Ways to Get There · Italy

Why we score on rent

And nothing else.

The shape of it is this: almost everything in Italy costs less than it does at home. Food, transport, a doctor’s visit, daily life — most of it lands softer than you’d expect, and it lands about the same whether you’re in a big city or a small town.

That’s exactly why we don’t score “cost of living.” Roll everything together and every city looks alike, because on the everyday things, they nearly are. Healthcare is national. Groceries barely move. The small stuff is small everywhere.

One thing changes dramatically from place to place: rent. A comfortable one-bedroom that runs €1,200 in central Florence is €850 in Trieste, and less again in the south. Over a season that gap is the whole difference between easy and a stretch. Get the rent right and you’ve got your budget — the rest is noise around a number that was already decided.

And it gets better.

In most real cities you won’t keep a car — you can’t drive into the middle of Florence, and Venice has no roads — so one of your biggest expenses at home simply disappears.

The one exception: settle somewhere remote and keep a car, and fuel will cost more than you’re used to. That’s the only line that goes up.

So pick your rent realistically. That’s the number that decides everything — and we’ll show you every place it fits.