Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Urbino
The Montefeltro capital on twin hills, where Federico II built the Renaissance court that produced Raffaello.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Urbino is on our list
It holds UNESCO.
Subscribe and you get Urbino's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 6 min from Rimini
- Population
- 13,827
- J9°
- F11°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Urbino sits in the Apennine foothills, seventy kilometers north of Perugia, its historic core spread across twin hills with the fortress on the higher of the two and the palace complex below on the other. Federico II da Montefeltro ruled from 1444 to 1482, and under him the town became one of the central courts of the Italian Renaissance: he was condottiere, diplomat, patron and humanist at once, and the building campaign he set running through the 1450s to the 1470s, first under Maso di Bartolomeo, gave the city the asymmetric silhouette that still defines it from a distance. The university, founded in 1506, keeps that Renaissance investment active in the present rather than fossilized: the whole comune has about 14,000 residents and roughly as many enrolled students, so the old town runs on a population it did not have in the fifteenth century.
The two hills, the ducal seat and the fortress above it, read as the same civic project seen from two elevations: one built to project a court outward, the other to hold the higher ground behind it. What the 1998 inscription recognizes is that this pairing, court and citadel, survives largely as Federico left it.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 1 h 20 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 21 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 33 min or Perugia 1 h 45 min.
Driving in is restricted: there is a limited traffic zone here (ZTL Urbino). Check the signs and the times before you drive into the center.
Coming from Bologna?
Coming by train into Rimini? Urbino is about 1 h 4 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Palazzo Ducale
Federico da Montefeltro's Renaissance palace begun 1444, completed by Luciano Laurana with the twin torricini facade, now housing the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche.
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche
One of the most important Renaissance painting collections in Italy, with Raffaello, Piero della Francesca's Flagellazione and Madonna di Senigallia, Paolo Uccello and Tiziano.
Casa Natale di Raffaello
Fifteenth-century house on Via Raffaello where the painter was born in 1483 in the workshop of his father Giovanni Santi, now a museum of the early years.
Duomo di Urbino
Neoclassical cathedral begun in 1789 by Giuseppe Valadier on the site of an earlier church damaged by the 1781 earthquake, standing opposite the ducal palace.
Oratorio di San Giovanni Battista
Small oratory with a complete fresco cycle painted by the brothers Lorenzo and Jacopo Salimbeni in 1416, one of the masterpieces of late Gothic narrative painting.
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.
PortanovaRistorante
Portanova carries two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100), plus a spot in the Michelin 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?
Urbino is a city.
- A city of 13,827 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive 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 13,827, down 8.4% since 2015
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,400 to €1,900 per m² to buy, €6.20 to €8.20 per m² a month to rent
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 76% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rimini airport (RMI), 1 h 20 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 33 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Morocco, Romania and Nigeria, against 9% across Italy. 63 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There are 294 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. Pesaro e Urbino province ranks 31st 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 Rimini, 36 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 37 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Working from here
Poste Italiane has finished a coworking room in the comune, on its register of 30 September 2026. Check that it is open on Poste's booking site before you count on it.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.05% 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 Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche average.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate medium for floods. 3% 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
PALAZZO DUCALE
Federico II da Montefeltro's court, completed by Luciano Laurana with the twin torricini facade, now home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche.
RAFFAELLO
Born in Urbino in 1483 in the workshop of his father Giovanni Santi; his birthplace on Via Raffaello is now a small museum.
UNESCO 1998
Inscribed for the Renaissance ensemble of Palazzo Ducale, centro storico and the surrounding Montefeltro landscape as a near-intact Quattrocento city.
Common questions
- What is Urbino known for?
- Urbino is the Montefeltro capital at 451 meters on twin hills, where Federico II built the Renaissance court that produced Raffaello.
- Where is Urbino?
- Urbino is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Urbino?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rimini (RMI), about 1 h 20 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Urbino?
- About 1 h 33 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Urbino?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Urbino?
- San Severino Marche, Todi and Castiglion Fiorentino.
- How many people live in Urbino?
- 13,827 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Urbino a good place to live?
- Urbino is a city of 13,827 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 76% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 451 m
- Population: 13,827
- Surface area: 226.5 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 Urbino appears in
- The 6 best hidden hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarchehill townserious restauranthidden6 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
- The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminihill townwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 30 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoPesaro e Urbino provinceserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
- The best towns with a World Heritage site within two hours of PerugiaNear Perugiawithin 2 hoursWorld Heritage9 towns · smallest 1,044 residents · closest 33 min away
- The 10 best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarcheserious restauranthidden10 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in MarcheMarchehill townserious restaurant10 towns · smallest 4,162 residents
Similar
Towns like Urbino
What all six share with Urbino: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 74 km away
Umbria: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Umbria guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: Two banks, no sea. 21 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.