Wonderful livable towns and cities in Italy

[REBECCA]

I would love to find an inviting place to live for a year or two in Italy. Hoping to identify somewhere that is lively with social and cultural opprtunities. I speak some italian and would be coming by myself.

[CHIP_774 0]

HI Rebecca, that is a great quesstion. The exciting thing is that you have so many choices, the difficulty is exactly the same. I would suggest the following.

1. Norrow your choices by two things: 1. climate and 2, expat communities.
2. Do some reasearch into each and locate areas you think you might want to `stay in.
3. When you say 2 years or a year or two, you will need a VISA.... your passport will allow you 90 days to visit 2 to 4 places you might like move to, and to help you make a decision.
4. You will need a visa for that kind of stay.... I would suggest you speak with Grazia Colombo about the VISA Process. I dont know where you live but the consulate responsible for the state or county you live in will determine the time it takes to get the Visa based on their wait list for the interview you must do to get the VISA... here is Grazia's email address: mgrazia.colombo@leexe.it, She is a attorney and can help with both RE and with your VISA. She will charge you but will also help you make some critical decisions that will make your Italian travel desires much more doable.
5. If you stay longer than 183 days in a year, you will be responsible for italian taxes. Once you speak with Grazia, she speaks excelllent English, you may want to consider alternatives to "staying one or two years." Six months at a time will avoid the taxes, but not the VISA.
6. I would suggest an expat community, depending on your climactic desires. Bari and Puglia will be warmer an smaller. Florence will be coooler and much more touristy and very busy and hot in the summer. Rome with tourists is better approached from outside the city in my opinion. I could go on and on, but let's be practical and take this one step at a time. Please let us know how you are proceeding!
   My best, and good luck.
   Chip Stites, Italian Correspondant, International Living Magazine.

[DOHAKC]

I'm also interested in a lively expat community for someone like me -- retired lawyer, single, and of a certain age. A welcoming communiity is much more important to me than climate. Any suggestions?

[CHIP_774 0]

Hi, I would suggest you decide where you want to live by doing some research first. www.internations.org is a large expat organization that charges a small fee, is very active and is in many cities. Then you can just Google "Expats in Florence and follow up on your leads. I would suggest you decide where want to lve as most larger cities, will have an expat community and the flavor of the city from one to another is generally very different. For instance, Rome, Florence, Naples and Milan have very differnce characters. The food is different the cost of living is different and the activities are different. Maybe a discovery tour would help but doing your research beforehand can save you alot of time. If you were to Google Expats in Florence, you have a wide range of answers. Good luck on your search. Chip Stites, IL Italy Correspondent.