Liguria · Imperia
Sanremo
The capital of the Italian Riviera dei Fiori: Belle Époque casino and palm-lined Lungomare on the seafront, a medieval labyrinth climbing the hill behind, and a year-round mild climate that built the original Northern European winter trade.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Sanremo is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Year-round
- By car
- 1 h 59 min from Genoa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 53,059
When to visit
Best · Year-round
- J13°
- F14°
- M15°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J28°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 27° and coldest in February at 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Sanremo is the largest town between Imperia and the French border. The site was settled by the Romans, and the name most likely comes from San Romolo, a fifth-century bishop of Genoa who died a hermit in the hills, whose name became Remu in Ligurian. The modern city, though, was made by two later waves of wealth: Russian and English aristocracy who built winter villas along the seafront from the 1860s, and the Italian post-war music industry that fixed on the town from 1951 onward.
That history splits the town into two parts that still read separately today. La Pigna corkscrews up the hill behind the seafront in covered alleys and stone stairs, a medieval settlement turned in on itself. Below and along the water, the Lungomare Imperatrice and the quarter around it were built outward and open, laid out for a foreign wintering elite rather than for defense.
The hills behind both feed a flower trade for the European market, carnations, roses, ranuncoli, farmed in the agricultural quarter around the Mercato dei Fiori, part of the Spighe Verdi rural-quality network. Old Sanremo climbed the hill to defend itself; new Sanremo spread along the shore to be seen, and the town today is the sum of a hillside built inward and a seafront built outward toward the visitors who financed it.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 1 h 54 min by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 3 h 9 min away.
By car from the center of Milan 3 h 17 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Genoa?
Every town within reach of Genoa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
La Pigna (centro storico)
Covered alleys and stone stairs stack up the hillside behind the seafront, the layout giving the quarter its name, pinecone in Italian. The climb ends at the Madonna della Costa sanctuary.
Casinò Municipale
The building itself is a Liberty-style landmark on Corso degli Inglesi, its facade and interiors built to draw a Northern European winter clientele to the tables.
Lungomare Imperatrice
Palm-lined seafront promenade named for the Russian Empress Maria Aleksandrovna, who wintered in Sanremo in the 1870s. Its eastern end is marked by the Russian Orthodox church, a few steps from the casino.
Cristo Salvatore (Chiesa Russa)
Onion domes in classical Russian style mark the start of the Lungomare, on a church built in 1912 and 1913 for the Russian winter colony that gave the seafront its aristocratic character.
Teatro Ariston
The festival moved here in 1977, twenty-six years after its founding at the Casinò; the theater has since become the fixed point of the Italian pop music calendar each February.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
BabeufBistrot
Babeuf has one Gambero Rosso table to its name.
La PigneseRistorante
La Pignese carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
Paolo e BarbaraRistorante
Paolo e Barbara has two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100) to its name.
3 more places the guides name in Sanremo
SoulBistrot
Soul has two Gambero Rosso tables to its name.
Royal Hotel SanremoHotel
Royal Hotel Sanremo carries a Leading Hotels of the World listing, plus a place on Italy's historic-locali register.
Europa Palace SanremoHotel
Europa Palace Sanremo has a place in the Michelin hotel guide to its name.
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?
Sanremo is a city.
- A city of 53,059 people: 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 53,059, down 2% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,800 to €3,900 per m² to buy, €5.40 to €12.50 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 55% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Genoa airport (GOA), 1 h 54 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Genoa, 1 h 59 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
15% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and Bangladesh, against 9% across Italy. 555 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France, Germany and the United Kingdom. There are 308 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 44% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Imperia province ranks 80th 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 Pietra Ligure, 54 km away. The nearest IB school is Deledda International School, 113 km as the crow flies.
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 €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 Liguria spends about €2,230 a month, €490 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €552 a year for water, on the Liguria 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. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 7% in a high or medium one. 28% 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
MUSIC
Festival della Canzone Italiana, the Italian pop song contest run every year since 1951, now at the Teatro Ariston.
CASINO
1905 Belle Époque casino, one of only four legal casinos in Italy, and a Liberty-style landmark in its own right.
CYCLING
Finish line of the Milano-Sanremo Classicissima, the longest one-day race on the professional cycling calendar (since 1907).
FLOWERS
Capital of the Riviera dei Fiori; the surrounding hills supply carnations, roses and ranunculus to the European market via the Mercato dei Fiori.
Common questions
- What is Sanremo known for?
- Sanremo is the capital of the Italian Riviera dei Fiori: Belle Époque casino and palm-lined Lungomare on the seafront, a medieval labyrinth climbing the hill behind, and a year-round mild climate that built the original Northern European winter trade.
- Where is Sanremo?
- Sanremo is a comune in the province of Imperia, in Liguria, at 10 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Sanremo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 1 h 54 min by car.
- Can you get to Sanremo without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Sanremo?
- About 3 h 17 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sanremo?
- Any month of the year works. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Sanremo?
- Savona, Rapallo and Chiavari.
- How many people live in Sanremo?
- 53,059 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Sanremo a good place to live?
- Sanremo is a city of 53,059 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 55% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 10 m
- Population: 53,059
- Surface area: 55.96 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 Sanremo appears in
Similar
Towns like Sanremo
What all six share with Sanremo: over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
Savona
Province: Savona
both on the Ligurian coast
- Written about. No. 27.
Rapallo
Province: Genova
both on the Ligurian coast
- Written about. No. 25.
Chiavari
Province: Genova
both on the Ligurian coast
- Written about. No. 28.
Sestri Levante
Province: Genova
both on the Ligurian coast
Senigallia
Province: Ancona
both on the coast
Pozzuoli
Province: Napoli
both on the coast
The letter
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