I am planning to spend a year in Europe and would like to rent a house/apartment in a lovely location that would also be convenient for traveling to other areas. The places I would like to travel to include Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, and Croatia. I am thinking that an apartment in Aix en Provence might be a good candidate. I would probably travel by train and/or rental car. I'd love to hear of any suggestions or other experiences. Thanks

Not sure of your nationality - but for Americans tourist visas are limited to 180 days - and other types of visas are quite difficult to get.

If you would be moving around - and spending much time outside of Schengen countries that might work - but then you couldn't rent a place for a whole year.

Suggest you check with the State Department - or your equivalent - to find out what rules would apply to your situation.

Thanks for the comment regarding visa length. I was planning on getting a long-term visa. It doesn't look that difficult as long as I can prove financial capacity. If not successful with the visa, I think I would just make sure I left the EU or go home to the US during the year or so. That would work, wouldn't it?

All other things being equal, I'd think you'd want to be closer to the geographical center of the places you wish to visit - a 'hub'.

Lyon, Geneva and Milan (or their environs) come to mind...

Since your main goal seems to be covering a lot of ground and seeing quite a few places, does it really make sense to rent one place in one location for a year? It seems you will be more limited on your trips, or else you'll end up spending so much time and money doubling up on your accomodations when you do your trips from one base. For example are you saying you want to tour Spain from a base in Aix en Provence? Have you considered several rentals of a month or two or three each in several different places? That would be my option.