Hi, I’m Peter, and you’re reading Anywhere Italy.
Our mission is to cover the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip, in person, one at a time. Come along for free, or pay to keep us on the road.
I’ve been living in Versilia for more than 3 years now. Before, I lived in Firenze, Rome, and a small, mountaintop medieval town in Lunigiana. I’m moving to Torino in September, but if I had to decide to move to Tuscany now, this is how I would decide. Most of the arguments apply to any region, not just Tuscany. But in Tuscany (and in some other regions in Italy that I will talk about later), I can actually support my arguments with personal experiences.
So, the first and most important question is this: are you moving here permanently, or temporarily? Because the answer to this question single-handedly can define how you should pick your location.
If you move temporarily, you are looking for a vacation spot, to be honest. Nothing wrong with that, most people move to Italy exactly with this in mind. But if “holiday,” “vacation,” and “getaway” are the goals, you have to look for different setups.
For a vacation spot, you can make compromises.
It can be a smaller place, because you will probably keep a main place in your home country. It’s where you keep your stuff accumulated over the years. The vacation spot only houses vacation needs. Same as the town you are in for vacationing. You don’t need that many services. You don’t need that much variety. You can even live in a place overrun by tourists in the summer, make some money from it, and then come during the off-season.
We did this many times. During most summers, we switched homes with Brits. They came to our home in Versilia, enjoying the beach, that Eurosummer, whatever that means, and we went up to Britain, usually the countryside. Calmer, colder, less humid, and definitely without tourists. This year, we stayed here. I have to be frank: mass tourism is unbearable for locals. And when you are a local here, you're the one who pays that price.
As a temporary visitor, it doesn’t affect you, because you can hide during peak months. So, you can pick Firenze as your location. Or, you can choose even a popular town, like San Gimignano or Volterra. You avoid the hordes by not living there during peak season. Return when things calm down, and the town is yours again. Best of both worlds. But you are never a local, you are a temporary citizen. More like an expat, less like an immigrant.
Things get really interesting when you decide to move here permanently. So, everyone is different, and everyone has different needs. I am not going to pretend that I have the ultimate list for everyone.
We are a married couple, we have no kids, and we are around 40. We don’t work in Italy per se, we work online. So, even if any of these factors would change, we would have a different set of needs for a permanent location. We don’t care if there is a school nearby (frankly, we prefer no, kids are loud :D), we don’t care if there are jobs in the location, and we are totally happy just the two of us and not that big on other expats around us. Which means we loved living in a small beachside town where most people were 60yrs+ Italians who spoke only Italian. We are moving to Torino now, but that’s a different story.
That said, I think what I am going to recommend covers most needs. If not, let me know, hit reply, and I am happy to give you some help. I am going to list towns and areas, and I am also going to explain which ones fit the needs you might have.
Lucca
If I had to name the best town in Italy for those considering moving to Italy, I would say Lucca, almost without hesitation. I covered this town here. It represents everything that you consider “Italian” but it also allows you to live as a normal human being in it. You can live in a medieval walled town with a Renaissance heritage as rich as Florence's, but without the overflowing fridge-magnet shops. Even in the historical center, you can establish a good life without fighting with huge crowds of tourists.
Because I should have said this earlier: the number one goal before you move to Italy probably isn't finding the right services or diverse options, because you can easily solve those by driving 20-30 minutes to the next available location. If there is no school in your town, you drive to the next town, where there is one, for sure. If there is no hospital, same. But daily life’s most important challenge in Italy is probably mass tourism. You want a place which is not overrun by people wearing baseball caps, paying 10x the price for everything, and you want shops that sell more than just pesto classes and nicely packaged sauces and cookies. You want something that is by locals, for locals. You want your local butcher and grocer, who has never been on Instagram, not to be in a Reels video made by a blonde influencer shouting, “Oh my God, so original, so authentic, so much history.” That’s Hell to live in.
Lucca is getting popular, but it won’t ever be as popular as Florence. Even inside the walls of the old city, you can simply ignore the visitors by picking the side streets. Most shops in those streets cater to locals. And if you are living outside the old city, it’s the best option you can have. Lucca is a proper city with proper city services. The sea is a 25-minute drive away, and the mountains are similarly close. Florence is an hour. What more do you want?
Pisa
I know it sounds counterintuitive, especially after what I have just said about mass tourism. But as I covered it here, Pisa can be a great choice if you know which areas you need to avoid. I mean, everyone is coming for the tower, right? It’s your usual day trip that they sell everywhere, an hour from Florence, mandatory to do that selfie (very tasteful, congrats, you are the only one who did that picture, very original). But the city is barely around the tower. Take away those 10 streets North of the Arno River, and you remove 90% of visitors, because the ones who have no clue which city they are in and are just there for the tower (most people) almost never cross the river. That is the sole reason why Pisa is a liveable city for locals.
Compared to Lucca? Lucca is wealthier, more relaxed, more, shall we say, refined and middle-aged. It’s a city for someone with kids or someone older to enjoy. Pisa is for the young, for those who want a vibrant life, who travel more outside the country or the city. It has an international airport. It has a very famous, internationally recognized university, which means it is full of students and has great, cheap nightlife. The sea is even closer. The old town is larger, has more options, it’s more chaotic, it’s louder, it’s more alive. If I were moving to Italy in my early 30s, Pisa would be my top pick.
Pietrasanta and Versilia in general
I’ve been living here for 3 years, so here I might be a bit more nuanced and biased. The city, Pietrasanta (covered it here), is small, but it is a significant small town. Basically the entire Versilia region (guide is here) revolves around this town and this town revolves around art, marble, and the mines of Carrara, plus, of course, the 30km+ stretch of sandy beach. Yet, almost no one has heard about this place. It is mostly kept for domestic tourism, and most people either go to Pisa or straight up to Liguria’s Cinque Terre to pay visits (both are 20-30 minutes).
This is why the entire Versilia area is perfect to live in. Yes, the summers can be hard, and many people come. But outside of those 2 months? It’s a relaxed, artsy, lively community, always full of things to do, with close-to-perfect services and even some international expats living here. It doesn’t really matter which town you pick: Pietrasanta, Sarzana, Camaiore, Viareggio, or Seravezza. Of course, locals would argue differently, and there are fundamental differences between them: some are in the mountains, others are by the sea, some are more like art centers, and others are more like port towns. But if you have a car, it doesn’t matter much, everything is 15 minutes.
Versilia is full of art. You can’t escape it. The marble from the mines of Carrara is everywhere. But a very particular type of people to whom this part of Tuscany is perfect for: reserved people who value a relaxed, laid-back lifestyle. I know, because we are like that. In a city, you step out, and you are immediately in the action. Here? Only if you choose to, which often means: get in the car, hop on the bike. Otherwise, you live in a calm village by the sea. It’s your Tuscan village life, mountain-top town life, the same thing that makes it into postcards in San Gimignano, Montepulciano, or Volterra, but without the bus tours and the day trips and the baseball caps.
The best way to describe it is the way we talk about it with my wife, Sophia. When we leave the house, we say “let’s go into the city.” The city can mean multiple things: Pietrasanta’s main square with the Duomo bar, which we frequent, Viareggio to grab some fresh seafood, or even Lucca or Pisa if we need a bit more action. All of these are minutes away by car or bike. It’s a different lifestyle than you might have in a city. And here is the last thing you need to dance around: tourists. Except in the summer months, yes, but most of them come to the sea. Behind Versilia, you have the mountains…
Lunigiana and Garfagnana
So I covered both of them here and here. Essentially, these are the mountains behind Versilia. The Apuan Alps run from eastern Liguria all the way down to Florence, crossing a bit into Emilia-Romagna in the North. Above Florence (Pistoia), the mountains get very high, you can ski there. And between Liguria and Lucca, you have these smaller valleys. Some are around the Carrara marble mines. Others circle key towns like Castelnuovo di Garfagnana or Luni, hence the names Lunigiana and Garfagnana. Don’t tell that to the locals, but aesthetically and as a place to live there, they are very similar.
Now, I am not judging anyone, and you might have different needs than anyone else. I’ve said that Versilia is very laid-back, more like a village and small-town lifestyle, rather than city life. Now, up there in the mountains, that village life sometimes becomes more like a recluse life.
Though these valleys are close on the map to key cities like Lucca, Pisa, and even the sea, they are far from close. Roads are windy, small, and curvy, driving there daily is not like driving on straight roads or on the highway. That means you need a good reason to get down from the mountain. And that whole expression explains everything.
These places have the same things: small towns nestled in the mountains, with clear skies, clean air, and unimaginable silence. They have their own gastronomy, culture, and foods, which they serve in restaurants and places frequented almost entirely by locals. Living there means you mostly frequent only these places, because there is nothing else. The biggest difference is between visiting the place and living there. And yes, if this has crossed your mind, no, there are almost absolutely zero tourists there, even domestic visitors are few.
I think these towns are best for those who value privacy, tranquility, chill, and a very private life. In other words: you are either born there, and that is why you live there, because you have family ties, or you are running away from the world.
The alternatives
Now, I either lived in the places above or frequented them daily, so I have some solid ideas about what it would feel like to live there. But Tuscany has alternatives to these places, and there are also some obvious names I haven’t mentioned, so please allow me to.
Maremma and the Iron Coast. Some coverage is here and here. Maremma is the least popular spot in Tuscany, which makes it perfect for those who value a private life, yet still want to be close to cities like Grosseto. The Iron Coast runs pretty much there too, but on the sea. It’s the best deal for seaside life if your goal is to live by the Tuscan sea.
Livorno. I covered this amazing city here. I personally love any port town with a proper harbor, especially in Italy. I love Genova, Trieste, Naples, and all the big seaside cities. Livorno is no exception. But it can be rough for some people, especially if you are used to an organized, well-oiled city. Still, if you like this kind of city, Livorno is one of the best options out there. The best and freshest seafood always comes from port cities like Livorno.
Arezzo. I covered it here. An alternative to Lucca in mainland Tuscany. It’s even less touristy than Lucca, and it is even more overlooked than almost any Tuscan city. Its location makes it the perfect option: drive in any direction for an hour, and you reach mainland Tuscany and Umbria. Drive a bit more, and you are on the sea, either on the Adriatic coast (Marche or Rimini) or the Tuscan coast. Even Bologna is doable in a day, or if you need to fly out from its airport. Meanwhile, you live in a perfect Tuscan city with a medieval old town in the center.
What’s not here. Well, everything that most guides like this show you: Val d’Orcia, Chianti, and the classic hilltop towns in Tuscany, as you imagine it from any picture on any social media platforms, or your closest “Italian” restaurant’s decoration. If you really want to do this, try to find an alternative to San Gimignano, Montepulciano, and Volterra. Options (just examples): Peccioli, Gambassi Terme, Anghiari, Cortona, Montalcino. Browse our collection here.
The key goal is the same, as always: avoid tourism, because it not only hikes up prices but also lowers the quality of general services. When Italians buy from Italians, the food, the restaurants, the bars, the shops, everything is 10x better quality than services offered for day trippers. A town with a living local community can offer better everything than a town that is mostly an open-air museum for tourists.
I’m working on a quiz that helps you spot the best towns from our collection, based on your needs. Stay tuned, it will be helpful for those who are looking to pick a spot on the map for themselves, forever.
— Peter
Pietrasanta, 30 August, 2026
New articles this week
This week was busy recalling old memories from my time in the Lazio region.
First, I wrote about the historical connection between the Church and planned architecture in Caprarola, using the Villa Farnese as an example. It’s a must-visit from Rome:
Then, I wrote about a personal experience, a night really, in Capranica, and the lesser-known pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena:
Lastly, in the long series of articles about Italian products and brands, I absolutely nerded out on olive oil. Tried to give you some rules that help you pick the best EVOO, even if you are in the Midwest USA:
I really enjoyed reading this article, especially having visited most of the places on your list. What are your thoughts on Pistoia? I spent a week there last year - not sure what's it like in the long run, but I did have a good time.