We have been exploring southern Marche

Sulmona in Abruzzo! Before I even read your article I was going to suggest it. It has great night life but still a small town. It has a hospital and you are able to take the train from Sulmona to anywhere you like. Of all the towns in Italy I've been, this is by far my favorite! Your friend's suggestion is a good one!

Thanks for the feedback. We will certainly give it our consideration. Not sure, though, about the weather and earthquake potential.

You could try also Vasto, a sea-side ancient town, which is not deserted off-season, yet not over-crowded during the season.

Thanks John.I will take a look. We really hadn't considered towns close to the sea but it could be a possibility. The town we currently live in has about 9000 people. Not sure if this might be a bit big for us. The other important factor for my husband is to have a garden as he really enjoys working the land.

Marche is lovely, have a look in the Fermo area, places like monte giberto, petritoli, ripatranssone, etc etc. and get bthe propertry checked by a professional. I know of a good firm who do just that.

Thanks Kica,The towns that you have mentioned are among those that we have been visiting for a long time now and we do really like them along with several others in the area. The prices of houses, though, still are quite high and we have yet to find a house that we are interested in buying. We have been coming to southern Marche for about 9 years now and do really like the area. We are not sure, though, how lively it is in the winter. We do intend on living in Italy year round.

If you want to see Abruzzo, it has lots of lovely towns. You could try speaking to Vignaverde who is an expert on Southern Abruzzo. or Active Abruzzo who are also good for info. I have a small house in Cermignano in Teramo which I love. However, wherever you decide, make sure that you have a choice of easy to access airports. We have found the limitations of travel from Britain is very costly and the travelling time is onerous from Scottish Highlands. If I had known how this would impact, I would probably have gone for somewhere warm and easier to access. I have to make loads of plans and constantly cross-check that things will chime in. My sister has a lovely village house in Andalucia in Southern Spain whitwashed village with lots of amenities and very helpful commune, free Spanish lessons, great villagers etc views to mountains. She just books her flights and goes, 20 minutes to airport then off at Malaga and an hour drive through the countryside and mountains to her house. She has choice of several airlines whereas I only have unearthly hours Ry........ Often I have to wait hours between flights if I take 2 planes. It is worth consideration. I also know somebody who lives in Basilicata which is beautiful but travel can be challenging. I don't know about Le Marche just that Ancona airport is there, not sure about flight frequencies or choices. I keep hearing rumours that the Abruzzo airport is losing money and will close but fingers crossed it won't. So checking the airport plans would be sensible too.

Thanks very much Moruzzo. We will try to contact the people you mentioned although without the pm mechanism anymore, I'm not sure how to do that. Will also take into consideration the airport issue. Right now we live 3 hours away, which can be a pain at times.You had mentioned that you would have looked for warmer climate and easier aiport access it you knew then what you now know. Where would you look in Italy or are you referring to another country i.e. Spain?