A Place in the Sun magazine

ITALIAN CITIES COMO TOWN

A recently renovated two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Como

Town, 10 mins walk from the lake and train station. €395,000 (£316k) casatravella.com

“Genoa has a good infrastructure with fl ights, rail and road links, it is a good base for Eastern Ligurian resorts like Portofi no and Santa

Margherita and also for the west and the beaches and marinas around Sanremo and Imperia”

“You see old ladies stocking up in local

delis, teenagers licking gelato on street corners and stylishly dressed Italians downing espresso at the bar.” In Venice too, head away from the tourist

honey traps for value. While prices peak around the splendour of San Marco Square, walk twenty minutes towards the train station to Cannaregio to fi nd a more local neighbourhood of intimate restaurants and bars, wider shopping streets and more aff ordable, although still fairly steep, prices. Palazzo Vendramin is a fi ſt eenth century

canal-front palace in Cannaregio which has undergone three years of extensive renovations to create 13 fresh, contemporary apartments. Prices start from €640,000 through Savills (savills.com). “Tuscan cities are among the most visited

and remain highly-prized by foreign buyers,” says Lynne Davie of Beauchamp Estates (beauchamp.it) Florence heads the list, a hit with older buyers interested in art and culture with an eye on the strong local rental market. Good quality two-bedroom apartments in

central Florence start from €750,000 but fall to €300,000 on the outskirts. “Consider buying in Fiesole and Poggia Imperial in the green hills around Florence,” says Lynne. “Or look at nearby Bagno Ripoli which off ers the best of both city and country with prices a third below those in Florence itself.”

Second-tier towns Italy has several second tier cities and towns that still pack a powerful cultural punch but with less budget-busting prices. Swap Florence for Lucca or instead of Rome head further south to Puglia and the Baroque city of Lecce. Grosseto in the Maremma area of Tuscany and San Benedetto del Tronto on the borders

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of Le Marche and Abruzzo and a popular second home area for Romans are also worth considering. Ease of access is important to the success

of a city pad and Lucca, a beautiful walled city, is thirty minutes from Pisa airport. Prices start from €190,000 for one-bedroom apartments in a palazzo within the city walls through Casa Travella. Linda Travella also recommends Como

Town, one hour from Milan airport where €395,000 buys a newly renovated two- bedroom on the second fl oor of a historic palace. T is is a perfect base to explore Lake Como as well as making a strong rental investment. Rupert Fawcett from Knight Frank

(knightfrank.com) tips the port of Genoa on the curving coast between the Cote d’Azur and Tuscany. “Genoa has a good infrastructure with

fl ights, rail and road links,” he comments. “It is a good base for Eastern Ligurian resorts like Portofi no and Santa Margherita and also for the west and the beaches and marinas around Sanremo and Imperia.” Imperia itself, a thoroughly Italian living

and working beachfront town, has a direct train line to Monte Carlo and the South of France, giving residents the best of two countries. Matteo Scandolera of Liguria Homes (liguriahomes.com) is selling a renovated two-bedroom apartment in the historic area of Porto Maurizio for €220,000. Trieste close to Venice has average prices

of €2,000 a square metre, thirty per cent below similar sized cities like Parma and Verona says Andrea Plani (invest-in-italy.it). “Near Piazza Hortis a two-bedroom

apartment is €250,000 and one with a sea- view in Barcola is €300,000,” says Andrea. “Trieste has a pedestrian centre, neoclassic,

Under one hour from Nice and Genoa airports and close to the train station in the beachfront town of Imperia, a one-bedroom apartment for €150,000 (£120k). casatravella.com

IMPERIA

SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO (BORDERS OF LE MARCHE AND ABRUZZO)

Perfectly placed for a stroll to the beach or the shops in the town centre and less than one hour from Pescara and Ancona airports, a one-bedroom apartment in a palazzo in San Benedetto del Tronto, a popular second home market for Romans, for €119,000 (£95k). casatravella.com

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