Lazio · Latina
Terracina
The Volscian Anxur, where a temple to Jupiter sits above a port cut through stone.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Terracina is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 43 min from Rome
- Population
- 44,774
- J13°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J31°
- A31°
- S27°
- O22°
- N18°
- D15°
- 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 15°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Terracina sits where the Lepini mountains meet the Tyrrhenian Sea, a hundred kilometers south of Rome. The Volsci called it Anxur, the name of the youthful Jupiter who was its tutelary god, and the temple crowning the summit above the port carries that name still. Below it the Roman town spread out along the coast road, its forum paved by a magistrate whose inscription remains underfoot, its capitolium later built over by the co-cathedral.
Where the road met a headland it could not go around, the rock itself was cut away to let it pass, a shelf sliced through stone rather than a path found around it. The upper town, on the mountain, and the lower town, on the plain and shore, read as two different solutions to the same site: one held the god and looked down, the other held the forum, the road, and eventually the harbor. What survives today, the beach, the working fishing port, the olive groves signed for their oil, is the plain continuing to do what it always did, at sea level, while the temple keeps its distance above.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 51 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 6 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 2 h 11 min or Salerno 2 h 35 min.
Coming by train into Latina? Terracina is about 42 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Tempio di Giove Anxur
The temple on Monte Sant'Angelo stands on a vaulted substructure, thirty-five by twenty meters, the arcading still visible from below and, on clear days, the view running out past the port to the sea.
Foro Emiliano
Original limestone-paved Roman forum, bronze-letter inscription of Aulus Aemilius still legible, eleventh forum along the Via Appia from Rome.
Cattedrale di San Cesareo
Co-cathedral consecrated 1074 on the ancient capitolium, Cosmatesque pulpit and pavement, twelfth-century bell tower and portico.
Pisco Montano
The cliff face rises thirty-eight meters straight from the roadside, the cut sheer enough to read as an act of engineering rather than erosion, the depth marking still legible in the rock.
Palazzo Venditti
Medieval-Cistercian palace overlooking the Foro Emiliano next to the Torre Frumentaria, twelfth century, probably the first town hall.
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.
Il GranchioRistorante
Il Granchio carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
Locanda AltobelliRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Locanda Altobelli.
Locanda RuggieriTrattoria
Locanda Ruggieri carries two Gambero Rosso prawns.
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?
Terracina meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 44,774 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Latina, a city of 127,796, is 43 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 44,774, up 0.5% since 2015
- Nearest city Latina, 43 min drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,450 to €2,350 per m² to buy, €5.30 to €8.90 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 80% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 1 h 41 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 1 h 43 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from India, Bangladesh and Romania, against 9% across Italy. 106 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, Norway and France. There are 226 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 36% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Latina province ranks 83rd 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 Latina, 37 km away. The nearest IB school is Ambrit International School, 92 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 69 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.14% 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 €8,000. 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 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 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. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 3% in a high or medium one. 2% 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
JUPITER ANXUR
Republican-era Corinthian temple of Jupiter on Monte Sant'Angelo at 227 meters, on twelve great arches over the port.
PISCO MONTANO
Trajan's 109 AD rock cut through the cliff on the Via Appia, CXX inscribed at maximum depth, opened the coastal road.
OLIVE COUNTRY
Città dell'Olio signed for the hill groves above the town and the Itrana cultivar typical of southern Lazio.
DOP ZONES
The commune lies inside the Colline Pontine and Oliva di Gaeta DOP production zones.
Common questions
- What is Terracina known for?
- Terracina is the Volscian Anxur, where a temple to Jupiter sits above a port cut through stone.
- Where is Terracina?
- Terracina is a comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, at 24 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Terracina?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 1 h 41 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Terracina?
- About 2 h 11 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Terracina?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Terracina?
- Agropoli, Massa Lubrense and Piombino.
- How many people live in Terracina?
- 44,774 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Terracina a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Terracina is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Latina, is 43 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 80% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 24 m
- Population: 44,774
- Surface area: 136.59 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 Terracina appears in
- The best beach towns inside a nature park in LazioLazioclean beachinside a park6 towns · smallest 3,009 residents
- The best towns inside a nature park that have a serious restaurant in LazioLazioinside a parkserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 6,707 residents
- The best beach towns in the province of LatinaLatina provinceclean beach7 towns · smallest 3,009 residents
- The best towns that eat well in the province of LatinaLatina provinceeats well7 towns · smallest 687 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that sit on a walking route in LazioLazioon a walking routeserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 5,225 residents
- The 8 best towns inside a nature park that sit on a walking route in LazioLazioinside a parkon a walking route8 towns · smallest 387 residents
Similar
Towns like Terracina
What all six share with Terracina: on the Tyrrhenian coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level
The letter
Terracina 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 Terracina comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 124 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.