Hi - it is impossible to buy a car in Italy unless you are a resident, and if it is only for 6 months I wouldnt bother with the bureacracy. If you know someone, you can buy it in their name, which leads to other issues.If you are a non-eu resident it is very difficult to get an Italian driver's licence as you have start from scratch and cannot just transfer your licence. Make sure you get an International Driver's Licence which is valid for one year to use while here.We shipped all our furniture over, lock stock and barrel and it was no problem, other than it took nearly 4 months to get here from Australia.Do you already have storage organised in Milan for the car? We ended up selling our classic car (ASTON) because it was right hand drive, and my husband was over the moon to be able to buy a Porsche 928s here similar to one he was restoring in Australia and in fabulous condition!Anyway we did the house purchase, move etc from Australia 5 years ago and have many stories to tell and 'Only in Italy' moments. So happy to answer any questions you may have.By the way we live in a small town in Emilia Romagna, outside Modena, Calabria will be a vastly different prosition, so would go directly to the Comune to register yourselves - presume you are from UK so that will bring other issues re car insurance, health etc from what we experienced as I fortunately have dual nationality but we did have to get the Permesso di Sogiorno for my husband. Car we purchased in my name but the driving licence as Australians is our biggest problemBest wishes
Hi. We are Australian couple who moved permanently to Italy 5 years ago and we highly reccommend small town living. We live in the town of Polinago, which is in the Apennines and part of the province of Modena (we are about an hour out of the city) in the region of Emilia Romagna of which Bologna is the capital (about 90 minutes from Polinago).We love small town living, but the down side is the lack of frequent public transport, especially over the weekend. If you don't want to hire a car for the period you are in Italy then you are best going to a larger town or city and I would suggest Modena. It is a lovely university town with a population of 160,000 and is on the rail line with reasonably good rail access. However the fast trains which go inter-city all over Italy only depart from Bologna (less than 30 minute train ride from Modena) or Milan, which with a fast train from Bologna is only 1 hour. Also both cities have car hire facilities readily available so you can do short term hire.The city of Bologna is also lovely and a university town (has the oldest university in the world) and is a rail hub for Italy. It also has an international airport with budget flights going to many cities within Italy and Europe. Both these cities, being quite flat, many people of all ages ride bicycles, however you would need a car to go out to many of the outlying hill towns. But both are great places for food, and cultural activities and are not crammed with tourists, so you will have a truly authentic experience. From Bologna the train to Florence is 30 minutes, to Rome 2 hours, and just over 3 hours to Naples.We are the only foreigners in our town and have been warmly welcomed here. We run a small B&B and have had many Australians come to stay and we also take our visitors on tours for a negotiated price. April - May is a lovely time of year but the down side is that the obvious tourist places are already busy which is why always publicize ourselves as being off the beaten track for interesting walks, food experiences and also for becoming part of the local population.Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want - obligation free, and we will try to answer them if possible.Have lots of fun planning your trip.Warm wishesWinnifred and David
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Hi - it is impossible to buy a car in Italy unless you are a resident, and if it is only for 6 months I wouldnt bother with the bureacracy. If you know someone, you can buy it in their name, which leads to other issues.If you are a non-eu resident it is very difficult to get an Italian driver's licence as you have start from scratch and cannot just transfer your licence. Make sure you get an International Driver's Licence which is valid for one year to use while here.We shipped all our furniture over, lock stock and barrel and it was no problem, other than it took nearly 4 months to get here from Australia.Do you already have storage organised in Milan for the car? We ended up selling our classic car (ASTON) because it was right hand drive, and my husband was over the moon to be able to buy a Porsche 928s here similar to one he was restoring in Australia and in fabulous condition!Anyway we did the house purchase, move etc from Australia 5 years ago and have many stories to tell and 'Only in Italy' moments. So happy to answer any questions you may have.By the way we live in a small town in Emilia Romagna, outside Modena, Calabria will be a vastly different prosition, so would go directly to the Comune to register yourselves - presume you are from UK so that will bring other issues re car insurance, health etc from what we experienced as I fortunately have dual nationality but we did have to get the Permesso di Sogiorno for my husband. Car we purchased in my name but the driving licence as Australians is our biggest problemBest wishes
Hi. We are Australian couple who moved permanently to Italy 5 years ago and we highly reccommend small town living. We live in the town of Polinago, which is in the Apennines and part of the province of Modena (we are about an hour out of the city) in the region of Emilia Romagna of which Bologna is the capital (about 90 minutes from Polinago).We love small town living, but the down side is the lack of frequent public transport, especially over the weekend. If you don't want to hire a car for the period you are in Italy then you are best going to a larger town or city and I would suggest Modena. It is a lovely university town with a population of 160,000 and is on the rail line with reasonably good rail access. However the fast trains which go inter-city all over Italy only depart from Bologna (less than 30 minute train ride from Modena) or Milan, which with a fast train from Bologna is only 1 hour. Also both cities have car hire facilities readily available so you can do short term hire.The city of Bologna is also lovely and a university town (has the oldest university in the world) and is a rail hub for Italy. It also has an international airport with budget flights going to many cities within Italy and Europe. Both these cities, being quite flat, many people of all ages ride bicycles, however you would need a car to go out to many of the outlying hill towns. But both are great places for food, and cultural activities and are not crammed with tourists, so you will have a truly authentic experience. From Bologna the train to Florence is 30 minutes, to Rome 2 hours, and just over 3 hours to Naples.We are the only foreigners in our town and have been warmly welcomed here. We run a small B&B and have had many Australians come to stay and we also take our visitors on tours for a negotiated price. April - May is a lovely time of year but the down side is that the obvious tourist places are already busy which is why always publicize ourselves as being off the beaten track for interesting walks, food experiences and also for becoming part of the local population.Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want - obligation free, and we will try to answer them if possible.Have lots of fun planning your trip.Warm wishesWinnifred and David