Property for Sale in Abruzzo

Property in Abruzzo

The British have had a long love affair with Italy. Is it the loud liveliness of the people and the way they welcome our children? Is it the jaw-dropping beauty of the vistas and villages, the Mediterranean sparkling in the distance? The art, the food, the history?

Whatever you love about Italy, you’ll find it more authentically in Abruzzo. True, you’ll have to cope without the crowds of Tuscany and the rudeness of Roman waiters, but you get a more authentic Italian experience for a fraction of the price when you buy a property in Abruzzo.

It is the region on the eastern side of central Italy, the calf of Italy’s boot. If that’s not a part of Italy you’ve considered before, you’re not alone. For most buyers it comes after Tuscany, the Lakes and several other regions in their searches. But it shouldn’t for three main reasons: beauty, authenticity and price.

Although Ryanair has flights from London Stansted to Pescara, and a small expat community has found its way, it is mainly Italians who come on holiday here, to swim and sunbathe, walk in the national parks (and ski, in winter) and drink the famous local wine, Moltepulciano D’Abruzzo. It’s a couple of hours drive from both Rome and Naples.

Towns like Atri, Fossacesia and Penne have proved popular with British house hunters, should you wish to find some English-speaking neighbours, but many of us choose Abruzzo for its utter Italian-ness.

House prices are considerably cheaper than Tuscany and Umbria - around 50 per cent often. You can get a nice little renovation project for less than £25,000, a renovated townhouse for £100,000 or a grand country house with land for £350,000.

Abruzzo is a wonderful looking region, with three national parks. Unlike most of Britain’s national parks, Abruzzo’s are still authentically wild, covered by trees beneath which roam bears (big ones, two metres high) and above which soar golden eagles. That distance howl at night? That will be the wolves. The coast runs for 130 kilometres of sandy beaches, along which the sette sorrelle (seven sisters) are the pick of the towns. The most famous is Pescara, about the size of Brighton (and similarly packed in summer).