Lazio · Roma
Tivoli
A travertine town on the Aniene falls twenty-five kilometers east of Rome, holding two separate UNESCO sites: Hadrian's villa below and the Villa d'Este above.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Tivoli is on our list
It holds UNESCO.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 31 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 55,115
- J11°
- F13°
- M15°
- A18°
- M23°
- J28°
- J33°
- A32°
- S26°
- O21°
- N16°
- D12°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Tivoli sits on the Aniene where it drops 120 meters off the Tiburtini hills, twenty-five kilometers east of Rome. The Romans called it Tibur and built it up as their summer station; the moneyed classes carried on building here for two thousand years afterward. Two of those projects became UNESCO sites, listed separately despite standing close together.
Hadrian's estate, four kilometers below town, covers 120 hectares with the remains of thirty monumental buildings the emperor built between 117 and 138 AD to recreate the architectural memories of Egypt, Greece and Asia Minor. The Renaissance garden inside the upper town was laid out from 1550 onward for a cardinal of the Este family; its grounds carry 51 fountains powered entirely by gravity from the Aniene. The cardinal stripped much of the marble from Hadrian's estate to decorate his own grounds, so the imperial villa on the plain and the garden in the upper town are bound together by more than proximity: one was quarried to build the other.
Below them both, the Villa Gregoriana park drops into the gorge where the river was diverted in 1832 to create the 120-meter Cascata Grande. The travertine quarries that built Rome are still working in the plain below. The upper town, the lower estate, and the gorge between them form a single continuous cut through two thousand years of building, borrowing, and quarrying around the same fall of water.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 52 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 12 min away.
By car from the center of Pescara 2 h 1 min or Perugia 2 h 8 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Roma Termini? Tivoli is about 30 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Villa d'Este
The fountains step down the hillside in tiers, fed by nothing but gravity, so the sound of falling water carries through the whole garden. Cardinal Ippolito d'Este stripped much of the marble for it from Hadrian's villa down the hill.
Villa Adriana
The remains of thirty monumental buildings spread across the Tiburtine plain, among them the Canopo and the Teatro Marittimo, a walled island retreat inside the larger estate.
Villa Gregoriana
The park drops into the gorge cut by the Aniene, where the river was diverted through Monte Catillo to feed the fall below town.
Tempio di Vesta e Tempio della Sibilla
Two small Roman temples stand on the acropolis above the falls, one circular and one rectangular, overlooking the drop in the river.
Rocca Pia
A four-towered fortress in the upper town, built to hold down a population the papacy did not trust.
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.
Al MadrigaleRistorante
One Michelin star for Al Madrigale, along with two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100) and a place in L'Espresso's Top 300.
Li SomariTrattoria
Li Somari has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, two Gambero Rosso prawns and a Slow Food snail.
NUH Osteria ContemporaneaRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at NUH Osteria Contemporanea.
2 more places the guides name in Tivoli
Osteria La BriciolaRistorante
Osteria La Briciola holds one Gambero Rosso fork (75/100).
SibillaRistorante
A spot in the Michelin Guide, at Sibilla.
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?
Tivoli is a city.
- A city of 55,115 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 55,115, up 0.4% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,150 to €1,650 per m² to buy, €5.50 to €8.00 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 89% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 36 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 31 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
15% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Egypt and Bangladesh, against 9% across Italy. 64 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France, Germany and the United States. There are 197 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 11% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Rome province ranks 46th 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 Rome, 29 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Rome, 29 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 27 km as the crow flies. There are 4 within 30 km. The nearest school listed as international is Little Genius International, 18 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
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 €12,000. 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. In Rome, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.21, a meal in a pizzeria €11.54 and a man's haircut €17.23.
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. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 2% in a high or medium one. 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.
This is a thermal town: terme operate here.
Known for
VILLA D'ESTE
Renaissance garden with 51 fountains, all gravity-fed from the Aniene, designed by Pirro Ligorio from 1550 for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este.
VILLA ADRIANA
Hadrian's 120-hectare imperial estate, the emperor's architectural collage of Egypt, Greece and Asia Minor on the Tiburtine plain.
TRAVERTINE
Tivoli's quarries supplied the white travertine for the Colosseum, St Peter's colonnade and most of Rome's monumental construction.
OLIVA DI GAETA
The commune lies inside the Oliva di Gaeta DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Tivoli known for?
- Tivoli is a travertine town on the Aniene falls twenty-five kilometers east of Rome, holding two separate UNESCO sites: Hadrian's villa below and the Villa d'Este above.
- Where is Tivoli?
- Tivoli is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 235 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Tivoli?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 36 min by car.
- Can you get to Tivoli without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pescara to Tivoli?
- About 2 h 1 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Tivoli?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Tivoli?
- Velletri, Rieti and Orvieto.
- How many people live in Tivoli?
- 55,115 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Tivoli a good place to live?
- Tivoli is a city of 55,115 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 89% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 235 m
- Population: 55,115
- Surface area: 68.65 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 Tivoli appears in
- The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 6,707 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romehill townby trainwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,696 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best hot-spring towns within two hours of RomeNear Romehot springswithin 2 hours6 towns · smallest 1,396 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best hill towns in the province of RomaRoma provincehill town7 towns · smallest 217 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of RomeNear Romewithin 90 minserious restauranteats well7 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns that eat well within an hour of RomeNear Romewithin 60 mineats well8 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
Featured on
Tivoli appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Tivoli
What all six share with Tivoli: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 60 km away
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Tuscia guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.