04/08/2021
After spending two cumulative months exploring nearly the entire country of Italy, both North and South, I have come up with 35 Things You Need To Know Before Traveling in Italy. Sorry for the long novel, but I hope this helps you! Here they are!
1) People actually say “Mamma Mia!” for anything ranging from “no way” to “wow” to “oh my God”. It spans a wide emotional range and is a wonderful expression of life.
2) Italians are passionate; if you see an Italian speaking without their hands gesticulating feverishly, voice raising and arms flailing about, I am sorry to tell you that this person is not Italian.
3) You will hear the word, allora everywhere you go. Albeit a bit anticlimactic, it is simply a filler word such as so, okay, well or the. It is also a way to begin a sentence.
4) It is polite to say “buon appetito!” to anybody who is about to enjoy a meal, even if you are walking past them and they are strangers. I witnessed a beautiful human interaction while in La Spezia near Cinque Terre: two punky-looking twenty-something-year-old guys were sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette and eating junk food (chips and a hamburger), pants low around their hips exposing their boxers. An elderly lady with a cane was walking towards them with a look of scorn on her face. I thought she would give them a dirty look as she passed, thinking they were a bunch of young hooligans. Instead, as she approached, she gave them a big smile and said, “buon appetito!” Making eye contact with her, the two guys returned the smile and replied with, “grazie signora.” And she went on her way. I thought this was such a sweet encounter and not something I often see in America. The level of respect here for elders is lovely, and I’ve noticed it all over Italy. It warms my heart.
5) Unless you are darker skinned and dress like an Italian, people will probably stare at you, especially if you’re visiting the smaller villages less frequented by tourists. Do not take offense to this; they are merely curious and probably want to know where you’re from and if you’re staying with anyone they know in their village. Sasha is nearly two meters tall (6’7″) and fair skinned, so he often gets asked where he’s from.
6) (Most) people dress well in Italy, even the nonnas (grandmas) in smaller villages. Unless you’re on the sea or going for a run, it is not as acceptable to dress sloppily (i.e. workout clothing in the city.) We also noticed that Northern Italy seemed to be less body conservative than Southern Italy (i.e. Northern beaches had more topless women, and we saw zero topless women in the South.)
7) PDA (public displays of affection) really is a thing here, and that’s an understatement. And you won’t just see it in teenagers young and in love. We giggled when we passed a grown adult couple making out on a park bench, and had to stop ourselves from staring when we later saw a couple probably in their 70’s doing the same! I love it! Keeping that love alive!
😎 Gelato (ice cream in Italian) is not just a dessert, it is its own food group and a way of life. Especially in Tuscany, gelato merely becomes an accessory, like a must-have item of your everyday wardrobe (and if you’re clumsy like my husband, you may also end up inadvertently wearing the gelato on yourself so that it literally does become a physical part of your wardrobe 😉).
9) Most restaurants stop serving food between the hours of 3:00 – 7:30 PM, which I appropriately named “the starvation window”, as we made the mistake several times before we learned why nobody was serving food, and ended up hungry and grumpy, eventually succumbing to tiding ourselves over with a few gelato (I know, tough life, right? I guess I’ll eat a gelato for a snack before dinner, twist my arm.) Be sure to plan your meals around these time frames, and have some snacks handy. Something to note is that the restaurant may still stay open, but their kitchen will be closed and they will only serve drinks, nuts or bread, so you can’t always follow the hours listed on TripAdvisor or Google. Also, keep in mind that many shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays.
10) Is tipping necessary in Italy? The short answer is: yes, but it isn’t a percentage of your total bill. If you’re paying with cash and the bill is low (€20 or under, a good rule of thumb is to simply round to the nearest euro, or if you’re paying by card, leave a €1 coin.) If the service was really outstanding, or the bill is higher, your server will appreciate the gesture of leaving a few euro coins. It will be highly appreciated but never expected. This goes for all services from dining to haircuts, manicures, cafes, massages, etc. This is one of the reasons you should always carry a coin purse.
11) What is a Coperto? A coperto is a standard fee in nearly all Italian restaurants across the country and is a service or “tableware” charge. Unfortunately this charge is unavoidable, even if you don’t touch the bread. In some restaurants, part or all of this charge goes to the server, which is why tipping is not necessary.
12) Gas stations often have delicious food! If you’re on a road trip in Italy, you will be delighted to find anything from pizza to pasta to full blown steaks, cooked to your liking, at the larger service stations. (AutoGrill in Puglia is legit!)
13) When you order an espresso or light snack such as a panini, if you don’t want to pay the coperto (service charge), then don’t sit down at a table. Once you sit, you are charged the coperto. If you drink the coffee and eat your snack at the bar (this is very common and you will see locals doing it all the time), you’ll avoid the coperto (which is typically €1 – €3 per person).
14) You will often see the initials D.O.P printed on food and beverage labels or on restaurant menus. D.O.P. = Protected Region of Origin. This simply means that the ingredients are local.
15) If you visit a restaurant primarily where locals dine, pizza will be served to you uncut. 😳 The first time we saw this, we were so confused and thought perhaps the Chef forgot. Nope! That’s how the locals do it! You’re meant to cut it on your own with a fork and knife.
16) How to order meals in Italy: The first time an Italian menu was put in front of us, we spoke maybe two words in Italian and we were hopelessly lost. Thankfully, after spending quite a bit of time here, we’ve learned more of the language, the customs, and how to order food. I’ve created for you, a short guide:
Antipasti – appetizer, usually smaller dishes
Primi/Primo/Minestre – first course. These dishes are often the same portion size as a secondi dish, so it is perfectly acceptable to order a primi as your main
Secondi/Secondo – second course
*Note: You do not have to order a primi and a secondi. There is no written rule on how you should order. Have a look around you and see what the portion sizes are and that should help you determine how much you need based on the level of your appetite
Pasta and Pizze (pizza) are often in their own categories
Cantorni – side dishes. Unlike in America where most mains come with a starch, a vegetable and a protein, in Italy dishes are typically served a la carte. For example, a whole fish will simply come on a plate with a few slices of carrot as a garnish. A pasta dish will be only pasta with its accompanied sauce. If you want extra veggies, you must order them as a side dish.
Dolci – dessert
Mare – seafood
Terra – meat
17) Breakfast is not a thing in Italy. Literally, when you enter “breakfast” into Googlemaps in Italy, it comes up with bed & breakfast accommodation. Italians are quite content merely with a coronetto (croissant), espresso and a cigarette. If you’re a breakfast or brunch person, prepare for this by stopping at the local mercato (market) and pick up some eggs and prosciutto to make at home.
18) The 15th of August begins a holiday called Ferragosto, where it seems that nearly half of Italy shuts down and heads to the sea for their holiday. This means that many shops and restaurants in cities (even large ones like Torino) will be closed and will look like a ghost town. The plus side: you get the city to yourself!
What Is It Like To Drive In Italy?
I’m not going to lie to you; driving in Italy (depending on where you are in the country), can be quite harrowing. People drive fast, swerve in and out of lanes, Vespas and motorcycles whiz by you within a few centimeters, people don’t use their indicators, and highway merges are shorter than a corgi’s tail. Here are a few tips to help you be aware of what it’s like to drive in Italy:
19) There are pullouts nearly every 200 yards. These are also very commonly used for “pee breaks” if there are few rest areas around, as you will see toilet paper everywhere, which is a shame because of the litter, but when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go.
20) Be prepared for tolls; they are everywhere. You’ll take the ticket first and pay later upon exiting. The price will be determined by the distance you drove. Of our transportation costs during our four weeks in Northern Italy, $280 were in tolls. We passed 35 tolls in our 30 days in Northern Italy. Southern Italy had far fewer tolls.
21) Rent a car with diesel because diesel gas is cheaper in Italy.
22) All Italian rental cars come with a self-adjusted timer on the right corner of the windshield inside the car. This is for when you park somewhere that requires you to pay for a specific amount of time. For example, if the limit is three hours and you arrive at 12 noon, you set your car timer to 15:00 hours so the parking attendants know the time you arrived.
23) Watch out for limited traffic zones, which exist in many cities. They are marked as a white sign with a red circle in the middle, that says “zona traffico limitado” with a video camera atop. If you accidentally go through one of these, you’re unfortunately out of luck because the camera will take a photo of your license plate and send the bill to your rental car agency up to one year later!!! Sasha and I can attest to this because it happened to us, and we actually received the bill 11 months later! Be vigilant, as the signs are often difficult to spot, or not in obvious areas!
24) Just as in many other countries, the left lane is the fast lane. However, unlike in America where slow people in the fast lane get honked at, and the fast driver frustratedly gets into the right lane to pass, and then moves back into the left lane, in Italy if you drive slowly in the fast lane, you will be tailgated and flashed with brights until you move over. People will not pass you when you’re in the left lane, YOU are expected to move over, so unless you want a car hot on your tail for a good five minutes, you’d better move over when a fast car approaches, or simply stay in the right lane. You might deduct from this observation that Italians are stubborn, perhaps?
25) Merges on the highways are very short; be prepared to step up your (safe) aggressive driving game in Italy if you want to blend in with the flow of traffic.
26) Unlike in America, the land of driving and ridiculously over-sized beverages, you will not find cup holders in cars in Italy. In fact, ordering a drink for takeaway is still a strange concept here, and you may get some confused looks from baristas. Most locals sip their espresso at the counter or at a restaurant, finish it, and then leave.
27) Italians are generally not in a hurry (unless you’re in larger cities), and the pace of life can be frustrating, especially if you’re in a hurry. Italians never seem to be in a hurry, unless they’re driving, and then you’d better get out of their way otherwise they’ll ride your tail until you move over.
28) During our two months in Italy, we only saw two cop cars driving on the highway, but zero parked or monitoring speed on the highways. Coming from America where cops are always hiding at every turn, waiting to pull you over for going 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, this was a bit strange for us not to see them. Because of this, people drive very fast and often swerve into and out of lanes without using their signal, which leads me to the next point:
29) Drivers rarely use their indicators (turn signals), but this is one example that I would ask you not to “do as the Romans do”. Using your turn signal is much safer for everyone on the road, so please use it.
30) Just like in many European countries, it is customary to turn on your hazard lights when approaching a slow down. Don’t turn them off until the driver behind you turns on their hazard lights to alert the driver behind them.
31) Blue lines means you can park, but you have to pay, so look for the machine. White lines mean it’s free (but always double check!)
32) Enter “parcheggio” into Googlemaps to find car parks in cities.
33) Always carry a coin purse, as many machines in Italy still only accept coins, or the credit card reader doesn’t work.
34) A bullseye on a sign signifies the town center (be careful, as this is where many of the zona trafico limitados are located!)
35) Fiats are everywhere. They’re manufactured in Turin and they proudly support their local automaker!
I sincerely hope that this helps you avoid costly mistakes and tourist faux pas the next time you're in Italy so that you can blend in as a local and truly enjoy a hassle-free trip!
