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LIVING IN ITALY

No wifi, no parcels: What to expect if you live in the Italian countryside

Many people move to rural Italy looking for a quiet life, but just how disconnected will things be? From phone lines to waste collection, Silvia Marchetti tells us what to expect.

Life in the Italian countryside isn't always all it's cracked up to be.
Life in the Italian countryside isn't always all it's cracked up to be. Photo by Gabriel Tamblin on Unsplash

Everyone loves the idea of living the Italian rural idyll, in a cosy country house with a garden, far from the city crowds. But often, this lifestyle comes with disadvantages to be aware of. 

If you happen to be in the countryside, public services in general can be poor compared to those in the nearest village. Transport, waste pick-up, mail delivery, mobile and broadband coverage are all lacking in certain areas, especially if your house is located far out in an isolated spot surrounded by meadows and forests. 

I happen to have the misfortune of living right at the border between two very small towns in Rome’s countryside, and lately services have been getting worse.

READ ALSO: Nine things to expect if you move to rural Italy

Given I’m far from the central piazza of my comune of residence, letters sent to me tend to pile up at the post office; only once a month the postman remembers and delivers a heap of envelopes that spill out of my mailbox. I read letters with a two-month delay at times, so I regularly stop by the post office to check if there is anything pending with my address. A letter from Milan once arrived in Rome within two days but was delivered at my place a month later.

If you’re expecting an important letter or package, the best thing to do is to track it on the postal operator’s website, using the shipping number given to you. 

My town recently launched waste sorting, and again, because I live on the outskirts of the area, my house is the last one, the truck stops by at 2pm for pick-up. My rubbish bags just lie at the gate for half a day, with cats regularly opening them and scattering banana peels all over. 

Delays with waste collection can be an issue if you live in a rural part of Italy.
Delays with waste collection can be an issue if you live in a rural part of Italy. Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

These rural hassles are due to “long” distances and low population density, or so I have been told several times by the comune authorities. Services tend to be wanting if there are few residents, aka taxpayers, living in a specific street or area. 

Postal couriers can never find my house, so if I make an online order or I’m waiting for wine from Sicily, I have to guide the driver by phone till he gets to my place, even though I live on a provincial road.

READ ALSO: Seven things to know before moving to Italy’s Puglia region

Rural areas also come with many phone operator traps, which are often impossible to avoid without turning your house into an off-grid monastery. Cable coverage is poor, and you only find this out once it’s too late.

From personal experience, this can be hell. All phone operators have the same rules: 

You can easily agree to a ‘linea’ (contract) by phone by sending your ID card, and that’s when the contract kicks in – even if the phone line and wifi don’t work even after the technician has come to check. 

If you terminate the contract before the end of a two-year period, you pay a fine of up to €350. Nobody tells you that in your rural area infrastructure won’t be upgraded due to the low number of clients, or that the centralina (control unit) is five kilometers from your house so the signal will forever stay poor. 

READ ALSO: ‘Hellish odyssey’: Why cancelling my Italian phone contract took six months

Forget broadband. No matter how many times you call the operator or ask for a technician (who seldom shows up) to fix your landline that is not working, you’ll keep receiving bills, and if you don’t pay them you end up in a list of ‘morosi’ (defaulters). 

I’ve had to cancel my pay-per view TV subscriptions, change my heating unit from wifi to manual and stick to working with mobile internet, using my iPhone as a hotspot. When I called the operator, I was told it would be better if I moved house.

I tried switching to radio wifi signal to capture internet coming from the opposite hillside, but the dish fell at each gust of wind.

It’s always best to check coverage before signing a contract, ask the neighbors or just stick with a mobile connection.

Internet and digital infrastructure is one area targeted for improvement under the new Recovery Fund investments – but I doubt services in rural areas will improve.

Enjoying the bucolic ‘arcadia’ comes at a price; you just need to know what exactly you’re signing up for. Actually, I know many people who crave an off-grid, isolated spot, so it could be exactly what you want. In my case, not really.

If you live in the Italian countryside, how does your experience compare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Member comments

  1. That review was way too negative! We live in remote small valley in the Umbrian hills. Our road is a rutted dirt road, but we receive regular mail. We also receive deliveries of Amazon packages and other shipments. Our rifiuti is collected at trash bins that are several km away. For wifi, we have Telecom Italian wifi that comes from an antenna on a nearby mountain. The TIM wifi is about 4 Mbps. But we recently got a Starlink dish that costs 50 euro per month, the speeds are 160 Mbps!

  2. Recommend finding an apartment building in town that has a porter and for a small fee have parcels and important documents sent there. People in our apartment do it all the time

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LIVING IN ITALY

‘They particularly like Americans’: What life in Naples is really like for foreigners

Naples is seen as one of the most dangerous cities in Italy. But beyond the stereotypes and the bad reputation, what is it actually like as a place to live today?

‘They particularly like Americans’: What life in Naples is really like for foreigners

There are no two ways about it: Naples has gotten a pretty bad rap when it comes to its image on a national and global level. Media reports often focus on rubbish-strewn streets, high levels of pickpocketing, corruption, and mafia activity.

It consistently ranks among the ten Italian cities with the highest crime rates, and car insurance prices are the most costly in the country, largely due to theft and accidents.

At the same time, the city is beloved by tourists, not least for its vibrant culture, artwork and food.

So what is it actually like as a place to live? Should anyone thinking of relocating to Naples be concerned by the negative stereotypes and worrying statistics?

We asked international Naples residents in the Facebook group Living Abroad in Naples 2 what they really think about life in the city often nicknamed Partenope.

People, ninety nine percent of the Neapolitans will give you the shirt off their back. They particularly like Americans, and they love kids,” Thomas Braden, originally from New Jersey, tells The Local.

He was on active duty with the US Navy and expected to be posted to Germany. However, there was a mix-up and he was offered a position in Naples instead.

READ MORE: Why are Trento and Bolzano rated the best places to live in Italy?

“We asked for the weekend to sort it out, drove down to Naples and visited a Navy friend who was living in Monte di Procida with a view of the sea, and well, we were sold,” he continues.

Bar the sight of the sea, what has kept Thomas here is the food, the low prices, the way of enjoying life, the history and the thrill of driving. 

“I love the driving, it’s a very liberating sport,” he says.

But as with any city, there are bad points too. 

“Crime is a concern, but nothing like it was ten years ago – if you weren’t here then, you can’t appreciate how much has been done by the mayors of Naples and Pozzuoli and others to clean up the crime. And the grime. Trash used to be a huge concern – the EU fixed that,” Thomas says. 

It was the grime and crime that struck him when he first came to Naples in 2009. Nowadays there is a marked difference as he mentions parts of downtown Naples that he “wouldn’t walk down at noon on a Sunday with an armed escort” now have spritz stands lined along some of the streets.

REVEALED: The Italian cities with the highest crime rates

When asked about whether the city deserves its reputation, he says: “Like New Jersey, Naples gets a well-loved, well-earned bad rap (that they also wear with some pride). But you get out of this city, exactly what you invest in your relationship with her. 

“What level of effort do you devote and open yourself to trying to understand her, and dare I say love her? Ugly feet and all.”

International resident Amy transferred from the US after getting a job offer. She had visited areas in Italy such as Udine before, but wanted to check out Naples before making the leap.

“Initially, the way people drive in Napoli was extremely frightening to me as well. Driving in Napoli is like being a Nascar driver, minus the helmet,” she says.

Flags and scarves decorating a street in the Spanish Quarter district of central Naples. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP.

She recounts some bad experiences walking around the outskirts of the city, with men rolling down their windows and asking “How much?” and supposes this assumption of prostitution was made because she is African American.

“In my experience, the worst thing about Napoli is the few people who have immature minds and think negatively about Black people,” she says.

Other negatives are the road closures, the overpriced taxis and Google Maps not syncing correctly with the city, she adds.

However, despite the ignorance shown by a few, Amy says the best thing about Naples is the Neapolitan people.

“The thing about Neapolitans is that they either love you or hate you, there is no middle, and I admire that.

“I have made some amazing life-long friends here in Naples, ” she says, recalling when her car broke down and two soldiers crossed a busy road to help her out.

Other than on the outskirts, Amy says she feels safe walking around alone.

“I do not encourage visitors to the city to drive though,” she adds.

READ MORE: Which are the Italian cities with the best climate?

Katy Newton, originally from the East Riding of Yorkshire in the UK, came to Naples for a holiday and stayed for the romance. 

“The majority of people are friendly and I always found it incredible how people can just carry on daily life living between two huge volcanoes,” she says. 

“It reminds me of a lot of cities in the north of England, where there isn’t lots of money but people have their priorities right. Family and enjoying life with what you have.”

On the downside, the bad things in Katy’s opinion are that nothing works, no one stops for pedestrians, and there is a lot of piled-up rubbish. Nevertheless, she thinks the city’s danger is over-exaggerated.

“My cousin visited a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with the people, the way of life, the city.”

Still, after four years of living in Naples, Katy and her partner are moving away, but close by. 

“I love the vibe, the shops, food… but I just find the chaos exhausting and after a while for me I just feel a need for a more relaxing, quieter life.

“It’s an experience everyone should experience.”

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