# Recommendations



## CaptainHaddock (Feb 24, 2015)

Hi guys,

I would just like to know if you could recommend any towns or cities in Italy that are great for people in their 20s but at the same time are by the sea, have a warm and sunny climate and are fairly cosmopolitan.

Any suggestions??

Thanks!


----------



## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Quite a few. Any additional requirements to narrow down the list a bit? Perhaps an elaboration of what _you_ mean by "great for people in their 20s." People in their 20s (and 30s, and 40s) are quite varied in their tastes.


----------



## CaptainHaddock (Feb 24, 2015)

Hi,

I guess when I say that I mean for example Montpellier in France, which has a very young population. So what I should say instead is that I'm looking for somewhere with a young demographic. An equivalent of Montpellier in Italy, I suppose. Not necessarily in size, but in the sense of vibrancy, things happening, sports teams, beaches, a young demographic and nice weather.

My preference is Sicily, but I've heard job opportunities are scarce down there so I'm guessing many people my age have left. In addition, I've have heard that Salerno near Naples is popular as it is a university town.


----------



## accbgb (Sep 23, 2009)

For a young demographic, seek out any area with a nearby university.


----------



## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

For the record, according to ISTAT Orta di Atella is the Italian commune with the youngest median age of residents (32). I'm not sure why. I don't think it's a statistical fluke -- a big orphanage in a small town, for example -- since that commune is fairly populous. But there you go. Campania is Italy's most youthful region, demographically speaking.

That said, even if you're focusing on the age of residents it's still perfectly fine to have older residents around. You'd just be looking for a large cohort of younger residents concentrated in a particular area. It then doesn't particularly matter whether there are 671 or 723 retirees living in the area. Cohorts are more difficult to figure out in ISTAT's publications, but I agree with the advice about communes with universities representing a significant share of the population.


----------



## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

OK, so let's say you look for a university town/city. There are a half dozen universities in/near Napoli alone including the huge University of Naples Federico II (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) with over 83,000 students. That's Italy's second largest university. The main campus is not too far from the water, though I wouldn't swim there precisely. But there are great beaches not too far away. Napoli is very well connected to the rest of Italy if you'd like to dash off by train to any of the other major cities.

It's not in Campania, but (if I understand your Montpellier comparison correctly) you might take a look at Bari, home to Italy's 7th largest university (Università degli Studi di Bari). Certainly there are beaches near there, too. It's not where most of the international tourists go (probably a good thing), but a lot of Italians go to that general area for their vacations.

You also mentioned Sicily. True, the employment picture is not good right now throughout southern Italy, in particular. However, you could take a look at Palermo, home to Italy's 11th largest university (Università degli Studi di Palermo). There's also Catania on the other side of Sicily, and that university is just slightly larger than Palermo's (#10).

The main campus of the University of Salerno isn't particularly close to the water, so I don't think it quite hits that university-urban-beach mix as well.

Maybe also check out Chieti where the ~30,000 student Università degli Studi G.D'Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara is found. There's a very good ratio there since Chieti and Pescara are fairly small. However, there are also disadvantages in that -- less bus/metro service, for example.

Pisa and Genoa are too far north, I assume.

So there you go, some nominees: Napoli, Bari, Palermo, Catania, and Chieti. Probably in that order.


----------

