Hi Everyone,I'm new to this so could you please bear with me?
My husband and I are hoping to move to Italy for 6 months of the year from the U.K but not sure where to start,As we are now the wrong side of 50 we need to get away from the cold English winters.
We would be looking at renting in Italy and do not need to work there.
Could anyone please help me understand how to go about moving there for the winter, the best and most affordable places to live. Do we need visas etc; And what the properties are like? We do not speak Italian
Thank you for reading this and look forward to your replies

Hi Petan,

welcome to the forum. The further south you go, the milder the weather in winter e.g. today it went up here to 18°C with blue skies and just a few clouds. It is very rare that temperatures go below zero here (otherwise we wouldn't have so many olive trees). There are quite a few English down here in the Salento - unfortunately also the wrong side of 50 You don't need a visa if you are a British national. Browse the Italy part of this forum as it is a mine of information. Also have direct flights from Brindisi and Bari airports directly to Stansted. There is a quite a large community of Brits in the Valle d'Itria (between Brindisi and Bari) but it is definitely colder there than here. It is no problem to find renting accomodation here because there are lots of holiday/second homes available.

Hi Petan,

yes the above is about right, even though I believe the Ligurian coast which is basically the extension of the French Riviera is also very mild even in the winter and many retired Italians "the wrong side of 50 or 60" go there for the colder months.

...although I must add that there is much more to living in Italy then just getting more sunshine... both good and bad.

Thank you both for the information, Yes MarkRD I understand that not everything will be plain sailing, we plan to go for a holiday to get an idea of what we want and where.
Pugliese, Thank you for your welcome I have been on the Italy part of the forum as you suggest and have found alot of information thank you,
Thank you Both again
Be happy

Hi Petan,

Although our winters are short, they can be very harsh, I live in Piemonte in the North and we have had about 1/2 metre of snow and the temperature has been as low as minus 18.

As pugliese said the further south you go the milder the weather. My Father in Law lives near Ragusa in Sicily "on the top of a hill" and it gets cold at night in the winter.

The other thing to bear in mind is it can be expensive keeping an Italian house warm in the winter. We have had gas bills of 300 euros a month this year even though we shut down the radiators in the spare bedrooms and have the radiator in the kitchen on low. It doesn't help that there are no carpets only rugs on the tiled floors.

I don't know about the Visa, it depends where you are travelling from. Are you outside Europe??

It was nice and sunny today, this is a taster of Salento,

http://youtu.be/ZPptWwmUMz4

its very retro

one of my fave places (and cheapest imo) is Santa Maria/Policastro close to Sapri and a lovely place called Scario food is cheap and so is accommodation.

Many thanks for this very helpful information,I am currently in the UK, so as you can imagine our summers/winters are variable. Due to a chronic pain disorder I need natural warmth/sunshine. So any information on any Country/Continent would be most helpful,
Thank you,Take care, Be happy

Ciao Petan,
have to say that if it is warmth/sunshine you are looking for; then really you should be looking at Costa del Sol or Canaries rather than Italy.
Take a look at a map of Europe, and you will soon realise that even Southern Sicily is as far east as Berlin. This means that Italy is very close to the cold (really cold)winter weather that comes out of Russia and the Balkans. Average winter temperatures in Ragusa or Palermo are several degrees lower than say Malaga. The same goes for Salento, or Amalfi coast of course. The 'Italian Riviera' like the Cote d'Azur are actually rubbish in winter.
ciao for now,
'o nonno

We have an old saying in Salento "its as cold as a witches tit" that describe the weather perfectly this morning, I just took a turn around the garden and seem to have frost bite, don't come here for sun, not now anyway

We had hailstones at 8 this morning, and we are just up the road from you.

Sunshine all weekend.

I spent the weekend creating a large vegetable patch and now ache.. The old lady (86) who lives next door gave me directions and at one point picked up the pick and started hacking away at the ground.

I have found the women where I live unbelievably strong and tough, I gave a table to an old lady and she picked up her end and walked off no problem,yesterday one of the women near me bought some compost and I offered to lift it, she picked it up like it was nothing, I just wish the wind would drop its like living in a wind tunnel, its always breezy but this year is ridiculous, I have new roses in tubs that I keep carrying to a place out of the wind, where is spring?

In September the old lady started clearing her house out. She gave us vases and other nick nacks. She said she was going to die this winter and would we please take care of her 2 dogs and hens when she dies.

She has weathered this winter and is probably fitter than me. I was astounded at the way she swung the pick. She is up at 6.30 to see to her hens and digs her vegetable patch until 11.00 when she lies down for a few hours. Then she is back out digging in the afternoon.

She gives most of the vegetable and eggs away to friends. Yesterday she said "the hens are her company and the digging is to pass the time. It is her passion" and obviously what has kept her fit.

http://youtu.be/1YSbIr8KG70

Its suddenly spring after weeks of cold winds(gales) things are growing fast