Italy

Italy has something for everyone. And if you're looking for a place to live or buy a holiday home then you are almost spoiled for choice. From stunning countryside and glorious beaches to hilltop villages, snow-capped mountains and medieval cities, Italy has it all here - a colourful and vibrant tapestry waiting for you to explore.

Many people ask us which are the best places in Italy to visit, the best Italian cities and so on. The answer is that it depends what you are looking for! If time is limited, then there is always the dilemma: should you visit the famous places just because they are famous and you can say you have been there or should you perhaps go a bit off the beaten track and try something less well-known? And whichever you go for, is it better to spend 'quality' time in a place and get to know it a little bit, or try to see as much as possible? There's a wealth of stuff on the internet to help you do your research, but in the meantime here's a quick tour of our 'top ten'. 1) Rome – one of the most famous cities in the world and Italy’s capital. 2) Venice – known as La Serenissima, the serene one, this is the most-visited city in Italy. 3) Florence –a medieval jewel and ideal base for exploring Tuscany . 4) Lecce – the Florence of the South. 5) Lucca –a beautiful walled city in Tuscany. 6) Bologna in Emilia Romagna. 7) Siena – back to Tuscany again we couldn’t miss out the location of our office! 8) In the north, Milan is Italy’s business capital and wealth creator. 9) Naples – Italy’s wild child. 10) Genoa – a lovely Ligurian port. Top tens shouldn’t have a number 11 should they, but we must include Perugia in Umbria, in fact the whole of Umbria is fabulous.

There are many ways to classify the best places to live in Italy, however there is an objective source. Every year the Italian Legambiente - a non political ecological organisation, lists its top 103 cities based on 'liveability" in a report called the Ecosistema Urbano. Here are the Top Twenty from the Ecosistema Urbano 2007 released in October 2006: 1) Bolsano, 2) Mantua, 3) La Spezia, 4) Parma, 5) Trento, 6) Pisa, 7) Ferrara, 8) Verbania, 9) Livorno, 10) Cremona, 11) Udine, 12), Lecco, 13) Belluno, 14) Perugia, 15) Terni, 16) Brescia, 17) Ravenna, 18) Venice, 19) Bologna, 20) Siena.

Remember this is an Italian list based on a number of factors including pollution and quality of life, and only includes cities. You could have an endless argument among foreigners about which place they feel is the best to live in Italy!

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