Longer term rentals in Europe

Hello jackieb.sweat, and welcome to the Forum!

Your trip sounds great, I do feel compelled to mention that if you're not from the EU you're probably limited to 90 time in the Schengen region which includes travel days so if that applies be sure you count carefully. Also make sure your passport is good for quite a time after - 3 months is usually the recommended amount of time.

I just went through this looking for a place for a month and it seems like AirBnB has swallowed the general longer term rental market - at least where I was looking in northern Italy. The websites with advertised monthly rentals either seemed kind of shady (padding their listings with places they didn't seem to represent) or no longer offering those rentals but happy to help my with buying a place and things like that. Some places offer steep discounts for month long stays but I was really hoping to do something more local like you are talking about.

If you are looking at longer than 30 days your experience may also be different. You may be able to get real estate firms interested if you're thinking longer than a month. Rentals longer than 30 have different requirements and come with more rights in Italy - here is an overview: https://luccanews.org/2022/03/31/unlocking-the-puzzle-of-renting-in-lucca/
In Italy there can also be reporting requirements to local police for stays longer than 30 days so be sure you're aware of the requirements.

I would outline what your wants and goals and then go from there. What do you want your everyday life to look like and what do you want to do on your "days out"?
Weather? Train service and/or airport proximity? Big city, small town or a tiny village? Smaller town near a larger city? Flat, mountains, ocean, lake? Hiking, biking, walking, shopping, spritzing? Arts, theatre and museums? How much tourism versus just everyday life?

Keep in mind small villages are a super romantic idea but come with limited transportation, limited rental options, shopping and access to services issues. There are some realistic requirements like healthcare, prescriptions, and everyday necessities that more difficult in any small town anywhere in the world.

You'll need to narrow it down especially with two countries in play. If you want an everyday town in Italy with proximity to large city there's Lucca (flat, small old town with ancient architecture), Arezzo (hilltown with a mix of modern and ancient), Pistoia or Prato, Siena (great hilltown but very touristy) and this is a short list just around Florence.

Hope that helps some, I've wrestled with some of the same issues and this is what I came up with.

Have a great stay,
=Tod

Hi Jackie,
Tod gives good general advice.
I would add:
You need to decide time of year. To keep prices down avoid from June until mid September.
Look at a small town with good transport connections for the reasons mentioned above rather than small village.
All hosts have to report all guests to the police in Italy even for one night.
A three month stay requires a different contract which has to be registered by the host.
Possible websites for longer stays are still Airbnb (contacting host directly - some may be happy to make a significant discount for a longer stay out of season, but at least you've got the reviews - Booking.com the same. Or Italians use subito.it or idealista
Tell me some of the places you loved visiting in the past and I'll give you some suggestions for Italy.

Hi Jackie,

We also prefer long stays. We have used Airbnb in London and Provence. Most recently, we used Genteel Homes in Sevilla. They were fantastic and lots of apartments in several cities.

We like regular towns. We loved Sevilla but there was so much to see there that we found ourselves doing a lot of sightseeing. We spent a few days in Granada and that felt like it would be a fantastic place to settle in and live.

Italy is next on our list for a long stay. Tod had some good ideas! We have been to Lucca and I agree with Tod that it would be a wonderful place to settle into with proximity to Pisa, Florence, Tuscany, the beach.

Another intriguing part of Italy is Emilio Romagna and Veneto. I don’t know the towns there but people on this forum can help with Modena, Parma, Verona, Padua, etc.

Have you considered your daily activity for 88 days in a "village"?

Maybe a village a short train or bus ride from one or two major cities? Or mabe a suburb of a city?

"hiredman" posted great suggestions. I would also advise looking at which larger city you want to be close to then look at the smaller towns/villages nearby. I have used Airbnb and had mostly good success. I previously loved staying in Florence for access to good transportation for day trips; however, as Florence is now out of my budget range I have stayed in the 'burbs instead. On a map you can see high speed rail lines and towns accessible as well as regional tracks for slower train to smaller towns. I also stay for long periods of time and you do get discounted rates based on length of stay. I have learned to embrace the small town vibe and still able to pop over to Florence to visit friends and visit favorite museum or restaurant etc. then go back to the less hectic small town! of course, time of visit will greatly impact availability and rate. Enjoy your trip!