Important note for Americans and I assume Canadians too. In Italian restaurants they include “coperto” in the price - this covers bread and service. They have to write on the menu how much but expect to pay between 1 and 3.50 euro. However, since service is included in this you do NOT actually have to tip. Perhaps a small extra if the service was really exceptional, but nothing like the mandatory large tips of North America. Actually, I’ve been living here almost three years and I’ve never actually seen any Italians tip in restaurants.
Enjoy your trip. Italian is IMO the most beautiful country on earth!
P.s. Cappuccino after lunch or dinner (or heaven forfend during) instantly marks you out as a tourist.
Huh? That’s odd, I think you were either unlucky or your lunch was really quite late. Generally I would expect restaurant to be open for lunch till around 15.00 or so. Should you be caught out, you’ll find that most bars have some sandwiches and rolls varying from delicious to decidedly meh, but you won’t starve.
Oh and Milan and Turin have a nice tradition of aperitifs where you pay a hefty price for your drink, 8 to 10 euro or so, but they throw in an all-you-can-eat buffet that practically covers dinner if you’re on a budget. It’s fun, too, as all people hang around outside to gossip and show off their outfits.
While we are on opening hours, it is also worth noting that many shops close from 12.30 until 15.30. In bigger cities you’ll find that chain stores stay open all day, but the smaller family-run concerns close and in small towns everything just goes dead. If it is hot (which it might well be in June depending where you are) it makes sense to have a long lunch or a nap and do the more heavy-duty sight-seeing in evening when it’s cooler.
If a bunch of kids crowd up to you and one of them shoves a piece of cardboard covered in writing at you, don’t try to read it. Get your hand under it and grab the wrist of the kid trying to pick your pocket.
Italian driving gets more insane the farther south you get. By Naples it’s basically a blood sport.
A ‘latte’ means a glass of milk. If that’s not what you want, order a latte macchiato or a caffé latte.
I spent about a week in Italy last year. A couple things:
Unless the exchange rate / foreign ATM charges on your card are really low, Euro will be more convenient. I exchanged some through my bank before I went to Europe, and took along my card and U.S. cash. The exchange rate that I got through my bank was better than either of the other options. I had something similar to this, and as long as I made sure to keep some spending money on-hand, was fine. My suggestion would be to exchange plenty of money through your home bank before you go abroad, and keep the cash on you at all times (through a belt or some other means). It’s cheaper and more convenient, and your home bank will usually offer to lock-in the exchange rate if you need to convert the remainder back after your trip.
Yes you need an adapter, but an ordinary plug adapter will work for most laptops. Check the print on your laptop plug, and leave the hair dryer at home.
15.00 or so is 3 o’clock or so in U.S. terminology. We don’t use the ‘or so’ terminology for businesses in the U.S. Restaurants are open for the whole day from opening to close with almost no exceptions. It is a big cultural difference that travelers from the U.S. should be aware of. I have stood in line several times in Italy only to have the door closed in my face and all the workers go home for break because it was that time.
Italy has many things to recommend it and be proud of but good customer service and a strong a strong work ethic isn’t among them. I would say it is a charming cultural distinction if it wasn’t one of the countries about to cause the end of the European Union and disrupt the entire world economy because of their cultural eccentricities.
When I taught summers in Switzerland, I would go to Milan and Como probably every other weekend.
Great food (as previously mentioned) and I heartily agree with the idea of going to the heart of the tourist trap areas, and then walk away in any direction about 2-3 blocks. That is where the locals who work in the tourist traps go to eat - much cheaper, far better and more fun!
Yes, they do indeed shut down mid-afternoons, which makes it a good time to go
back to the hotel room and take a nice nap.
My biggest complaint in Italy is that everything, and everyone moves so damn slowly. I used to joke if they walked any slower they would be going backwards. Maybe I lived in NYC and Berlin too long, but wow, the Italians (even the young ones) just shuffle along at a snail’s pace - I have seen people on IV’s in hospitals move at a faster clip.
Go to Como…just a very, very short distance from the Swiss/Italian border and you will probably drive right past it on the way. Forget the fact that you might bump into George Clooney (I was there first, George - stop stalking me!!!), it is worth an quick overnight stay and a trip on the lake.
Go ahead and order a glass or carafe of the house red or white, even if you’d never do that at home. It’s likely to be at least decent.
A glass of wine might cost less than a Coke.
Big breakfasts are a British/American thing. The Italians, AIUI, are more likely to get a cappuccino and a pastry from a coffee shop for breakfast. Don’t count on filling up at breakfast, IOW. (I have no idea what German breakfasts are like- my only encounter with them was seeing people having pretzels and beer at breakfast time in the Frankfurt airport.)
My trick for dealing with jet lag is to stay up till at least 9 PM the first night you are there. It will not be fun. You will be tired. (Lots of caffeine, no alcohol, and activities where you keep moving, rather than sitting, help. DO NOT NAP. You can nap on other days, just not that first day.) But you will be able to wake up at about the right time the next morning- at least, this has always worked for me. It did mean I didn’t get to join in the pretzels-and-beer breakfast at Frankfurt airport, though.
Foreign ATM fees are often a flat charge, regardless of the amount of money you get out. The obvious thing to do here is to get your cash a lot at a time.
I generally wear close-to-elbow-length sleeves and long pants, or skirts that fall below my knees. I had no problems getting into any church in Italy dressed like that.
My fashion sense pretty much got stuck at “broke college student”. I’ve never had a problem with pickpockets. I suspect these things may be connected. I probably look like I don’t have anything worth stealing.