Marche · Fermo
Fermo
The provincial capital on the Sabulo hill, with 2,200 square meters of Augustan Roman cisterns running under the centro storico.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Fermo is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Blu.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 58 min from Ancona
- Population
- 35,727
- J10°
- F13°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Fermo sits eight kilometers inland from the Adriatic and from the seaside frazione of Lido di Fermo, which holds the commune's Bandiera Blu: a hill town with its own beach attached at a distance, the two connected by the same municipal boundary but separated in character and elevation. The Roman colony of Firmum Picenum was founded on the hilltop in 264 BC after the conquest of the Picentes, with six thousand Latin colonists settled there. In the tenth century the town became the capital of the Marchia Firmana, the territorial label that eventually gave the region its name.
The historic center still reads as a hilltop capital looking down toward a coast it administers rather than touches. What began as a Latin colony on high ground, gained a name that outgrew it and spread to the whole region, and kept its port at arm's length: the distance between the hill and the shore is not incidental but the shape of how Fermo has always held its territory.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 5 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 8 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 58 min or Pescara 1 h 21 min.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Fermo is about 1 h 19 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Cisterne Romane
Thirty barrel-vaulted rooms in three parallel rows under the historic center, opus signinum waterproofing still in place, built to hold 15,000 cubic meters of water.
Piazza del Popolo
The porticoes meet at the head of the square where the Palazzo dei Priori stands, the arrangement that has organized the civic center since the medieval period.
Palazzo dei Priori
Built in 1296 by joining a thirteenth-century palace and a church, housing the Pinacoteca Civica, the Sala del Mappamondo and the Sixtus V bronze statue.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Built in 1227 on the site of a fifth-century church, Santa Maria in Castello, on the highest point of the Sabulo hill in mixed Romanesque-Gothic style.
Teatro dell'Aquila
Inaugurated 1791 after a fire destroyed the predecessor, one of the largest historic theaters in the Marche with five tiers of boxes.
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.
EmilioRistorante
Emilio holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
L'Enoteca Bar a VinoWine Bar
Two Gambero Rosso bottles, at L'Enoteca Bar a Vino.
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?
Fermo is a city.
- A city of 35,727 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive away.
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 35,727, down 4.7% since 2015
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €950 to €1,350 per m² to buy, €4.20 to €6.30 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 82% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 1 h 5 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Saturday
- Regional capital Ancona, 58 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 70 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There are 269 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 27% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Fermo province ranks 47th 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 Ancona, 49 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 49 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 136 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 21 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, 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, with nothing due on income under €9,000. 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 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.
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. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 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
ROMAN CISTERNS
Augustus's 2,200 square meter cistern system in thirty barrel-vaulted rooms still runs under the historic center.
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO
135 by 34 meter square enclosed by two sixteenth-century brick porticoes, the civic core since the medieval period.
MORONCELLI GLOBE
Amanzio Moroncelli's 1713 wooden terrestrial globe in the Palazzo dei Priori library, three meters in diameter and intact.
Common questions
- What is Fermo known for?
- Fermo is the provincial capital on the Sabulo hill at 319 meters, with 2,200 square meters of Augustan Roman cisterns running under the centro storico.
- Where is Fermo?
- Fermo is a comune in the province of Fermo, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Fermo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 5 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Fermo?
- About 58 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Fermo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Fermo?
- Biella, Macerata and Fabriano.
- How many people live in Fermo?
- 35,727 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Fermo a good place to live?
- Fermo is a city of 35,727 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 82% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 319 m
- Population: 35,727
- Surface area: 124.53 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 Fermo appears in
- The 7 best hill towns in the province of FermoFermo provincehill town7 towns · smallest 308 residents
- The 8 prettiest villages that eat well in MarcheMarcheeats wellprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 3,625 residents
- The 9 best beach towns in MarcheMarcheclean beach9 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The 10 best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconahill townwithin 90 mineats well10 towns · smallest 1,385 residents · closest 42 min away
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarchehill townserious restaurant10 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconawithin 90 minserious restauranteats well10 towns · smallest 3,762 residents · closest 30 min away
Similar
Towns like Fermo
What all six share with Fermo: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
The letter
Fermo is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Fermo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Trevi, 84 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.