Italy: know before you go

Italy sits inside the Schengen area, so short visits are capped at 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole zone, and US and UK passport holders do not need a visa for tourist stays within that window. Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the day you plan to leave, and border officers can ask for proof of funds and an onward ticket, so keep your bookings accessible. Two EU changes matter now. Since October 12, 2025, the Entry/Exit System records fingerprints and a facial image for non-EU visitors at external borders. And ETIAS, the online travel authorization for visa-exempt travelers, is expected to start in late 2026; check the official EU site before you book so you know whether it applies to you.

Two airports handle most long-haul arrivals. Rome Fiumicino is Italy's busiest airport and the main transatlantic gateway, and high-speed trains run from there to Florence, Naples and the south. Milan Malpensa is the second-busiest and the long-haul hub for the north, best for itineraries around the lakes, Turin and Venice. Both link by rail to their city centers and onto the national network. If your trip starts elsewhere, international airports at Venice, Naples, Bologna, Catania and Pisa can save a cross-country transfer. Arriving overland is straightforward from the north by train, and ferries reach Sicily, Sardinia and the smaller islands.

Italy's high-speed lines make trains the default between big cities. Trenitalia's Frecciarossa and its rival Italo compete on the main routes, and Milan to Rome takes 2 hours 50 minutes on the fastest departures; Florence, Bologna, Venice, Naples and Turin are on the network too. Fares behave like airfares, cheap months ahead and steep at the last minute, so book early for weekends and holidays. Slower Intercity and regional trains reach smaller towns at lower prices, and long-distance coaches cover gaps the rails leave. A rail pass can make sense for lots of long, flexible hops, but for a simple city-to-city route, advance point-to-point tickets usually cost less. If you drive instead, expect tolls on most motorways and camera-enforced limited traffic zones in historic centers.

City transport across Italy runs on the same principle everywhere: buy a ticket and validate it. Stamp paper tickets in the machines on buses and trams, and do the same with paper regional train tickets before boarding, because inspectors work the networks and unvalidated tickets draw fines. Big-city systems increasingly take contactless bank cards at the gate, but smaller towns still run on paper and apps, and ticket machines are common at stations. Strikes are part of the picture: scioperi can suspend buses, metros and trains for a day, sometimes with a few days of warning and sometimes not, so check the operator's website before a travel day and leave buffer time if you are catching a flight.

Italy uses the euro, and displayed prices include VAT, so the menu number is the number you pay. Contactless cards and phones work almost anywhere in cities, including museums and coffee bars, but carry some cash for small towns, markets and the occasional old-school trattoria. The charge that surprises first-timers is the tourist tax, added per person per night by hotels and other accommodation at rates each comune sets within national ceilings, and usually paid at checkout. It applies to overnight guests, not day visitors, and it has been rising: the higher ceilings first allowed in 2024 have been extended again, so many comuni charge more in 2026 than they did two years ago. Tipping is optional on top of the bill; rounding up or leaving small change for good service is plenty.

Italy is a low-risk country by the standards of most travelers, and the trouble you are most likely to meet is petty theft. Pickpockets work crowds: metro carriages, packed buses, station concourses, markets and the streets around the big sights. Wear bags across your body and zipped, keep phones and wallets out of back pockets, and split cash and cards between bags. If something does go wrong, 112 reaches police, ambulance and fire services free of charge. Protests and strikes occasionally disrupt transport, and summer heat is a real hazard in the south and inland cities, so carry water and plan around the middle of the day.

Italy's public health system is strong, and how you access it depends on where you are from. EU and EEA visitors with a European Health Insurance Card, valid for the trip, get state care on the same terms as residents for necessary treatment during a temporary stay. Visitors from outside the EU pay for treatment, so US guidance recommends travel insurance covering medical care, evacuation and trip cancellation before you leave. Pharmacies, marked by a green cross, advise on minor problems and sell common medicines; for anything serious, hospital emergency departments (pronto soccorso) treat urgent cases. Tap water is safe to drink just about everywhere in Italy, so refill a bottle as you go.

Mobile coverage in Italy is fast in cities, along high-speed rail lines and on the coasts, with gaps in the Alps and some rural areas. SIMs from EU and EEA countries roam here at domestic rates under the EU's roam like at home rules, with a fair-use limit that few short trips will approach. Visitors from outside Europe should buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM, sold by carriers including TIM, Vodafone, Wind Tre and Iliad. Free Wi-Fi is common in hotels, cafes and airports, but speeds vary, so a data plan is the smoother option for maps, tickets and translation. On the rails, Frecciarossa trains have free onboard Wi-Fi, which makes booking the next leg easy.

Italian social life runs on small courtesies. Say buongiorno in the morning and buonasera from the afternoon on when you walk into a shop, bar or restaurant, and use per favore and grazie; it changes the temperature of the exchange. Coffee is a standing ritual: drink your espresso at the bar, and save milk-heavy coffees for the morning. Lunch is traditionally the main meal of the day and dinner comes later and lighter, so a restaurant may not open for dinner until around 7 or 8 in the evening. When the bill arrives, look for the coperto, a small per-person cover charge for bread and table service that is standard and separate from a tip. Tipping is optional; rounding up or leaving a coin or two is plenty.

Italian is the national language, and even a few words are appreciated. English is widely spoken in hotels, airports, major museums and big-city restaurants; smaller towns and older Italians are where a phrasebook earns its place. Italy is also deeply multilingual: twelve minority languages have legal recognition, German has official standing in South Tyrol, French in the Aosta Valley, and Slovene, Ladin, Friulian and Sardinian are spoken in their regions. Regional accents are strong, and many families speak a local dialect at home, so the Italian you studied may sound different on the ground. Start with buongiorno, buonasera, per favore, grazie and un caffè.

Italy can be traveled with a disability, but the older the place, the more you negotiate: cobblestones, stepped alleys, uneven pavements and the occasional missing lift are routine, and Venice presents the hardest conditions of all. The transport system is formally on your side. Under EU rules, train stations and airports provide free assistance to travelers with disabilities or reduced mobility, covering everything from arrival to boarding and connections, and you should request it when you book and reconfirm a day or two before you travel. High-speed trains can be booked with accessible seating, and the largest stations are the best equipped; smaller stations and rural lines need more research before you commit to a tight connection.

Italy's public holidays mix church and state, and they close offices, schools, banks and many shops; museums publish their own holiday hours, and small family-run businesses sometimes take the whole week. The fixed dates are January 1, January 6 (Epiphany), April 25 (Liberation Day), May 1 (Labour Day), June 2 (Republic Day), August 15 (Ferragosto, or the Assumption), November 1 (All Saints), December 8 (Immaculate Conception), and December 25 and 26. Easter moves each year, and Easter Monday is a national day off; in 2026 it falls on April 6. August 15 is the one to plan around: it marks the peak of the Italian summer holiday, so beaches fill and some city businesses close for weeks around it.

Two kinds of reservations shape an Italian trip: timed museum entries and train seats. Italy's most famous sights sell out weeks or months ahead. Visits to Leonardo's Last Supper in Milan are by timed reservation only, released in quarterly batches, so check the release calendar before fixing dates. The Vatican Museums sell timed and skip-the-line tickets online, and turning up in high season without one means long waits in the heat. High-speed rail works the same way: the cheapest Italo and Frecciarossa fares are released months out and climb as departure nears, so set your dates and book both together. If your plans are flexible, travel midweek and avoid August, when Italians are on holiday and prices peak.