alan h's activity

Travelling with a dog is easy peasy - but not sure about a pet passport issued in France [should be OK] Best way to cross tha Channel is on Eurotunnel - quick and easy.  You add the dog to the passenger list [charge about £18 each way] and thats all you need to do, going out from UK.  No further checks are carried out. Coming back, they check the passsport and worming treatment at Calais [Follow the signs with the dog on it]Travelling through France - look at the Logis de France website - tells you if dogs are allowed in bedrooms, and alsi if they are allowed in the Hotel restaurant.  Many hotels allow both.  The IBIS chain also seem pretty OK with dogs, but its worth checking by email before booking.French motorway services are OK for walking dogs for 'needs breaks', as are the 'Aires'Switzerland - we use the IBIS at Sion Est - dogs allowed everywhere and there is a big walk through orchards nearbyHaven't needed a hotel in Italy, so can't help you there.We tend to limit driving to about 250 miles a day when we have the dog with us - seems fairer on him

"........... can anyone recommend a bank in Aulla ? which doesn't charge you extotiante bank charges !!   ........." You'll be lucky!  Chances are somewhere between Zero and Diddly Squat

As I understand it - non residents do not pay. See this discussion at another place   http://italy.forumotion.com/t1010-tv-licence-news?highlight=TV+licence 

".............. I also need to be able to buy, insure and register a car ........"No chance without gaining Residency - and you won't get that by visiting Italy for 4 or 5 months a year.  And if you did get Residency, the tax implications could be horrendous.

Well ......................................".....  I dont plan to have a car in Italy so that's why I'm thinking I'd like to be a walkable distance to the train station.  ...."Places close to train stations may not be in areas you want to buy into.  As an example - Bergamo old town [beautiful, quaint etc etc] is nowhere near the station in Bergamo, which is in the new town - a 20th Century dormitory town [bit harsh, I know], although there is a bus service twixt the two. Reinforces the need to visit the area before choosing where to go, as well as a detailed web search prior to that

My advice is as follows;-

1. Sort out those airports/cities that you can easily fly to from your home in the US
2. Look at the alternatives if flights to that airport stop
3. Rank those airports, taking into account cost/frequency etc etc
4. Look at what the area around each airport/city provides.     .ie - Naples has sun sand and Capri, Milan has History, The Lakes, Skiing in Winter Hiking in Summer
5. Sort out which area best fulfills your 'needs'
6. Don't forget about weather - temperatures Winter and Summer
7. Do a detailed web search on the area[s] that really grab you to look at house prices, availability etc etc
8. Spend some time on the ground looking around your favoured option
9. Then ignore everything and go with your heart

From personal experience the area to the North of Milan is [for me ] ideal.  Coming from UK it has 3 Milan airports [we us Malpensa] plus Turin, and at a push Geneva.   Our fall back option is we can drive home to UK in 15 hours - obviously not applicable to the US. Also, Italian kids learn English from the age of 6 - so the need for an English speaking es pat area is less than it used tpo be.  Good luck

aside from the Trump joke.......Will you need to move much over to Italy, apart from clothes etc.  Its often not worth moving furniture,as its cheaper to buy locally.  Also - as electrics in Italy are 220 volts - you'll need to buy new anyway

I'm sure there's a company called 'Trump's Household Removals' - although they may just concentrate on moving people to Mexico

Utility Bills - I have direct debits set up with my Italian Bank for Gas, Water and Electrcity

I use the same calculator site as LargeLewis. I use it to print out the F24 form [for paying the tax], sign it and Scan it so I can email it to my Italian Bank with a request for it to be paid from my account. System works well - BUT, you do need an Italian Bank account to do it. Good Luck