Suggestions for base in Northern and Southern Italy

I’m going to suggest you turn the stays around-do the north first, then south. Weather wise you may catch the better temperatures in both areas.

We would like to stay in small town/village with basic amenities...

What size population is your limit? Remember the smaller the location, the least amount of basic amenities.

Just thinking of staying somewhere which has a few restaurants, supermarket, bakery, pharmacy so we can get supplies. We want to feel what it is like to live in Italy if that makes sense 😊

Have you been anywhere in Italy yet?

How far south is your "southern Italy"?

I have traveled to Italy a few times, Venice, Rome, Florence, Milan etc but this time want to stay somewhere small but well located for day trips to give us a feel for what it might be like to live there

Hi, I live in Italy and have explored it slowly and extensively.
When I see this question I always think about Trani for southern Italy because it's a place I'd be happy to stay in for a couple of months. It's also on the main train line so you don't need a car to get there or travel around for day trips. More info about Trani here:
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2023/04/why-i-love-trani.html?m=1

As a second destination, if you haven't seen much of Tuscany apart from Florence I'd base somewhere in Val d'Orcia, Siena, Cortona. You'd be better off with a car to explore there
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/search/label/Tuscany?m=1

@Tinac these are great suggestions, thanks so much for these ideas 😊

Last summer, we based ourselves at this Airbnb in Mantua/Mantova. We didn't have a car, so I don't know about the parking situation. There looked to be plenty of street parking around, but I'm not sure if they required a special permit or not - the apartment is about a 20 minute walk/5 minute bus ride outside of the historic city center, but has a few grocery stores just a few minutes walk away.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13037535?sourceimpressionid=p31685473032tifGHqiCaHpdOyIJ

We really enjoyed our time in the apartment and I can attest that the internet is fast, if that's a concern for you - both my husband and I could take simultaneous Zoom calls with no issues.

But, it sounds like you might be looking for something smaller. On that trip, we visited the towns of Belluno and Cittadella (which are a little further north) and loved both places. We only did day trips though, so I don't have any lodging recommendations.

Erin's idea of Mantova is great if you want to stay further north than Tuscany. It has a lot to see in itself, the historic part is partly surrounded by the Mincio river and so has a calm and relaxed feel to it, there's plenty to see it is a good base for reaching places like Cremona, Sabbioneta,Verona, Parma, Lake Garda, Brescia as well as the small towns and villages of the Po River plain . There are often village 'sagre' or festivals in September/October.

Mantova was great. Parking was not easy...but parking in any old town in Europe is never easy.

These are all really helpful suggestions, thank you for taking the time to reply 😊

What do think of when you write Northern Italy? For me it doesn't include Florence but more like Milan , Verona (which would be my suggestion although not a small town), Padua, maybe even Bologna.

Yeh agree I am thinking Milan as North but not Florence. I realise this is a vast region with the Dolomites & the lakes do open to any suggestions for somewhere small but centrally located for day trips. Thanks 😊

We just visited lake Garda and Verona. Verona isn't a small town but I would love to stay there a few nights. I've been to Padova and it could work too. I really like Bologna a lively college town. But any of these towns you'll have to mind the ZTL with your car.

Thanks for these ideas, will definitely take a look at Verona 😊