Basilicata · Potenza
Latronico
A mountain town at 888 meters on the northern edge of the Pollino, with two prehistoric thermal springs at the Calda hamlet below.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Latronico is on our list
It holds Comuni Virtuosi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 42 min from Salerno
- Population
- 3,986
- J8°
- F10°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J25°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Latronico sits ninety kilometers north of Cosenza, on the northern flank of the park, at an elevation that keeps the town cool in August when the coasts on both seas push past forty. The historic center holds the ridge above the valley, its lanes and stone houses built for that upper ground. The spa hamlet lies two kilometers below by road, its name meaning hot, a separate settlement tied to the town by that single road and by the water itself.
The comune holds three designations at once: it lies in a national park, it is a thermal town, and it is one of the Comuni Virtuosi, recognized for how it manages waste, energy and territory. The mountain above, the springs below and the governance in between describe a town that has built its identity on what the ground under it provides, water at a constant temperature and slopes that hold pine forest instead of farmland.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 2 h 26 min by car.
Lamezia Terme (SUF) is about 2 h 41 min away.
By car from the center of Salerno 1 h 42 min, Naples 2 h 26 min or Bari 2 h 58 min.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Terme Lucane
The Grande Sorgente runs bicarbonate-calcic, the Piccola Sorgente bicarbonate-calcic-sulfurous and slightly radioactive. Archaeological finds around the site attest to prehistoric use of the waters.
Parco Nazionale del Pollino
Rings the southern half of the comune, old-growth Bosnian pine on the upper slopes and the karst mass of Monte Alpi rising over the trails.
Monte Alpi
Karst peak at 1,900 meters above the town, reached by trails from the village, a single high massif standing apart from the main Pollino chain.
Centro storico
Mountain borgo on the ridge above the spa, narrow lanes, the Chiesa Madre di Sant'Egidio Abate and stone houses typical of the upper Sinni valley.
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.
Nonna VeraRistorante
Nonna Vera carries a Slow Food snail.
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?
Latronico is at the end of the road.
- A village of 3,986. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Lauria, is 17 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Potenza, a city of 63,864, is 1 h 38 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
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 3,986, down 13.6% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Potenza, 1 h 38 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Lagonegro, 22 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €550 to €700 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.30 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Very remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 2 h 26 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Potenza, 1 h 38 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Bangladesh, against 9% across Italy. There are 414 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 45% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Potenza province ranks 84th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Lagonegro, 22 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Sangineto, 53 km away. The nearest IB school is Gonzaga International School Palermo, 316 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 172 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 Basilicata spends about €1,890 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €459 a year for water, on the Basilicata average.
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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 27% 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.
This is a thermal town: terme operate here.
Known for
TERME
Two twenty-two-degree mineral springs at Calda, used since prehistory and developed into a spa in the early twentieth century, open from May to October.
POLLINO
Northern gate to Italy's largest national park, with trails climbing Monte Alpi at 1,900 meters and Bosnian pine forests on the upper slopes.
COMUNI VIRTUOSI
Member of the national network of sustainable governance, recognized for its waste, energy and territorial policies in an inland mountain context.
CANESTRATO DI MOLITERNO
The commune lies inside the Canestrato di Moliterno IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Latronico known for?
- Latronico is a mountain town at 888 meters on the northern edge of the Pollino, with two prehistoric thermal springs at the Calda hamlet below.
- Where is Latronico?
- Latronico is a comune in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata.
- What is the nearest airport to Latronico?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 2 h 26 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Salerno to Latronico?
- About 1 h 42 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Latronico?
- 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 Latronico?
- Castel di Sangro, Bagolino and Orgosolo.
- How many people live in Latronico?
- 3,986 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Latronico a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Latronico is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Lauria, is 17 min away. The nearest city, Potenza, is 1 h 38 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Lagonegro, 22 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 888 m
- Population: 3,986
- Surface area: 76.66 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 Latronico appears in
- The best mountain towns that eat well in the province of PotenzaPotenza provincemountaineats well6 towns · smallest 696 residents
- The best high-altitude villages in the province of PotenzaPotenza provinceabove 800 m7 towns · smallest 720 residents
- The 8 best towns inside a national park in the province of PotenzaPotenza provinceinside a park8 towns · smallest 720 residents
- The best towns that eat well in the province of PotenzaPotenza provinceeats well9 towns · smallest 696 residents
Similar
Towns like Latronico
What all six share with Latronico: between 3,000 and 10,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
Castel di Sangro
Province: L'Aquila
both mountain-valley towns
Bagolino
Province: Brescia
both mountain-valley towns
Orgosolo
Province: Nuoro
both mountain-valley towns
Viggiano
Province: Potenza
both mountain-valley towns
Lagonegro
Province: Potenza
both mountain-valley towns
Rotonda
Province: Potenza
58 min apart by road
The letter
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