From the imposing Alps to the magnificent Mediterranean coast, “bella Italia” has it all, and we bring you the best places to retire in Italy. This land of art, fashion, and history is seen by many as the cradle of European culture and the place from which Christianity began its conquest into the heart of the western world. Nowadays Italy is a touristic paradise, hosting approximately forty-eight million visitors per year – a truly breathtaking number. People from all over the globe swarm Italian cities, mountains, and beaches alike, enjoying the beautiful landscapes, indulging themselves in world-renowned Mediterranean cuisine, and hoping to uncover one of the countless stories hidden in the many ancient buildings and narrow winding streets, waiting to be told.
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Yet there is still so much more to Italy than this. Beyond the crowded streets of Milan, the sublime canals of Venice, and the Colosseum of Rome, the birthplace of Renaissance is one of the top destinations for European retirees. If you would like to retire in Europe, but are not too fond of the Mediterranean climate, you can instead check our list of the Best places to retire in Great Britain.
In this article, however, we have taken it upon ourselves to discover what makes Italy so special, and to highlight some of the most appealing destinations for retirees. We’ve wanted to include the most important aspects for people who are looking a perfect destination to spend their golden years, meaning we had to focus on finding data about the costs of living, quality of healthcare, crime rates, and last, but not the least – real estate prices. We have decided to pick 10 best regions to retire in Italy, because when picking regions people have much more options to consider, and to find a perfect place in one of those regions for themselves. If you didn’t know, there are 21 regions in Italy. So, how did we come up with the best?
Well, since information about the above-mentioned factors for every region can’t be found, we’ve decided to try to calculate them for each region separately. Hence, we took as many cities as possible for every region, found the data we needed using Numbeo, Italia, and International Living, among others. Then, we calculated the average index of those cities (in every region separately) combined, and that’s how we come up with the data for every region. Although one may say that this is not the most precise methodology, they should be aware of the fact that a large number of cities was included in order to get the definite ranking of each region. Anyway, feel free to dis(agree) with our list of best places to retire in Italy in the comments below. We would appreciate any kind of suggestion for improving our methodology.
To begin with, Italy offers excellent healthcare, taking up second place on the list of European countries with the best healthcare system. While this may vary from place to place, the national healthcare index of Italy is 66.5. The crime rate is lower than in most countries of western Europe, with the total index of 44.9. The real-estate prices average at $257/sqft, whereas the average monthly food bill for one person is $278. While calculating the final index we have given bonus points to each region for exceeding the national average in any of the above-mentioned categories, at the same time taking away points for failing to meet those standards. And now without further ado, go on and check out our ten best places to retire in Italy.
