Travel in Italy

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Quick Facts
Capital Rome
Government Republic
Currency euro (EUR)
Area total 301,230 sq km
note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
water: 7,210 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km
Population 57,715,625 (July 2002 est.)
Language Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking with Ladin spoken by a minority), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Religion predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Calling Code 39
Internet TLD .it
Time Zone UTC +1


The Regions of Italy were granted a degree of regional autonomy in the 1948 constitution, which states that the constitution's role is: to recognize, protect and promote local autonomy, to ensure that services at the State level are as decentralized as possible, and to adapt the principles and laws establishing autonomy and decentralization.

However, five regions (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-South Tyrol, and Aosta Valley) have been granted a special status of autonomy to establish their own regional legislation on some specific local matters; based on cultural grounds, geographical location and on the presence of important minorities.

Each region has an elected council and a Giunta Regionale (executive committee) headed by a president (since 2002 called 'governor'). The Giunta is responsible to the council and is required to resign if it fails to retain the council's confidence.

The other 15 regions were established by various laws in 1970 and they primarily serve to decentralize the state government machinery, and recent administrations have devolved further powers to the regions. Many of the northern regions are seeking greater powers and autonomy. The regions are headed by a Commissioner who serves to co-ordinate the affairs and activities of the central government's apparatus.

Provincial and communal governments follow similar principles: councils and giunte headed by provincial presidents or communal mayors.

Regional autonomy (Federalism) has been made an issue in Italian politics in recent years, no doubt aided by the emergence of parties such as the Lega Nord.

File:544VeniceItaly.jpg
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Italy Regions numbered 300px.png
Region Capital
1. Abruzzo (formerly Abruzzi)
L'Aquila
2. Aosta Valley
(Val d'Aoste, Valle d'Aosta)<be>Aosta (Aoste)
3. Apulia (Puglia, sometimes Puglie)
Bari
4. Basilicata
Potenza
5. Calabria
Catanzaro
6. Campania
Naples (Napoli)
7. Emilia-Romagna
Bologna
8. Friuli Venezia Giulia
Trieste
9. Latium (Lazio)
Rome (Roma)
10. Liguria
Genoa (Genova)
11. Lombardy (Lombardia)
Milan (Milano)
12. Marches (Marche)
Ancona
13. Molise
Campobasso
14. Piedmont (Piemonte)
Turin (Torino)
15. Sardinia (Sardegna)
Cagliari
16. Sicily (Sicilia)
Palermo
17. Trentino-South Tyrol
(Trentino-Alto Adige/Trentino-Südtirol)
Trento and Bozen-Bolzano
18. Tuscany (Toscana)
Florence (Firenze)
19. Umbria
Perugia
20. Veneto
Venice (Venezia)


Italy is a large country in Southern Europe, probably one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe after France and Spain.

LocationItaly.png

Regions

It-map.png

Cities

  • Rome - (Roma): the capital, both of Italy and of the ancient Roman empire; centre of the Roman Catholic Church (the Vatican)
  • Bari - the "Milan of the South," gate to the East
  • Bologna - (Bologna): A major trade fair city.
  • Bozen - (Bolzano): The capital of the most german-speaking region and home of the Iceman
  • Florence - (Firenze): History, art, architecture. Uffizi's gallery, David of Michelangelo Buonarroti
  • Genoa - a vibrant and historical port city, birth place of Columbus
  • Milan - (Milano) - shares with Paris the title of fashion capital of the world
  • Naples - (Napoli) (including Herculaneum and Pompeii)
  • Padua (Padova)
  • Palermo - capital of Sicily
  • Pesaro - the city of Rossini
  • Pisa - location of the famous Leaning Tower
  • Rimini
  • Siena - a mediaeval town in southern Tuscany
  • Trento
  • Trieste
  • Turin - (Torino): The first capital of modern Italy. Host of the 2006 Winter Olympics
  • Venice - (Venezia): History, art. Saint Mark's Piazza. The city is built on a lagoon, filled with canals, with no roads for cars. Very poetic and romantic
  • Volterra - small Tuscan town with Eutruscian artifacts and the best olives ever tasted.
  • Verona - a restored Roman coliseum is the stage for modern opera productions
  • Vinci - home of the great Leonardo Da Vinci where there is a museum dedicated in his honor

Other destinations

  • Capri - the famed island in the Bay of Naples
  • Cinque Terre - five tiny, scenic, towns strung along the steep vineyard-laced coast of Liguria
  • Vatican City - the independent city-state and seat of the Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Montevarchi - small town in Tuscany where the Prada outlet is located.

Get in

By plane

Italy has its own national airline, Alitalia [1], as well as several smaller carriers, such as Meridiana [2]

Major Airports are located in the following Italian cities:

There are 406 budget routes flown from and within Italy by low cost airlines. A good comprehensive resource for no frills flights is the website Lowcostitaly [3]

By train

By car

Italy borders on France, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia. French and Austrian borders are open,but cars can be stopped behind the border for random checks. Switzerland and Slovenia are not part of the Schengen zone, and full border checks apply - although they have been known to let coaches straight through.

By boat

There are several ferries departing from Greece, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. Most of them arrive to Venice, Ancona, Bari and Brindisi.

Some regular ferry services connect the island of Corsica in France to Genoa, Livorno, Civitavecchia and North of Sardinia.

Some regular ferry services connect Sicily to some North African harbours.


To see

Monuments

The Islands

Sicily, Sardinia, Capri, Ischia, Elba, Procida, Aeolian,

Museums

Get around

By train

The Italian rail system has four levels: Eurostar, Intercity, Interregionale and Regionale, Eurostar being the classiest. Generally speaking, for a given distance each tier costs twice as much as the one below it. The train cars used by the Eurostar service are far newer than those used by the other three, but are not necessarily more comfortable. In fact, the cars used by Intercity trains are split up into distinct, six-seater compartments, which is really nice when you're travelling in groups.

The main practical difference between tiers is reliability. Intercity trains are generally very reliable, but if you need to catch a flight, for example, it might be better to pay extra for the Eurostar. Interregionale and Regionale are less reliable. The other big difference between Eurostar and the other two tiers is that Eurostar seating is all by reservation, while seating on the others is not. On the Eurostar, every passenger is assigned a seat. This means that the train will never be packed with an impossible number of people, but it also means you will need to purchase tickets in advance. During commuter hours, on major north-south routes during the holidays, or before and after large political demonstrations, trains on the two lower tiers can become very, very full, to the point where it gets very uncomfortable.

The pricier tier is usually faster, but there isn't a consistent speed difference between tiers. On some routes, the Eurostar will cut the travel time in half, but on others routes all three trains go the same speed, and taking the Eurostar is simply a waste of money. Just check the FS website or the printed schedule, usually located near the entrance to each platform, to see how long the trip will take.

On the train schedules, the Eurostar is listed in blue, Intercity in red while Interregionale and Regionale are green. The arrival times are listed in parentheses next to the names of each destination. One thing to watch out for: certain trains only operate seasonally, or for certain time periods (for example, during holidays).

The lines to buy tickets can be very long, and slow, so get to the station early. There are touch-screen ticket machines which are very useful, efficient, and multilingual, but there are never that many, and the lines for those can be very long too. Eurostar trains can fill up, so if you're on a tight schedule you should buy those tickets in advance. If you are running late and don't have time to buy a ticket, you can just jump on the train, but you will have to pay extra when the conductor (il controllore) comes around (a flat fee, somewhere around 5-10 euro) and they don't take credit cards. Technically, if you don't have a ticket you are supposed to find the conductor yourself and buy one (otherwise you have to pay another fee - approx. 20 euro), but for foreigners it's enough to just stammer something about being late and they will almost never hassle you about this.

Also, the way the system works is that unless you validate the ticket by inserting it into one of the yellow boxes on the platform (it says Convalida on the box), you could keep using it for months. The yellow box just stamps a date on the ticket, so the conductor knows you weren't planning on using that ticket again. Technically, a ticket that isn't validated is just like not having a ticket: you have to buy another. It is quite important not to forget to validate your ticket as the conductors are generally not tolerant in this particular matter.

The cheapest way to travel in a region is to buy a zone ticket card. A chart displayed near the validating machine tells you how many zones you must pay between stations. To buy a zone card for the next region you would have to get off the train at the last station and because the stops are so short you would have to board the next train (usually in about 1 hour).

As of January 10, 2005 a smoking ban in public places went into effect in Italy. You will be subject to fines for smoking on an Italian train.

By bus

Buy bus tickets before boarding from corner stores and other shops. The payment system for most mass transit in Italy (trains, city buses, subway) is based on voluntary payment combined with sporadic enforcement. Specifically, you buy a ticket which can be used at any time (for that level of service, anyway) and when you use it you validate the ticket by sticking it into a machine that stamps a date on it. Once in a while (with varying frequency depending on the mode of transportation) someone will ask you for your ticket and if you don't have one you get a fine, and theoretically (sometimes happens) you can be asked to present to the Police for a formal report. Usually line enforcers aren't very condescending, especially in northern Italy.

By thumb

Italians are generally very friendly and open people, but they're less likely to pick up hitchhikers than anyone else in the world. It is easier to hitchhike out of the Bronx than it is to hitchhike in Italy. Hitchhiking in the summer in touristy areas works okay because you'll get rides from Northern European tourists, and it works okay in very rural areas as long as there is consistent traffic (because you're still playing the odds) but hitchhiking near large cities or along busy routes is extremely frustrating. Hitchhiking is not recommended for women travelling alone.

Talk

Not surprising, Italian is the language spoken by the vast majority of Italians. English is spoken fairly commonly on the well-travelled path, but you'll want a good phrasebook for anything remote although even this may not help for the smaller towns and villages as many areas still speak dialects that you won't find in any phrasebooks.

Buy

Italy is part of the so-called Eurozone, so the common currency of the European Union, the Euro (€), is legal tender in Italy.

Italy is quite an expensive country. It has many luxury hotels and posh restaurants. It may cost EUR40.00 a day if a person self caters, stays in hostel, avoid drinking and don't visit too many museums but staying in a comfortable hotels, eating out regularly and visiting lots of museums and galleries, may cost a person at least EUR100-150 a day. Hiring a car may double expenses, so one should visit with enough budget.

All the bills include the service charges, so tipping is not necessary. Tipping the taxi drivers is also not necessary, but a hotel porter may expect a little something.

Eat

Cuisine

Italian food inside of Italy is different than Italian in America or western Europe. Italian food is based upon a few simple ingredients and Italians often have very discriminating tastes that may seem strange to Americans and other visitors. For instance, a sandwich stand might sell 4 different types of ham sandwiches that in each case contain ham, mayonnaise, and cheese. The only thing that may differ between the sandwiches is the type of ham or cheese used in them. Rustichella and panzerotti are two examples of sandwiches well-liked by Italians and tourists alike. Also, Italian sandwiches are quite different from the traditional Italian-American “hero,” “submarine,” or “hoagie” sandwich. Rather than large sandwiches with a piling of meat, vegetables, and cheese, sandwiches in Italy are often quite small, very flat (made even more so when they are quickly heated and pressed on a panini grill), and contain a few simple ingredients, rarely, if ever lettuce. Also, a traditional Italian meal is separated into several sections: antipasto (marinated vegetables, etc), primo (pasta or rice dish), secondo (meat course), dolce (dessert). Salads often come with the secondo. Americans will notice that Italian pasta often has a myriad of sauces rather than simply tomato and alfredo. Also, Italian pasta is often served with much less sauce than in America.

Like the language and culture, food is also a very regional in Italy. Pasta and olive oil are considered the characteristics of southern Italian food, while northern food focuses on rice and butter (although today there are many many exceptions). Local ingredients are also very important. In warm Naples, citrus and other fresh fruit play a prominent role in both food and liquor, while in Venice fish is obviously an important traditional ingredient.

A note about breakfast in Italy: breakfast in America is often seen as a large meal (eggs, bacon, juice, toast, coffee, fruit, etc). In Italy, this is not the case. Breakfast for Italians might be coffee with a pastry or a piece of bread and cold cuts or cheese. Unless you know for certain otherwise, you should not expect a large breakfast in Italy.

Specialties

  • Risotto - Rice that has been sautéed and cooked in a shallow pan with stock. The result is a very creamy, and hearty dish. Meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, and cheeses are almost always added depending on the recipe and the locale. Many restaurants, families, towns, and regions will have a signature risotto or at least style of ristotto, in addition or in place of a signature pasta dish (risotto alla Milanese is famous Italian classic).
  • Arancini - Balls of rice with tomato sauce, eggs, and cheese that are deep fried. They are a southern Italian specialty, though are now quite common all over.
  • Polenta - Yellow corn meal (yellow grits) that has been cooked with stock. It is normally served either creamy, or allowed to set up and then cut into shapes and fried or roasted.

Restaurants

Italian restaurants and bars charge more (typically double) if you eat seated at a table rather than standing at the bar or taking your order to go. There is usually small, very small print on the menus to tell you this. Some menus may also indicate a coperto (cover charge) or servizio (service charge).

Traditional meal includes (in order) antipasto (starter), primo (first dish - pasta or rice dishes), secondo (second dish - meat or fish dishes), served together with contorni (mostly vegetables), cheeses/fruit, dessert, coffee, spirits. Italians usually have all of them served and restaurants expect customers to follow this scheme; elegant or ancient restaurants usually refuse to make changes to proposed dishes (exceptions warmly granted for babies or unhealthy people) or to serve them in a different order, and they absolutely don't serve cappuccino between primo and secondo.

Agree whether you want primo (pasta or rice dishes) or secondo (meat dishes - if you want vegetables too look under contorni and order them as sides). When pizza is ordered, it is served as a primo (even if formally it is not considered as such), together with other primi. If you order a pasta/pizza and your friend has a steak you will get your pasta dish, and probably when you've finished eating the steak will arrive. It's slightly frowned upon to ask them to bring primo and secondo dishes at the same time (or "funny" changes like having a secondo before a primo). They may well say yes...and then not do it. Bad luck if you're doing the Atkins diet...

Restaurants which propose diet food, very few, usually write it clearly in menus and even outside; others usually don't have any dietetic resources, as Italians on a diet don't go to the restaurant.

Italian restaurants are completely non-smoking or have a non-smoking area which is well separated from the smoking area; so says a law, but you will discover that Italians have a friendly approach to laws and rules... Better anyway to precisely ask for an effective smoking or non-smoking area.

When pets are allowed (not a frequent case), never order ordinary dishes for them; in particular, never ever order meat for your pet, this would seriously upset waiters and other customers. In case of need, you might ask if the chef can kindly propose something (he usually can).

Better to leave tips in cash (not on your credit card).

Out of the restaurant, you might eventually be asked to show your bill and your documents by Guardia di Finanza agents (a police specialised in tax subjects - never in uniform); whatever they show you, immediately try to call #113 (similar to America's 911 - english spoken) and ask for policemen in uniform to help you, it could be a trick to pickpocket you. This kind of controls is effectively frequent (they want to know if the owner regularly recorded your money) and completely legitimate, but pickpocketers find it a good excuse to approach their victims. Call 113 or enter the first shop.

Drink

Bars are, like restaurants, non-smoking.

Wine

Wine is a substantial topic, a sort of test which can ensure you respect or lack of attention from an entire restaurant staff (this is why the first question is what you are going to drink). If you are a true connoisseur, don't allow your waiter to discover it; if you don't know how to distinguish wines other than by their color, don't allow your waiter discover it either.

Before reaching Italy, have a quick overview on most important regional types (of the region you are planning to go to) and when on site ask the waiter for one of them (not too young, not too old), he/she will suggest you 4/5 wines (always choose the second or the third one). The popular "color rule" (red wines with meat dishes, white wines with fish) can be happily broken when proposed by a sommelier or when you really know what you are doing: Italy has many very strong white wines to serve with meat, as well as very delicate red wines for fish.

The "vino della casa" (home-made wine) can be a good drinking opportunity in small villages far from towns (especially in Tuscany), where it likely could be what the patron would really personally drink and/or produce. Otherwise, it usually is a mixture of low-quality poor wines: low price, low flavour, possible day-after-headaches. Good wine can be very costly, but bad wine is still expensive.

No foreign wines are served (don't ask), but many grapes have French names (like Cabernet-Sauvignon).

Other drinks

  • Limoncello. A licquor made of alcohol, lemon peels, and sugar.
File:Limoncello1.jpg
A cold limoncello a warm night


Cope

  • Electricity. Italy uses 220V, 50HZ. The plugs are special for Italy. The grounding hole does not work with other systems. The two other holes are to narrow to be used with some plugs. A adaptor to Schuko cost €0.80 in supermarkets in Italy.


Stay safe

Like most developed countries, Italy is a very safe country to travel. There are few incidents of terrorism/serious violence and these episodes have been almost exclusively motivated by internal politics. Examples include the 1993 bombing of the Uffizi by the Italian Mafia. Almost every major incident is attributed to organized crime or anarchist movements and rarely, if ever, directed at travelers or foreigners.

Petty crime can be a problem for unwary travelers. Travelers should note that pickpockets often work in pairs or teams, occasionally in conjunction with street vendors. The rate of violent crimes in Italy is considered a "moderate," and while a portion of violent crimes are committed against travelers, it is normally not a problem. However, instances of rape and robbery as a result of drugging are increasing. Travelers should be careful when going out at night alone.

An additional note: There are many bars in Italy that cater to tourists and foreigners with "home country" themes, calling themselves such things as "American bars" or "Irish pubs." In addition to travelers, these bars attract a large number of Italians who, among other reasons, go there specifically to meet travelers and foreigners. And while the motivation for the vast majority of these Italians is simply to have a good time with new friends, there can be one or two petty criminals who loiter in and out of these establishments hoping to take advantage of travelers who are disoriented or drunk. Traveling to these places in groups is a simple solution to this problem.

For emergencies, call 113 (Polizia), 112 (Carabinieri), or 118 (Medical Rescue)

Stay healthy

The US Center for Disease Control recommends two vaccines for people traveling to western Europe: Hepatitis A (even though Americans are not at an increased risk) and Hepatitis B.

Italy has a small incidence rate of "Mad Cow" (bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)) disease--about 14 cases per million head of cattle. Since 2001, when Italy had its high of 48 cases of reported BSE, the reports have dropped to 38 (2002), and 29 (2003). Travelers concerned with this should visit the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) website for information on how to limit their exposure.

Contact

Telephone

The telephone system is well diffused in all parts of Italy. Both the wire and mobile systems are widespread.

Telephone numbers used to have separate prefixes (area codes) and a local number. In the 1990's the numbers were unified and nowadays, when calling Italian phones you should always dial the full number. For historical reasons you can still nowday hear of prefix and local number. The number of land lines start with 0. The number of mobile lines start with 3.

To call abroad from Italy you have to dial 00 + country code + local part where the syntax of the local part depends on the country called.

To call Italy from abroad you have to dial international prefix + 39 + local part Note that you should not skip the starting zero of the local part if you are calling an Italian land line.

The Italian calling code is 33. To phone another country, dial 00 followed by the calling code and subscriber number.

In case of emergency call the appropriate number in the list below. Such calls are usually free and calls to 112, 113, 115, 118 can be made from payphones for free without the need of inserting coins. 112 (standard emergeny number in GSM specification) can be dialed in any case for free from any mobile phone (even if your credit is empty or if you are in an area covered by a different operator)

  • 112 Carabinieri emergency number
  • 113 Police emergency number - general emergency
  • 115 Fire Brigade emergency number
  • 117 Guardia di Finanza (for commercial and tax issues)
  • 118 Health emergency number (use this if you need an ambulance)

Note: this list is not complete (please help us to expand it) Always bring a note about the address and the number of your embassy.

If you are in an emergency and do not know who to call dial 112 or 113 (out of major towns, better to call 113 for english-speaking operators).

Payphones are widely available, especially in stations and airports. The number of payphones has consistentely reduced after the introduction of mobile phones. Some payphones work with coins only, some with phone cards only and some with both coins and phone cards. Only a limited number of phones (just a few in main airports) directly accept credit cards.

Mobile phones are heavily used. The main networks are TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile, part of Telecom Italia), Vodafone (previously Omnitel), Wind, and 3. Note that cell phones from North America will not work in Italy, unless they are Tri-band. Most of the country is covered by GSM signal, while only a part nowdays (2005) is covered by UMTS signal. A convenient way, if you are coming from abroad and you are going to make a consistent number of calls, is to buy a pay as you go SIM card and put it in your current mobile (if compatible and if your mobile set is not locked). Please note that you may incurr in subscrition fares and recharge fares. Please note that, as a measure to contrast crime and terrorism, you are required to give a valid form of identification to be able to use the SIM card. Subscription-based mobile phones are subject to a governative tax, to which pay as you go contracts are not subject.

Costs for calls can vary significantly depending on when, where from and where to. The cost of calls differs considerably if you call a wired phone or a mobile phone. Usually there is a difference in cost even for incoming calls from abroad. If can choose, calling the other party's land line could be cheaper than mobile. Beware of premium rate calls, which can be very expensive.

According to national regulations, hotels cannot apply a surcharge on calls made from the hotel (as the switchboard service should be already included as a service paid in the room cost), but to be sure check it before you use.

Calls between landlines are charged at either the local rate or the national rate depending on the originating and destination area codes; if both are the same then the area code is optional and the call will be local rate. Note that local calls are not free.

Internet services are widely available, often in hotels too, and usually are very fast. Many Italian providers can offer free accounts for connections, you only pay for the connection, which is a special phone call to the selected pop, with special fees. Internet points are in most major towns, but depending on terrorism crisis, you have to show your documents and answer to several questions on a form; your connections will be logged and quite certainly your privacy would be sacrificed to security issues.

External links

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