Lombardy

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.

Trenord runs all regional trains and the Milan rail link; Io Viaggio Ovunque in Lombardia integrated tickets and the STIBM system in the Milan area. Three main airports (Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo Orio al Serio); scheduled boats on the lakes; seasonal Alpine passes.

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.

Lombard socio-health system: eight ATS agencies plan and control, the ASST trusts deliver care; strong presence of accredited private providers. Bookings on the regional number 800 638638 (02 999599 from mobiles), online and in pharmacies; regional Electronic Health Record.

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 labour market: advanced services, finance, fashion and design in Milan; manufacturing in Brescia, Bergamo, Lecco, Varese; agri-food in the lower plain. Tens of thousands of frontier workers to Ticino. Job centres run by the provincial AFOL agencies.

Italy's largest university system: in Milan the Statale, Politecnico, Bicocca and the private Bocconi, Cattolica, IULM, San Raffaele, Humanitas; in the region Pavia, Bergamo, Brescia, Insubria, LIUC. Many English-taught courses. DSU grants are run by each university on regional criteria.

Eleven provinces plus the Metropolitan City of Milan, ordinary statute, capital Milan. No minority language recognised at national level; Milan's patron saint is St Ambrose (7 December), when the city stops.

Humid foggy plain with muggy summers, milder lakes, Alps with snow from December to April. Winter air quality in the plain is the worst in Italy. Moderate seismic risk only in the Brescia and Garda areas; Seveso and Lambro floods in Milan.

Ten UNESCO sites including the Last Supper, Crespi d'Adda, Mantua and Sabbioneta, the Valcamonica rock drawings, Bergamo's walls and the Bernina railway; lakes Como and Garda; skiing in Valtellina, venue of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic races. Municipal tourist tax.