Lazio · Viterbo
Ronciglione
A tufa-brick borgo above Lake Vico, fortified by the Prefects of Vico and crowned Borgo dei Borghi in 2023.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 58.
The letter
Ronciglione got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 4 min from Rome
- Population
- 8,390
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J32°
- A31°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The town stands on a tufa spur, five kilometers from the lake, with the Cimini hills and their hazelnut groves closing in around it on every side. The first record of it dates to 1103. The Prefetti di Vico held it before the Farnese took it as a Duchy, and the sixteenth-century pontiff who granted the town its Carnival did so during that same passage of rule from prefects to dukes.
The fortress's towers control the single natural approach to the historic center, so the medieval town and its defenses are really one structure: whoever held the towers held the road in. Everything built afterward, the cathedral, the contrade, the Carnival itself, sits inside that same defended perimeter. What the RAI title recognized in 2023 was less a single monument than that whole arrangement still intact: a fortified approach, a walled center, and a lake and hills that have not changed shape around it.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 10 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 3 h 3 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 2 h 2 min or Siena 2 h 33 min.
Coming from Rome?
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Ronciglione is about 1 h 6 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca dei Borgia (I Torrioni)
Medieval fortress of the Prefects of Vico, twin round towers guarding the only natural approach to the centro storico.
Duomo dei Santi Pietro e Caterina
Baroque cathedral of 1671, polychrome marble altar, fifteenth-century triptych by a Viterbo painter, wooden statue of San Bartolomeo.
Lago di Vico
Volcanic lake ringed by the Cimini hills, its waters filling the crater below the level of the town on its spur.
Borgo medievale
Tufa-brick centro storico reached only through the towers of the Rocca, its streets closed in by the same walls the Prefects raised.
Carnevale di Ronciglione
Three-day carnival granted by Pope Paul III Farnese in the sixteenth century, with the riderless Corse a Vuoto horse races.
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.
Riva FeliceTrattoria
Riva Felice carries two Gambero Rosso prawns.
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?
Ronciglione meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 8,390 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Viterbo, a city of 66,393, is 39 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 8,390, down 2.2% since 2015
- Nearest city Viterbo, 39 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Civita Castellana, 18 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €600 to €850 per m² to buy, €3.40 to €4.30 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
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 6 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 4 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, El Salvador and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 23 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom and Germany. There are 282 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 27% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Viterbo province ranks 71st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Civita Castellana, 18 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Terni, 49 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Rome, 49 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 18 km as the crow flies.
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. 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 Lazio spends about €2,270 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €647 a year for water, on the Lazio average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 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
BORGO DEI BORGHI 2023
Won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi national competition in April 2023, the tenth edition of the program.
LAKE VICO
Five kilometers north sits the highest of Italy's large lakes, at 507 meters, a protected reserve since 1982.
CORSE A VUOTO
Nine contrade race riderless horses through town at the feast of San Bartolomeo in late August, a Palio descended from the sixteenth-century Carnival.
DOP ZONES
The commune lies inside the Nocciola Romana and Tuscia DOP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Ronciglione known for?
- Ronciglione is a tufa-brick borgo above Lake Vico, fortified by the Prefects of Vico and crowned Borgo dei Borghi in 2023.
- Where is Ronciglione?
- Ronciglione is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, at 441 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Ronciglione?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 6 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Ronciglione?
- About 2 h 2 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Ronciglione?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Ronciglione?
- Caprarola, Vitorchiano and Bagnoregio.
- How many people live in Ronciglione?
- 8,390 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Ronciglione a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Ronciglione is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Viterbo, is 39 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Civita Castellana, 18 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 441 m
- Population: 8,390
- Surface area: 52.53 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 Ronciglione appears in
- The best hidden hill towns that eat well in the province of ViterboViterbo provincehill towneats wellhidden6 towns · smallest 902 residents
- The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 6,707 residents · closest 31 min away
- The 9 best hidden hill towns within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townwithin 90 minhidden9 towns · smallest 217 residents · closest 37 min away
- The best towns that eat well in the province of ViterboViterbo provinceeats well9 towns · smallest 902 residents
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of RomeNear Romewithin 75 minproduce zone10 towns · smallest 902 residents · closest 31 min away
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 63.
Caprarola
Province: Viterbo
A Cimini hill town above Lago di Vico, dominated by the pentagonal Villa Farnese that Vignola built for the Farnese cardinals between 1559 and 1573.
9 min by car
- Written about. No. 64.
Capranica
Province: Viterbo
A medieval hill town on the old Via Cassia, taken by the Anguillara family in 1305 and remembered as the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.
18 min by car
- Written about. No. 66.
Viterbo
Province: Viterbo
The medieval capital of the Tuscia, papal seat from 1257 to 1281, when five popes were elected here, and home to the longest conclave in Church history.
17 km away
The letter
Ronciglione 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.