Umbria · Perugia
Todi
A walled hill town on the Tiber, with Etruscan, Roman, and medieval rings stacked one above the other.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 72.
The letter
Todi got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 38 min from Perugia
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 15,481
- J9°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J32°
- A32°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
The hill the town occupies, Colle Nidoli, rises above the middle Tiber, and the settlement is built as three concentric ring walls rather than one: Etruscan and Roman courses at the base, a medieval circuit at the summit, the whole sequence readable from the hills around it. The square at the top sits directly over a Roman forum, and the cisterns cut beneath that forum still carry water and drainage for the town today, so the working infrastructure underfoot is as old as anything visible above ground. The building on the square with the triple window keeps that window from the thirteenth century.
The lower ground beyond the medieval walls holds the Roman niches, the surviving wall of a first-century BC public building, set at the foot of the town rather than within its defended core, a reminder that the settlement's Roman life extended past what the medieval walls later enclosed. Outside the walls in the other direction stands the Renaissance temple, built over a century between 1508 and 1607, deliberately separated from the dense center it complements. Todi's layout is less a single town than a stack of settlements, Etruscan, Roman, medieval, Renaissance, each occupying its own ring or its own ground beyond the walls, none erasing what came before it.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 1 h 55 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 2 h 4 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 38 min or Siena 2 h 1 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Perugia? Todi is about 38 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza del Popolo
Square on the highest point of Colle Nidoli, built over Roman cisterns still in use, ringed by cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo del Capitano.
Cattedrale della Santissima Annunziata
Twelfth-century cathedral on the site of a Roman temple, north end of Piazza del Popolo, Gothic rose window and a fresco of the Last Judgment by Faenzone inside.
Tempio di Santa Maria della Consolazione
Outside the walls rather than within the medieval fabric of the center, its dome fifty meters high, a solitary geometric mass against the surrounding hillside.
Chiesa di San Fortunato
Gothic-Renaissance church on Piazza Umberto I, holding 14th-century Giotto-school frescoes and the crypt tomb of Jacopone da Todi.
Palazzo dei Priori
Town hall built 1334-1347 on the south side of Piazza del Popolo, trapezoidal tower with the 1339 bronze Eagle of Todi by Giovanni di Giliaccio.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
FiorfioreRistorante
Fiorfiore carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Tenuta di CanonicaHotel
Tenuta di Canonica holds a place in the Michelin hotel 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?
Todi meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 15,481 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Terni, a city of 106,310, is 39 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 15,481, down 6.8% since 2015
- Nearest city Terni, 39 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €900 to €1,400 per m² to buy, €2.90 to €5.00 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 62% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Perugia airport (PEG), 40 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Perugia, 38 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 179 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. There are 311 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 31% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Perugia province ranks 37th 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 Terni, 30 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 47 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Assisi International School, 34 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 between 0.6% and 0.62% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €11,000. 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 Umbria spends about €2,310 a month, €550 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €677 a year for water, on the Umbria average. In Perugia, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.23, a meal in a pizzeria €12.04 and a man's haircut €20.47.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 4% in a high or medium one. 6% 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
LA CONSOLAZIONE
Greek-cross Renaissance temple attributed to Bramante, built 1508-1607, one of the most rigorous central-plan churches in central Italy.
JACOPONE
Jacopone de Benedetti, the 13th-century poet of nearly one hundred vernacular laudi, was born here in 1236 and is buried in San Fortunato's crypt.
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO
Medieval square on top of Roman cisterns still working, with cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo del Capitano on three sides.
PAMPEPATO DI TERNI
The commune lies inside the Pampepato di Terni IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Todi known for?
- Todi is a walled hill town at 398 meters on the Tiber, with Etruscan, Roman, and medieval rings stacked one above the other.
- Where is Todi?
- Todi is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria.
- What is the nearest airport to Todi?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Perugia (PEG), about 40 min by car.
- Can you get to Todi 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 Todi?
- About 38 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Todi?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Todi?
- San Severino Marche, Anagni and Castiglion Fiorentino.
- How many people live in Todi?
- 15,481 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Todi a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Todi is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Terni, is 39 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 62% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 398 m
- Population: 15,481
- Surface area: 222.86 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 Todi appears in
- The best towns worth staying overnight in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceworth staying overnight6 towns · smallest 426 residents
- The 7 best towns with a serious restaurant that sit inside a nature park in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceinside a parkserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 5,312 residents
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of TerniNear Ternihill townwithin 90 minserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 3,452 residents · closest 33 min away
- The best towns that live slowly in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceslow living7 towns · smallest 686 residents
- The best wine towns in the province of PerugiaPerugia provincewine7 towns · smallest 3,636 residents
- The best hill towns that live slowly in UmbriaUmbriahill townslow living8 towns · smallest 1,418 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 73.
Acquasparta
Province: Terni
A hill town at 350 meters above the Naia valley, where a Renaissance duchy briefly became the seat of Europe's first scientific academy.
19 min by car
- Written about. No. 80.
Montecchio
Province: Terni
A small hill commune at 377 meters above the Tiber, sitting on top of one of Umbria's largest Etruscan-tied necropolises.
15 km away
- Written about. No. 81.
Montefalco
Province: Perugia
The hilltop wine capital of Umbria at 472 meters, where Sagrantino is grown almost nowhere else.
23 km away
The letter
Todi got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.