Tuscany · Livorno
Castagneto Carducci
A hilltop borgo above the Costa degli Etruschi, renamed for the poet Carducci in 1907 and the home of Bolgheri and Sassicaia.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 37.
The letter
Castagneto Carducci got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 1 min from Pisa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 8,633
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S26°
- O22°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 27° and coldest in February at 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Castagneto Carducci sits on a hill above the Costa degli Etruschi, sixty kilometers south of Livorno. The town was called Castagneto until 1907, when it was renamed for the poet Giosuè Carducci, who spent part of his childhood here and made the surrounding landscape the subject of Davanti a San Guido. The Castello della Gherardesca, the Lombard-origin fortress of the counts who held the land for nine centuries, still anchors the centro storico.
Below the hill, on a coastal plain that locals call the Maremma livornese, sits the frazione of Bolgheri. In 1944, Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon on his estate there; the resulting wine, Sassicaia, started the category that journalists in the 1970s named Supertuscan. Bolgheri DOC was created in 1983 and Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC in 1994, a sub-zone for a single estate. The cypress avenue from the coast road up to Bolgheri, two parallel rows planted in 1832, is the one Carducci put in the poem.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 8 min by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 2 h 41 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 1 min, Florence 1 h 53 min or Siena 1 h 57 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Castagneto Carducci is about 52 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello della Gherardesca
Lombard-origin fortress at the top of the borgo, held by the Della Gherardesca counts for nine centuries, still in private family use.
Viale dei Cipressi
Five-kilometer cypress avenue between the SS1 Aurelia and the frazione of Bolgheri, planted in 1832 and immortalized by Carducci.
Bolgheri
Coastal-plain frazione at 88 meters, walled medieval village turned wine capital, home of Sassicaia, Ornellaia and the Bolgheri DOC.
Casa Carducci
House where the poet lived as a child, now a small museum on Via Carducci with manuscripts, photographs and family furniture.
Marina di Castagneto
Tyrrhenian beach frazione twelve kilometers from the borgo, with pine forests behind the dunes and Bandiera Blu status since the 1990s.
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.
La Tana del PirataRistorante
La Tana del Pirata has a Gambero Rosso listing to its name.
Osteria Ancestrale - Arduino BolgheriRistorante
Osteria Ancestrale - Arduino Bolgheri carries two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100).
Osteria Enoteca San GuidoRistorante
Osteria Enoteca San Guido carries a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
1 more place the guides name in Castagneto Carducci
Osteria MagonaRistorante
A Michelin Bib Gourmand, at Osteria Magona.
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?
Castagneto Carducci meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 8,633 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Livorno, a city of 153,154, is 55 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 8,633, down 1.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Livorno, 55 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Cecina, 19 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,500 to €1,900 per m² to buy, €6.20 to €7.80 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 38% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Pisa airport (PSA), 1 h 8 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 1 h 53 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
14% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Senegal, Albania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 82 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. There are 264 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 52% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Livorno province ranks 49th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Cecina, 19 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Pisa, 61 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Siena, 59 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Working from here
Poste Italiane has finished a coworking room in the comune, on its register of 30 September 2026. Check that it is open on Poste's booking site before you count on it.
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 0.5% 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 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 Livorno, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €10.04 and a man's haircut €18.31.
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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 7% in a high or medium one. Under 1% 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
SASSICAIA
Cabernet Sauvignon planted at Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri in 1944, released commercially in 1968, the first Supertuscan.
GIOSUÈ CARDUCCI
Nobel laureate poet who spent his childhood here, gave the town its 1907 suffix and wrote the cypresses into Davanti a San Guido.
VIALE DEI CIPRESSI
Five-kilometer cypress avenue between the Aurelia and Bolgheri, planted in 1832, two parallel rows of monumental cypresses.
Common questions
- What is Castagneto Carducci known for?
- Castagneto Carducci is a hilltop borgo at 194 meters above the Costa degli Etruschi, renamed for the poet Carducci in 1907 and the home of Bolgheri and Sassicaia.
- Where is Castagneto Carducci?
- Castagneto Carducci is a comune in the province of Livorno, in Tuscany.
- What is the nearest airport to Castagneto Carducci?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 8 min by car.
- Can you get to Castagneto Carducci 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 Castagneto Carducci?
- About 1 h 1 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Castagneto Carducci?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Castagneto Carducci?
- Bibbona, Belvedere Marittimo and Pizzo.
- How many people live in Castagneto Carducci?
- 8,633 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Castagneto Carducci a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Castagneto Carducci is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Livorno, is 55 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Cecina, 19 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 38% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 194 m
- Population: 8,633
- Surface area: 142.33 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 Castagneto Carducci appears in
- The best hidden coastal towns you can reach by train in TuscanyTuscanycoastalby trainhidden6 towns · smallest 3,174 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of LivornoNear Livornowithin 90 minserious restauranteats well6 towns · smallest 2,192 residents · closest 44 min away
- A 7-day trip through the Tuscan Maremma, based in GrossetoTuscany7-day trip7 towns · base Grosseto · day trips up to 80 min
- The 7 best coastal towns in the province of LivornoLivorno provincecoastal7 towns · smallest 358 residents
- The best coastal towns within two hours of SienaNear Sienacoastalwithin 2 hours8 towns · smallest 2,192 residents · closest 74 min away
- The best hidden coastal towns that eat well in TuscanyTuscanycoastaleats wellhidden9 towns · smallest 2,192 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 40.
Suvereto
Province: Livorno
A stone borgo at 127 meters above the Val di Cornia, named for the cork oaks of its forests and first recorded in 973, under a twelfth-century Aldobrandeschi fortress.
11 km away
- Written about. No. 38.
Campiglia Marittima
Province: Livorno
A walled hilltop borgo above the Val di Cornia, where the Rocca tower watches a mining landscape worked from the Etruscans to 1976.
24 min by car
- Written about. No. 39.
Piombino
Province: Livorno
A promontory port facing Elba across the channel, founded by refugees from Etruscan Populonia and now the Tuscan archipelago's ferry capital.
35 min by car
The letter
Castagneto Carducci 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.