Florence vs Puglia: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Florence edges ahead of Puglia on higher occupancy (30% vs 18%), stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £5).

Head-to-head metrics

	Florence	Puglia
Median occupancy	30%	18%
Median daily rate	£116	£72
Median RevPAR	£32	£5
Active listings	10,305	23,576
YoY occupancy	+0.4 pts	+11.4 pts
YoY daily rate	-8.7%	+2.4%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Florence vs Puglia

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Florence finishes decisively ahead of Puglia. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 509.7% higher in Florence: £32 against £5. Florence sells 12 more points of its calendar — 30% median occupancy against 18% in Puglia. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

Florence takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £116 against £72 — and still fills more of the year, 30% against 18%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £32 against £5.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Puglia is not simply the weaker market of the two. The twelve-month direction favours Puglia too: occupancy there moved +11.4 points while Florence moved +0.4 points. Puglia's calendar is the flatter of the two — 8.3 points between its best and worst month against 33.8 in Florence — which makes debt service easier to underwrite. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Florence nor Puglia currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Florence peaks in October at 65% and bottoms in December at 31.2%; Puglia runs from 47.3% in August down to 39% in June. Puglia is the steadier of the two at 8.3 points peak-to-trough against 33.8 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Florence concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Florence suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Puglia answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2025-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,209 active Florence listings and 20,801 in Puglia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Florence or Puglia better for Airbnb investment?

Florence, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£32 vs £5), higher occupancy (30% vs 18%), and a higher nightly rate (£116 vs £72). Puglia is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on the better occupancy trend (+11.4 points vs +0.4 points year over year).

Which has higher occupancy, Florence or Puglia?

Florence, at 30% median occupancy against 18% in Puglia — a gap of 12 points. That is a wide spread by short-term rental standards and usually reflects a structural demand difference rather than better hosting. Over the last twelve months Florence was flat and Puglia gained 11.4 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Florence or Puglia?

Florence, at £116 a night against £72 in Puglia — roughly 61.2% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £32 in Florence against £5, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Florence or Puglia?

Puglia, on occupancy: +11.4 points over the last twelve months against +0.4 points in Florence. Nightly rates fell 8.7% in Florence and rose 2.4% in Puglia over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Florence or Puglia?

Puglia, with 23,576 active listings against 10,305 in Florence. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Florence vs Puglia?

Florence earns more: roughly £11,735 a year for a median listing against £1,913 in Puglia. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Florence →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Puglia →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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