Lazio · Latina
Sperlonga
A whitewashed cliff town halfway between Rome and Naples, built above the sea grotto where Tiberius staged the Odyssey in marble.
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 57 min from Naples
- Population
- 3,050
Known for
VILLA OF TIBERIUS
Roman imperial villa whose sea grotto held the Odyssey marbles, found in 1957 during construction of the coastal road.
THE WHITE TOWN
Lime-washed houses stacked on Monte San Magno, pedestrian-only centro storico, two Bandiera Blu beaches at its feet.
ODYSSEY SCULPTURES
Seven thousand marble fragments reassembled into four monumental groups, displayed in the Museo Archeologico on the villa grounds.
PROTECTED PRODUCTS
The commune lies inside the Oliva di Gaeta DOP and Sedano Bianco di Sperlonga IGP production zones.
When to visit
Best · May–Sep
- J13°
- F14°
- M15°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S26°
- O22°
- N18°
- D14°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in July at 28° and coldest in February at 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: papa Leone I, 10 November
Why come
Sperlonga sits on a rocky spur on the Tyrrhenian coast, halfway between Rome and Naples. A Republican-era villa at the base of the town was inherited by Tiberius, who reigned from 14 to 37 AD and made the place his retreat. Road crews building the coastal route between Terracina and Gaeta broke into its sea grotto in 1957, exposing the fragments now reassembled in the villa's museum: Odysseus blinding Polyphemus, the rape of the Palladium, Scylla devouring sailors.
The town proper stands above, pedestrianized, a maze of stone houses, arches and stair-streets that drop down to the shore on either side of a cliff promontory. The whitewash covering those walls is not decorative but a centuries-old defense against malaria and sun. Buffalo mozzarella country starts an hour south, and Sperlonga is the last Lazio commune before the Campania border, a town built literally on top of the emperor's private theater, with the modern coast road tracing the same line that cut it open.
The Sunday letter
Sperlonga 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 every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Sperlonga comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
How to get there
From Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 2 hours by car.
Rome (FCO) is about 2h 35m away.
By car from the centre of Naples 2 hours or Salerno 2h 22m.
Coming by train into Latina? Sperlonga is about 1h 8m away by road.
What to see
Villa di Tiberio e Grotta
Imperial seaside villa with a natural grotto staged as a banqueting hall, where the marble Odyssey groups were unearthed in 1957.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
On-site museum displaying the reconstructed Sperlonga sculptures, including Odysseus blinding Polyphemus and the Scylla group.
Centro storico
Pedestrian-only whitewashed old town on Monte San Magno, a maze of arches, stair-streets and lime-washed stone houses.
Spiaggia di Levante e Ponente
Two sand beaches flanking the headland, both holders of the Bandiera Blu, with the Torre Truglia jutting between them.
Torre Truglia
Sixteenth-century anti-corsair watchtower on the cliff promontory, rebuilt after Barbarossa's raid of 1534.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Sperlonga fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
Living here
- Population 3,050
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Naples / Salerno, 1 h 53 min drive
- Regional capital Roma, 2 h 10 min drive
Common questions
- What is Sperlonga known for?
- Sperlonga is a whitewashed cliff town halfway between Rome and Naples, built above the sea grotto where Tiberius staged the Odyssey in marble.
- Where is Sperlonga?
- Sperlonga is a comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, at 55 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Sperlonga?
- Naples / Salerno (NAP), about 2 hours by car.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Sperlonga?
- About 2 hours by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sperlonga?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Sperlonga?
- The town keeps its patron saint's day: papa Leone I, 10 November.
- Which other towns are like Sperlonga?
- Vietri sul Mare, Scilla and Forte dei Marmi.
- How many people live in Sperlonga?
- 3,050 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 55 m
- Population: 3,050
- Surface area: 19.49 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.
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