Marche · Ancona
Sirolo
A clifftop borgo, above the Due Sorelle sea stacks of the Adriatic.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Sirolo is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Spighe Verdi.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 31 min from Ancona
- Population
- 4,060
- J10°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A29°
- S25°
- O20°
- N15°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° 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
Sirolo sits, twenty kilometers from Ancona, on ground that belonged to the Conti Cortesi family. The medieval village kept one of the two original castle towers, folded now into the parish church, and the belvedere above Piazza Vittorio Veneto looks out across the bay. Below town, the ridge drops toward the Picene necropolis of I Pini, and further down still toward the water.
The mountain above the village and the water below it are the same geology: limestone that falls straight into the sea rather than tapering through a coastal plain, which is why the village sits on a clifftop rather than a shoreline. Upper Sirolo is the castle, the church and the theater, all cut from the same pale stone. Lower Sirolo is reached by trail to the beaches under the cliff, and by boat to the cove where the sea stacks stand.
The grave goods from the necropolis have left town entirely, kept at the Antiquarium in neighbouring Numana, so what remains above ground here is the tomb site itself rather than its contents. The town doubles in summer and empties again in October: a place shaped less by what happens in it than by the drop between its two levels, the built one and the wild one.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 44 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 1 h 47 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 31 min or Pescara 1 h 50 min.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico
Medieval village on the clifftop with the Arco Gotico from around the year 1000, the Piazzetta and a belvedere looking out across the Adriatic.
Chiesa di San Nicolò di Bari
Eighteenth-century parish church built over a thirteenth-century structure, incorporating one of the two surviving towers of the medieval Sirolo castle.
Teatro Cortesi
Municipal theater built in 1873 in white Conero stone, restored from 1980 and reopened in 1989.
Necropoli picena de I Pini
Burial ground above town where the tomb was excavated, dated to the late sixth century BC.
Spiaggia delle Due Sorelle
Beach beneath the cliffs, reachable only by boat, dominated by the stacks that give the cove its name.
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.
ConvivioRistorante
Convivio carries one Gambero Rosso fork (75/100).
LofficinaRistorante
Lofficina carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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?
Sirolo is at the end of the road.
- A village of 4,060. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Camerano, is 18 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Ancona, a city of 99,533, is 31 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 4,060, up 1.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Ancona, 31 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Ancona, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,600 to €2,300 per m² to buy, €5.60 to €8.30 per m² a month to rent
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 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport (AOI), 44 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 31 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Moldova and Poland, against 9% across Italy. 22 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany and the United Kingdom. There are 248 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 39% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Ancona province ranks 30th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Ancona, 12 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest children's emergency room is in Ancona, 12 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 103 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Marche International School, 21 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.05% 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 0.6% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €10,000. 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 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. In Ancona, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.30, a meal in a pizzeria €12.69 and a man's haircut €20.60.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 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
MONTE CONERO
The only stretch of rocky limestone coast on the Adriatic between Trieste and the Gargano, 572 meters of mountain above the sea.
DUE SORELLE
Twin sea stacks below the cliffs, reachable only by boat, the defining seascape of the Riviera del Conero.
PICENE QUEEN
Late sixth-century BC tomb excavated above town in 1989, with a chariot and a gig now held in the Antiquarium Statale in Numana.
Common questions
- What is Sirolo known for?
- Sirolo is a clifftop borgo at 125 meters, above the Due Sorelle sea stacks of the Adriatic.
- Where is Sirolo?
- Sirolo is a comune in the province of Ancona, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Sirolo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ancona (AOI), about 44 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Sirolo?
- About 31 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sirolo?
- Best in May–Sep. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Sirolo?
- Numana, Miglianico and Gradara.
- How many people live in Sirolo?
- 4,060 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Sirolo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Sirolo is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Camerano, is 18 min away. The nearest city, Ancona, is 31 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Ancona, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 125 m
- Population: 4,060
- Surface area: 16.68 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 Sirolo appears in
- The 6 best towns inside a nature park in the province of AnconaAncona provinceinside a park6 towns · smallest 1,648 residents
- The 6 best towns that eat well in the province of AnconaAncona provinceeats well6 towns · smallest 2,168 residents
- The best coastal towns within 90 minutes of AnconaNear Anconacoastalwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,762 residents · closest 28 min away
- The best hidden coastal towns in MarcheMarchecoastalhidden6 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The 9 best beach towns in MarcheMarcheclean beach9 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The 9 best towns inside a nature park in MarcheMarcheinside a park9 towns · smallest 1,648 residents
Similar
Towns like Sirolo
What all six share with Sirolo: on the Adriatic coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · near sea level
The letter
Sirolo is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Sirolo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Gubbio, 86 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.