Abruzzo · Teramo
Pineto
A planned twentieth-century beach town named for D'Annunzio's poem, with the sixteenth-century Cerrano tower anchoring Abruzzo's first marine protected area.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Pineto is on our list
It holds Cittaslow, Borghi Autentici and Bandiera Blu.
Subscribe and you get Pineto's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 26 min from Pescara
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 14,803
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S26°
- O22°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 29° and coldest in February at 11°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Pineto sits at sea level, one of the Sette Sorelle, the seven Adriatic resorts of the Teramo coast. The town was planned in the 1920s by Luigi Filiani as a beach resort under pine forest, and renamed Pineto in 1925 after Gabriele D'Annunzio's poem La Pioggia nel Pineto. In 1929 it replaced Mutignano, the older hill village above, as the capoluogo of the comune.
Two kilometers south of the center stands the Torre del Cerrano, built around 1568 under Philip II as a watchtower against Ottoman raiders. In 2010 the tower and the stretch of sea in front of it became Abruzzo's first marine protected area, 3,431 hectares of coast and shallow water. The beach has held a Blue Flag in most years since 2007. The pine canopy, planted to hold the dunes, still shades the seafront promenade as far north as the Vibrata river.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 32 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 36 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 26 min or Ancona 1 h 28 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Pineto is about 24 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Torre del Cerrano
Sixteenth-century watchtower built around 1568 under Philip II against Ottoman raids, now the gateway to Abruzzo's first marine reserve.
Area Marina Protetta Torre del Cerrano
3,431 hectares of protected coast and shallow Adriatic water established in 2010, the first marine reserve in the region.
Pineta Catucci
Coastal pine forest planted in the early twentieth century to hold the dunes, shading the seafront promenade and the bike path.
Mutignano
Medieval hill frazione above Pineto, the original capoluogo of the comune until 1929, with the Chiesa di San Silvestro Papa.
Chiesa di Sant'Agnese
Modern parish church near the seafront, the religious center of the twentieth-century resort grid.
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.
Bacucco d’OroRistorante
Bacucco d’Oro holds a Slow Food snail.
La Conchiglia d'OroRistorante
La Conchiglia d'Oro has a spot in the Michelin Guide to its name.
ResilienzaRistorante
Resilienza carries 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
Could you live here?
Pineto meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 14,803 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Montesilvano, a city of 53,602, is 19 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.
- Population 14,803, down 0.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Montesilvano, 19 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Atri, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,000 to €2,950 per m² to buy, €6.70 to €9.90 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 73% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Pescara airport (PSR), 41 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital L'Aquila, 1 h 7 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Romania and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 41 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There are 210 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 36% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Teramo province ranks 68th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Atri, 8 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 115 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Pescara, 20 km away. The nearest IB school is Acorn International School, 150 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 49 km away.
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 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €8,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Abruzzo spends about €2,120 a month, €540 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €533 a year for water, on the Abruzzo average.
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. 55% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 56% in a high or medium one. 4% 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
TORRE DEL CERRANO
Sixteenth-century Spanish-era watchtower, now the visible center of Abruzzo's first marine protected area established in 2010.
PINETA
Continuous coastal pine forest planted to hold the dunes, the feature that named the town after D'Annunzio's poem in 1925.
BANDIERA BLU
Holder of the Blue Flag for beach water quality in most years since 2007, one of the Sette Sorelle of the Teramo coast.
PRETUZIANO DELLE COLLINE TERAMANE
The commune lies inside the Pretuziano delle Colline Teramane DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Pineto known for?
- Pineto is a planned twentieth-century beach town named for D'Annunzio's poem, with the sixteenth-century Cerrano tower anchoring Abruzzo's first marine protected area.
- Where is Pineto?
- Pineto is a comune in the province of Teramo, in Abruzzo, at 4 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Pineto?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pescara (PSR), about 41 min by car.
- Can you get to Pineto without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Pineto?
- About 26 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Pineto?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Pineto?
- Roseto degli Abruzzi, Ortona and Polignano a Mare.
- How many people live in Pineto?
- 14,803 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Pineto a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Pineto is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Montesilvano, is 19 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Atri, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 73% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 4 m
- Population: 14,803
- Surface area: 38.11 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 Pineto appears in
- The best olive oil towns that eat well within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescaraolive oilwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 4,169 residents · closest 25 min away
- The best olive oil towns within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconawithin 90 minolive oil zone6 towns · smallest 2,202 residents · closest 75 min away
- The best towns that live slowly in AbruzzoAbruzzoslow living6 towns · smallest 2,202 residents
- The best hidden coastal towns within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescaracoastalwithin 90 minhidden7 towns · smallest 2,302 residents · closest 25 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant in AbruzzoAbruzzoby trainserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 4,957 residents
- The best coastal towns that eat well within 90 minutes of PescaraNear Pescaracoastalwithin 90 mineats well8 towns · smallest 2,302 residents · closest 26 min away
Similar
Towns like Pineto
What all six share with Pineto: on the Adriatic coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Pineto 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 Pineto comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 102 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.