Pescara travel guide
Beach clubs, arrosticini and D'Annunzio's birthplace on the Adriatic
Pescara is Abruzzo's biggest city, a modern Adriatic resort with miles of beach, lively nights and the Maiella mountains within an hour. June and September are the sweet spots for the sea; two or three days covers the city and a trip inland or down the Trabocchi coast. Costs are above average, and Schengen rules apply.
Abruzzo's largest city faces the Adriatic at the mouth of the Aterno-Pescara river, with a long sandy shore of striped beach clubs stretching north and south of the centre. It is a young city by Italian standards. The comune only took its present form in 1927, joining the old fortress town south of the river with Castellammare Adriatico on the north bank, and wartime bombing removed much of what came before.
People come for the sea and the evenings out, and for the mountains behind. The Maiella massif is about 50 minutes' drive inland, with hill towns and national parks that see a fraction of Tuscany's visitors, while Abruzzo Airport is barely ten minutes from the centre.
Gabriele D'Annunzio was born in the surviving old quarter, Pescara Vecchia, and his family house on Corso Manthonè is now a museum. When the beach bars shut for the season, that same street becomes the city's nightlife strip.
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Top things to do in Pescara
A long beach, a small surviving old quarter, D'Annunzio's birthplace and the mountains of the Maiella within an hour.
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Best time to visit Pescara
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Every stabilimento is open; June and September have the sea without the August crowds.
Good for the Maiella and the hill towns; some beach clubs still closed, nights cool.
Quiet seafront; nightlife moves to Corso Manthonè and snow falls on the mountains inland.
Pescara Jazz, one of Italy's older jazz festivals, brings concerts to the city in July.
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Getting there
Flight shuttle and bus 38 to Pescara Centrale
Few Italian cities have an airport this close. Abruzzo Airport, where Ryanair is the main airline, is less than ten minutes from the centre, and TUA4Fly, a nonstop TUA shuttle that replaced the old AirLink, leaves from outside arrivals about half an hour after each flight lands and runs to Pescara Centrale railway station.
- TUA4Fly shuttle
- Nonstop to Pescara Centrale, timed to arrivals
- Adriatic railway
- Direct trains to Ancona, Bologna and Bari
- From Rome
- About four hours by train, faster by coach
- City buses 8 and 38 also link the airport and the station from a stop on Viale Amendola, a short walk from the terminal.
- From Rome the train takes about four hours through the mountains via Avezzano and Sulmona, a slow but scenic ride; direct coaches to Rome are quicker.
- Drivers from Rome cross the Apennines on a motorway full of tunnels and viaducts.
- Urban bus tickets, including the airport shuttle ticket, are valid for 90 minutes on TUA city lines.
- Taxis are few; book one ahead if you land late.
Where to stay
Corso Umberto, the Lungomare or Pescara Vecchia
Everything central is walkable, so choose by noise and what you want outside the door. The Lungomare has beach-club views and loud summer nights, Corso Umberto I puts shops a short walk from the sand, and Pescara Vecchia has the winter bars. Montesilvano is quieter but car-dependent.
- City centre
- Corso Umberto I and Piazza della Rinascita; shops, cafes and a short walk to the beach
- Lungomare
- Beach-club views; lively and loud on summer nights
- Pescara Vecchia
- South of the river around Corso Manthonè; D'Annunzio's house and the winter bars
- Montesilvano
- Resort hotels on the beach just north of the city, quieter but car-dependent
Getting around
Ponte del Mare and the seafront cycle path
Much of central Pescara is flat and pedestrian-friendly, with wide pavements and a traffic-restricted shopping district between Corso Umberto I and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Bike lanes cross the city, a handful of rental shops hire bicycles, and the seafront path runs for kilometres in both directions.
- On foot
- Centre to beach in a few minutes
- Bike
- Seafront path and the Ponte del Mare
- TUA buses
- City routes and the airport
- The Ponte del Mare, a cable-stayed bridge for walkers and cyclists, carries the coastal path over the river mouth.
- TUA city buses cover longer hops, including lines 8 and 38 to the airport.
- Taxis are scarce, so locals walk or ride.
- For the Maiella, the Trabocchi coast or Chieti, a hire car saves a lot of time.
- The Stadio Adriatico sits a few hundred metres back from the beach, about a half-hour walk south of Piazza della Rinascita.
Know before you go
What makes Pescara worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Pietro Cascella's Nave fountain on the seafront, a marble ship facing the Adriatic at the end of Corso Umberto I.
- Walking or cycling over the Ponte del Mare at sunset, with the river mouth below and the Maiella behind the city.
- A plate of arrosticini, lamb skewers straight off a long charcoal grill, eaten by the dozen.
Good to know
- Watch the flags: red means no swimming, white means the sea is safe.
- Free beach is limited but there are about six public stretches between the centre and the stadium, and more at Montesilvano and Francavilla.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Pescara, month by month
Regione Abruzzo's long-term records supply the Pescara temperature and rainfall shown below, month by month.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Pescara (Regione Abruzzo, via Wikipedia).
Pescara Vecchia, the Nave fountain and the trabocchi coast
Start the first morning in Pescara Vecchia, the small old quarter south of the river. Visit D'Annunzio's birthplace on Corso Manthonè, then the Cathedral of San Cetteo, which the poet pushed to have built, and the Museo delle Genti d'Abruzzo next to the old Bourbon prison, the best place to understand shepherd life in the Apennines.
Cross the river after lunch and walk Corso Umberto I to Piazza della Rinascita, then down to the Nave fountain on the seafront. Rent a sunbed at a stabilimento for the afternoon. In the evening, walk back over the Ponte del Mare and eat arrosticini in the old town.
On day two, head out of the city. In summer drive south along the Costa dei Trabocchi, past Francavilla al Mare and Ortona, where fishing platforms on stilts stick out into the sea and several now serve fish lunches. In spring or autumn go inland instead, to the Maiella, about 50 minutes away, for a walk and a lunch in one of its stone villages.
Arrosticini, brodetto and parrozzo
Abruzzo's signature food is arrosticini: small cubes of mutton or lamb on thin skewers, grilled over a long, narrow charcoal trough and served in bundles with bread and olive oil. Order a dozen per person and expect to want more. Many pizzerias and trattorias in Pescara Vecchia serve them.
Being a port, Pescara also cooks fish well. Brodetto alla pescarese is a fish stew coloured with sweet pepper, and the trabocchi restaurants down the coast serve whatever their nets brought up. Plenty of places do pasta alla chitarra, square-edged spaghetti cut on a wire frame, with a lamb or tomato sauce.
The local cake is parrozzo, a dome of almond sponge coated in dark chocolate, named and praised in verse by D'Annunzio, and sold everywhere at Christmas. With dinner, drink Abruzzo's own wines: the red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the white Trebbiano, and the cherry-pink Cerasuolo, which suits the summer heat. Corso Manthonè has pizzerias that stay open late.
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How we research our Pescara travel guide
Pescara's airport shuttle, bus 38 and the seafront cycle path follow the Comune di Pescara website and Italia.it, and the page changes when routes do.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of PescaraItalia.itUNESCO World Heritage Centre
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Pescara.
Getting there
The TUA4Fly shuttle runs nonstop from outside arrivals to Pescara Centrale, timed to flights, and city buses 8 and 38 stop on Viale Amendola, a short walk away. Pay for the shuttle by contactless card on board or in the TUA GO app.
About four hours, through the mountains via Avezzano and Sulmona. Direct coaches are faster.
General
Yes, about six public stretches lie between the centre and the stadium, with more at Montesilvano to the north and Francavilla to the south.
A red flag means swimming is forbidden; a white flag means it is safe to swim.
Skewers of small mutton or lamb cubes grilled over charcoal, the classic dish of Abruzzo, usually eaten by the dozen.
On the beach clubs along the seafront in summer, and along Corso Manthonè in Pescara Vecchia the rest of the year.
Yes, his family home on Corso Manthonè in the old town is open as a museum.
Mostly. Cars are restricted on the main shopping streets, and the sand is only a few minutes' walk beyond them.
June and September for the beach without August crowds; April, May and October for the mountains.
Much of central Pescara is flat and pedestrian-friendly, with wide pavements and a traffic-restricted shopping district between Corso Umberto I and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Bike lanes cross the city, a handful of rental shops hire bicycles, and the seafront path runs for kilometres in both directions.
Prices & payment
The Maiella mountains and their hill villages, Chieti, and the Costa dei Trabocchi with its fishing platforms are all within an hour.
Timing & weather
The best time to visit Pescara is Jun to Sep. Beach clubs open and the Adriatic warm; June and September are calmer than August.
- Beach season: June - September (Every stabilimento is open; June and September have the sea without the August crowds)
- Shoulder: April - May, October (Good for the Maiella and the hill towns; some beach clubs still closed, nights cool)
- Winter: November - March (Quiet seafront; nightlife moves to Corso Manthonè and snow falls on the mountains inland)
July is the warmest month in Pescara, with average highs of 28°C, and January the coolest, with lows of 4°C. December is the wettest month, at about 84 mm of rain; July is the driest. Regione Abruzzo's long-term records supply the Pescara temperature and rainfall shown below, month by month.
Visa & documents
Schengen rules apply in Italy. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Violent crime against visitors to Italy is rare. Pickpocketing is the main problem, especially on buses and metros in Rome (bus 64 is notorious), at Roman and Florentine sights, and at Termini and Naples Centrale stations. Wear your bag across your body and zip it, and use only licensed white taxis or official ride apps.
