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Stemma di Terni

Umbria · Terni

Terni

Umbria's second city, rebuilt around its steelworks, home of Saint Valentine and seven kilometers from the Cascata delle Marmore.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 7 min from Perugia
By train
Station in the comune
Population
106,370

Known for

  • SAN VALENTINO

    Terni's third-century bishop and patron saint; the city keeps his feast on 14 February and calls itself the City of Lovers.

  • STEEL CITY

    Steel has been made here since the nineteenth century, and the stainless steel works on the east side of town still run.

  • MARMORE

    The waterfall the Romans made in the third century BC, at 165 meters among the highest in Europe.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J12°
  • F14°
  • M16°
  • A19°
  • M24°
  • J30°
  • J35°
  • A34°
  • S27°
  • O22°
  • N17°
  • D13°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: Valentino di Terni, 14 February

Why come

Terni is the Roman Interamna, the town between two rivers, and it shows its history in layers. The Anfiteatro Fausto of 32 AD sits in the city park, the Duomo keeps a sixth-century crypt, and Palazzo Spada, the town hall, may be the last work of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. From the nineteenth century the water of the Nera drove steelworks, arms factories and jute mills, and that made Terni a target: Allied raids from August 1943 destroyed or damaged 40 percent of its buildings.

The 12,000-ton steel press in Piazza Dante is the city's own monument to that past. Terni is also the city of Saint Valentine, its third-century bishop, whose basilica on the edge of town holds his remains. Seven kilometers up the Valnerina, the Romans cut a channel through the cliff at Marmore in the third century BC and made a waterfall of 165 meters. Lake Piediluco lies just beyond it, and the ruins of Carsulae sit on the Via Flaminia to the north.

Our guide

Tuscia, Lazio

Our nearest guide, 49 km away

Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there

The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.

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Terni in our articles

How to get there

From Rome (FCO), about 2 hours by car.

Ancona / Pescara (AOI) is about 2h 27m away.

By car from the centre of Perugia 1 hour or Siena 2h 16m.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Rome?

Coming by train into Perugia? Terni is about 1 hour away by road.

Every town within reach of Rome airport.

Terni, photo 1
Terni, photo 2

What to see

  • Cascata delle Marmore

    Falls of 165 meters made by the Romans to drain the Rieti plain. The water is released on a timetable, so check the opening hours before going.

  • Basilica di San Valentino

    Built on the hill where followers buried the town's bishop after his martyrdom in 273; the present church dates from 1618 and keeps his remains.

  • Anfiteatro Fausto

    Roman amphitheater of 32 AD in the park of La Passeggiata, with walls of two-tone reticulated stonework.

  • Palazzo Spada

    The town hall on Corso Vecchio, finished in 1576 to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.

  • Carsulae

    Ruins of a Roman town north of the city, with the Arco di San Damiano and a stretch of the original Via Flaminia.

  • CAOS

    The former Siri chemical works, now home to the archaeological museum and the Aurelio De Felice museum of modern art.

The slow-trip planner

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We recommend

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.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 106,370, down 4.6% since 2015
  • A local hubi
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • A public hospital in the comune
  • Full fibre reaches 85% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
  • Nearest airport Rome, 2 h 0 min drive
  • Regional capital Perugia, 1 h 9 min drive

Could you live here?

Terni is a city.

  • A city of 106,370 people, and a provincial capital: 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. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.

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Common questions

What is Terni known for?
Umbria's second city, rebuilt around its steelworks, home of Saint Valentine and seven kilometers from the Cascata delle Marmore.
Where is Terni?
Terni is a comune in the province of Terni, in Umbria, at 130 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Terni?
Rome (FCO), about 2 hours by car.
Can you get to Terni without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Perugia to Terni?
About 1 hour by car.
When is the best time to visit Terni?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 35 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Terni?
Yes. Fiera del Disco.
Which other towns are like Terni?
Trento, Lucca and Ascoli Piceno.
How many people live in Terni?
106,370 at the 2023 count.
Is Terni a good place to live?
Terni is a city of 106,370 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a public hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 85% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 130 m
  • Population: 106,370
  • Surface area: 212.43 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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