Emilia-Romagna · Ferrara
Comacchio
A canal town on thirteen islets, with brackish lagoons that hold three hundred bird species.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Comacchio is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 24 min from Bologna
- Population
- 21,910
- J8°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J27°
- J29°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D9°
- 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 January at 8°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Comacchio sits at sea level fifty kilometers east of Ferrara and forty south of the Adriatic delta proper. The town rose near the site of Etruscan Spina, held out under Byzantine rule, then passed to the Este of Ferrara and to Papal government until unification, a succession that left the centro storico layered rather than uniform. The brackish lagoons that surround it took shape from the fifteenth century onward, and now run as a protected area of the Po Delta park, within the UNESCO inscription of Ferrara and its Po Delta, linking the town to the wider delta rather than setting it apart.
The old town itself is water-built: thirteen islets tied together by bridges, canals threading between the Loggia del Grano and the Loggiato dei Cappuccini, with the bridge acting as the hinge where the inland waterways meet the canal running out toward the sea. What the layers of rule left behind in stone, the lagoon and the tides have kept in motion around it: a town whose center is inseparable from the water that surrounds it, built up in pieces by whoever governed it at the time.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 1 h 21 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 55 min away.
By car from the center of Padua 1 h 43 min.
Coming by train into Ravenna? Comacchio is about 42 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bologna airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Ponte dei Trepponti
Built around 1638 by Luca Danese of Ravenna, the bridge is the meeting point of three internal canals with the canal Pallotta and the symbol most visible from the water.
Valli di Comacchio
The lagoon opens flat to the horizon at the edge of the Po Delta, its surface broken by fishing stations and the pink of the resident flamingo colonies.
Museo Delta Antico
Archaeological museum opened in 2017 inside the eighteenth-century Ospedale degli Infermi, with finds from the Etruscan necropolis of Spina.
Manifattura dei Marinati
The restored works retain the original Sala dei Fuochi, where the eel catch was grilled over open fire before marination.
Centro storico on canals
Old town built on thirteen islets joined by bridges, with the Loggia del Grano and the Loggiato dei Cappuccini lining the central canals.
Fairs and festivals
We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the organizer before you plan a journey around one.
Sagra dell'Anguilla
Usually held across September and October
Eels are still roasted in the fire hall of the Manifattura dei Marinati, the old marinating works that is now both a museum and a working plant for wild eel. During the fair the building becomes the festival's food stand, with tables between its huge fireplaces and among its giant vats. Trips through the town's canals run in batane, traditional boats that rowers in old costume push along by hand.
Living here
Could you live here?
Comacchio meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 21,910 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Ravenna, a city of 156,340, is 45 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 21,910, down 3.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Ravenna, 45 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Lagosanto, 9 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €850 to €1,200 per m² to buy, €3.10 to €4.40 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
- Forlì airport (FRL), 1 h 15 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 24 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 33 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and the United States. There are 385 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 74% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Ferrara province ranks 52nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Lagosanto, 9 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ravenna, 32 km away. The nearest IB school is Smiling International School, 47 km as the crow flies.
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 0.4% 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 Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Ferrara, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.46, a meal in a pizzeria €12.10 and a man's haircut €23.44.
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. 6% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 100% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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.
Thermal baths in town: Centro del Benessere Termale "Thermae Oasis" SPA.
Known for
EEL FISHING
Eel has anchored the local economy since the Middle Ages; the Manifattura dei Marinati restored the seventeenth-century works where the catch was grilled and marinated.
VALLI DI COMACCHIO
Brackish lagoons of around 11,000 hectares with over 300 bird species, including resident pink flamingo colonies, inside the UNESCO Po Delta site.
TREPPONTI
Five-staircase bridge of the 1630s, designed by Luca Danese of Ravenna, joining the centro storico to the navigable canal that runs out to the sea.
IGP ZONES
The commune also lies inside the Asparago verde di Altedo and Salama da sugo IGP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Comacchio known for?
- Comacchio is a canal town on thirteen islets, with brackish lagoons that hold three hundred bird species.
- Where is Comacchio?
- Comacchio is a comune in the province of Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, at 0 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Comacchio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Forlì (FRL), about 1 h 15 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Padua to Comacchio?
- About 1 h 43 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Comacchio?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Comacchio?
- Gallipoli, Roseto degli Abruzzi and Ortona.
- How many people live in Comacchio?
- 21,910 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Comacchio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Comacchio is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Ravenna, is 45 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Lagosanto, 9 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 65% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 0 m
- Population: 21,910
- Surface area: 284.13 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 Comacchio appears in
- The best coastal towns within two hours of PaduaNear Paduacoastalwithin 2 hours6 towns · smallest 1,674 residents · closest 49 min away
- The best hot-spring towns within two hours of RiminiNear Riminihot springswithin 2 hours7 towns · smallest 1,648 residents · closest 34 min away
- The best towns that cure their own meat within two hours of PaduaNear Paduawithin 2 hourscured meat zone7 towns · smallest 669 residents · closest 35 min away
- The best hot spring towns in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnahot springs8 towns · smallest 3,322 residents
- The best hot-spring towns within 90 minutes of BolognaNear Bolognahot springswithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 1,779 residents · closest 39 min away
- 10 autumn fairs and festivals to visit in ItalyItalyFairs and festivals10 towns · smallest 1,211 residents
Featured on
Comacchio appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Comacchio
What all six share with Comacchio: on the Adriatic coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level
The letter
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