Tuscany · Massa-Carrara
Licciana Nardi
A Lunigiana Malaspina village in the Apennine Tosco-Emiliano park, named in 1933 for the Risorgimento patriot Anacarsi Nardi.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Licciana Nardi is on our list.
The nearest town with a letter is Castelnuovo Magra, No. 19, 19 km away.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 19 min from Pisa
- Population
- 4,728
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J29°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Licciana Nardi sits in the eastern Lunigiana, on the slopes of the Apennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park. The town is one of several Malaspina holdings in the valley, with a castle in the centro storico and another above Bastia, three kilometers up the ridge. In 1933 the commune added the surname Nardi to its name in honor of Anacarsi Nardi, one of the Bandiera brothers' co-conspirators, shot by Bourbon firing squad in 1844 after the failed insurrection at Cosenza.
The Apennine ridge above the town is part of the national park, with chestnut and beech forests, the Lagastrello pass, and trails connecting Lunigiana to the Garfagnana on the other side. The local plate is panigacci, thin disks of unleavened dough cooked between terracotta plates and eaten with stracchino, salume, or pesto, a Lunigiana tradition shared with Pontremoli and the upper Magra villages.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 28 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 1 h 47 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 19 min or Parma 1 h 35 min.
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Licciana Nardi is about 1 h 21 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello Malaspina di Licciana
Medieval Malaspina fortress in the centro storico, partly inhabited and partly visitable on request.
Castello di Bastia
Smaller Malaspina castle in the frazione of Bastia, three kilometers up the ridge, with a fourteenth-century keep.
Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Tosco-Emiliano
Chestnut and beech forests on the ridge above the town, with the Lagastrello pass and trails into the Garfagnana.
Pieve di Venelia
Romanesque parish church on the ridge between Licciana and Bastia, one of the oldest in the eastern Lunigiana.
Frazione di Apella
Mountain hamlet on the park boundary, the trailhead for the higher Apennine ridges and the Lagastrello.
Living here
Could you live here?
Licciana Nardi is at the end of the road.
- A village of 4,728. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Aulla, is 24 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- La Spezia, a city of 92,706, is 44 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 4,728, down 3.8% since 2015
- Nearest city La Spezia, 44 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Fivizzano, 10 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €700 to €1,050 per m² to buy
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 3% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Pisa airport (PSA), 1 h 28 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 2 h 5 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Morocco, Romania and the United Kingdom, against 9% across Italy. 66 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. There are 266 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 38% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Massa-Carrara province ranks 64th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Fivizzano, 10 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Parma, 63 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in La Spezia, 24 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Modena, 78 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Bilingual School Lucca, 60 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.04% 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 €8,500. 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.
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. 5% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 8% in a high or medium one. 10% 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
ANACARSI NARDI
Risorgimento conspirator shot at Cosenza in 1844, his surname added to the comune in 1933.
MALASPINA CASTLES
Two surviving Malaspina holdings in the comune, at Licciana and at Bastia, both visitable.
PANIGACCI
Unleavened disks cooked between terracotta plates, the Lunigiana flatbread eaten with stracchino or salume.
TOSCANO
The commune also lies inside the Toscano IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Licciana Nardi known for?
- Licciana Nardi is a Lunigiana Malaspina village at 215 meters in the Apennine Tosco-Emiliano park, named in 1933 for the Risorgimento patriot Anacarsi Nardi.
- Where is Licciana Nardi?
- Licciana Nardi is a comune in the province of Massa-Carrara, in Tuscany.
- What is the nearest airport to Licciana Nardi?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 28 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Licciana Nardi?
- About 1 h 19 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Licciana Nardi?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Licciana Nardi?
- Pontremoli, Montaione and San Gimignano.
- How many people live in Licciana Nardi?
- 4,728 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Licciana Nardi a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Licciana Nardi is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Aulla, is 24 min away. The nearest city, La Spezia, is 44 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Fivizzano, 10 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 3% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 215 m
- Population: 4,728
- Surface area: 55.68 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 Licciana Nardi appears in
- The best olive oil towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisawithin 90 minolive oil zone6 towns · smallest 4,592 residents · closest 52 min away
- The best towns known for what they grow within two hours of PisaNear Pisawithin 2 hoursproduce zone7 towns · smallest 2,309 residents · closest 70 min away
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisahill townwithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 2,892 residents · closest 33 min away
- The best towns inside a national park in TuscanyTuscanyinside a park8 towns · smallest 358 residents
- The best olive oil towns within two hours of ParmaNear Parmawithin 2 hoursolive oil zone10 towns · smallest 2,309 residents · closest 80 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 19.
Castelnuovo Magra
Province: La Spezia
A ridge village on the Liguria-Tuscany border where a marquisate treaty ended decades of conflict with the bishops of Luni.
19 km away
- Written about. No. 6.
Carrara
Province: Massa-Carrara
The marble town at the foot of the Apuan Alps, with over 650 quarry sites in the valleys above and the stone that built the Pantheon and the Pietà.
21 km away
- Written about. No. 18.
Ameglia
Province: La Spezia
A hilltop borgo at 89 meters above the mouth of the Magra, the Lunigiana edge of Liguria where the river meets the Gulf of Poets.
23 km away
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 24 km away
Riviera di Levante: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Riviera di Levante guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The coast in the shadow of five villages. 19 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.