Moving to Italy
Where to live in Italy
We moved to Italy from Hungary in 2022, spent three years in Pietrasanta, and have lived in Turin since October 2026. This is how we would choose a town now. Pick one of 5,000 to 20,000 people: a real town, still one community. Keep a city of 50,000 or a provincial capital 30 to 60 minutes away, close for the services and far enough to keep its own life. A smaller village works only with a town of 5,000 within 15 minutes. Add a station if you can.
The reasoning is in the letter, in six parts: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns. And all of it in one letter: Where to live in Italy as an expat.
What we check on every town page
- Size. How many people live there, against our 5,000 to 20,000.
- The nearest city. The drive to it, against our 30 to 60 minutes.
- Hospital. The nearest one, and how far.
- Fibre. The share of homes full fibre reaches.
- Train. Whether the town has its own station.
- Earthquake zone. The national hazard zone, 1 to 4.
- Price per square meter. What homes sell and rent for, from the tax agency’s figures.
- 7% pensioner tax. Whether the town is in a qualifying area, for someone with a foreign pension. Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
Find a town
Start from one rule and narrow it from there, by region, by landscape or by anything else we hold.
- Passes every rule292 towns
- 5,000 to 20,000 people319 towns
- A city 30 to 60 minutes away535 towns
- A hospital within 30 km977 towns
- Full fibre to most homes827 towns
- Its own station351 towns
- Lower earthquake zones (3 and 4)471 towns
- 7% pensioner tax may apply399 towns
From our hundred, towns that pass every rule
Cherasco
Province: Cuneo · 288 m
A walled grid-plan town on the river terrace where the Stura di Demonte meets the Tanaro, on the western edge of the Langhe.
San Benedetto Po
Province: Mantova · 19 m
A former river island whose entire existence traces back to the Benedictine abbey founded on it in 1007.
Soncino
Province: Cremona · 88 m
A walled borgo on the Oglio, held by a brick Sforza fortress and a printing house that once worked in Hebrew.
Kastelruth
Province: Bolzano · 1,060 m
South Tyrolean village on a shelf below the Sciliar, eighty-two-metre bell tower over the square, home of the Kastelruther Spatzen.
Asolo
Province: Treviso · 205 m
A walled hill town at 205 meters that Caterina Cornaro ran as her court after trading Cyprus to Venice in 1489.
Valdobbiadene
Province: Treviso · 253 m
The Prosecco Superiore capital at 253 meters in the Treviso Prealps, where Glera grown on Cartizze's 108 hectares produces Prosecco's top cru.
For people moving to Italy
The moving year
We moved to Italy from Hungary in 2022, spent three years in Pietrasanta, and have lived in Turin since October 2026. For one year, we help you choose your town.
- Everything in Travel
- One 60-minute call on where to move
- A written review of up to 5 towns on your shortlist
- 3 follow-up questions over the 12 months
You pay on Substack. We email you within 24 hours with an intake form and a link to book the call.
from €250 a year
Get the moving yearSubstack asks for your email, then shows the plans: pick Consigliere. It bills yearly. After the first year it renews for access to everything members get, not a second call and review.
This is the Move tier. All three tiers are on the membership page.
Not ready for that?
The letter is free, and it goes to the towns we would look at ourselves.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter