Milan

Italy's most expensive city for renting and buying a home, with central rents far above Rome. Eating out, services and leisure cost more than the national average; public transport and groceries stay in line. Savings come in the outer districts served by the metro and the first-ring municipalities.

Italy's tightest market: little supply, high rents, crowded viewings and guarantee requests. The metro is the logic of choice. Brera and Porta Nuova at the top; Città Studi, Lambrate, Bicocca and Bovisa for students; Isola and NoLo changing fast; Baggio and Affori for families on a budget. Public housing through Aler Milano and the municipality; Milano Abitare for agreed rents.

Digitised municipal services: online residence registration, registry appointments through the municipal portal and the CIE agenda. Amsa door-to-door recycling with bags by fraction, organic included. Tap water tested by MM and «water houses». The municipality's «Welcome to Milan» guide and the universities' welcome desks for newcomers.

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).

Italy's most complete public transport network: five metro lines (M1–M5), ATM trams, trolleybuses and buses, the Passante and Trenord suburban lines, STIBM integrated zonal fares. Linate is served by the M4, Malpensa by the Malpensa Express. Paid Area C in the centre and environmental Area B over almost the whole city. BikeMi and widespread sharing.

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.

Planning is the job of ATS Città Metropolitana di Milano (corso Italia 52); care is delivered by the city's ASSTs and IRCCS institutes. Among the large public hospitals: the Niguarda (piazza Ospedale Maggiore 3), the Policlinico–Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda (via Francesco Sforza 28) and the San Paolo and San Carlo hospitals of ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo.

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 largest and most dynamic job market: finance and insurance, consulting, fashion and luxury, design, media and advertising, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, ICT and startups, fairs. Regional employment rates among the highest in the country. Business districts at Porta Nuova, CityLife, the centre and MIND; coworking in every district.

A VAT number (partita IVA) from the Agenzia delle Entrate for freelancers; for businesses the Comunicazione Unica to the Registro delle Imprese, which also notifies the Agenzia, INPS, INAIL and SUAP. Main forms: sole proprietorship, SNC/SAS, SRL and SRLS, SPA. Compulsory PEC, annual chamber fee, e-invoicing. Invitalia incentives; non-EU citizens need a self-employment permit or the investor visa.

Italy's largest university hub: Politecnico (engineering, architecture, design), Statale, Bicocca, Bocconi (economics, law, political science), Cattolica, IULM, San Raffaele and Humanitas for medicine, Brera and the Conservatory, plus the fashion and design schools. The English-taught offer is the widest in the country. Student support is managed by each university; housing is the main problem.

The municipality is divided into nine Municipi, from the centre (Municipio 1) to eight radial wedges, and is the capital of the Metropolitan City. Italian is spoken; Milanese is the traditional dialect. Patron saint Ambrose, city holiday on 7 December with the Oh bej! Oh bej! fair and the opening night at La Scala.

Humid Po-plain climate: grey, cold winters with temperature inversions (fog is less frequent than it used to be), hot muggy summers with a strong heat island. Milan is consistently among the Italian provincial capitals with the most days above the PM10 limit; ARPA Lombardia publishes the data and regional and municipal anti-smog measures (Area B) apply.

The Duomo and its terraces, Leonardo's Last Supper (UNESCO, to book weeks ahead), the Castle, Brera, La Scala, the Navigli and twentieth-century and contemporary architecture. Two days cover the centre; Design Week in April and the fashion weeks are the busiest moments. Lakes and Bergamo an hour away.

The aperitivo as an institution, Lombard cuisine (risotto, cotoletta, ossobuco, panettone) and Italy's most international food scene. Nightlife at the Navigli, Isola, Porta Venezia, Garibaldi. Large parks on the edges (Parco Nord, Boscoincittà, Idroscalo), Sempione in the centre. Many free things: HangarBicocca, civic museum openings, the Monumentale.