The invention discloses a method for synthesizing a-terpineol from limonene. The method comprises adding raw material oil containing limonene, water and an activated carbon-loaded ZnSO4/H3PO4 catalystinto a reaction bottle, carrying out stirring for a reaction and then carrying out reduced pressure distillation to obtain high purity a-terpineol. The method has a raw material oil limonene conversion rate of 99% and a-terpineol selectivity of 65% or more, greatly improves the utilization rate of the raw material oil, has simple processes, is easy to operate, is environmentally friendly and realizes a low production cost.