Marche · Fermo
Porto San Giorgio
A 15,000-resident beach town on the Adriatic between Ancona and Pescara, with one of the largest tourist marinas in the central Adriatic, the medieval Rocca Tiepolo above the harbor, and a long fine-sand seafront under date palms.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Porto San Giorgio is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Bandiera Lilla.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 49 min from Ancona
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 15,547
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A16°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A30°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- 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
The town sits on the central Adriatic between Ancona and Pescara, the working port and the holiday beach of the Fermo valley. The lower town by the water was settled as the harbor of the older inland Fermo, and the castle that still stands above the harbor was built in 1267 by Lorenzo Tiepolo, then Fermo's podestà. The historic center sits slightly back from the sea, holding the 1818 civic theater and a small but lively summer calendar of seafood festivals, while the seafront itself runs a different register: marina, beach, and the Liberty-era promenade under date palms and umbrella pines, laid out parallel to the sand behind the row of bathing stations. What the layout adds up to is a town divided cleanly by function rather than by age: an inland-facing historic core that keeps the theater and the festival calendar, and a shoreline built in layers from the 13th-century defensive castle down through the Liberty-era promenade to the modern marina and beach, each addition sitting seaward of the last.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 53 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 57 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 49 min or Pescara 1 h 12 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Pescara Centrale? Porto San Giorgio is about 1 h 10 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca Tiepolo
Brick castle with a squat profile and surviving towers, built by Lorenzo Tiepolo to defend the port. It stands as the historic anchor of the seafront, the oldest fixed point on a shoreline otherwise given over to modern bathing establishments.
Spiaggia (Bandiera Blu)
The Bandiera Blu beach runs two kilometers of fine sand on a gentle shelf, lined with classic Adriatic stabilimenti balneari. One of the central Adriatic's reliable family beaches.
Porto turistico
The marina holds moorings alongside a working fishing fleet that still lands its catch at dawn, so pleasure craft and working boats share the same water.
Viale della Vittoria
Liberty-era seafront promenade under date palms and umbrella pines, running parallel to the beach behind the bathing-station row.
Teatro Comunale Vittorio Emanuele II
1818 horseshoe-plan civic theater in the historic center, with a small year-round program of opera and prose.
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.
RetroscenaRistorante
Retroscena carries one Michelin star, two Gambero Rosso forks (86/100), plus a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
Opera Bao Ramen BarGiapponese
Opera Bao Ramen Bar carries two Gambero Rosso Mappamondi.
Stella AdriaticaRistorante
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Stella Adriatica.
1 more place the guides name in Porto San Giorgio
Trattoria MarmettaTrattoria
Trattoria Marmetta carries one Gambero Rosso prawn.
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?
Porto San Giorgio meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 15,547 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Fermo, a city of 35,727, is 14 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 15,547, down 2.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Fermo, 14 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Fermo, 6 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,000 to €3,200 per m² to buy, €9.00 to €15.10 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
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 82% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 53 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 49 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 22 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom and France. There are 277 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 30% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Fermo province ranks 47th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Fermo, 6 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Ancona, 50 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 50 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 138 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 20 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 €7,500. 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 Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche average.
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. 17% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 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.
Known for
BANDIERA BLU
Two kilometers of fine-sand beach, gentle shelf, regimented stabilimenti.
VENETIAN CASTLE
Rocca Tiepolo, an 1267 Venetian podestà's fortification anchoring the seafront, the harbour-defence pair of the Fermano coast.
MARINA
One of the central Adriatic's largest tourist marinas (~850 berths) alongside a still-working fishing fleet.
Common questions
- What is Porto San Giorgio known for?
- Porto San Giorgio is a 15,000-resident beach town on the Adriatic between Ancona and Pescara, with one of the largest tourist marinas in the central Adriatic, the medieval Rocca Tiepolo above the harbor, and a long fine-sand seafront under date palms.
- Where is Porto San Giorgio?
- Porto San Giorgio is a comune in the province of Fermo, in Marche, at 5 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Porto San Giorgio?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 53 min by car.
- Can you get to Porto San Giorgio without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Porto San Giorgio?
- About 49 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Porto San Giorgio?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Porto San Giorgio?
- Trani, Grottammare and Mondolfo.
- How many people live in Porto San Giorgio?
- 15,547 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Porto San Giorgio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Porto San Giorgio is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Fermo, is 14 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Fermo, 6 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 82% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 5 m
- Population: 15,547
- Surface area: 8.79 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 Porto San Giorgio appears in
- The 6 best towns you can get around without steps in MarcheMarchestep-free6 towns · smallest 1,331 residents
- The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconacoastalwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,762 residents · closest 28 min away
- The best coastal towns you can reach by train in MarcheMarchecoastalby train6 towns · smallest 13,066 residents
- The 8 best towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconaby trainwithin 90 mineats well8 towns · smallest 7,394 residents · closest 28 min away
- The 9 best beach towns in MarcheMarcheclean beach9 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconawithin 90 minserious restauranteats well10 towns · smallest 3,762 residents · closest 30 min away
Similar
Towns like Porto San Giorgio
What all six share with Porto San Giorgio: over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
Trani
Province: Barletta-Andria-Trani
both on the Adriatic coast
Grottammare
Province: Ascoli Piceno
both on the Adriatic coast
Mondolfo
Province: Pesaro e Urbino
both on the Adriatic coast
Loreto
Province: Ancona
both on the Adriatic coast
Senigallia
Province: Ancona
both on the Adriatic coast
San Vito al Tagliamento
Province: Pordenone
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