Molise

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.

No airport (the nearest are Pescara, Naples and Rome), slow railways to Rome and Naples from Campobasso and Isernia, Adriatic line at Termoli. Regional and private coaches to Rome and Naples, Termoli–Tremiti ferries. A car is indispensable almost everywhere.

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.

A single regional health authority (ASReM) with the Cardarelli hospital in Campobasso, Veneziale in Isernia and San Timoteo in Termoli, plus the accredited private Neuromed and Gemelli Molise. Region under a recovery plan since 2007 and run by a commissioner since 2009; non-compliant in the 2023 LEA monitoring; heavy outflow of patients to other regions.

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.

Italy's smallest labour market after Valle d'Aosta: public employment and health care, Stellantis plant in Termoli, agri-food, construction. Employment rate below the national average, emigration of young graduates. ZES unica incentives; regional job centres.

A single state university, the Università degli Studi del Molise, with campuses in Campobasso, Pesche (Isernia) and Termoli, plus the Perosi conservatory and the (non-state) Fine Arts Academy in Campobasso. Grants and housing are run by ESU Molise.

Two provinces (Campobasso and Isernia), ordinary statute, a region since 1963. Law 482/1999 minorities: Croats of Acquaviva Collecroce, Montemitro and San Felice del Molise; Arbëreshë of Campomarino, Montecilfone, Portocannone and Ururi. Festivals: Misteri of Campobasso (Corpus Christi), San Basso in Termoli.

Mountain climate in Campobasso and Isernia (cold, snowy winters), Mediterranean in Termoli. Almost the whole region is in seismic zone 1 or 2: San Giuliano di Puglia earthquake of 31 October 2002 and Montecilfone 2018. Widespread landslides, summer fires, snow on the Matese roads.

No tangible UNESCO site, but transhumance along the tratturi is intangible heritage. Archaeological sites of Saepinum, Pietrabbondante and Isernia La Pineta; Termoli and the coast; Campitello Matese for skiing; Agnone and Alto Molise. Tourist flows among the lowest in Italy, concentrated in August on the coast.