Pre-departure Travel Tips for Italy
- Plan to go either Spring April-May or Fall (Autumn) September- November as Italy is very busy during the peak tourist season of June to September; you'll find prices lower, queues shorter and the weather still reasonable.
- Always have a medical/dental/optical check-up to avoid nasty surprises on the road as for any overseas travel. Take out travel insurance for the trip.
- Make sure that your passport is valid for at least the length of your trip abroad. Citizens of most western countries including: USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand will be given a permission t o stay 3 months on arrival, assuming they are visiting as tourists and not studying or traveling for business purposes.
- Always Pack Light - ideally a carry on bag should be sufficient. If you can't carry your own bags on and off trains and up and down stairs (not all hotels have elevators), you will have problems as porters are not common particularly on trains. Anyway you will need some space for the shopping won't you?
- Learn about the history and culture of Italy before you go. Rick Steves puts out a wonderful book called Europe101 "Written for smart people who slept through their history and art history classes" very readable and very useful. Of course not all of European culture is in Italy but an awful lot of the art and sculpture.
- Accommodation: lodging in Italy isn’t cheap. Hostels can be quite costly with rooms ranging from 15-30 Euros per night. Private rooms cost around 100 Euros per night. A budget hotel will set you back 80 Euros or more for a double room. The good news is that the further south you go the cheaper the prices get. Expect the lower range for hostel prices and hotels for 60 Euros from Rome south.
- Food: Food costs range the real range here in Italy. The food served in Italian restaurants is as much of an art form as the masterpieces in Italian museums. Most restaurant meals with wine will cost around 20 Euros per person and add about 10 Euros to that in tourist hotspots. Quick eats like pizza, paninis, and light snacks will cost 2-3 Euros. Fast food will cost 7 Euros for a value meal. At all restaurants, add 1 – 2 Euros for the “coperta” (sit down fee).
- Transportation: Trains in Italy are more widely used, faster and more punctual than their American counterparts. Fast trains (Eurostar) cost 30-50 Euros per trip. The slower regional trains cost between 5 – 20 Euros per trip. Public transport is reasonably priced with most buses and subways costing 1.20 Euro for a single way. You can check schedules and prices on the Trenitalia website. Make sure you book the right kind of train. The accelerato, regionale and locale are slow, stopping at every station. Diretto trains, which are often commuter trains, are slightly faster and make fewer stops. For long distances when you are short on time, RyanAir and EasyJet have cheap flights.
How to Budget for Food during Travel to Ital
Dining is essential to the Italian travel experience. Planning dining experience in Italy requires two types of budgets: monetary and caloric. It would be shame, for example, to eat a massive meal at lunch, only to feel guilty about indulging in a late-afternoon cup of Italian gelato. Similarly, because breakfast is not an Italian specialty, you should allocate only a small portion of your monetary budget to your morning meal.
- Check with your bank and credit card companies prior to departure, to let them know that you will be using your cards outside of the country. Exchange about $30 for euros before you leave. The best rates are at the banks and the airports have horrible exchange rates.
- There are several small establishments serve various types of coffee drinks as well as small hot or cold sandwiches called panini, or bruschette, which is bread topped with vegetables, cheese or meats. You can also order a croissant or other type of breakfast pastry. These items are considerable enough to sustain your energy for visiting the attractions, but light enough to keep you from feeling satiated. Generally, a panini cost between 3 and 5 euros, which is about $4.25 to $7.35. Work off lunch by walking around the town or city. Stop for a late-afternoon gelato, then return to your hotel, rest and dress for dinner.
- Find a major piazza in any Italian town or city. Walk to a side street, and find an osteria. These smaller, family run restaurants serve one-course meals, as opposed to the multi-course meals served at ristorantes, or restaurants. In addition, the prices of the food is also lower.
- Choose an item from the piatti del giorno, which is a single-course entree made from ingredients purchased fresh from the marketplace. Don't be tempted by the menu turistico. These multi-course meals are designed for tourists, and are usually less authentic than other items on the menu. They offer way too much food for a mid-afternoon meal. Find a ristorante, which is a restaurant that serves multi-course meals. These are generally expensive, but they offer wider selections of entrees. A characteristic ristorante meal consists of an antipasto; a first or primo course, which is rice, pasta or soup; and a main course, which is meat, poultry or soup.
- A mensa, which means "canteen," is a university cafeteria. Prices are low, and some are open to the public. .Some Italian ATMs will not accept a PIN longer than four digits. Factor in foreign transaction fees when using a credit card to pay for meals. If you order items a la carte, you will have to pay a cover charge (coperto) for the bread.
Taxes
You may find yourself purchasing many gifts and products when visiting Italy. The Imposta di Valore Aggiunto (IVA) which is a value-added tax adds approximately 20 percent to most purchases. A non-European Union resident can claim a refund for all purchases valued at €154.95 or more. You must fill out a form at the Italian customs desk at your port of departure. If you're leaving at an airport, most customs offices have the ability to refund your tax on-site. If not, you will receive a deposit to your credit card. For more information, contact Italy's Agenzia Delle Dogane.
