Friuli-Venezia Giulia

To enter with a dog, cat or ferret you need a microchip, an EU pet passport or health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination. Mandatory registration in the regional pet register, lead at all times and a muzzle to hand. Pets allowed on trains under Trenitalia rules and in apartment buildings by law.

Rules depend on who is arriving: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens (no visa, registration with the Comune after three months), non-EU citizens for stays up to 90 days (Schengen rule, type C visa where required) and for long stays (national type D visa and a residence permit within eight working days of arrival).

Before: documents, housing, school. First week: codice fiscale, SIM, bank account. First month: residence permit if non-EU, residence, SSN registration, then the driving licence within a year. Household goods duty-free for arrivals from outside the EU, car to be re-registered.

Trenitalia regional trains under a regional contract, with the MI.CO.TRA. Udine–Villach service to Austria; since 2020 a single bus operator, TPL FVG, with an integrated regional ticket. Trieste airport with a railway station in the intermodal hub; Alpe Adria cycle route from Salzburg to Grado; port of Trieste.

Euro, cards accepted almost everywhere, a legal cash limit. Anyone living in Italy for most of the year is tax resident and taxed on worldwide income under three IRPEF brackets; specific regimes exist for the self-employed (forfettario), inbound workers, foreign pensioners and new residents. Contributions go to INPS; annual return with the 730 or Redditi form.

Three territorial health authorities (ASUGI for Trieste and Gorizia, ASUFC for Udine, ASFO for Pordenone), two research hospitals (Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, CRO in Aviano) and the ARCS coordination agency. Single regional booking centre and Electronic Health Record; mountain rescue with regional helicopter.

Non-EU pensioners enter with the elective residence visa, EU pensioners through free movement; public healthcare is accessible by compulsory or voluntary registration. Optional 7% regime on foreign income for those moving to small southern municipalities. Cheap houses in villages, services concentrated in cities.

Employment above the national average. Port, logistics, research and insurance in Trieste; shipbuilding in Monfalcone; appliances and engineering in the Pordenone area; chairs, knives, ham and wine in the Friulian hills. Seasonal work on the coast (Lignano, Grado) and in the mountains; commuters to and from Slovenia and Austria. Job centres run directly by the Region.

University of Trieste and University of Udine (public), SISSA for doctorates in physics, mathematics and neuroscience, plus the Trieste science system (ICTP, Area Science Park). Grants, halls and canteens managed by ARDIS, the single regional agency.

Autonomous region with a special statute (constitutional law 1/1963), capital Trieste. Provinces were abolished and replaced by Regional Decentralisation Bodies (Trieste, Gorizia, Udine, Pordenone). Four recognised languages: Italian, Friulian, Slovene, German.

Trieste with the bora wind and mild winters, a very rainy Friulian plain with muggy summers, Carnic and Julian Alps among the snowiest and wettest areas in Italy. Friuli in seismic zones 1 and 2 (1976 earthquake); hail and flash floods. Better air than the rest of the North.

UNESCO sites at Aquileia, Cividale del Friuli (Longobards), Palmanova (Venetian fortifications), Palù di Livenza (pile dwellings) and the Friulian Dolomites. Beaches at Lignano and Grado, the Karst and Trieste, Carnia and the Tarvisio area for snow and trekking. In 2025 Gorizia and Nova Gorica were European Capital of Culture. Municipal tourist tax.