Campania · Napoli
Torre Annunziata
Capital of Italian pasta in the interwar period and home of the Roman Villa di Poppea, on the bay at the foot of Vesuvius.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Torre Annunziata is on our list
It holds UNESCO.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 22 min from Naples
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 39,719
- J13°
- F15°
- M16°
- A18°
- M23°
- J27°
- J31°
- A31°
- S27°
- O23°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in July at 28° 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
Torre Annunziata sits on the Bay of Naples, 20 kilometers south of the city at the western foot of Vesuvius, where the Sarno river meets the sea. The Roman town of Oplontis stood here before 79 AD; Villa A, called the Villa di Poppea after Nero's second wife who probably owned it, is the largest of the seafront villas buried by the eruption and the most completely excavated, listed by UNESCO in 1997 with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The modern town is named for the 1319 watchtower and the chapel of the Annunziata built next to it.
From the 17th century the Sarno was channelled to power flour and pasta mills, and by 1900 Torre Annunziata had more than sixty pastifici. Together with Naples and Gragnano it was called the Capital of the White Art, the term for industrial dried pasta. Setaro and a handful of other small pastifici still produce by traditional bronze die and slow drying. The town was hit hard by postwar industrial decline and the 1980 Irpinia earthquake.
How to get there
From Naples (NAP), about 28 min by car.
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) is about 2 h 49 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 22 min or Salerno 33 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Naples?
Coming by train into Napoli Centrale? Torre Annunziata is about 22 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Naples airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Scavi di Oplontis - Villa di Poppea
Seafront Roman villa attributed to Nero's wife Poppaea, buried 79 AD, the largest and best-preserved of the Oplontis villas, UNESCO-listed 1997.
Basilica della Madonna della Neve
Sixteenth-century shrine of the Madonna della Neve, the patron of the town, rebuilt after 18th-century earthquakes.
Torre dell'Annunziata
Fourteenth-century watchtower for which the town is named, built 1319 to guard against Saracen raids on the Vesuvian coast.
Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio
National park north of town, with trails on the southern flank of the volcano and access roads to the Atrio del Cavallo.
Pastificio Setaro
Family pasta mill founded 1939, one of the last in town still producing on bronze dies with slow 48-hour drying, in the historic pasta district.
Living here
Could you live here?
Torre Annunziata meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 39,719 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Castellammare di Stabia, a city of 62,320, is 10 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- 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 39,719, down 6.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Castellammare di Stabia, 10 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Boscotrecase, 4 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,350 to €2,750 per m² to buy, €4.50 to €9.20 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 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Naples airport (NAP), 28 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Naples, 22 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Ukraine, Romania and China, against 9% across Italy. There are 156 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 23% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Naples province ranks 104th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Boscotrecase, 4 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Naples, 22 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Vico Equense, 11 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 207 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is École Francaise de Naples Alexandre-Dumas, 22 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. 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 Campania spends about €1,800 a month, €650 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €328 a year for water, on the Campania average. In Naples, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €11.02 and a man's haircut €18.55.
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. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 2% in a high or medium one. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
VILLA DI POPPEA
Largest of the Oplontis villas, attributed to Nero's wife Poppaea, buried 79 AD, UNESCO-listed with Pompeii and Herculaneum in 1997.
WHITE ART
Capital of Italian dried pasta in the interwar years with over 60 mills; Setaro and a handful of pastifici still produce on bronze dies.
ANGEVIN TOWER
The 1319 watchtower against Saracen raids that gave the town its name, paired with the chapel of the Annunziata next to it.
Common questions
- What is Torre Annunziata known for?
- Capital of Italian pasta in the interwar period and home of the Roman Villa di Poppea, on the bay at the foot of Vesuvius.
- Where is Torre Annunziata?
- Torre Annunziata is a comune in the province of Napoli, in Campania, at 15 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Torre Annunziata?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Naples (NAP), about 28 min by car.
- Can you get to Torre Annunziata without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Naples to Torre Annunziata?
- About 22 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Torre Annunziata?
- 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 Torre Annunziata?
- Camaiore, Viareggio and Bacoli.
- How many people live in Torre Annunziata?
- 39,719 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Torre Annunziata a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Torre Annunziata is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Castellammare di Stabia, is 10 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Boscotrecase, 4 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 15 m
- Population: 39,719
- Surface area: 7.54 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 Torre Annunziata appears in
- The best towns with a World Heritage site that sit inside a national park in CampaniaCampaniainside a parkWorld Heritage6 towns · smallest 4,819 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train within 45 minutes of NaplesNear Naplesby trainwithin 45 min7 towns · smallest 23,647 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns with a World Heritage site that you can reach by train in CampaniaCampaniaby trainWorld Heritage8 towns · smallest 5,832 residents
- The 9 best towns you can reach by train in the province of NapoliNapoli provinceby train9 towns · smallest 12,213 residents
- The best coastal towns inside a national park in CampaniaCampaniacoastalinside a park9 towns · smallest 2,410 residents
- The best towns you can reach by train that sit inside a national park in CampaniaCampaniainside a parkby train9 towns · smallest 2,410 residents
Featured on
Torre Annunziata appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Torre Annunziata
What all six share with Torre Annunziata: on the Tyrrhenian coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Torre Annunziata 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 Torre Annunziata comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Cerveteri, 241 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.