# Expats in San Remo, Liguria



## Barbara Fowles-Pazdro

Are there any expats in San Remo?
Recently moved here, and looking for new contacts / friends.
Barbara


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## Tonymax290161

Barbara Fowles-Pazdro said:


> Are there any expats in San Remo?
> Recently moved here, and looking for new contacts / friends.
> Barbara


Hi Barbara,
We are considering that area to move to in a couple of years... I know you haven't been there long but what is your initial impression?
thanks Angela


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## TrishNP

*Ciao*

Hello Barbara,

My name is Trish. I am going to be in Sanremo for about 6 weeks, arriving mid June. Are you still there. If so, maybe we could get together for a coffee. 

Trish


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## 19/58Cooper

Hi Barbara, There’s lots of expats on Super Yachts in Porto Sole.


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## sue roberts

Hi barbara we are looking to move to the area from bahrain, where we have been for a few years - how is the area for dog walking and friendliness?we have 5 who will be relocating with us - we are wondering if it may be wiser to buy somewhere inland with more garden and cheaper - my husband will commute to zurich from nice airport, how far would you say is the commute from san remo to nice?


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## 19/58Cooper

Hi Sue,
I’ve been in Sanremo since the start of October 2018. Here are my impressions so far. 
Sanremo is a great place to live, the local people are very friendly and lovely to deal with. 
I do find siesta a tad frustrating but I’m sure that’s only because I can’t take siesta myself. You do get used to it - It’d be even easier if you’re taking it. 
Day drinking is a thing but the Italians consider it poor form to get out of shape. 
The town is really pretty and the surrounding mountains and villages are gorgeous. Sanremo is large enough to have plenty to do and small enough not to be impersonal. There’s a good local fresh produce market with another close by in Imperia. Sanremo is located in easy day or weekend away distance to some of the most stunning places I’ve seen. 
The climate is moderate. 
You can ski in the morning and swim in the afternoon if that’s your thing. There’s plenty of great local restaurants and some pretty cool bars. The coffee is great and the wine is cheap and drinkable. 
The parking in town is a challenge but not expensive if you park in the underground stations. Small cars are almost a necessity if you want to drive and park in the old part of town. 
Sanremo is well serviced by public transport trains and buses. Taxis are expensive in Italy. 
There is a really active community here with events and festivals to suit all tastes all year round. Recent events include the music festival, flower festival and the KTM Motorcycle enduro - starting and finishing at the port. Plenty of choice. 
Italian drivers at first seem crazy but at some point there’s a realisation that it’s organised chaos, surprisingly they are very courteous to cyclists. 
There’s a really good cycle path with a pedestrian walkway that tracks along the coast for about 25 kms. Plenty of coffee shops , bars and restaurants to stop at to rest the dogs along the way. It’s easy walking as it uses the old railway that’s been converted so gradients are gentle. There’s lots of parks and access to some beaches along the way (expect small roundish stones underfoot and not golden sands between you toes) and there’s lots of dogs (also dog poo - Italians are not quite as bad as the French at picking up after their fur children). There’s plenty of mountains to climb if that’s your thing. 
It’s an easy run to the Nice Airport with highway/ tollway most of the way. Less than an hour most times. Traffic on the coast can be a challenge but the only times I’ve found the highway a problem has been due to accidents and also the time I decided driving in and out of Monaco was a good idea - my advice there is don’t. Train is the only way to arrive at Monaco with any semblance of sanity. 
There is an influx of French people into Sanremo on weekends and who could blame them - the majority of Italians are joyous, must be a pleasant change, and as a bonus it’s relatively cheap. 
I’m told it can get pretty crazy in high season but it’s nothing like the French Riviera and as it’s so much smaller it’s more personal. It’s prettier too as it retains most of its old buildings. 
Having said that Nice has a nice old town, good restaurants, good markets and Monaco is worth visiting for the museums. Wouldn’t live there though. 
The highways are amazing when you first encounter them as they go through lengthy tunnels through the mountains. If you move here it’s better to live over a tunnel/ on top of a mountain than in the valley near a high road bridge. 
Finding a home to house five fur children and there servants may mean you have to move up or down the coast a little or towards the heights but property doesn’t sell quickly here and long term rentals are cheap in comparison to purchase. There’s some real gems close to everything but as with all of us its expectations divided by available funds multipled by urgency mixed with anticipation with a fair modicum of luck thrown in. Then of course that X factor is different for us all. 
Having said all that - I hope you and your husband are happy wherever you move to. 
Cheers,
Graeme


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## ajcamp

*Affordable in Liguria*

Hi, 
I'm considering Western Liguria as a region to move to. I'm an Italian citizen in the US, looking to move to Italy. I'm looking for areas along the coast that might be affordable on a modest income. Is that possible, or would I have to live inland, or between towns? 

Thanks for any insights! 
Andrew


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## NickZ

Modest US income or modest Italian income? 

Like anything it depends on your lifestyle. The big cost will be housing. If you're renting look at the various websites or if you're buying take a look for purchase prices. But the rest don't hugely depend on location. 

Electricity has a national price. Plus in general utilities depend on you and your home. A modern home with high efficiency appliances will consume less than an older drafty one.

Don't ignore the less obvious costs. There is some very cheap property in deserted hill towns. But you'll need a car. You'll have higher heating costs.


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## ajcamp

Thanks! I'm thinking of a budget of $2500 US per month. Can you recommend good websites for rental and for-sale properties?


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## NickZ

www.casa.it

https://www.soloaffitti.it/

https://www.immobiliare.it/

$2500 should be more than enough for a modest lifestyle. You won't buy a new Ferrari every year but it should be enough for rent,utilities,food and leave you money for other things including saving some.


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## ajcamp

Italian Citizen - but no residence. 
Hi! I'm an Italian citizen but living in the US. I'm trying to move to Liguria but there is a travel lockdown. I heard that if I can obtain and sign a lease while in the US, there is a possibility that I can enter Italy? Does anyone know if this is a viable way to get to Italy? 

Grazie! 
Andrew


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## PauloPievese

*Fly Away Home*



ajcamp said:


> Does anyone know if this is a viable way to get to Italy?


Yes. I would imagine that your Ambassador has a pretty good handle on it.

:flypig:


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## NickZ

You should just need a place to quarantine.


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## Italia-Mx

ajcamp said:


> Italian Citizen - but no residence.
> Hi! I'm an Italian citizen but living in the US. I'm trying to move to Liguria but there is a travel lockdown. I heard that if I can obtain and sign a lease while in the US, there is a possibility that I can enter Italy? Does anyone know if this is a viable way to get to Italy?
> 
> Grazie!
> Andrew


If you have an Italian passport, you can come to Italy at any time, regardless of travel restrictions on US citizens entering the country. But you will have to be in quarantine for two weeks if you have been in the USA for at least two weeks before you flew to Italy. Also, Andrew, if you're an Italian citizen, you don't have to sign a lease or have a place to live before you come to Italy (these rules are for foreigners seeking to enter Italy on a visa). (You can quarantine in your hotel and then start to look for a permanent place at the end of the two weeks). If you don't have your Italian passport yet, but you are registered in AIRE (as an Italian living abroad), you can request an expedited passport appointment with your consulate if you already have your plane ticket to prove that your travel to Italy is imminent.


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## Italia-Mx

Hi. One more thing. If you don't yet have an Italian passport, you cannot buy a plane ticket to Italy or any other country in the European Union with an American passport at this time so the Italian passport is absolutely necessary.


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## RMMARS

Hello,
I'm thinking of moving to Sanremo, and to make some lovely rental places for tourist. What is the tourisme like trough out the year? 
And do you have any tips or tricks for me?


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## corndog

RMMARS said:


> Hello,
> I'm thinking of moving to Sanremo, and to make some lovely rental places for tourist. What is the tourisme like trough out the year?
> And do you have any tips or tricks for me?


One aspect to think about, out of many, is the relationship between the amount of effort you need to put in to distinguish yourself, and the amount of competition. I like to use google maps to look at how many agri/tourismo's there are in an area I'm interested in. You'll have to zoom in and out a bit to see different ones popup, perhaps it's relative to their size/popularity, I'm not sure, but zoom in and out and you'll get a visual idea of where they are. 

You'll want to investigate what they're offeringing and if you want to be in there with them, then you'll need a plan for creating a spot for yourself. Some sort of value/location/feature/service combination that makes you appealing from the consumer point of view, just because there are so many of them. And it's best if your combination is truly unique, as not to take away business from anyone else.

Personally, I'd rather be in an area where there just aren't many options and simply being open is essentially a "feature".


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## NickZ

Usually places with no options have no customers. Having a full booking book means your nightly average is higher. Empty nights still cost you but bring in nothing.

I think Google lets you check the average prices over the course of the year. The areas with seasonal peaks for tourists are going to have the same behavior in prices. If you see prices drop at certain times or spike in others you'll have an idea how the traffic is.


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## corndog

Not sure that's entirely true, just because these places had to come from somewhere, meaning they haven't always been there. If there's a nice area that's worth visiting and there are no places to stay, or very few, it might be a good place to look at. Plenty of people are specifically looking to stay in areas away from the chaos.

I guess it just depends what kind of business a person is looking to run. Something more relaxed, or if they just need to bring in as much income as possible. Certainly you'd want to be in a busy area, or close to it, if income is the primary concern.


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## NickZ

These days "new" places need a lot of marketing money to get anywhere. You need to pay airlines to fly to you. Tour companies to come to you. 

There are so many places in Europe (seasonal and not) that it's very hard to standout.


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## PauloPievese

In the "better late than never" category, there is an app, agriturismo.it" with the obvious.


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