Where would you base for 3-4 months in Italy?
 

We are in the early stages of planning to spend 3-4 months in Italy. We are on, let’s say a sabbatical from our jobs from April 'till Christmas. We have travelled fairly extensively to a lot of the must see places around the world, but want to stay put somewhere and do day trips and/or overnight trips. We both love being near the water, wether that be a lake or an ocean. We love great local produce & wine . (we are both 47)

We would like to rent a place, unit/flat/apartment/house with at least 2 bedrooms, as we will be expecting lots of family & friends to 'drop' in for a week or two at time. Cost is obviously a determining factor, but so is a certain level of comfort. We would also need to rent/lease a car.

I guess ultimately a private rental would be ideal, but no idea where to start. I know this is technically a 'holiday' forum, and as such I have planned many a trip. But really this is just a 'longer' holiday.

Your thoughts, advice & recommendation as always will be gratefully accepted.
We are thinking that maybe from around June.

(If anyone is asking why Italy.....we tossed up between Italy, France & Spain. Italy won out for us as it seemed like a great location to base for trips to other places. We have been to Rome, but that’s as far as our Italian trips have taken us. I must say Italian food is high on our list too)

Just one quick comment right now - have you applied for schengen long term visas yet?

W/o a visa you will be limited to a total of 90 days.

First of all, if you're Australian citizens, you're not allowed to stay longer than 90 days.

If you're thinking June through August of this year, you better nail your accommodations down soon. I'd suggest a month each in three places rather than three months in one place, but even so many places will already be booked for at least part of each month.

If budget is of some concern, choose less obvious places: the Cilento rather than the Amalfi Coast, the Maremma rather than the Cinque Terre, etc.

If you don't need the (relative) security and assurance of renting through an agency, look at some of the owner listings at VRBO, Homelidays, Holiday Rentals, etc. Or Expedia's newest venture, Flipkey, which lists both agency and private properties.

If I had 90 days in Italy, assiedreamer, I would chose April, May and June or September, October, November. I would skip July and August unless I could be up in the Dolimiti area. July and August get so very hot and humid plus there are so many people visiting Italy. I agree with Zerlina, with 90 days I would stay in three different areas also.

Not knowing what your interest are but in that you enjoy being by the water you might want to check out some areas along the Adriatic, the east coast of Italy, for one month.
And one month in Northern Italy, and the third month in perhaps Southern Italy, further inland where prices would be a lot less expensive.

We are taking your suggestions on board. Now looking at apartments for 'say' 4 weeks at a stretch. So far we have found a couple in the Lake Como area that seem reasonable. We then may even drive to France for 4 weeks or similar. As I said we are just in the planning phase. Your suggestion that june/july will be hot and busy is also being taken on board.... may leave it 'till late July/august.

I will need to investigate further the special visas required. As we have no intention of working etc. I can't see there being any problems.

Thanks again.,

Late July/August is, if anything, worse than June/July. August is when all of Italy goes on vacation and rents are highest on the sea and the lakes and in the mountains.

You can probably obtain the visas, but don't underestimate the bureaucracy involved.

"<i>As we have no intention of working etc. I can't see there being any problems.</i>"

Don't assume anything. It is much more than a formality. And it isn't just work they are worried about. There is absolutely no guarantee you would get a visa.

"<i>Your suggestion that june/july will be hot and busy is also being taken on board.... may leave it 'till late July/august</i>"

late July/August would be much worse heat/humidity-wise and things would definitely be more crowded.

IMO June is MUCH better than August . . . .

April-May-June or Sept.-Oct- Nov. is my recommendation. Start in the South in April and move north as it warms up. Or V-V.

P.S. I am SO jealous!

hi aussie,

you have already cut each stage of you stay down to 4 weeks. do you wan tto stay put in those four week periods, or use the place you are in as a base for some other travels?

this makes a difference - if you wanted to use te htrains to explore other places, then being in a twon/city with good communicvations woudlbe important; if you are content just to pootle around the immediate area in a car, then you could go for more remote areas.

do you want nature? beach? culture? art? - a combination thereof? there are some wonderful national parks in Italy which are relatively under-visited, or the areas of puglia and le marche which although not deserted, are visited by far fewer tourists than the normal hot-spots.

it's a nice dilemma to have!

We spent nine weeks in Venice a year ago, from early December 2008 through to early February 2009. It worked well for us, writing, photography, doing watercolours, living like locals (well, sort of), shopping, all the usual stuff. We barely left Venice in that time; except for a four day trip to Rome.

We’re heading back there for seven weeks in November this year. The apartment is booked, and we’re watching with considerable glee as the Australian dollar improves against the Euro.

I wrote something of a trip report during our time there – well, not really a trip report, more of a novelette. It’s here: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...st-verbose.cfm

A link to the apartment is here: http://realvenicevacationflats.com/

The idea of three rentals, each of a month, is good, and it allows for variety. You’ll be the envy of many people who “do” Italy in a two week vacation.

Search Fodors for “Franco’s favourite Venetian accom”, or just for Franco, and you’ll find a thread that shows many Venetian places to stay, ditto for Rome.

You might be able to get around the visa thing by taking a trip to a country that is outside the Schengen area - maybe Croatia, but I'm not sure about this. Other posters will likely advise on this.

"<i>You might be able to get around the visa thing by taking a trip to a country that is outside the Schengen area . . . . but I'm not sure about this.</i>"

That would work IF you don't return into any Schengen country. The limit is 90 days total w/i any 180 day period. So the clock doesn't re-set if you leave Schengen - well it does, but not until the full 180 days has passed.

you guys are great. One of the reason for cutting down to approx 4 weeks stays is so that if we want to go somewhere else we aren't paying for two lots of accommodation. So rural is fine as we will have a car and I presume by avoiding city's the cost should be better. I guess we are hoping for not much more than $400aud (which is at about 92cents usd at the moment) a week.

DH doesn't 'retire' until the last working day of April, so May would be too soon, June too hot etc etc. we do live in a tropical climate but crowds would annoy me a bit I guess.

It is a lovely dilema to have, but still one to work through.

$400 AUD is less than 250 Euro. About the only place you *might* find at that price will be a campground, most of which have small bungalows for rent that do not require camping equipment.

One in Tuscany that I just looked at charges 330 Euro in June and 610 Euro in August...

we've actually found a couple for around that. so I guess we'd better get busy and book.

I'd make sure I get my visa all taken care of before booking any accommodations, if the plan is to stay for >90 days/180 day period.

aussiedreamer, June isn't really that bad for heat: it's July and August that are too hot. That's not to say there won't be any hot days in June, but I would not rule it out.

I would spend my time somewhere in Umbria - centralized - not as crowded with tourists as Tuscany - easily accessible by train yet just out of the way enough to get a real feel of Italy and be around the locals.

In your case, a car lease from Renault or Peugeot for the 90 days would make sense.