I'm looking for input from expats who know Campania - specifically the area from Naples up to Lago Patria. My husband has accepted a NATO position (Bagnoli) and we will be in the area for 3-4 years. We have three children ages 1,3,5 plus two cats and a dog. After countless short visits to Italy over the past 15 years we are ready for complete immersion.

We'd like to be car-free with easy train access, send the children to decent italian public or catholic schools, and have a nice view of the bay area. Can this be accomplished for about 2000 EUR a month for rent, plus another 500 EUR for utilities? How much square footage (i mean 'meterage') should we expect to find for this amount? What cities/quarters do you recommend?

If I could equate this to an area we know a little more about, we're looking for something comparable to Campo de' Fiori in Rome. My only knowledge of Naples comes from a few train connections in Garibaldi. While I don't want to be right around the corner or anything, it would be nice to be a short train ride away.


I could go on for hours with my questions, but for now I'll stop here...thanks in advance.

welll...I'll chime in since no one else has yet :-) Don't know Naples well enough to help too much...but...I willl tell you that you will certainly be able to find something wonderful on your budget for rent - it is very high for Campania.

The Naples NSA housing office has Italian estate agents who will be helping you find a place, do the contracts, etc. They may even be able to answer the specific questions you've asked. Here's a contact list, their email contact is also on the site: http://www.naples.navy.mil/HOUSING/2006rev1/Addinfo/List_HWC_Phone.htm

Sounds like an exciting move!! My personal opinion is to steer clear of Lago Patria, especially if you don't plan to have a car. I took a teaching job there last summer, having been assured by the school director that it had easy train access, bus, etc and everything was in walking distance. I arrived to find that was NOT the case. In fact, it would have been very difficult to get around at all on public transportation. I also didn't find it one of the more typically charming towns in Italy to live in. Needless to say, I didn't stay...but since you mentioned Lago P. specifically and not wanting to have a car, figured I'd put my 2 cents in!

Hi Jen, I know Naples/Campania fairly well and would suggest you don't go to Lago Patria or any further north, especially Mondragone. For 2000 euro a month you can rent an excellent place, possibly in Vomero or Chiaia which would mean you could be car free with easy transport access and close to everything.. including a fabulous view of the Bay. Worth considering?

I would also appreciate help with finding a rental in the Naples area. I've read the previous postings and have not found it very easy to find a rental. We have about 2500 - 3000 euros/month to spend but the choices have been limited. I wanted a villa/apt with a view, a pool, 3-4 bedrooms, parking, close walking distance to restaurants/town. We are a middle-aged couple, decent income, no kids, no pets - I thought it would be easy for us to find a rental. I'm told that a home such as this would cost 5000 euros/month. I have compromised and now only need 3 bedrooms, a view, parking. Parking is significant if you brought a nice car from the states. We brought a BMW and plan to garage it as cars are all wrecked here or stolen. I did not expect that safety would have to be such a priority.
So far my experience has been working with the military NSA housing office and realtors advertised in the post newspaper. I've been shown the same homes by different realtors. Most homes are in isolated areas, have no view, no pool. It seems that the realtors working with the American community have specific homes they show that provide them with a good commission. Also, all admit that the prices are inflated for American government workers as they know we get a good housing allowance.
Also anyone thinking of moving to Italy needs to be aware of how expensive it is because the dollar exchange is so low. I am looking at furnished apartments until we find a home and am finding rates of 130 - 150 euros per day.
I would like to live in Pozzuoli town with a view of the bay/islands.
I appreciate any leads or help you can provide. Help me break the code. How have others found a nice home here?

Regarding Lago Patria - As US government workers we have been advised NOT to live in Lago Patria . The area is apparently a high crime area with many home robberies.
You also need to be concerned about health hazards as areas with well water have been found to have a high bacteria rate in the water and can not be used for drinking or cooking.

Seth and Kristen, your experiences confirm my suspicions and make me so happy to have found this forum! When we arrive in Naples, we will have limited time to tour homes and make a decision. With three kids under 5 and 3 pets, we don't have time for games. Also, as I understand it, once a lease is signed we are locked in for the duration of our government assignment (3-4 years for this one). If we find after a year that we are unhappy with our apartment/locale, too bad! To me, this is all the more reason to do my homework and understand the options now.

Access to the US comissary and PX isn't a priority to us, and being stuck in a remote parco would be a nightmare. I hope to thoroughly understand the communities (particularly Pozzuoli to Chiaia) and maybe even have some conversations with a good (or rather great) realtor before heading over as opposed to taking the luck of the draw from the housing book. If you read this and have someone in mind please reply!

I'm grateful for the services offered by military housing offices, but respectfully wish to go it alone (aside from the requisite contract protocols)....and this forum is the best place I've found to get smart on the area in order to do so.

After 12 years of these moves, I have a pretty good grasp of the tricks that realtors play in military towns and the incentives that motivate them to do so. Thus far, we've managed to avoid getting pressured into an unfavorable situation. However, I'm entering this one with great caution and get the sense that every ounce of information I collect will be put to good use. I don't think I'm paranoid, but I want to get it right so we can savor every moment of our time in Italy that we've hoped for for soooo long.

I look forward to continuing to read the posts on this board and hopefully have a smooth transition into Neapolitan life. Then maybe I'll be able to help the next round of expats headed into the area!

Thank you again everyone for chiming in....

I apologize for posting housing office info. No offense intended.

Seth, I'm so glad I didn't stay in Lago P. after reading about what is happening with crime there (not to mention the water!!) Jenn, best of luck- you are very smart to do your homework. When I was preparing to move last summer, I tried to find info. about Lago P. online (didn't know about this forum then) and wasn't able to find much, which should have tipped me off about moving over there sight unseen! I just knew once I got there and spent a few days that it was a very wrong move for me. All the parcos were so isolated and I could have never done that, especially on my own and without a car. At least if you get into a small city or town, you should be able to walk and/or find public transportation. I'm moving to Vicenza next month and couldn't be happier with the location and how easy it is to get to where I want to go. It's really important for me to feel that I'm "at home" even far away from home and I think location is really everything. You are smart to find out everything you can in advance!!

No worries Bill 2! I am sure we'll be working with the housing office on some level, but want to be sure that we go into it as informed as possible about what the rental market really looks like (fair market values, preferred neighborhoods, etc). This way we can smell a rat if one emerges. My guard is up... though I acknowledge the housing office and associated realtors may be wonderful people, I would be too easily conned if I didn't know the market from other perspectives.

A follow-up question that this has generated, particularly in light of Seth's struggle to find an adequate rental:

Can someone point me to more info about how an expat goes about buying real estate in Naples? Is this discouraged, or even worth considering? We've purchased in the past when interest rates and market values were more attractive than inflated rental prices, but have never owned property ourside the US.

Not Naples, but we bought a house in Friuli. We found it through a realtor's ad in the local supermarket classifieds newspaper, had a notaio do the atto di compravendita, got a mortgage through an Italian bank, and paid it off in 5 years. Since then we've been rent and mortgage payment free.

We live in the Commune of Pozzuoli, on the north side toward Lago Patria (but not THAT close). Technically, we're in the Licola/Monterusciello area. We have a 3 BR villa with a yard and garage, gated driveway and our upstairs neighbors are Navy (we're not). Rent is 3000 Euros a month. Typically, rent is whatever the landlords know you're allotted - has nothing to do with the unit itself! View of the Mediterranean - gorgeous sunsets. But, we have 2 cars and really couldn't function well without it. There is a train but we have to drive to get to it. The bus stop is just down the road from us, but since the road is the Via Domitiana, it's not exactly a safe walk even if it is only a few hundred yards. Lots of Americans and Brits this side of Naples. Our kids go to school at the NATO base and the drive is about 15 minutes.

Chiaia and Vomero are good neighborhoods for bay views but I'm not sure how big of a place you can find there, probably no yards (or "gardens" as they call them here). We have friends that are currently in Vomero and like it alright but are trying to get out of the city to have some space.

I know the Navy families we know have been very happy with their real estate agent from base.

Seth, I think the problem may be that what you describe is a perfect vacation rental...and owners can get quite a bit per week in high season for a large villa with an oceab view and a pool :-) (and, you will be paying more for furnished, of course)

I still think those monthly rents seem high (but, as I said, I don't know the city well). Have you looked on tecocasa.it to find out how much it would be to buy something? (or at least get a general idea about the price of things and it may help with rent negotiations? Also...I would avoid anyone selling mostly to expats!

As for buying...I bought a house in Campania and all went very smoothly (we did not take out an italian mortgage, but there are both italian and british banks who will give you one) - process was fairly pain free and not much different than buying in the US.

Hi Aliena,

I see from an earlier post of yours that you know a nice english speaking notaio. That is what I am looking for. Could you possibly let me know who they are ? I am trying to buy in Rustico in Campania.