Abruzzo? La Marche? October by train from Rome

In the Marche region there’s the province Pesaro and Urbino with a commune named Urbino that is serviced by train: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Urbino. I don't know if expats live there.

Actually, you can train to Pesaro but then must take the bus to Urbino. Easy and absolutely worth it! Urbino was the place my husband and I went for two weeks on our very first trip to Europe in 1999. We returned there a couple of times after. Love it!

I've not been to Abruzzo but check out the blog at MichelleDamiano.com. The way she talks about Sulmona makes me want to go there immediately.

Actually, you can train to Pesaro but then must take the bus to Urbino.

I see that now. The journey involves two transfers with a second connection on the URB28 bus that takes another hour. You’ll spend most of the day getting there.

The coast of Marche has a train line you can zip along, but in the interior, it is going to be much slower and involve bus travel.
Some say the interior is the superior destination, but along the coast you have Senigallia, a true gem. I had an airbnb there that was fantastic: "Amazing new Loft in the city center."
Bradt and Blue Guide cover the area well--you'll need to identify a zone in which you have the most interest and can use public transport.

Somewhere on the coast in Le Marche might suit you, easy to travel by train along the coast, more complictaed, but worth it, to visit places inland like Urbino
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2019/09/day-1-arrival-in-urbino.html
But also Jesi, Osimo, Loreto, lots of hillside villages. The area around the Conero is also nice - Numana, Sirolo. I don't think you'll find a particularly high concentration of expats, maybe some one else knows more on that.

Thank you all.

We have stayed at Hotel Villa San Pio our last two times. It is in Aventino, right next to Testacchio, walkable for dinner at night. They are part of the Aventino group who have a few hotels there. It is lovely and quiet.

Aventino is supposed to be great. I’d love to stay in an apartment there!

If you don’t have a car, you are limited in your ability to move around. If you like trains you need to be along the coast of those two regions. Also in October you probably need to be in a larger town, as small resort towns will be kind of dead. Ancona, Pesaro, Senigallia, San Benedetto del Tronto are good choices. In Abruzzo frankly I would have a car unless you want to be in Pescara which has connections to many towns by bus.

As far as expats are concerned, I don’t know why you would want to travel to Marche or Abruzzo to meet other Americans. In my experience the best place to meet lots of Americans is to stay in the United States. There are a lot of Americans in the US. In Italy Florence and Rome have lots of Americans living and studying (and of course visiting), but you will find virtually zero in the Marche or Abruzzo, and even less in Molise, the region that doesn’t exist..

PS: Testaccio is spelled without “h”, otherwise it would be pronounced “Testakkio”.

For La Marche the book "The Marche" by the Touring Club of Italy is a comprehensive guide to the region. It's more than 15 years old now but the towns don't change that much ;-) We found it helpful planning our trip a few years ago.

Sulmona has a train station and it's an easy trip from Rome. However, once there, Roberto is right that you'd be better off with a car to move around Abruzzo. Ortona is another pretty medium-sized town. It has a train station, but it's at the bottom of the hill that the town sits on so it's a hike up and down to use it daily. There's an easy coach but to and from Rome that stops in Ortona's city centre. Abruzzo's public transit has extensive bus routes but limited schedules - usually tied to school and work hours. Doing without a car is an unnecessary challenge as the roads are extensive, well-maintained and lighter traffic than most other places in Italy (exception: Pescara/Francavilla area) Pescara does have a train station on the fast train line up and down the coast, with trains from Bari to Milan passing through hourly. It's a pleasant but not historic city (flattened during the war.)

Obviously I love Abruzzo but would not do it without a car.