A British remote worker who spends three months a year in the northern Italian city of Trieste says she has cut her spending by a third due to the lower cost of living, and she cannot wait to make the move permanent.
Madeleine Park, 50, a freelance communications professional in the corporate sector, decided three years ago to spend as much time as possible in Italy while staying within the 90-day limit for non-EU citizens.
Following a series of trips to northern Italy, she eventually picked coastal city Trieste for its quiet, laid-back atmosphere and proximity to eastern Europe, where she frequently travels.
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The location on the coast of the Friuli-Venezia region, with clear waters and pebble beaches, was another major attraction.
Park spends €500 (£435.50) a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Trieste, compared with her £1,000 per month bill to lease a similar property in London.
“The cost of living in Trieste, even though not the lowest in Italy, is incredibly low compared to London,” she says. “Living three months each year there allows me to save up to a third of my income”.
She dines out three times a week in Trieste on fresh fish for €30 per meal. Groceries are about €40 per week and fish is cheap due to the city hosting one of Italy’s largest fish markets.
“I am lucky that both my landlords in London and Trieste do not mind me renting the apartments for less than a year, and only make me pay for the months I actually live in each one. We’ve become friends”, says Park.
A flexible working arrangement allows her to come and go between Italy and the UK when she pleases, although her spells in Trieste are usually for three consecutive months.
Park says she intends to buy a property in Trieste’s rural surroundings, where small two-bedroom cottages with a patch of land start at €150,000.
Once she has found and secured a property, she intends to apply for residency in Trieste and move to Italy on a digital visa.
“I intend to apply for the visa next year, and hopefully relocate by 2027. When I discovered how low Trieste’s council tax is, I just couldn’t believe it”, says Park.
As a resident living in a small rural house, Park would only pay about €300 yearly in council tax, according to local authorities, compared with her London council tax band of £1,600.
Residents of Italy are not required to pay property tax on their first home. They are only taxed for local services such as road maintenance and waste disposal.
Park believes that not having a husband or children could make her planned relocation easier.
“I speak good Italian already and perhaps that might help me find an Italian boyfriend. I’m done with British men,” she says.
Park is not just looking for romance. She says life in Trieste has eased her anxiety of living in a “chaotic” city like London where “all everyone does is just work, work and rush”.
In Trieste, she enjoys going to the harbour early in the morning to buy fresh fish and then cooking it for lunch. She enjoys cycling in the hills and going for long walks across the city centre.
On weekends, Park rents a car and crosses the Italian border to visit villages in Slovenia and Croatia, or explores the region’s hidden gems including Renaissance castles and manors.
But her adopted city has come to feel like home, and she has come to appreciate its historic features and romantic charm.
“I love Trieste’s imperial heritage reflected in the palazzos and wide historical piazzas, there’s a grandeur about it which I find simply irresistible”, says Park.