Two months in Italy with a small dog

Equilibrist, try putting "dog in Italy" in the search bar. A number of folks have taken their dogs, usually with good results.

Does anyone remember the woman who posted several years ago about life with her dog in an Italian village? She had lots of things to say about it. I don't remember her name, or the dog's, but the dog's name began with a "B".

Edit to add: Whoops! Found a post from Karen, about life with Barley: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/living-a-grand-adventure-in-italy As I recall, she posted a number of times.

Thanks. Yes, of course I searched before posting this but what I found wasn’t very useful. Mainly people were told not to bring their dogs to Italy and admonished for subjecting them to a long plane ride.

I sent you a private message.

Good luck; I'm sure you'll get some helpful responses.

Your best information is going to come from your airline.

The last time my daughter did this from Italy, was in 2019. The only airline doing this was Lufthansa, and all furry friends, dogs & cats had to be transported in the hold, due to the length of the trip, and was available only to from specific cities.

Other airlines referred her to a pet transporter.
Specifics for health passports and crate size were very exacting. As was dropping them off hours before flight time.

It can be done, as long as all rules are followed.

Hope this helps and you have a wonderful time away with your sweet baby.

To everyone who’s responded so far, thank you, but I am not looking for advice on bureaucratic matters or flying. Not worried about those, I’ve researched the rules quite extensively. I am ONLY seeking recommendations for where to choose to stay in Italy with a dog, and any tips on daily life. Thought I made this clear in initial post and hope this clarifies.

Italy is pretty dog-friendly overall. Our experience living there was that most dogs are very well trained, welcomed in restaurants and stores in a way they are not here in the US.

Puglia is an interesting idea as you have not been there. It is very hot in the summer and swarmed with beach goers and rather deserted n the winter. Perhaps a pertinent question is wha5 are you going to do when you are not working? Do you envision some weekend trips? Perhaps at least a few vacation days? Puglia is not an easy base from which to access the rest of the country. Bologna is really well-connected by rail and could be a great base for trips as far south as Rome and perhaps even to Switzerland.

I hope you will let us know what you decide and post about your experiences,

Laurel, thank you! I do not envision doing any kind of overnight travel on this trip, though possibly a day trip or two. I’m much more focused on really getting to know a town/city and my neighborhood, going to the local markets, cooking, practicing my Italian, and taking long walks with my dog. Cooking with the local produce is probably my biggest interest—every time I’m in Italy I bemoan the fact that I don’t have a kitchen to do so.

I should have specified that I absolutely won’t be doing this trip in the height of the summer tourist season. If I can organize myself, I may go this coming spring, but May would be the latest. Otherwise, I’d wait until October or November.

I was just in Italy and stayed for a month in Bologna. If I were to bring my dog and stay I would look for a smaller town that has good areas for walking. I would not stay in Bologna for two months with a dog. Parma and Modena are both pretty towns. Smaller but still nice. I went to both and really liked them. I also really liked Ravenna. Verona would also be great. What time of the year are you thinking?

My choice would be Verona. This would give you easy access (15m by train) to Lake Garda (Peschiera del Garda) and all the villages around the lake by ferry. You could visit Padova, Venice and Bologna all under 1H15m by train if you feel the need for city centric trips.

Edit time of year for me would be September & October.

I just asked my husband, an excellent cook who loves to shop for food and cook in Italy, "What town or city in Italy we've stayed in for a week or more, except for Florence and Rome, has the best food markets?" and he immediately said Padua. Except for Florence and Rome, Padua is also the place I would most happily live in Italy for two months. With our Italian dog if she wouldn't hate the plane trip so much.

@Nancy, Thank you! Your post is fascinating, because apparently we all have such individual experiences of travel. I’ve been to Italy probably at least 25 times since I first went there 40 years ago at age 20, including six months spent in Florence studying and traveling throughout Italy. I adore Italy to the core of my bones, but the one single place I have disliked is Padova—I spent a week there and it felt creepy and, for lack of a better word, haunted to me. It was a gut feeling and very puzzling. So I’m eliminating that possibility, but thanks for the suggestion!

I have no specific town/city to suggest, but it did occur to me the 'pet policy' of the landlord may be more of an issue than how dog friendly a town is.

I would start looking at lodging in the places you mention ( considering as a home base are Lucca, Verona, Pisa, or Bologna,)
and see what options you have.

@joe, oh yes, I’m only searching for dog-friendly apartments. There are plenty of them.