Lazio · Roma
Cerveteri
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.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 67.
The letter
Cerveteri got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 50 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 38,138
- J13°
- F14°
- M15°
- A17°
- M22°
- J26°
- J30°
- A30°
- S26°
- O22°
- N17°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° 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
Cerveteri sits on a tufa outcrop above the coastal plain, seven kilometers inland from the Tyrrhenian and thirty-five northwest of Rome. The Etruscans called it Caisra, the Greeks Agylla, the Romans Caere; at its height around 600 BC it covered fifteen times the area of the modern town and held an estimated 25,000 to 40,000 people, the equal of Tarquinia at the peak of Etruscan power. The medieval town inherited the central plateau and was renamed Caere Vetus, the Old Caere, to distinguish it from the coastal Caere Novum that no longer exists.
The Castello Ruspoli at the center of the medieval town encloses sections of fourth-century BC Etruscan walls in its base. Two kilometers north, the Banditaccia necropolis covers 400 hectares of which 10 are visitable, with around 1,000 rock-cut tombs and the great earth tumuli that gave Etruscan funerary architecture its most concentrated expression. It joined the UNESCO list with Tarquinia in 2004.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 27 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 49 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 2 h 43 min or Pescara 2 h 53 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? Cerveteri is about 51 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Necropoli della Banditaccia
UNESCO Etruscan necropolis 2 km north of town, covering 400 hectares with around 1,000 tombs and the great earth tumuli that defined Etruscan funerary architecture.
Museo Nazionale Cerite
National Etruscan museum inside the Castello Ruspoli, with sarcophagi, ceramics and grave goods recovered from the Banditaccia tombs.
Castello Ruspoli
Medieval Orsini-Ruspoli fortress at the center of the old town, with fourth-century BC Etruscan walls preserved in its base.
Tomba dei Rilievi
Hellenistic-era Banditaccia tomb decorated with stuccoed reliefs of weapons, tools and household objects, the most elaborate of its kind.
Centro storico medievale
Medieval upper town on the tufa plateau above the modern center, with the Piazza Santa Maria and the parish church facing the castle.
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.
Arià Osteria di Fuori PortaTrattoria
Arià Osteria di Fuori Porta holds two Gambero Rosso prawns.
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?
Cerveteri meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 38,138 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Fiumicino, a city of 82,829, is 22 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 38,138, up 4.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Fiumicino, 22 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Bracciano, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,600 per m² to buy, €5.30 to €7.80 per m² a month to rent
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 65% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO), 27 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 50 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Poland and India, against 9% across Italy. 148 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the United Kingdom and France. There are 211 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 23% 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
The nearest emergency room is in Bracciano, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Rome, 32 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Rome, 32 km away. The nearest IB school is Institut Saint-Dominique, 26 km as the crow flies. There are 3 within 30 km.
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, 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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 2% in a high or medium one. 2% 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
BANDITACCIA
The largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean, 400 hectares with around 1,000 Etruscan rock-cut tombs and earth tumuli.
CAERE
One of the twelve great Etruscan city-states, at its sixth-century BC peak fifteen times the area of the modern town.
UNESCO 2004
Listed jointly with Tarquinia for the painted and architecturally elaborate Etruscan funerary cities.
CARCIOFO ROMANESCO DEL LAZIO
The commune lies inside the Carciofo Romanesco del Lazio IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Cerveteri known for?
- Cerveteri is 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.
- Where is Cerveteri?
- Cerveteri is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 81 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Cerveteri?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 27 min by car.
- Can you get to Cerveteri 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 Cerveteri?
- About 2 h 43 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Cerveteri?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Cerveteri?
- Orbetello, Sorrento and Nettuno.
- How many people live in Cerveteri?
- 38,138 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Cerveteri a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Cerveteri is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Fiumicino, is 22 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Bracciano, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 65% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 81 m
- Population: 38,138
- Surface area: 134.32 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 Cerveteri appears in
- 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
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of RomeNear Romewithin 75 minproduce zone10 towns · smallest 902 residents · closest 31 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 68.
Tarquinia
Province: Viterbo
An Etruscan capital on a Maremma ridge whose 6,000 rock-cut tombs at Monterozzi hold one of the largest bodies of Etruscan painting to survive.
43 min by car
- 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.
29 km away
The letter
Cerveteri 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.