Lazio · Roma
Nettuno
A Tyrrhenian town 60 km south of Rome, with a walled medieval borgo above the sea, a Borgia fortress and the 1944 landing beaches.
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 16 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 48,033
Known for
22 JANUARY 1944
The Allied landing at Anzio and Nettuno, Operation Shingle, with the US 3rd Division ashore between Nettuno and Torre Astura; four months of fighting followed on the beachhead.
BASEBALL
Taught by American soldiers after the landing, it became the town's game, and Nettuno Baseball has won the Italian championship many times over.
CACCHIONE
The local name for Bellone, the white grape of the Nettuno DOC, grown on the coastal plain behind the town.
- J13°
- F15°
- M16°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J32°
- A31°
- S27°
- O22°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 27° and coldest in February at 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Nettuno is the half of the old Antium coast that kept its walls. The Borgo Medievale stands on a low spur above the beach, ringed by round towers from the 1300s, its lanes and small squares still lived in. A short walk along the shore, Antonio da Sangallo the Elder built the Forte Sangallo for the Borgia between 1501 and 1503, when Nettuno was the fortified granary of the Lazio coast; it now holds the town's Antiquarium and the Museo dello Sbarco Alleato.
That museum is here because of 22 January 1944, when Allied troops came ashore at Anzio and on the beaches running south from Nettuno to Torre Astura. More than 7,800 American soldiers lie in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery at the edge of town, and the baseball the troops taught afterwards stayed: the Steno Borghese is the largest baseball stadium in Italy. In summer the town fills from Rome for the beaches and the long evening walk on the lungomare, and the local white is Cacchione, from Bellone grapes.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 34 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 42 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 2 h 46 min or Perugia 3 h 10 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Latina? Nettuno is about 36 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Borgo Medievale
The walled old town on a spur above the beach, ringed by round towers from the 1300s, with the Palazzo Baronale and the church of San Giovanni among its lanes and small squares.
Forte Sangallo
Square fortress with four corner bastions, built between 1501 and 1503 by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder to guard the coast. It houses the Antiquarium and the Museo dello Sbarco Alleato.
Santuario di Nostra Signora delle Grazie e Santa Maria Goretti
Passionist sanctuary at the end of the lungomare, rebuilt in 1914. The crypt holds Maria Goretti, who died in Nettuno in 1902, and the church keeps the wooden Madonna delle Grazie.
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery
The memorial at the north edge of town where more than 7,800 American soldiers of the Sicily and Anzio campaigns are buried, with a chapel and maps of the landings.
Torre Astura
Medieval sea tower built over the fish pond of a Roman villa, 7 km south of town. It stands inside a military firing range, so it can be visited only on open days.
Stadio Steno Borghese
Italy's largest baseball ground, with about 8,000 seats, home of Nettuno Baseball; the game arrived with the American troops of 1944.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Nettuno fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer six questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
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.
La Taverna di BaccoRistorante
La Taverna di Bacco holds two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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
- Population 48,033, up 2.2% since 2015
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Anzio, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Full fibre reaches 70% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Homes in the center: €1,400 to €2,000 per m² to buy, €6.00 to €8.50 per m² a month to renti
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Fiumicino airport, 1 h 34 min drive, the closest of the 15 airports we time
- Regional capital Roma, 1 h 16 min drive
Could you live here?
Nettuno meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 48,033 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Anzio, a city of 58,949, is 18 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- 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.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
Common questions
- What is Nettuno known for?
- Nettuno is a Tyrrhenian town 60 km south of Rome, with a walled medieval borgo above the sea, a Borgia fortress and the 1944 landing beaches.
- Where is Nettuno?
- Nettuno is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 11 meters above sea level.
- Which of the airports we measure is closest to Nettuno?
- Of the 15 airports we time the drive to, the closest is Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 34 min by car.
- Can you get to Nettuno without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Nettuno?
- About 2 h 46 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Nettuno?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Nettuno?
- Fondi, Minturno and Carrara.
- How many people live in Nettuno?
- 48,033 at the 2023 count.
- Is Nettuno a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Nettuno is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Anzio, is 18 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Anzio, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 70% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 11 m
- Population: 48,033
- Surface area: 71.64 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.
Similar
Towns like Nettuno
What all six share with Nettuno: on the Tyrrhenian coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
The ranked lists
Lists Nettuno appears in
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of RomaNear Romewithin 90 minserious restauranteats well7 towns · smallest 5,007 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train in the province of RomaRoma provinceby train8 towns · smallest 8,564 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in LazioLazioby trainserious restaurant8 towns · smallest 6,684 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of RomaNear Romeby trainwithin 90 mineats well9 towns · smallest 5,007 residents · closest 31 min away
The letter
Nettuno 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 Nettuno comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 77 km away. Read its letter →
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter