All you need to know about working remotely from Italy​

The good

  • The culture and history
  • Wide variety of landscapes
  • The food

The bad

  • Cost of living is rather expensive
  • Limited fluent English speakers
  • Falling in love with Italy…

How is the internet speed in Italy?

Italy is technologically advanced and offers great connectivity across the country.

If you plan to work from remote places in the countryside, I suggest you check the 4G coverage, just to be sure, using Nperf.com:

I had the chance to stay a little while in Giuliano Di Lecce, a tiny town located in Salento. You can check out here the house I stayed in. The house was equipped with a 4G rooter. I can’t say it was always perfect, but it was fine enough to get my work done.

I would not worry about the internet speed anywhere in Italy unless you need internet speed over 50Mbps

Visas and documentation

You will find all the information needed on the website of the Ministery of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation:

Where digital nomads can work from in Italy?

Coworking space

Almost all the main cities host a fair amount of different coworking hubs.

They provide excellent internet connectivity, comfort and are generally furnished with a PC, Mac or high-resolution monitor renting. Here is a selection of some of the best coworking space in Italy:

Cafés

Italia’s café culture is known around the world for good reasons and cafés are quite common anywhere you go.

As for digital nomads, most cafés will offer their WiFi network in exchange of a coffee or else, this can be a great option if you step away from the big cities.

Tech stuff

Power plug types

The electrical sockets in Italy are of type F and L, which respectively requires a power plug with 2 vertical pins (type C, E and F) and two to three vertical pins (type C and L).

Laptop & phone repair

Being a highly developed country, technical support for both Mac and PC users is an ordinary feature in most cities so is finding a repair shop. Apple users might want to refer directly to one of the many Apple stores in Italy:

Language

No surprise there, Italian is the most widely spoken language throughout the country.

Although recent studies show that about 34% of Italian speak English, there are very few places where you will not be able to communicate in English, at least for basic things such as ordering a drink.

Here is an article of “howwidelyspoken.com” on the prevalence of English speakers in Italy:

When to visit

According to this article -“Best time to visit Italy” by santorinidave.com -, the ideal time to visit during spring from April to June or early fall from September to October.

Italy experiences a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers to wet and cool winters, however, the north and south’ climate have their differences.

In the south of the peninsula, summers can get quite hot (40°C / 104°F) while in the north, winters bring humidity, snow in the mountainous region, and will generally be colder than in the south.

How many euros should you take to italy?

This will highly depend on your lifestyle and on the city you will be staying in.

The monthly average cost of living goes from $1,500 to nearly $5,000 (see the listing below).

I would say that having about 2,000 euros to pay for your monthly rental in a decent place and for enjoying Italian way of life should be enough.

Best Italian cities to work remotely from!

Amalfi

  • 55.1 Mbps average download speed
  • 21.5 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,570 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • A little bit of English

Avelino

  • 17.2 Mbps average download speed
  • 4.4 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$1,535 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Bari

  • 24.4 Mbps average download speed
  • 11 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,173 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • A little bit of English

Bologna

  • 65.4 Mbps average download speed
  • 8.4 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,514 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Cagliari

  • 18.8 Mbps average download speed
  • 4.3 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,290 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • English friendly

Como

  • 3.95 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.28 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,898 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Ferrara

  • 10.6 Mbps average download speed
  • 2.4 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,941 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Florence

  • 3.74 Mbps average download speed
  • 0.69 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,178 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English fluent

Genoa

  • 26.5 Mbps average download speed
  • 8 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,504 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Lucca

  • 4.14 Mbps average download speed
  • 0.50 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,246 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Milan

  • 6.64 Mbps average download speed
  • 2.97 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$4,320 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Modena

  • 3.95 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.28 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,540 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Monza

  • 19.5 Mbps average download speed
  • 4.7 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,598 per month
  • Submediterranean climate
  • A little bit of English

Naples

  • 4.02 Mbps average download speed
  • 0.83 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,481 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • English friendly

Padova

  • 4 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.8 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,154 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Palermo

  • 21.7 Mbps average download speed
  • 5.4 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,731 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • A little bit of English

Pisa

  • 3.59 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.22 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,593 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Rimini

  • 17.6 Mbps average download speed
  • 3.9 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,055 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Rome

  • 3.82 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.36 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,952 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • English friendly

Siena

  • 14 Mbps average download speed
  • 2.9 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,813 per month
  • Mediterranean climate
  • English friendly

Trento

  • 3.56 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.25 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,551 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Treviso

  • 2.46 Mbps average download speed
  • 1.10 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,487 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Trieste

  • 15.9 Mbps average download speed
  • 3.4 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$2,719 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Turin

  • 5.09 Mbps average download speed
  • 2.16 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,338 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly

Venice

  • 3.80 Mbps average download speed
  • 0.71 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$4,660 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • A little bit of English

Verona

  • 3.69 Mbps average download speed
  • 0.74 Mbps average upload speed
  • 4G covered
  • Cost of living at ~$3,152 per month
  • Humid subtropical climate
  • English friendly