Emilia-Romagna · Piacenza
Vernasca
A Val d'Arda commune in the Piacenza Apennines, holding the walled village of Vigoleno and one of the most compact castled borghi in Emilia.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Vernasca is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 56 min from Parma
- Population
- 2,017
- J8°
- F11°
- M12°
- A16°
- M20°
- J25°
- J28°
- A28°
- S23°
- O18°
- N12°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Vernasca sits in the upper Val d'Arda, in the Piacenza Apennines forty kilometers southeast of Parma. The commune owes its Borghi più belli and Bandiera Arancione listings to its frazione Vigoleno, a walled village on a 350-meter ridge between the Ongina and Stirone valleys whose castle is documented from 1141 and whose current quadrangular plan dates from the early fifteenth century. The Scotti Douglas family, granted the county of Vigoleno in 1404 by the Visconti of Milan, rebuilt the keep, mastio and circuit walls after Visconti troops dismantled it in 1373.
Vigoleno was an autonomous commune until 1815, when it was absorbed into Vernasca. The Val d'Arda below produces Gutturnio and Ortrugo wines under the Colli Piacentini DOC. The territory holds the Riserva Naturale del Piacenziano, a fossil-bearing badlands site referenced in the geological epoch named for the Piacenza area.
How to get there
From Bologna (BLQ), about 1 h 46 min by car.
Milan Bergamo (BGY) is about 1 h 50 min away.
By car from the center of Parma 56 min or Brescia 1 h 24 min.
Coming by train into Parma? Vernasca is about 53 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bologna airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello di Vigoleno
Walled medieval village and Scotti Douglas keep on a 350-meter ridge, with a circuit of walls and a mastio rebuilt in the early fifteenth century.
Pieve di San Giorgio
Twelfth-century Romanesque pieve inside the Vigoleno walls, with fifteenth-century frescoes by the school of the Pordenone.
Riserva Naturale del Piacenziano
Pliocene fossil-bearing badlands and clay outcrops within the commune, type-locality of the Piacenzian geological age named for the province.
Val d'Arda vineyards
Colli Piacentini DOC vineyards on the slopes around Vigoleno and Vernasca, producing Gutturnio, Ortrugo, and the sweet Vin Santo di Vigoleno.
Living here
Could you live here?
Vernasca is at the end of the road.
- A village of 2,017. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Fiorenzuola d'Arda, is 29 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Piacenza, a city of 103,406, is 49 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 2,017, down 6.9% since 2015
- Nearest city Piacenza, 49 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Fiorenzuola d'Arda, 16 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €540 to €800 per m² to buy, €1.80 to €2.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 84% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Parma airport (PMF), 1 h drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 50 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from North Macedonia, Romania and India, against 9% across Italy. 15 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom. There are 381 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 59% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Piacenza province ranks 32nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Fidenza, 19 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Piacenza, 28 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Piacenza, 28 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 80 km as the crow flies.
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 Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Piacenza, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.30, a meal in a pizzeria €13.58 and a man's haircut €22.63.
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. 10% 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
VIGOLENO
Walled hilltop frazione with a fifteenth-century Scotti Douglas castle, absorbed into Vernasca in 1815 and now one of the smallest Borghi più belli.
VIN SANTO DI VIGOLENO
Sweet passito wine produced on the Vigoleno hills under a Slow Food Presidium, made from Santa Maria, Marsanne, Bervedino, Sauvignon and Trebbiano grapes.
RISERVA PIACENZIANO
Pliocene fossil badlands within the commune, type-locality of the Piacenzian stage in the geological time scale named after Piacenza.
Common questions
- What is Vernasca known for?
- Vernasca is a Val d'Arda commune in the Piacenza Apennines, holding the walled village of Vigoleno and one of the most compact castled borghi in Emilia.
- Where is Vernasca?
- Vernasca is a comune in the province of Piacenza, in Emilia-Romagna, at 457 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Vernasca?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Parma (PMF), about 1 h by car.
- How long is the drive from Parma to Vernasca?
- About 56 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Vernasca?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Vernasca?
- Gerace, Tocco da Casauria and Morino.
- How many people live in Vernasca?
- 2,017 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Vernasca a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Vernasca is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Fiorenzuola d'Arda, is 29 min away. The nearest city, Piacenza, is 49 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Fiorenzuola d'Arda, 16 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 84% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 457 m
- Population: 2,017
- Surface area: 72.57 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 Vernasca appears in
- The best hill towns within 75 minutes of ParmaNear Parmahill townwithin 75 min7 towns · smallest 2,017 residents · closest 45 min away
- The best hill towns within 90 minutes of PiacenzaNear Piacenzahill townwithin 90 min8 towns · smallest 244 residents · closest 38 min away
- The prettiest small villages in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnaprettiest villagessmall9 towns · smallest 996 residents
- The best hidden towns inside a nature park in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnainside a parkhidden10 towns · smallest 1,191 residents
Similar
Towns like Vernasca
What all six share with Vernasca: inland, away from the coast · under 3,000 people · hill towns
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 81 km away
Riviera di Levante: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Riviera di Levante guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The coast in the shadow of five villages. 19 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.