Lazio · Frosinone
San Donato Val di Comino
A medieval village at 728 meters at the gateway to Forca d'Acero, the pass into the Abruzzo National Park.
Picked by Peter Benei
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Why San Donato Val di Comino is on our list
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 51 min from Naples
- Population
- 1,859
- J8°
- F10°
- M11°
- A14°
- M19°
- J24°
- J29°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
San Donato Val di Comino sits at 728 meters on the eastern wall of the Val di Comino, the last Lazio village before the Forca d'Acero pass crosses into Abruzzo at 1,538 meters. The Samnite town of Cominium stood near here until the Romans destroyed it in 293 BC. The current village formed around the Church of San Donato in the 12th century.
The Jewish community here is among the better-documented in southern Italy: forced to wear the badge in the 13th century, expelled and readmitted through the medieval period, and in 1940 the village became one of the internment locations chosen by the Fascist regime for foreign Jews, a story documented in the Casa della Memoria. The position at the foot of the Forca d'Acero pass makes the village the standard starting point for climbing into the beech forests and the Pescasseroli plateau on the Abruzzo side.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 1 h 46 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 6 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 1 h 51 min or Pescara 1 h 57 min.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico
Medieval village at 728 meters, built around the Church of San Donato from the 12th century, encircled by Bourbon-era walls.
Chiesa di San Donato
Parish church on the site of the 12th-century original, the nucleus around which the village formed.
Casa della Memoria
Documentation center on the 1940 internment camp for foreign Jews and on the village's medieval Jewish community.
Forca d'Acero
Mountain pass at 1,538 meters above the village, the road into the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo and the famous autumn beech forest.
Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise
Italy's second-oldest national park, with trails from the village toward Camosciara, Opi and Pescasseroli.
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.
Osteria FiccanasoTrattoria
Osteria Ficcanaso holds 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?
San Donato Val di Comino is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,859. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Isola del Liri, is 36 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Frosinone, a city of 43,015, is 56 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 1,859, down 12.4% since 2015 (Italy's emptying towns)
- Nearest city Frosinone, 56 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sora, 20 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €470 to €650 per m² to buy
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 89% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 1, Italy's highest hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 1 h 46 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 2 h drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Morocco, Pakistan and Bangladesh, against 9% across Italy. There are 309 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 59% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Frosinone province ranks 85th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sora, 20 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Latina, 82 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 111 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Canadian College Italy, 75 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.04% 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 0.5% 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. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 74% 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
FORCA D'ACERO
Pass at 1,538 meters above the village, the most photographed beech forest in central Italy in October.
CASA DELLA MEMORIA
Center documenting the 1940 internment of foreign Jews and the medieval Jewish community of the village.
PARK GATEWAY
Last Lazio village before the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the access point for the Camosciara trails.
Common questions
- What is San Donato Val di Comino known for?
- San Donato Val di Comino is a medieval village at 728 meters at the gateway to Forca d'Acero, the pass into the Abruzzo National Park.
- Where is San Donato Val di Comino?
- San Donato Val di Comino is a comune in the province of Frosinone, in Lazio.
- What is the nearest airport to San Donato Val di Comino?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 1 h 46 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Naples to San Donato Val di Comino?
- About 1 h 51 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit San Donato Val di Comino?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like San Donato Val di Comino?
- Picinisco, Frosolone and San Pancrazio.
- How many people live in San Donato Val di Comino?
- 1,859 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is San Donato Val di Comino a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, San Donato Val di Comino is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Isola del Liri, is 36 min away. The nearest city, Frosinone, is 56 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sora, 20 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 89% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 728 m
- Population: 1,859
- Surface area: 37.64 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 San Donato Val di Comino appears in
Similar
Towns like San Donato Val di Comino
What all six share with San Donato Val di Comino: mountain-valley towns · under 3,000 people · high up, between 600 and 1,000 metres
The letter
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