Lazio · Roma
Velletri
The Castelli Romani town where Augustus grew up, and the home of its own Velletri DOC wine since 1972.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Velletri is on our list
It holds Città del Vino and Città dell'Olio.
Subscribe and you get Velletri's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 59 min from Rome
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 52,877
- J11°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J27°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- 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
The town sits, thirty-five kilometers from Rome, on the southeastern rim of a volcanic ring of craters and lakes. Before it was a papal possession and a diocesan seat, it was a Volscian stronghold, and after that the home ground of the Octavii, the paternal family of the man who became Augustus: Suetonius records a street here called Octavian and an altar consecrated by an Octavius, and the future emperor passed his childhood in the town under its old name, Velitrae. That layering, Volscian settlement, imperial family seat, papal diocese, is what the center still shows once the war is accounted for: an army broke through a German defensive line here in May 1944, and much of the town was destroyed in the process.
What stands now above the old piazza and around the rebuilt town hall is largely reconstruction fitted around what survived, with a wine trade going back to the volcanic soil that predates all of it. A town whose name changed twice, whose family produced an emperor, and whose center was rebuilt from a battle line, but whose vineyards on the same slopes never stopped being the constant.
How to get there
From Rome Fiumicino (FCO), about 58 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 15 min away.
By car from the center of Naples 2 h 19 min or Pescara 2 h 39 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming by train into Latina? Velletri is about 34 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rome Fiumicino airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Torre del Trivio
50-meter Gothic bell tower inaugurated in 1353, badly damaged in the 1944 bombing and rebuilt, still the shape by which the town is recognized from a distance.
Palazzo Comunale
Renaissance town hall by Vignola and Giacomo della Porta, destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt to the original design, facing the piazza named for Augustus.
Cattedrale di San Clemente
Cathedral seat of the suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni, one of the sees near Rome whose titular bishop is a cardinal.
Museo Civico Archeologico Oreste Nardini
Archaeological museum with Volscian, Roman and medieval finds, including the second-century sarcophagus of the Labours of Hercules found locally in 1955.
The growers' wine cooperative
The town's growers' cooperative, the Consorzio Produttori Vini di Velletri, producing the appellation's reds and whites from members' vineyards.
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.
Benito al BoscoRistorante
Benito al Bosco carries a Gambero Rosso listing.
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?
Velletri is a city.
- A city of 52,877 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 52,877, down 0.8% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €800 to €1,200 per m² to buy, €4.50 to €6.50 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 78% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rome Ciampino airport (CIA), 33 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Rome, 59 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
10% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Morocco and India, against 9% across Italy. 113 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are 199 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% 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 Latina, 26 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Rome, 34 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 32 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Children's Castle International, 10 km away.
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 0.96% 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 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. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. Under 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.
Known for
VELLETRI DOC
Lazio's serious red appellation since 1972: Montepulciano, Sangiovese and Cesanese grown on volcanic Alban Hills slopes.
AUGUSTUS
Childhood home of the future emperor, whose family the Octavii had a street and an altar in ancient Velitrae.
CAESAR LINE
Site of the American breakthrough in May 1944 that opened the road to Rome; the town was heavily bombed.
Common questions
- What is Velletri known for?
- Velletri is the Castelli Romani town where Augustus grew up, and the home of its own Velletri DOC wine since 1972.
- Where is Velletri?
- Velletri is a comune in the province of Roma, in Lazio, at 332 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Velletri?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rome Ciampino (CIA), about 33 min by car.
- Can you get to Velletri 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 Velletri?
- About 2 h 19 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Velletri?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Velletri?
- Tivoli, Rieti and Orvieto.
- How many people live in Velletri?
- 52,877 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Velletri a good place to live?
- Velletri is a city of 52,877 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 78% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 332 m
- Population: 52,877
- Surface area: 118.23 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 Velletri appears in
- The 6 best hill towns within 90 minutes of LatinaNear Latinahill townwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 1,423 residents · closest 23 min away
- The 6 best wine towns in LazioLaziowine6 towns · smallest 1,861 residents
- The best hill towns in the province of RomaRoma provincehill town7 towns · smallest 217 residents
- The best olive oil towns in LazioLazioolive oil8 towns · smallest 1,197 residents
- The best towns that eat well within an hour of RomeNear Romewithin 60 mineats well8 towns · smallest 4,957 residents · closest 31 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train in the province of RomaRoma provinceby train8 towns · smallest 8,543 residents
Featured on
Velletri appears on 2 themed picks from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Velletri
What all six share with Velletri: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 81 km away
Tuscia: the towns, when to go, how to get there
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Read the guide: The land Rome took twice. 16 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
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