This is some general information on traveling to Italy. Some of this we knew before we got there and some we learned along the way. I cover:
Water
Water in Italy is completely safe to drink straight out of the tap; however, most Italians still drink bottled water. Some areas of the country have sulfur water, but in most areas it tastes fine. LIke in the states, drinking bottled water is mostly just a cultural thing. restaurants charge for bottled water and some will not serve tap water.
For travel we really like this 2 liter collapsible Platypus for about $12: Platypus DuoLock. Many of the others are good, but the clip on this one was perfect for clipping onto bags, the back of seats, etc, and the removable top made it easier to clean than most. The removable cap also made it much easier to fill, and happened to be exactly the size of a standard water bottle, so you could put it over the mouth and fill the Platypus without spilling a drop (see image below).
Airport
We flew through the Rome, Palermo, ???, and Milan airports. Both had clear English signs and pretty user friendly.
Customs - In and out
Transportation -
Time -
Food - The airport food is decent in most of the airports and excellent in Rome.
Staying Connected
Wifi - Most hotels & B&Bs have free wifi and it worked fairly well everywhere except Rome.
Phones - We use Google’s Project Fi for phone service, which allows us service as soon as we get off the plane in most countries, with a data rate of $10 per GB. We had decent service in most towns, but not everywhere in rural areas. The Rome airport had reasonable sim cards for about 15 euros, but they were much more expensive at the other airports.
GPS & Maps
Even if you don’t have phone service you should always be able to access GPS outside. I download the maps ahead of time using Google Maps offline and/or Here Maps (see instruction for how in my Tips/Planning - GPS & Maps Post). Both will allow you to navigate with no service as long as you have the maps. You can search for an address or GPS points, but general search queries like restaurants generally won’t work. I like to make a list of the GPS coordinates for each hotel I am staying at and other places of interest ahead of time so I can just enter the coordinates. https://www.gps-coordinates.net/ is a good site to use for this.
Strikes
Yes they happen. They are not anything to be concerned about from a safely perspective, and are unlikely to cause major issues with your trip, but they can cause some delays and frustration. Generally when strikes happen they are only partial strikes and they are semi-negotiated with the police. For example, workers may block a train line for half and hour per train or the main commuter trains may run but the evening trains won’t. There usually is still a way to get around, it just may take a little longer.
Money
We generally carry some backup cash in USD and have some of it split into small bills at the bank before we leave, but we almost never use this. We get most of our money from ATMs. Our bank allows 10 free withdraws per month so the only fee we pay is whatever the ATM charges. In Italy this is usually a couple dollars for international transactions. Unlike most places where you just withdraw and the home bank handles the exchange rate, in Italy the exchange rate varied by machine.
The limit on how much you can take out varies from machine to machine, but we usually take the limit as long as it is not towards the end of the trip to avoid more fees.
Credit Cards - We travel with a MasterCard and a Visa card. Both give us a percent back, have no annual fees, and no international fees. As long as we pay with the card in the local currency (never opt for USD), we get the current exchange rate. Italy is using cards more and more, but many restaurants still only accept cash, so make sure you have some. In Europe chip is required but most US cards require a signature instead of a pin. This can be a problem at unattended machines.
Change - ATMs typically dispense large bills and we were surprised how much trouble we had getting change. Even in Rome places didn’t seem to have much and one restaurant actually offered to round our bill down because they couldn’t break a note. Occasionally restaurants would ask other patrons if they had change.
Altitude
Transportation
There are many options for transit, including taxis, busses, trains, and Uber. See the Airport section above for info on getting to and from the airport. I like to use Google Maps and Rome2Rio for an idea of what options are available for getting around and what the approximate cost will be. , drivers are impatient and rude and traffic signals and speed limits are just suggestions. I would say many of the roads are similar to what we experienced in Ireland in terms of narrowness and condition, but whereas in Ireland it was a friendly atmosphere of working together to let people pass, in Italy drivers wave their hands and lay on their horns expecting the other car to make way.
Sicily - There is a train network but it is not very efficient for sight seeing. For most trips you will want to consider a car. The highways are excellent, but driving in towns can be a bit of a challenge. Many roads are narrow, steep, and winding. Some major intersections have no traffic signals, so it is a matter of having the balls to edge your way through. While the culture may be a bit layed back the drivers are not. If you are not comfortable with driving through tight spaces and parallel parking you should not be driving here.
Tuscany - This was generally a pleasant area to drive through. You may want to look up parking for the areas that you wish to visit ahead of time, because special permits are required to drive in many towns and there are steep fines if you drive in a restricted zone. Most of the roads that we took were scenic, had enough room for two way traffic by American standards, and were in decent shape. A few of the main roads pass though old towns that only have enough room for a single vehicle, so they have a traffic light at either end of town to let traffic pass one way at a time. These lights can be very long, but it works. Overall drivers seemed more courteous in this region and obeyed traffic signals.
Italian Riviera - You have the choice of trains or scenic toll highways to get you into the region, but do not drive in Cinque Terre. They have a fabulous train network that can get you around. Leave your car there. In Cinque Terre parking is extremely limited and the roads are lethal.
Rome - Do not drive here either! The roads are crazy, most cars are banged up a bit, and parking is impossible. We watched a lady using the bumpers of the car in front of and behind her to parallel park. She backed up until there was a slight crunch, then pulled forward until she tapped the one in front of her. There are buses and taxis available, but if you stay in the historic district most things are within walking distance.
Temperature/Weather
We were here the end of May and had to bring clothing for every season, sometimes in the same day.
Cusco & Sacred Valley - Cusco is in the mountains so the weather changes quickly and unpredictably. The forecast and sky can be clear, but you can have a sudden 30 second downpour out of nowhere. In this area it is generally crisp in the morning, the sun quickly warms things up, and as soon as it sets things cool off quickly again. We generally layered a fleece and light rain jacket in the morning, shed them for a t-shirt and jeans by mid-day, but carried them through the day just in case of a sudden storm.
Trek - We did the Salkantay Trek and experienced every temperature from below freezing to tropical. When it was cold I wore a cheap light down jacket, over a medium weight full zip fleece, sometimes with my rain jacket over top and my rain pants. Sometimes I still could have used another layer. When we were in the mid-day heat close to Machu Picchu I had hiking pants and an athletic shirt and was dripping sweat.
Lima - Lima was humid and overcast the few days we were there. It did get chilly at night, but a fleece would suffice. The temperature went up a little in the day but never got really hot. Jeans and a t-shirt were comfortable.
I like https://weatherspark.com/ for year round weather data including temperature, daylight, cloud cover, and precipitation.
Culture & Language
Language - In the tourism industry most people have excellent English, but in the general population most people do not. Knowing a bit of Italian will help a lot and enhance your experience. I use DuoLingo to learn just enough to get by and it was a big help.
Culture -
Bathrooms
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*Italians seem to have something against toilet seats…
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Bring your own toilet paper, it is commonly not provided
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Carry change, many restrooms charge 1 euro
Good luck everyone and feel free to leave any questions you may have in the comments below.
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