2017
You have to bring:
- Just your prescription medication and a doctor’s note.
- Everything else can be bought here.
Things you can buy here or bring with you:
- Luggage:
- You can use a suitcase or a backpack. A Backpack gives you a little more mobility, but it’s not a must-have here.
- But, dragging your suit case on the cobbled stones will get irritating.
- Clothes:
- You can buy anything here.
- If you like leather, this is the country for you to shop.
- You can buy anything here.
- Towel:
- Bring your towel if you are staying in a hostel.
- Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash:
- All hotels provided guests with shampoo and body wash.
- You are never given conditioner.
- You should bring your own toiletries if you are staying at a hostel.
- Deodorant/ Antiperspirant:
- You can find this here.
- Sunscreen:
- No problem; you can find it here.
- Over the counter medicine:
- There are lots of pharmacies where you can buy cold medicine and pain killers like aspirin.
- It’s best if you know the generic or chemical name of the drugs you need.
- Instead of asking for Bufferine, ask for ibuprofen.
- I would still bring some medications for basic illnesses like diarrhea, fever, and constipation.
- Don’t run out of these.
- It’s always tough to look for medication when you’re already sick.
- It’s easy to find what you want if you have a label of the drug you are looking for.
- Other things you should bring:
- Hat
- Sunglasses
- Flip-flips
- Smartphone
- comfortable shoes. (There are lots of cobbled stone roads and sidewalks.)
General Tips:
Clothes:
- Wear the right clothes to enter churches.
- No shorts or sleeveless shirts.
- It’s best to have the right clothes with you all the time. You never know when you might want to check out some church on your walk back to the hotel.
- When you enter a church, take off you hat and shades.
Food:
- Never pick a non-fast food restaurant at random.
- Look online first.
- Check the reviews.
- Look for a menu with prices online.
- Watch out for seating fees and service charges.
- Seating fees = €3~6 per person
- Service charges = 10 ~ 20% of the bill
- If your total is €20 with 10% service charge and €5 seating fee for 2 people. Your bill is now €32. You just paid €12 for simply showing up.
- Not all nice restaurants charge these, but the ones that do will say that they do on the menu.
- ALWAYS look at the menu before you enter the restaurant.
- Either look at the menu online or at the front door of the restaurant.
- Cook for yourself as much as you can.
- Eat out only a few times.
- If you cannot cook for yourself, then look for cheap restaurants or simple sandwich shops.
- How to find a cheap restaurant:
- Never go into a restaurant close to where many tourists are.
- Walk a few blocks away from any tourist attractions.
- Go down an alley.
- Kebab shops are usually pretty cheap and they serve good pizza.
- When eating in a restaurant, or even a kebab shop, never order drinks.
- Buy your drinks at a grocery store and drink after you leave the restaurant.
- Iced tea at a grocery store = €0.45~0.65
- Iced tea at a kebab shop = €2~2.50
- Iced tea at a restaurant = €3.50~4.50
- Don’t even ask for water unless you know for sure it’s complimentary.
- Sparkling water is usually just as expensive as a regular drink.
- Buy your drinks at a grocery store and drink after you leave the restaurant.
Transportation:
- ALWAYS keep your ticket.
- DO NOT throw away the ticket until after you have gotten to your destination (for the bus) or left the station (for the train).
- Never not pay for the bus or train.
- They might not check every time. But, they do random checks and fine people without tickets.
- If you have a ticket that needs validation, make sure to get it validated.
- Even if the bus is crowded. Ask someone for help getting your ticket stamped from the machines placed at the front, middle, and back of the bus. People help each other all the time on the crowded bus by stamping other people’s cards in the machines.
Tickets:
- To make sure you get to see the thing you came all the way to Italy to see, you should buy your ticket ahead of time.
- But there is a bit of a gamble. Unlike the UK or France where it’s either cheaper or the same price to buy tickets online ahead of time, in Italy it will always cost about €4 more.
- If the line isn’t too long, I say save your money and wait the 30 minutes.
- When it comes to Vatican City, ALWAYS buy your ticket ahead of time.
- Do not lose your ticket or throw it away until you have left the building. You might be stopped and asked to show your ticket.
- You will spend a lot of time in Italy in line, even when you buy your tickets ahead of time.
- Bring e-books, audio books, paper books, movies, games, water, and a snack.
Money:
- Get cash from ATMs.
- Don’t tip.
Scams:
- I’ve seen the:
- Survey Scam
- Free Bracelet Scam
- If someone approaches you on the street asking, “Where are you from?” It’s a scam!
- Honestly, it may feel like you are being very rude, but the best way to deal with most scam artists is to just ignore them. Pretend you don’t hear them or you don’t speak whatever language they are talking to you in.
- Here are some other scams
How to get there:
You can enter this country by land, water, or air.
Phone:
- 113 – police
- 115 – fire
- 118 – first aid
Website:
- Tourism Website
- Rome:
Data:
Downloads:
Videos:
Books:
- Blood & Beauty: The Borgias
- Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
- Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History—without the Fairy-Tale Endings
Notes:
- Many of the streets and walkways are paved in cobblestones making it harder to walk on with the wrong type of shoes.
- Apparently, you can drink from any of the water fountains you see.
- Not the type with statues fighting sea monsters where the water spurts upwards; the type with the water falling down.
- Watch out for pick-pockets.
- Get your tickets ahead of time when going to see popular things.
- You never know when you might what to check out a basilica. So, make sure to dress properly, or you won’t be let in.
- Not shorts. Make sure that at least your knees are covered.
- No sleeveless shirts.