the stone around it is still being put back.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 17 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 23 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 13 min or Ancona 1 h 26 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? Camerino is about 1 h 13 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Palazzo Ducale Da Varano
Completed in 1499 by Baccio Pontelli for Giulio Cesare Da Varano, on the model of Federico da Montefeltro's palace in Urbino, now part of the University.
Rocca Borgesca
Built 1503 by Lodovico Clodio for Alessandro VI Borgia, connected underground to the palazzo, armed with forty-two cannon when complete.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata
Cathedral on Piazza Cavour, damaged by the 2016 earthquake, still in partial restoration; the Diocesan Museum holds artworks displaced from the nave.
Università di Camerino
Seats spread across the former ducal palazzi, the university keeps its historic core occupied even as the square around it stays under repair.
Piazza Cavour
Main square of the centro storico, with the Palazzo Comunale, the cathedral and the statue of the ruling family at the center.
Living here
Could you live here?
Camerino meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 5,984 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Foligno, a city of 55,303, is 34 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 5,984, down 14.5% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Foligno, 34 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €500 to €950 per m² to buy, €1.70 to €3.20 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
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 58% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 5 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 26 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and China, against 9% across Italy. 41 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. There are 343 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 50% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Macerata province ranks 26th 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 Perugia, 55 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 110 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Assisi International School, 41 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 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 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 Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche average. In Macerata, the provincial capital, in September 2026, a man's haircut €24.41.
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 medium for floods. 3% 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
DA VARANO
Family that ruled Camerino from 1259 to 1539, one of the longest signorie in central Italy, with a Renaissance palazzo by Baccio Pontelli.
UNIVERSITY 1336
Founded 1336, papally recognized 1727, one of Italy's oldest universities still in operation, with around 7,000 students.
2016 EARTHQUAKE
The 30 October shock destroyed the central square buildings; the university kept operating from temporary quarters while restoration runs.
Common questions
- What is Camerino known for?
- Camerino is a university city at 661 meters on the ridge between the Chienti and Potenza, rebuilding after 2016.
- Where is Camerino?
- Camerino is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Camerino?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 5 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Camerino?
- About 1 h 13 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Camerino?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Camerino?
- San Ginesio, Piana degli Albanesi and Carsoli.
- How many people live in Camerino?
- 5,984 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Camerino a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Camerino is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Foligno, is 34 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 58% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 661 m
- Population: 5,984
- Surface area: 129.88 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 Camerino appears in
Similar
Towns like Camerino
What all six share with Camerino: mountain-valley towns · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 71 km away
Umbria: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Umbria guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: Two banks, no sea. 21 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
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