the home of spaghetti all'amatriciana in a cool basin between the Laga and the Sibillini, which ten years after the earthquake has reopened its main street and is putting the rest back on its feet, with the lake of Campotosto and the waterfalls of the Laga close by
Amatrice stands at almost a thousand metres, in a green basin between the Monti della Laga and the Sibillini, at the far end of the province of Rieti, where Lazio touches Abruzzo, the Marche and Umbria. It is a large, scattered municipality, with sixty-nine hamlets that here are called ville, and it is the shepherds' town that gave its name to amatriciana, the pasta sauce: guanciale, cured pork cheek, pecorino, tomato, and neither garlic nor onion. At 3:36 on 24 August 2016 the earthquake destroyed almost the whole of the old town, and more than two hundred and thirty people died here. Ten years later, in summer 2026, corso Umberto I has been reopened, and the thirteenth century civic tower, left standing with its clock stopped at the time of the shock, has been restored, but much of the centre is still fenced off, a building site you can only enter wearing a hard hat. Life has moved outside: amatriciana is eaten at the Area Food, the eight wooden restaurants built in 2017 at San Cipriano. People come in summer for the cool air, for the festival at the end of August, for the lake of Campotosto, in Abruzzo, and for the waterfalls of the Laga, and they come knowing that this is a town that is rebuilding itself and that remembers. With a motorhome there is no municipal area with services: two free car parks in town and a farm campsite two and a half kilometres away, with water filling and emptying.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
Amatrice has no municipal area with a motorhome service point, and the Comune does not mention one. In town there are two free car parks without services; filling and emptying are done at the farm campsite at Retrosi. On the lake of Campotosto, in Abruzzo, the National Park indicates where motorhomes may stop, and bans parking elsewhere.
Parcheggio di piazza del Donatore, davanti al campo sportivo
piazza del Donatore, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
on the way out of town towards L'Aquila, in front of the sports ground, near the forestry police station. Next to the AVIS blood donors' monument there is a drinking fountain. After the earthquake part of the open space was taken over by containers, with a flower bed and a few potholes, and cars take up manoeuvring space: in October 2024 and June 2025 travellers found it full, in July 2025 they slept there undisturbed, with lighting. No known sign bans overnight stays. When it is full, people use the shopping centre car park, five minutes away on foot
Parcheggio di viale Padre Minozzi, vicino all'Area Food
viale Padre Minozzi, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
a level, lit open space next to the Area Food restaurants and the school, handy for dinner. The only description is from January 2021, without comments: check it on the spot. The corso is a kilometre and a half away
the Agricamper Amatrice, at Retrosi, a farm with a restaurant, along the road to the lake of Campotosto, two and a half kilometres from the centre and one from the sanctuary of the Icona Passatora. It is the only place in Amatrice with water filling and emptying. Travellers praise the owners and the dinner, home-made and good value; the electricity is weak, and will not run a coffee machine. In the morning the sheep go by. It is best to book
The operator does not publish a readable price list; people who stopped there paid 15 euros a night for two people in June 2022 and July 2023, and in August 2024 the hot shower was paid for with tokens, 1.50 euros · 328 756 0179 · agricamperamatrice.it
via del Lago, località Cardito, 67014 Capitignano (AQ)
at fourteen hundred metres, on the pass between the lake of Campotosto and the Val Cafasse, inside the National Park, in a large wood. Each pitch has its own socket, the toilets have hot showers and are accessible; there is a food point in a wooden hut, where you book to eat, and a playground. The Park lists it among the motorhome stopovers of the lake. The operator does not give the opening months: outside the summer, phone
The operator's price list, without the year: motorhome 9 euros a night, 10 from 1 July to 31 August; plus 8 euros per person, 9 in July and August; children from 1 to 6 years 4 and 6 euros; pets 3 and 4 euros; electricity 3 euros; hot water is free · 347 004 6838 · agricampingcardito.com
Amatrice has no railway. You arrive from the Salaria or from L'Aquila, and the corso and the Area Food are a kilometre and a half apart: you walk between them, or move the motorhome between the two car parks.
From Rome and from Rieti you come by the Salaria, the SS4 state road, by way of Antrodoco and Posta, as far as the Santa Giusta junction, where the SS260 Picente state road begins and enters Amatrice
From Ascoli Piceno you also come by the Salaria, westwards by way of Arquata del Tronto: on the stretch in the Marche ANAS has the building sites of the bypass, and before setting off check the traffic orders
From L'Aquila there are two roads: the SS260 Picente by way of Pizzoli, Montereale and Capitignano, rebuilt with new sections and tunnels; or the SS80 state road as far as the lake and then the SR577 regional road, which runs along the lake of Campotosto and arrives in Amatrice
The SR577 of the lake of Campotosto starts in Amatrice in front of the Area Food, passes through Retrosi and climbs towards Poggio Cancelli and Campotosto. It is not a road to avoid: in 2023, with the Picente closed, the Province of L'Aquila had indicated it as the diversion for heavy vehicles. The lake is at 1,313 metres, and in summer the road is open
Around the lake motorhomes stop only where the Park says: besides the Cardito farm campsite and the Ortolano stopover, at the southern end, there are some small two place areas, without an emptying point; outside the villages and these areas motorhome parking is banned. At Ferragosto, the mid August holiday, there are hundreds of motorhomes around the lake
The old town was closed for ten years: corso Umberto I was reopened in summer 2026, but the building site remains all around, and you do not enter the red zone. The motorhome stays outside, in the two car parks
Water is taken at the farm campsite at Retrosi, which also has the emptying point, or at the drinking fountain in piazza del Donatore
Seeing
Sights
The centre takes an hour to see, along the reopened corso and from the edges of the building site; then you go down to the Area Food to eat. Another half day goes to the Icona Passatora and the hamlets below the Laga, a whole day to the lake of Campotosto, and those who walk have the waterfalls. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Corso Umberto I and the reconstruction of the centre
Walk · free entry · 42.62912, 13.28919
corso Umberto I, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
the corso was the backbone of the town, straight between Porta Romana and Porta Carbonara, with the churches, the palazzi and the Hotel Roma, the trattoria where people ate amatriciana, and on 24 August 2016 it was destroyed. Cleared of rubble in November 2016 and then closed, it was reopened in the months before the tenth anniversary, in summer 2026. The Comune has chosen to rebuild it as it was, "a faithful copy" the mayor said, and in 2026 a special order governs the reconstruction of the old town as a whole, with the walls and the public spaces. Much of the centre remains fenced off, with buildings propped up and building sites, and the red zone cannot be visited. From the corso you look at the civic tower, San Francesco and Sant'Agostino. It is a short walk, to be taken slowly
the tower in the middle of the corso, the symbol of the town, left standing on 24 August 2016 with its clock stopped at 3:36; on 30 October 2016 its top collapsed. It has been consolidated and restored by the Superintendency for the earthquake, and in May 2024 the work was finished. For the tenth anniversary its bell rang one toll for each victim of Amatrice. You look at it from outside
corso Umberto I, accanto a Porta Carbonara, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
the fourteenth century church at the end of the corso, with its Gothic doorway. The 2016 earthquake damaged it badly, on 30 October another part of it collapsed, and on 18 January 2017 the bell tower fell. In August 2026 it was closed and surrounded by scaffolding, and the parish says mass in a container. You look at it from outside
with the convent next to it, it is the most important historic complex in the town, from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, between Romanesque and Gothic. The earthquake brought down its roofs. In 2024 more than six and a half million euros arrived, also through a bank's Art Bonus donation, to rebuild and restore it, and the end of the works is expected in June 2027. Today it is a building site, and you look at it from outside
Point of interest · free entry · 42.62346, 13.30500
piazza del Gusto, località Ponte a Tre Occhi, San Cipriano, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
eight wooden pavilions designed by Stefano Boeri, inaugurated on 29 July 2017 for the restaurant owners the earthquake had left without premises, with a view of the Laga, paid for with donations collected by a newspaper and a television channel, together with the Comune and the Lazio Region. The studio calls it "Piazza del Gusto", the Square of Taste. This is where amatriciana is eaten in Amatrice today. Which of the eight restaurants are still open in 2026, and with what hours, nobody writes: in summer book, above all in the evening and at weekends
the memorial to the victims of 24 August 2016, where every year the torchlight procession of the night ends and the names are read out. It is a place of reflection: you go there in silence, as in a cemetery
7
Sanctuary of the Icona Passatora
Church · 42.62200, 13.32773
località Icona Passatora, fra Ferrazza e Retrosi, 02012 Amatrice (RI)
a country church on a small plateau at 1,057 metres, at the foot of the Laga, built around 1480 around a wayside shrine with the Madonna. Inside it is entirely frescoed, between 1490 and 1543: according to Wikipedia the only certain painter is Dionisio Cappelli, who signed the apse in 1509, and the Annunciation of 1494 is by a painter of the school of Carlo Crivelli. A path, cleared by the CAI of Amatrice in 2017, links it to Capricchia. Whether it is open after the earthquake nobody writes: ask the Comune. It is a kilometre from the farm campsite at Retrosi
the sixty-nine ville of Amatrice are scattered between the basin and the woods of the Laga: the ones closest to the mountains are Ferrazza, Retrosi, Moletano and Capricchia, the last one before the paths, four kilometres from the centre. To the west are the lake of Scandarello and Configno, where a plaque tells the origin of spaghetti all'amatriciana. The hamlets were hit too, and in many of them rebuilding is going on: you pass through them by motorhome on the way to the lake or the paths
Point of interest · free entry · 42.55884, 13.36799
67013 Campotosto (AQ)
in Abruzzo, about ten kilometres away, the largest artificial lake in the region, about fourteen square kilometres at 1,313 metres, made between the 1930s and the 1940s with three dams for the Vomano power stations. On its shores are Campotosto, Mascioni and Poggio Cancelli, and around it a nature reserve inside the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The round of the lake is about forty kilometres, and in summer it is done by bicycle, on foot or on horseback, and on the water by windsurf and canoe. In Campotosto you buy mortadelline. You get there from Amatrice on the SR577 regional road; motorhomes stop only in the Park's areas
the Laga is made of sandstone and not limestone, and instead of disappearing underground the water comes down in waterfalls: the Barche, Selva Grande, the Volpara, the Morricana, the Cento Fonti, and on the Abruzzo side the valley of the Cento Cascate. The Barche waterfall is the closest to Amatrice and the easiest: a loop of almost four kilometres from Colle del Vento, above Capricchia, with 150 metres of height difference, an hour and a quarter of walking, on a path that needs a little balance. There is more water in spring and at the beginning of summer. Where to leave the motorhome at Colle del Vento nobody writes: the motorhome stays at Capricchia, and you go up on foot, or by car if you have one with you
the range that closes the Amatrice basin to the east, between Lazio, Abruzzo and the Marche, the highest sandstone ridge in the Apennines: Monte Gorzano, 2,458 metres, is the highest peak in Lazio, followed by Cima Lepri and the Pizzo di Sevo. There are beech woods, fir woods, wolves, red deer and golden eagles. Since 1991 it has been part of the Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park. The walking routes are on the Park's website; for the state of the paths after the earthquake ask the CAI of Amatrice
Amatrice has two dates that matter, both at the end of August: the 24th, when the town remembers the victims of the earthquake at night, and the last weekend of the month, when the festival of spaghetti all'amatriciana returns. The rest of the year the feasts are small and the Comune does not publish them: the dates come from the associations, at short notice.
Spaghetti all'amatriciana festival
the last weekend of August
the festival of the dish that bears the town's name, which has been going for more than fifty years: two or three days of spaghetti all'amatriciana with the traditional recipe, guanciale, pecorino, tomato and neither garlic nor onion, at lunch and dinner, and music in the evening. After the earthquake it stopped in 2016 and 2017, and it returned in 2018. These are the most crowded days of the year: those arriving by motorhome settle in before the Saturday
Commemoration of the earthquake of 24 August
the night between 23 and 24 August
the remembrance of the victims of the earthquake of 24 August 2016. During the night a torchlight procession crosses the town and reaches the memorial at 3:36, the time of the first shock, with the reading of the names; on the 24th, during the day, the mass. In 2026, the tenth anniversary, the mass at the sports ground was celebrated by Cardinal Zuppi. It is not a festival: those who happen to be in Amatrice on those days can join the torchlight procession, in silence
Remember
Useful tips
Amatrice is visited knowing that it is a town rebuilding itself: the corso is open, the rest of the centre is a building site and a red zone, and you do not go inside the fences. Questions about what can be seen are put to the Comune, on 0746 83081
Filling and emptying are not available in town: they are done at the Agricamper at Retrosi, which you phone first, on 328 756 0179, especially with a long motorhome
For the festival at the end of August arrive before the Saturday: the two car parks in town fill up, and the poster with the days comes out a few weeks before, on the Pro Loco's pages
At the lake of Campotosto motorhomes stop only in the Park's areas, and in the days of Ferragosto, when it is full, it is best to get there on a weekday before or after
For the waterfalls of the Laga set off in the morning, with walking shoes: wet sandstone is slippery
In the recipe the source is the Comune's page written before the earthquake, and it gives neither the quantity of salt, nor a precise measure of chilli, nor the cooking times. The photograph is a plate of spaghetti with guanciale and pecorino made in Rome, not in Amatrice
Amatrice · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
Amatrice is a shepherds' town: it was they who, with the transhumance, went down in winter to the Roman countryside and took the recipe to Rome, and the Comune insists that amatriciana is not a Roman dish. At first it was white, with guanciale and pecorino, that is the gricia, and the tomato arrived at the end of the eighteenth century. The ingredients are those of the town: guanciale di Amatrice and pecorino di Amatrice. Since 2020 the "Amatriciana tradizionale" sauce has been a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed, the third Italian one after mozzarella and Neapolitan pizza. Over the border, at Campotosto, they make mortadelline, small mortadellas and a Slow Food presidium: ovals of pork only with a strip of lard running through them, cured with salt, pepper and white wine. The other dish of the town is gnocchi ricci, made by hand with flour, eggs and water.
6 or 7 San Marzano tomatoes, or 400 g peeled tomatoes
a small piece of chilli
100 g grated pecorino di Amatrice
salt
Method
in a frying pan, preferably iron, put the oil, the chilli and the guanciale cut into small pieces, and brown it over a high heat
add the wine
take the pieces of guanciale out of the pan, drain them well and set them aside, if you can in a warm place, so that they stay soft and do not become dry and salty
add the tomatoes cut into strips and cleaned of their seeds, preferably blanched first to remove the skin, season with salt, stir and leave on the heat for a few minutes
remove the chilli, put the guanciale back and give the sauce another stir
meanwhile cook the pasta well al dente in plenty of salted water, drain it well and put it in a bowl with the grated pecorino
wait a few seconds, then pour on the sauce and toss; more pecorino is passed round separately for those who want it
the lake of Campotosto on a day in August, with the meadows of the shore in the foregroundPhoto: Rudy Massaro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the civic tower in September 2026, with the mountains that close the Amatrice basinPhoto: Maddy16869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0corso Umberto I in September 2026, with the civic tower and the fences of the building sitesPhoto: Maddy16869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0corso Umberto I in 2012, before the earthquake, with the civic tower at the endPhoto: Silvio sorcini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the civic tower in June 2017, left standing among the rubble, with its clock stopped at the time of the shockPhoto: Justinawind, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the civic tower seen from below, restored after the earthquake, in September 2026Photo: Maddy16869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the church of Sant'Agostino with its Gothic doorway and bell tower in 2012, before the earthquakePhoto: Silvio sorcini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0what remains of Sant'Agostino in 2021, wrapped in scaffolding, seen from above over the streetPhoto: Matteo Luxor, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the facade of Sant'Agostino inside the scaffolding of the building site in September 2023Photo: FabioTresoldi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the cloister of the convent of San Francesco in 2012, before the earthquakePhoto: Silvio sorcini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the wooden school of Amatrice in November 2016, built after the earthquakePhoto: Fo mr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the facade of the sanctuary of the Icona Passatora, between Ferrazza and Retrosi, in 2011Photo: Frandipa88, Wikimedia Commons, Public domainCornillo Vecchio, one of the ville of Amatrice, below the woods of the Laga in August 2011Photo: DavideGuerrini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the houses of Casali della Meta among the woods, in 2009Photo: carlux88, Wikimedia Commons, Public domaina flower-filled stairway in the hamlet of Nommisci, in September 2008Photo: Mario1952, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the shore of the lake of Campotosto in July 2021, with the mountains on the horizonPhoto: Paolomaria.innocenzi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the long bridge across the lake of Campotosto, in June 2020Photo: Marcy digi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the gravel and sand shore of the lake of Campotosto, with the mountains in the backgroundPhoto: Horcrux, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the lake of Campotosto seen from above, with Monte MascioniPhoto: Guido Castelli, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Monte Gorzano, the highest peak in Lazio, from the Amatrice sidePhoto: Mario1952, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the Pizzo di Sevo in the Monti della Laga, in September 2022Photo: Franco aq, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Macera della Morte, in the Monti della Laga, from the path that comes from the Pizzo di SevoPhoto: Franco aq, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Cento Fonti path along the stream, in the Monti della Laga, in June 2018Photo: Francesco Palermo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0one of the waterfalls of the valley of the Cento Cascate, on the Abruzzo side of the LagaPhoto: Marigli2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
