Arezzo

Try
www.HousinginFlorence.com

Studios are from 500 Euro a month. The contact us is down, but click on request for the apartment you like and you can make contact that way.

The website is for students but also serves travelers and tourists. The manager works with Agencies and private persons to offer apartments to seekers like us.

Over 90 days requires a special visa if you aren't a EU citizen, I presume you are aware of those rules,
Arezzo is a nice little city. I go there all the time, including tomorrow. Whether is good or not as a base depends on your plans of what you want to visit.

You'll find (not surprisingly) that Arezzo has only a small fraction of the number of tourists that Florence gets. I agree with Roberto that it certainly has its charms. I recently spent a couple of days there being shown around by a former Italian instructor of mine.

If you've seen Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella), it was filmed in Arezzo. It looked great to me in the movie, but I realize that's the movies, not real life {g}.

Assuming you can stay in Schengen Europe, Arezzo is a very nice town, close to lots of others by train or bus. Some of the considerable savings might be spent on a vacation of a few days in Firenze? Or begin your stay in Firenze and then move to Arezzo?

I do have citizenship so the length of stay is not a problem. I went once to Arezzo in March just for lunch but didn't really explore further than that short visit. It is close enough to Florence for when I want a dose of more touristy stuff. I am hoping to spend more time immersed in a normal Italian lifestyle which might be better in Arezzo.....but since I don't speak Italian (just enough to get by at a market/hotel/restaurant) maybe Florence is the place to be....it is crowded and expensive!

And yes Zoe! my thoughts exactly...if I would have as much train access to other areas of Italy like I would from Florence, I would save a ton of money to be able to explore more places and also get back to Sicily as well for a visit!

Have you considered taking some language classes in Arezzo? It would be the perfect place to start learning.

I am near Arezzo now and went to Anghiari for lunch. Have non Italian speaking relatives with me and language has not been an issue for anybody even when I was not around to be the interpreter. Most people speak some level of English. There are very few Americans here but there is a plethora of Northern Europeans (Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Britons) and they all communicate in English with locals because I don't know many Aretini who speak German and none who speak Flemish. I discovered today that 9% of the residents in Anghiari (pop. 6,000) is foreign immigrants. The largest contingent is from Romania, the 3rd largest is from the UK. I heard British English spoken all around me all day today. You'll survive.

Thanks Michael...I would love to take a class...I have done that here but never felt like I learned any more than I already knew. Mostly heard travel stories from the instructor. Actually being immersed I think would help tremendously!

Roberto you have helped me make a decision to think more and more about Arezzo! I mistakenly put I hadn't visited in original post because I totally forgot I was there for lunch one day....I wish I had explored the town more but I can look forward to a long holiday there to really get to know Arezzo like I have gotten to know Florence. I will continue to check out apartment sites for possibilities there!