Working remotely from Milan

Milan is not Lisbon and does not pretend to be: nobody comes here for December sunshine. People come because it is the Italian city where work happens, with the connectivity, the connections and the network of people that implies. For anyone working remotely for a month or a season, it is a serious base.

Connectivity

Fibre covers the city well, including outside the centre, and real in-apartment speeds handle back-to-back video calls. All our apartments include Wi-Fi.

Two precautions that apply anywhere, but here more than most:

• Check mobile coverage as a plan B. Italian prepaid SIMs are cheap and generous with data: for an important call on a bad day it is the right safety net.
• Ask where the router is. In a one-bedroom flat this is not a detail: it changes connection quality at the desk.

Where to work, besides home

Coworking. Milan has dozens, from the big international networks to neighbourhood spaces. A fixed desk usually costs one hundred and fifty to three hundred euros a month; many also sell day passes. The advantage is not the desk — you have one — it is meeting people.

Public libraries. The municipal library system has branches in every district, with study rooms and free Wi-Fi. They are free, quiet and underrated. The university libraries at Bicocca and the Politecnico are large and open into the evening.

Cafés. Milan tolerates laptops at the table far less than Berlin or Lisbon: mornings are fine, lunchtime is not. If you occupy a table for three hours, order more than one coffee.

What a month really costs

Item	One month
Whole apartment outside the centre	from ~€1,200
Groceries	~€200
Public transport, monthly pass	~€40
Coworking, flexible desk	€150–300
Aperitivi and restaurants, normal use	€200–400

Milan is Italy's most expensive city but remains below Paris, London, Amsterdam and Munich. Outside the centre the difference is real.

Why an apartment rather than a hotel

Beyond a couple of weeks a hotel becomes untenable: it costs more, has no kitchen, no washing machine and no real table. An apartment with self check-in also solves the timing problem: you arrive when you arrive, you work when you need to.

Our apartments always have a table that takes a laptop and an external screen, a washing machine, a dishwasher, air conditioning and Wi-Fi. For stays of a month or more the nightly price drops considerably — write to us rather than booking night by night.

The minimum paperwork

• Codice fiscale, if you need to sign anything or open an account.
• Visa, for non-EU citizens: Italy has introduced a permit for remote workers with income, health insurance and accommodation requirements. Conditions change, and the only source that counts is the Italian consulate in your country.
• ID document for check-in, as with any short let.

Time zone and flights

Milan is on CET, one hour ahead of London, six ahead of New York, seven behind Singapore. If you work with the United States your European day stays free and calls land in the afternoon; with Asia it is the reverse.

Malpensa connects the main intercontinental hubs, Linate the European capitals, and high-speed trains put Rome three hours away.

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