Lazio · Viterbo
Montefiascone
A 590-meter hill town on the highest hill of the Volsini, source of Est! Est!! Est!!!.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Montefiascone is on our list.
The nearest town with a letter is Bomarzo, No. 65, 19 km away.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 44 min from Perugia
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 12,951
- J8°
- F11°
- M12°
- A15°
- M21°
- J26°
- J30°
- A30°
- S24°
- 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
The town sits on the southeastern rim of a volcanic crater, about a hundred kilometers north of Rome, with the fortress at its highest point and the rest of the settlement built down the slope from there. The basilica stands just outside the walls at the lower end of that slope, separate enough from the fortress and the cathedral that the three read as three distinct centers of the town rather than one monument with satellites.
The wine takes its name from the same twelfth-century legend that put a German bishop's prelate on the road marking inn doors, and that bishop is the one buried in the basilica below, which ties the town's best-known export to a specific grave rather than to a floating story. The pilgrim route passes through on its way between Bolsena and Viterbo, so the hill that holds a papal summer residence and a wine legend was also, and still is, a stop on a much longer walk to Rome. What the place adds up to is a small hill town where a fortress, a two-story church, and a road to somewhere else all sit within a short walk of one another, each one a different kind of stop on the same hill.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 49 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 3 h 10 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 1 h 44 min or Siena 2 h 7 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca dei Papi
The fortress walls enclose the summit; the tower stair is narrow and gives out onto the panorama at once, the water filling the whole crater rim below.
Basilica di San Flaviano
Two churches stacked on each other, the lower nave older and darker, the upper one built two centuries later and open to more light. The frescoes are original to the walls, not restored copies, and the German bishop Johannes Defuk is buried here.
Cattedrale di Santa Margherita
The octagonal dome is 27 meters across, third largest in Italy by base diameter, finished in the late sixteenth century. It dominates the town's roofline the way the fortress dominates its summit.
Belvedere su Lago di Bolsena
A second, lower vantage than the fortress tower, facing north across the lake rather than down onto it, and reached without the climb.
Via Francigena stage
A credentialed pilgrim hostel serves the stretch of the route between Bolsena and Viterbo, part of the pilgrim road from Canterbury to Rome.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montefiascone meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 12,951 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Viterbo, a city of 66,393, is 35 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.
- Population 12,951, down 3.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Viterbo, 35 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Viterbo, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €650 to €950 per m² to buy, €3.40 to €4.00 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
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 92% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 1 h 39 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 50 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Pakistan and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 93 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. There are 276 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 28% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Viterbo province ranks 71st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Viterbo, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 52 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 14 km as the crow flies.
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 0.7% 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 Lazio spends about €2,270 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €647 a year for water, on the Lazio 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. 3% 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
EST! EST!! EST!!!
DOC white wine since 1966, named for the twelfth-century legend of a German bishop's prelate marking inn doors with the word Est.
ROCCA DEI PAPI
Papal summer fortress on the highest hill of the Volsini, with a tower view across all of Lake Bolsena.
LAGO DI BOLSENA
Largest volcanic lake in Europe at 114 square kilometers, occupying the crater two hundred meters below the town.
DOP ZONES
The commune lies inside the Pecorino Toscano and Tuscia DOP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Montefiascone known for?
- Montefiascone is a 590-meter hill town on the highest hill of the Volsini, source of Est! Est!! Est!!!.
- Where is Montefiascone?
- Montefiascone is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, at 590 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Montefiascone?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 1 h 39 min by car.
- Can you get to Montefiascone without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Montefiascone?
- About 1 h 44 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montefiascone?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and October the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montefiascone?
- Isola del Liri, Avigliana and Fiesole.
- How many people live in Montefiascone?
- 12,951 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montefiascone a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montefiascone is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Viterbo, is 35 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Viterbo, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 92% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 590 m
- Population: 12,951
- Surface area: 104.93 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 Montefiascone appears in
- The best towns on a walking route in the province of ViterboViterbo provinceon a walking route6 towns · smallest 3,690 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train in the province of ViterboViterbo provinceby train6 towns · smallest 3,696 residents
- The 8 best hill towns on a walking route within 90 minutes of TerniNear Ternihill townon a walking routewithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 426 residents · closest 18 min away
- The best cheese towns within two hours of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 2 hourscheese zone9 towns · smallest 539 residents · closest 81 min away
- The best hill towns on a walking route in LazioLaziohill townon a walking route9 towns · smallest 5,225 residents
- The best towns on a walking route that you can reach by train in LazioLazioon a walking routeby train10 towns · smallest 6,341 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 65.
Bomarzo
Province: Viterbo
The Tuscia village below a garden built by a condottiero and later dedicated to his dead wife, all stone monsters and no apology for it.
19 km away
- Written about. No. 83.
Orvieto
Province: Terni
Etruscan Velzna on a 325-meter tufa butte, later a medieval refuge of popes.
21 km away
- Written about. No. 66.
Viterbo
Province: Viterbo
The medieval capital of the Tuscia, papal seat from 1257 to 1281, when five popes were elected here, and home to the longest conclave in Church history.
35 min by car
Our guide
Montefiascone is in our Tuscia guide
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscia guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 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.