Tuscany · Pistoia
Pistoia
Italy's nursery capital and the medieval Tuscan rival that gave its name to the pistol, a quietly extraordinary centro storico 30 minutes from Florence by train and Italy's Capital of Culture 2017.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 21.
The letter
Pistoia got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- By car
- 39 min from Florence
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 88,889
- J10°
- F13°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S26°
- O21°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Pistoia is a Tuscan provincial capital of 89,000 residents that Florence's shadow has kept under the radar, with an exceptionally intact medieval-and-Romanesque centro storico. The Piazza del Duomo sits at its center: Cattedrale di San Zeno (12th-c) with Giovanni Pisano's silver altarpiece of St James, begun 1287 with additions over the next two centuries and counted among medieval Europe's most ambitious silver works, plus the Palazzo dei Vescovi and a Romanesque campanile that started life as a Lombard watchtower. Five minutes' walk from the square stands the hospital, in continuous use since 1277 and carrying its famous loggia frieze along fifty meters of facade.
The old center's density of Romanesque and Renaissance building sits inside a wider working landscape. The surrounding plain is covered in nursery gardens, the economic engine behind the city walls, and the Apennines rise twenty minutes to the north, holding the Abetone ski station, the Padule di Fucecchio wetland, and beech forest in the Pistoia mountains. The local table follows the same Apennine logic: castagnaccio, necci, and farro from the Garfagnana, with anise wafers arriving from the neighbouring town of Lamporecchio. A city this size holding a silver altarpiece, a fresco-covered chapel, a Renaissance-scale terracotta frieze, and Europe's largest plant-export zone in the same short walk is what makes the Capital of Culture designation legible on the ground rather than a line on a plaque.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 8 min by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 1 h 20 min away.
By car from the center of Florence 39 min or Pisa 53 min.
Driving in is restricted: there is a limited traffic zone here (ZTL Centro Storico). Check the signs and the times before you drive into the center.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Florence, Pisa or Bologna?
Coming by train into Prato Centrale? Pistoia is about 25 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza del Duomo (Cattedrale + Battistero + Campanile)
Set-piece Romanesque square, green-and-white striped octagonal Baptistery (1338), Cattedrale di San Zeno with Pisano's silver St James altarpiece, slender bell tower from a former Lombard watchtower.
Ospedale del Ceppo + della Robbia frieze
Working hospital since 1277. Andrea della Robbia's terracotta frieze depicting the Seven Works of Mercy runs the entire loggia, one of the great public artworks of the Renaissance.
Cappella del Tau
Deconsecrated 14th-c church with a complete cycle of frescoes by Niccolò di Tommaso (1370s) on the Old and New Testaments. Tiny, quiet, free.
Vivai (plant nurseries)
Europe's largest ornamental-plant export zone, 5,000 hectares of nursery gardens supply half of Western Europe's public parks. Tours by appointment.
Pistoia Blues + summer festivals
Pistoia Blues (early July) brings 50,000 to Piazza del Duomo. Dialoghi sull'Uomo (philosophy festival, late May) is the Capital of Culture legacy event.
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 BottegaiaTrattoria
Two Gambero Rosso prawns for La Bottegaia, and a Slow Food snail.
Baldo VinoRistorante
Baldo Vino carries two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100).
Locanda del Capitano del PopoloTrattoria
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Locanda del Capitano del Popolo.
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?
Pistoia is a city.
- A city of 88,889 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive away.
- A station of its own, so the rest of Italy is a train ride away.
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 88,889, down 1.3% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,400 to €1,750 per m² to buy, €7.30 to €8.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 65% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Florence airport (FLR), 30 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Florence, 39 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Romania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 186 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are 267 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pistoia province ranks 66th 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 Florence, 31 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Prato, 15 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Florence, 34 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Lycée Victor Hugo - French International School in Florence, 32 km away.
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 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €15,000. 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 Pistoia, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.19 and a man's haircut €23.80.
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. 13% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 33% in a high or medium one. 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
ITALIAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2017
Designated for the density of Romanesque + Renaissance heritage in a city the size of an American suburb. The festival legacy is the annual Dialoghi sull'Uomo.
WHERE 'PISTOL' COMES FROM
The small firearm was invented and manufactured in Pistoia in the 16th century, the city's name became the word in most European languages.
EUROPE'S NURSERY CAPITAL
5,000 hectares of vivai surround the city, Pistoia exports more ornamental plants than any other European city.
DELLA ROBBIA FRIEZE
Andrea della Robbia's 50m polychrome terracotta Seven Works of Mercy frieze (1525) on the Ospedale del Ceppo, a Renaissance masterpiece hiding in plain sight.
Common questions
- What is Pistoia known for?
- Italy's nursery capital and the medieval Tuscan rival that gave its name to the pistol, a quietly extraordinary centro storico 30 minutes from Florence by train and Italy's Capital of Culture 2017.
- Where is Pistoia?
- Pistoia is a comune in the province of Pistoia, in Tuscany, at 67 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Pistoia?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Florence (FLR), about 30 min by car.
- Can you get to Pistoia without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Florence to Pistoia?
- About 39 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Pistoia?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Pistoia?
- Arezzo, Lucca and Pisa.
- How many people live in Pistoia?
- 88,889 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Pistoia a good place to live?
- Pistoia is a city of 88,889 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 65% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 67 m
- Population: 88,889
- Surface area: 236.17 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 Pistoia appears in
- The best towns you can reach by train within an hour of FlorenceNear Florenceby trainwithin 60 min7 towns · smallest 4,402 residents · closest 24 min away
- The best hill towns within an hour of FlorenceNear Florencehill townwithin 60 min10 towns · smallest 4,402 residents · closest 24 min away
- The best towns that eat well within an hour of FlorenceNear Florencewithin 60 mineats well10 towns · smallest 5,914 residents · closest 24 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 14.
Montecatini-Terme
Province: Pistoia
Eleven thermal springs in a Liberty-style park at the foot of the Apennines.
19 min by car
- Written about. No. 23.
San Miniato
Province: Pisa
The hilltop town between Pisa and Florence that produces a quarter of Tuscany's white truffles and once held the imperial seat of Otto I.
29 km away
The letter
Pistoia 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.