Piemonte · Cuneo
Limone Piemonte
A ski village at 1,000 meters in the Vermenagna valley, the southern end of the Alps where the Tenda tunnel drops toward the Côte d'Azur.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Limone Piemonte is on our list
It holds Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar
- By car
- 1 h 43 min from Turin
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 1,343
- J7°
- F9°
- M9°
- A12°
- M16°
- J21°
- J24°
- A24°
- S19°
- O15°
- N10°
- D7°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Limone Piemonte sits at 1,000 meters in the Vermenagna valley, twenty kilometers from Cuneo and fourteen from the Colle di Tenda, the historic pass into France. The Riserva Bianca ski domain rises behind the village from 1,050 to 2,085 meters, with eighty kilometers of pistes served by one gondola, ten chairlifts and three drag lifts. The Cuneo-Ventimiglia railway, opened across this valley in 1900, runs ninety kilometers from the plain to the sea with thirty-three tunnels and twenty-seven bridges, one of the steepest mountain lines in Europe.
In the village center, Piazza del Municipio holds a 16th-century stone fountain and the Gothic parish church of San Pietro in Vincoli, with elements of Romanesque and Gothic stonework from the 14th and 15th centuries. The town empties between seasons and fills twice a year, for the ski months and for the alpine summer.
How to get there
From Turin (TRN), about 2 h 2 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 2 h 22 min away.
By car from the center of Milan 3 h 4 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa di San Pietro in Vincoli
Gothic parish church on Piazza del Municipio, built between the 14th and 15th centuries on Romanesque foundations.
Riserva Bianca
Ski domain rising from 1,050 to 2,085 meters with 80 km of pistes, the main winter draw of the southern Piemonte Alps.
Centro storico
Stone village core around Piazza del Municipio, with a 16th-century fountain and a Gothic-Romanesque parish church.
Ferrovia Cuneo-Ventimiglia
1900 mountain railway that climbs from sea level to over 1,000 meters across 33 tunnels and 27 bridges in 90 kilometers.
Colle di Tenda
Historic pass at 1,871 meters, 14 km from the village, marking the old border with France above the Roya valley.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
Osteria Il BagattoRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Osteria Il Bagatto.
White RestaurantRistorante
A Gambero Rosso listing, at White Restaurant.
Fiocco di Neve Relais & SpaHotel
A place in the Michelin hotel guide, at Fiocco di Neve Relais & Spa.
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?
Limone Piemonte is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,343. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Borgo San Dalmazzo, is 27 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Cuneo, a city of 55,751, is 38 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- 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.
We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.
- Population 1,343, down 9.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Cuneo, 38 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Cuneo, 24 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,100 to €3,100 per m² to buy, €5.00 to €7.40 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
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 23% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Cuneo airport (CUF), 55 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 43 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine and France, against 9% across Italy. 15 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France. There are 372 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 90% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Cuneo province ranks 27th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Cuneo, 24 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest IB school is International School of Turin, 92 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1% 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 between 0.2% and 0.5% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €7,500. 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 Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average. In Cuneo, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.34 and a meal in a pizzeria €12.38.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone F, the coldest of Italy's six, with no national limit on when the heating runs. 9% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. Under 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
RISERVA BIANCA
80 km of slopes from 1,050 to 2,085 meters, the southernmost serious ski domain in the western Alps.
CUNEO-VENTIMIGLIA
The 1900 mountain railway across the Tenda crosses 33 tunnels and 27 bridges from the plain to the Ligurian coast.
TENDA PASS
The 1,871-meter Colle di Tenda above the village was the historic crossing into France and still connects to the Roya valley.
Common questions
- What is Limone Piemonte known for?
- Limone Piemonte is a ski village at 1,000 meters in the Vermenagna valley, the southern end of the Alps where the Tenda tunnel drops toward the Côte d'Azur.
- Where is Limone Piemonte?
- Limone Piemonte is a comune in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte, at 1000 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Limone Piemonte?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Cuneo (CUF), about 55 min by car.
- Can you get to Limone Piemonte without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Limone Piemonte?
- About 3 h 4 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Limone Piemonte?
- Best in Jun–Sep, Dec–Mar. July is the warmest month, averaging 24 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 22 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Limone Piemonte?
- Courmayeur, Andalo and Ovindoli.
- How many people live in Limone Piemonte?
- 1,343 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Limone Piemonte a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Limone Piemonte is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Borgo San Dalmazzo, is 27 min away. The nearest city, Cuneo, is 38 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Cuneo, 24 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 23% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 1000 m
- Population: 1,343
- Surface area: 70.81 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 Limone Piemonte appears in
- The best towns worth staying overnight in PiemontePiemonteworth staying overnight7 towns · smallest 497 residents
- The best ski towns in PiemontePiemonteski area8 towns · smallest 496 residents
- The best cheese towns within two hours of TurinNear Turinwithin 2 hourscheese zone10 towns · smallest 87 residents · closest 74 min away
- The best mountain towns in PiemontePiemontemountain10 towns · smallest 87 residents
- The best mountain towns within two hours of TurinNear Turinmountainwithin 2 hours10 towns · smallest 87 residents · closest 88 min away
- The best small towns with a serious restaurant in the province of CuneoCuneo provinceserious restaurantsmall10 towns · smallest 497 residents
Featured on
Limone Piemonte appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Limone Piemonte
What all six share with Limone Piemonte: high in the mountains · under 3,000 people · mountain towns above 1,000 metres
The letter
Limone Piemonte 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 Limone Piemonte comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 127 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.