Tuscany · Grosseto
Orbetello
A town on a narrow isthmus at the center of its own lagoon, fortified by Spain in 1557.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 52.
The letter
Orbetello got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 44 min from Siena
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 14,020
- J13°
- F15°
- M16°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J31°
- A31°
- S27°
- O22°
- N18°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 27° 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
The isthmus runs out into the lagoon and splits it into two basins, Ponente and Levante. Two sand tombolos close the shape from either side: Giannella to the north, Feniglia to the south, both reaching toward the Monte Argentario promontory and meeting it at either end. The Etruscans settled the site first, the Romans followed with their colony of Cosa nearby, and centuries later the Spanish took the isthmus as the seat of their coastal enclave, leaving the Governor's Palace on the main square where it still stands.
Of the nine Sienese windmills once built out in the water, one remains in place, the only Italian water-and-wind mill of its type still fixed where it was built. The lagoon that once carried Balbo's flying boats out toward Rio and Chicago now carries a WWF reserve and the nets of a bottarga and eel cooperative working the same waters since 1965. A town built on the water it is named for, held between two arms of sand and one mountain it never quite touches.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 41 min by car.
Pisa (PSA) is about 2 h 34 min away.
By car from the center of Siena 1 h 44 min or Pisa 2 h 28 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
Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta
Fourteenth-century cathedral with a Gothic travertine façade, rebuilt over an earlier Etruscan-Roman temple foundation.
Fortificazioni Spagnole
The bastions and the Polveriera Guzman magazine, still standing along the edges of the historic center.
Laguna di Orbetello
The brackish water splits into two basins and is now a WWF reserve and Ramsar wetland.
Mura Etrusche
Polygonal Etruscan walls from the fourth century BC, traceable along the eastern edge of the historic center.
Mulino Spagnolo
The only survivor of nine fifteenth-century Sienese windmills built in the lagoon, restored in 1998.
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.
L'Oste DispensaTrattoria
L'Oste Dispensa carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand, two Gambero Rosso prawns, plus a Slow Food snail.
Osteria BolleTrattoria
One Gambero Rosso prawn, at Osteria Bolle.
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?
Orbetello meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 14,020 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Grosseto, a city of 81,264, is 45 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 14,020, down 5.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Grosseto, 45 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,050 to €2,700 per m² to buy, €6.60 to €9.50 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 50% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO), 1 h 41 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 2 h 44 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Moldova and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 54 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. There are 357 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 40% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Grosseto province ranks 59th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Siena, 98 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Grosseto, 38 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 73 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Working from here
Poste Italiane has finished a coworking room in the comune, on its register of 30 September 2026. Check that it is open on Poste's booking site before you count on it.
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 between 0.6% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 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. In Grosseto, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.20.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 8% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 13% in a high or medium one. 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.
Thermal baths in town: Terme dell'Osa.
Known for
THE LAGOON
26 km² of brackish water on both sides of the town, fed by tides and farmed for bottarga and eel since the sixteenth century.
STATE OF THE PRESIDI
Capital of the Spanish coastal enclave from 1557 to 1815, with bastions, governor's palace, and powder magazines still standing.
BALBO'S AIR CRUISES
Italo Balbo's seaplane transatlantic flights to Rio and Chicago departed from this lagoon between 1927 and 1933.
Common questions
- What is Orbetello known for?
- Orbetello is a town on a narrow isthmus at the center of its own lagoon, fortified by Spain in 1557.
- Where is Orbetello?
- Orbetello is a comune in the province of Grosseto, in Tuscany, at 3 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Orbetello?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 41 min by car.
- Can you get to Orbetello without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Siena to Orbetello?
- About 1 h 44 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Orbetello?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Orbetello?
- Cerveteri, Sorrento and Nettuno.
- How many people live in Orbetello?
- 14,020 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Orbetello a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Orbetello is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Grosseto, is 45 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 50% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 3 m
- Population: 14,020
- Surface area: 226.8 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 Orbetello appears in
- The best coastal towns in the province of GrossetoGrosseto provincecoastal6 towns · smallest 1,271 residents
- The best hidden coastal towns you can reach by train in TuscanyTuscanycoastalby trainhidden6 towns · smallest 3,174 residents
- A 7-day trip through the Tuscan Maremma, based in GrossetoTuscany7-day trip7 towns · base Grosseto · day trips up to 80 min
- The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of GrossetoGrosseto provinceserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 3,533 residents
- The best coastal towns within two hours of SienaNear Sienacoastalwithin 2 hours8 towns · smallest 2,192 residents · closest 74 min away
- The best hidden hot spring towns that eat well in TuscanyTuscanyhot springseats wellhidden8 towns · smallest 1,421 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 47.
Capalbio
Province: Grosseto
A walled hilltop borgo at 217 meters in the southern Maremma, donated to the Abbey of Tre Fontane by Charlemagne.
28 min by car
- Written about. No. 51.
Monte Argentario
Province: Grosseto
A 635-meter peninsula tied to the mainland by three sand spits, ringed by Spanish forts and marked by Caravaggio's death in 1610.
33 min by car
- Written about. No. 50.
Manciano
Province: Grosseto
A market town at 444 meters in the southern Maremma, with a Sienese fortress of 1424 and the thermal frazione of Saturnia in its territory.
39 min by car
The letter
Orbetello got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.