Traveling Single and Happy in Italy

Want to travel to Italy but nobody you know wants to go? Have specific dates for your holiday in Tuscany but none of your traveling friends can get away then? You're not alone--you're part of the fast growing single traveler market. As a frequent single traveler in Italy for many years, here are my tips on companionship, safety, money matters, and quality of life for traveling solo in Italy.

Companionship

1. Look for restaurants or hotels with communal tables. Sit down, relax, eat with whoever is there, smile and start a conversation. Sharing food and wine around the table opens people up and conversation flows easily. Also look for restaurants with tables close together so it's easy to strike up a conversation with fellow diners. For example, I've enjoyed staying a family-run B & B in Sorrento where I've happily chatted to people from all over the world around their big dining tables.

2. Offer to help other travelers as a spring board to start a conversation. For example, while traveling on the Amalfi Coast on a bus to my hotel in Praiano, I overheard a man asking about the area. Knowing the coast, I gave him directions and advice. It turned out we were staying at the same hotel. That evening we shared a lovely dinner of fish and cool, white wine and a good conversation on a restaurant patio at the sea's edge.

3. Break up your time alone with half or full day guided tours that focus on something you're passionate about like food, art or gardens so you have fun with people with similar interests. For example, in Florence you'll find city walking, cycling, garden, leather & gelato, history and food tours.

4. Find tours that cater to single travelers. For example, two Italian families offer cooking tours, one in the Chianti hills and one in Sorrento, and accept solo travelers for any dates they request. Generally other people are staying in their B & Bs so you have congenial company. A family member takes the single traveler on the same excursions as a group.

Safety For Solo Women

5. Use your common sense and intuition. No matter what hour of the day, if a street is deserted you may not want to walk there. In general, stick to streets where other people are walking. Strolling along the Arno River in Florence at 10:00 p.m. admiring the reflections of illuminated buildings along with lots of people is wonderful. Walking down a deserted little street in Palermo in mid-afternoon may not be wise.

6. Out and about, dress down in ordinary clothes and leave your jewelry at home, so you avoid becoming a lone and profitable target for theft. 

7. Take a handbag with a shoulder strap you can put diagonally across your chest. Wear a money belt under your pants. Be alert to who is around you, especially in crowded places where pick pockets thrive.

8. Walk with a strong, confident bearing, so you don't look like a victim. All the above apply in any big city. In small country towns you can relax, since little happens there.

9. What about men chatting you up? Just like at home, stick to public places until you're comfortable with him. If you're not interested in him, politely say "no thanks" as many times as it takes.

Over the years, I've found Italian men respect my boundaries. I only got into one "tight" situation in my 20s where my fast running made up for my clueless behaviour. Other times I've met new friends and big loves of my life.

Money Matters

10. Find tours that have no single supplement. They do exist. Many tour companies in Italy match you up with a roommate. For example, I went on walking tours in Tuscany and Sicily, shared rooms and found hikers are generally a nice, down to earth, fun bunch. Be open to new people, make new friends by getting to know your roommate and avoid the supplement.

11. When looking for a hotel in Italy, I like to e-mail the hotel directly about a single room and not book online. When you email, fax or call them, you can ask for a double room for single use (often a small double at a lower price than a double room) or for a single room. Since single rooms are scarce, asking for a double for single use will often get you a room.

By email or phone you can also make other special requests like a quiet room not overlooking the street.

Quality of Life

12. To give yourself the best eating experiences in Italy, go to restaurants on the early side (12:30 for lunch, 7:30 for dinner or 7:00 in big tourist cities) and get the best seat. For example, at these hours in the beautiful Cinque Terre town of Vernazza, I find no one minds if I occupy a table for two with a front row view of the sea at a restaurant patio on the main piazza.

13. Accept help and reach out to other travelers. If someone offers to help you carry your suitcase up the stairs in a train station, say yes, thank them and give them a big smile. Look around for other travelers who may appreciate your help in small ways.

As a single traveler, if you extend your friendship to fellow travelers or local people, especially in places conducive to conversation, look for people with your interests on tours, take sensible safety precautions and pay attention to your quality of life, you'll have a fabulous time and some fun adventures in Italy.

A Guidline on Restoration Properties in Italy

Undertaking a renovation project in Italy can be very challenging but can also be plenty of satisfaction. Putting your own sign on a property to restore means to bring back to life a home and it is also very important to keep the region's architectural traditions, resulting into a home that reflects your own identity and expectations and at the same time can also fit into its natural surroundings. Restoring is not for everyone, it means time and money. Undertaking a restoration project, of course, is time and energy consuming. For a standard home, assuming the building structure is sound, a complete renovation with a supervision service takes between 6 months and a year.

A good way to save money is to do some of the physical restoration work yourself, but before starting to restore a home make sure you have the necessary technical skills, in order to avoid expensive setbacks, loss of time and poor results. For example, could you restore the roof of your Italian ruin by yourself? Are you able to check the condition of the existing foundations? Don't worry, in case you need some help you can always ask your Italian Real Estate Agency, which usually works with a network of selected partners and professionals, such as architects (Architetto) or Geometra (surveyors), which you must have to sign any restoration projects. We suggest you use an architect, especially if you have particular requests to realize your dream home. However, the use of a Geometra is usually enough to satisfy any standard needs.

The expenses of restoration for an Italian property depend on several factors, mainly on the size, on the structural conditions of the house to renovate and on the quality of materials that you choose. Italy has a very wide variety of great materials and a long tradition of their skilful use. If you have a generous budget, you can restore your dream home using local traditional materials like terracotta floors, wooden beams, travertine, etc. If you have a more modest budget, you can use medium-priced materials that still have very good standards and will allow you to have a high-quality result.

Labour costs and sometimes even prices of materials vary from one region to another. For example costs in Tuscany can go from €1000/1500 per square metre for a renovation that keeps original features using standard quality materials, to €2000/2500 using luxury materials. Umbria is a bit less expensive and prices go from €1200 to €1400 per sq. m.; Sardinia from €700 to €1000, about €1000 are needed in Liguria, from €700 to €1500 in Le Marche and from €400 to €750 per square metre for a restoration in Sicily.

You should also be aware that renovation estimates usually refer to building work alone and do not include plumbing, electrician's fees or finishing costs. You should ask for these separately or at least ask whether they are included. Moreover, a good way to avoid contingencies putting you over your budget, is to choose a property with an agreed fixed-price contract on its restoration work. Finally, you can obviously save a considerable amount of money in the long-term by following the principles of green building that is energy efficient and environmentally friendly. 

Green building incurs higher initial costs, but will save you money in the long run and will reduce the overall impact on the environment. To give you an idea, a restoration using green-building materials that incurs a 15/20 per cent increase in costs on normal restoration, can save you up to 50/60 per cent on utility bills; whereas if we consider reconstruction with an upfront investment of 30% more, you can almost forget your bills and save in the region of 90%. At any rate, once the project of your restoration property is done, you will be for sure the proud owner of an Italian home that fully reflects your taste and your identity.