ABRUZZO, ITALY · FIRST-HAND
I was born here. Let me show you around.
Abruzzo is the only region of Italy where you can ski in the morning and drink an aperitivo by the sea the same evening. I grew up here, and this site is me proving it to you.
WELCOME
You did Rome. You did Florence. Now you want the real thing.
My readers are on their second lap of Italy. They have seen the famous cities, and now they want what Italians keep for themselves: kind people, honest food, mountains an hour from the sea, and nobody performing for a camera.
That’s my region. I was born and raised in Pescara, I spent my teenage summers as a lifeguard on its beach, I rebuilt a falling-apart house in Penne, and my family still presses its own olive oil near Alanno. Everything on this site is first-hand, or it doesn’t get published.
One region, four journeys
Most people meet Abruzzo in this order. Start wherever you are.
EXPERIENCE
Live it like us
Food, wine, sagre, trails and beaches: what Abruzzesi actually do, season by season.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1.
Every time I drive back from Rome, I count down the last stretch to the sign where Abruzzo begins. Then I honk and shout: back in Abruzzo! My kids tease me for it. I do it when I’m alone too.
This page is everything I drive home for: arrosticini at Da Stefano in Conaprato, my family’s olive oil, a glass of Montepulciano that smells like home.
The towns
Eighteen town guides and counting, written by someone who grew up around them. Six to start with:
Photos: RoccaCalascio, Maddy16869, Superchilum, Marica Massaro, Luca Aless, Torredibabele · CC BY-SA 3.0/4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Start here: the pieces readers use most
- When to visit Abruzzo
My honest season-by-season answer, including why I love winter here.
- The Abruzzo itinerary: 7, 10 or 14 days
Built from the drives I actually make, coast to mountains.
- Abruzzo with kids
The family guide I wrote as a father who brings his own children here every summer.
- Houses for sale in Abruzzo, honestly
What €29,000 really buys, the taxes nobody mentions, and the earthquake question answered straight.
- The Real Cost of Abruzzo
Property, rents and daily life priced for 23 towns. Updated yearly, every figure sourced.
LIVE
What living here actually costs
€718
per m² for a house in Penne, my town
23
towns priced in my cost index
€60
dinner for two at a good trattoria
Figures as of July 2026, sources on the index page.
Penne, my town, under the Gran Sasso. Photo: LigaDue, CC BY-SA 4.0.
BUYING HERE
I bought a ruin in Penne in 2008.
The agent seemed embarrassed showing it to me. I bought it anyway, rebuilt it the way I had it in my head, and it became the place I come back to from anywhere in the world.
If the €30,000 listings and the 1 euro headlines make you curious, start with the guide I wrote after doing it for real.
WORK WITH ME
A local in your corner
I’ve helped foreigners plan their trips, choose their towns, and buy their houses here. If you want someone born in Pescara to look things over before you decide, we can talk.
The first call is free, and it’s actually me.
Punta Aderci, my favourite stretch of our coast. Photo: maury3001, CC BY 3.0.