Molise for roots travel: 136 towns

Molise holds 285,940¹ residents in 136³ towns, having lost 14,576¹ people in six years, which averages about 2,100³ residents per town and explains why the village will be smaller than the family story.

The three numbers that reset expectations

Molise had 300,516¹ residents on January 1, 2020 and 285,940¹ on January 1, 2026: 14,576¹ people gone in six years, a fall of 4.9%.

They live in 136³ towns across two provinces, Campobasso and Isernia, at an average of about 2,100³ residents each. Only Valle d'Aosta is smaller by population, at 122,554², and Basilicata, the next region up, has 525,281².

Nothing about that is a reason not to come. It is a reason to arrive on a weekday morning, when the town hall counter is open and the bar is not the only thing running.

The region is younger than most of the emigration

Molise became a region under constitutional law 3 of December 27, 1963, splitting from the old Abruzzi e Molise and becoming the twentieth Italian region. The law took effect on January 19, 1964, promulgated by President Antonio Segni, amending articles 131⁴ and 57 of the constitution.

If your family left before then, they did not leave Molise. They left Abruzzo, on every document they carried, and archives from that period file the area accordingly.

That single fact solves a lot of failed searches.

456,284 nights a year, in the whole region

Molise recorded 456,284⁵ overnight stays in 2024, 0.10% of the Italian total, the lowest share of any region.

There is no tourism industry here to write the pages you would normally read before a trip, which cuts both ways: nothing is crowded and nothing is explained. Expect to phone ahead rather than to book online.

Getting there, and the capital that has no train

Isernia is the only city in Molise reached by direct trains from Rome: 5 regional services a day from Roma Termini, taking 2 hours 5 to 2 hours 19 minutes, at €14.05⁶ in 2026, departing 6:15 am, 9:07 am, 1:07 pm, 2:35 pm and 8:07 pm on the line through Cassino and Vairano Caianello.

Campobasso, which is the regional capital, has no direct train from Rome. Base yourself in Isernia if you are not driving, and treat any onward leg as a bus or a taxi.

This site does not deal with citizenship requirements at any point, here included. The law is in flux, the consulate for your area of residence is the address for that question, and this page exists to get you to the town.

See also Molise and ten days in Abruzzo and Molise.

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