Liguria · Genova
Moneglia
A bay on the Riviera di Levante, closed by two wooded headlands.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Moneglia is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Blu.
The nearest town with a letter is Sestri Levante, No. 28, 20 min by car.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 57 min from Genoa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 2,486
- J12°
- F13°
- M15°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Moneglia sits at four meters in a bay on the Riviera di Levante, bracketed by two wooded headlands, one to the west and one to the east. The Romans used the bay as a stop on the Via Aurelia, and the village was a fief of the Fieschi family from Lavagna until 1153, when it passed to the Republic of Genoa, which raised fortifications on both headlands to hold the bay and the coast road below them. The painter Luca Cambiaso, the town's defining figure, was born here in 1527, one of the most important Genoese painters of the sixteenth century. The single railway tunnel under the eastern headland, alternating one-way traffic, still controls car access to the village in summer, a modern detail that keeps the old geography of a bay closed by two points of land in working order today.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 1 h 7 min by car.
Pisa (PSA) is about 1 h 45 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 36 min or Parma 2 h 5 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Genoa, Pisa or Florence?
Coming by train into Genova Piazza Principe? Moneglia is about 1 h 4 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Genoa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Chiesa di San Giorgio
Reached through a parvis at the edge of the centro storico, in use by the Franciscans since 1396. The Adoration of the Magi by Luca Cambiaso hangs inside, a work by the town's own painter still in the building he would have known.
Bay of Moneglia
The sand gives way at either end to smaller rocky coves reachable only from the sea, a rougher edge to the beachfront that the Bandiera Blu award does not describe.
Castello di Monleone
Medieval fortification on the western headland, raised by the Genoese to control the bay and the Via Aurelia.
Castello di Villafranca
Second medieval castle on the opposite slope, also a Genoese watch-post over the bay and the inland road.
Punta Moneglia
Western headland of the bay, with coastal paths leading toward Sestri Levante and views back over the village.
Living here
Could you live here?
Moneglia is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,486. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Sestri Levante, is 20 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- La Spezia, a city of 92,706, is 1 h 1 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
- 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.
- Population 2,486, down 12.9% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city La Spezia, 1 h 1 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Sestri Levante, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €3,200 to €4,700 per m² to buy, €6.40 to €9.50 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 81% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Genoa airport (GOA), 1 h 7 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Genoa, 57 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 15 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany. There are 394 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 71% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Genoa province ranks 43rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Lavagna, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Genoa, 53 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in La Spezia, 30 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 43 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.02% 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 0.39% 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 Liguria spends about €2,230 a month, €490 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €552 a year for water, on the Liguria average. In Genoa, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €11.86 and a man's haircut €17.37.
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. 7% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 10% in a high or medium one. 9% 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
LUCA CAMBIASO
Sixteenth-century Genoese painter born here in 1527, whose Adoration of the Magi still hangs in the Chiesa di San Giorgio.
BAY AND BANDIERA BLU
Wide sandy beachfront between Punta Moneglia and Punta Rospo, awarded for water quality and management.
TWO CASTLES
Monleone and Villafranca, both Genoese fortifications raised to control the bay after the village passed from the Fieschi in 1153.
Common questions
- What is Moneglia known for?
- Moneglia is a bay on the Riviera di Levante, closed by two wooded headlands.
- Where is Moneglia?
- Moneglia is a comune in the province of Genova, in Liguria, at 4 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Moneglia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 1 h 7 min by car.
- Can you get to Moneglia without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Moneglia?
- About 1 h 36 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Moneglia?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Moneglia?
- Borgio Verezzi, Laigueglia and Deiva Marina.
- How many people live in Moneglia?
- 2,486 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Moneglia a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Moneglia is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Sestri Levante, is 20 min away. The nearest city, La Spezia, is 1 h 1 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sestri Levante, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 81% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 4 m
- Population: 2,486
- Surface area: 15.61 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 Moneglia appears in
- The best beach towns in the province of GenovaGenova provinceclean beach7 towns · smallest 2,486 residents
- The best hidden coastal towns in the province of GenovaGenova provincecoastalhidden7 towns · smallest 2,486 residents
- The 9 prettiest villages you can reach by train within 90 minutes of GenoaNear Genoaby trainwithin 90 minprettiest villages9 towns · smallest 192 residents · closest 40 min away
- The best hidden beach towns in LiguriaLiguriaclean beachhidden10 towns · smallest 553 residents
- The best small coastal towns you can reach by train in LiguriaLiguriacoastalby trainsmall10 towns · smallest 553 residents
Featured on
Moneglia appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 28.
Sestri Levante
Province: Genova
The Tigullio town of two bays, split by a peninsula where a river once silted an island to the shore.
20 min by car
- Written about. No. 54.
Monterosso al Mare
Province: La Spezia
The westernmost and largest of the five villages, where Eugenio Montale spent the childhood summers that became Ossi di seppia in 1925.
16 km away
- Written about. No. 57.
Brugnato
Province: La Spezia
The medieval ecclesiastical capital of an inland Ligurian valley, seat of a diocese from 1133 to 1820, with a co-cathedral built over a Columban monastery.
19 km away
Our guide
Moneglia is in our Riviera di Levante guide
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.