Traveling through Italy: useful tips

So, have you decided to visit Italy? This land is just created for the perfect rest. But before visiting it you should get to know some useful tips that will help you during the journey.

The best time to visit Italy

Deciding when to go to Italy it’s worth considering that the best time is spring (April-May) or summer (September-November). As a rule, there is always a fine weather this time and there’s no blistering heat, as it often occurs in summer, and the influx of tourists is not so big, and the prices in the shops are lower, moreover it will be easier to book a good hotel.

But if you like to lie panting in the sun, then summer time is the right thing you need, especially somewhere in the south or in the central part of Italy.

However, if the main purpose of your journey is to go skiing, obviously the best time for this would be the end of November up to the beginning of March.

If you’re a shopaholic and just go crazy with discounts, then you should visit Italy in the period of the 5-7 of January and to the end of February, or from the beginning of July to the end of September. It’s the high time of sales in all the shops of Italy.

Safety

Unfortunately and regrettably, Italy is notable for being a criminogenic country.  A pocket picking and petty larceny are not a rarity in big cities, and fraud is a common thing as well. So it’s worth remembering some simple rules to make yourself secure during a trip:

• don’t take a large amount of money or withdraw money from the ATM in a sight of all.
• it’s better to use a rucksack instead of little bags walking along a city to avoid encroachment of petty thieves on scooters.
• don’t wear luxury items (jewelry), and have an eye on your gadgets.
• Italian drivers usually don’t care about keeping the road laws, so be attentive crossing the roads.

Transport

The tickets to city surface transport cost €1 and must be bought only in kiosks or in special booths. The scheme is simple: to pay the fare you should punch a ticket in a special automat in a bus. A ticket can be considered to be valid during 90 minutes after it has been punched with unlimited quantity of rides.

Attention! Having bought a ticket but not having punched it, you’ll be considered to be ticketless. The fine for such a ride will be about €40. Tickets must be kept during the whole ride.

By the way, in some regions of Italy (Lombardy) children (to 4 years old) can travel free of charge, and for children that are older (up to 14 years old) works a discount of 50%. For example, in the region of Campania, even 6-years-old children can travel for free.

Some more tips for tourists

Coming to a new country a tourist should become familiar with some local rules and some possible restrictions in advance to avoid unpleasant situations. So, what should be remarked as far as Italy is considered?

• it’s forbidden to smoke in public places, in public transport, in a taxi, theatres, cinemas and shops. The same prohibition works for the majority of bars and restaurants. The smoking fine is from €250 up to € In the territory of Vatican, it’s forbidden even to light a cigarette.
• visiting Vatican remember that there’s a special dress-code: you cannot wear clothes which leave your shoulders uncovered.
• in shops you cannot check if fruits or vegetables are ripe just with your hands: there are special gloves for it. And at market-places you cannot touch products at all.
• in Italy it’s not common to leave tips – as a rule, they are already included in a bill.
• it’s forbidden to make a massage each other on Italian beaches if only you’re not a licensed masseur and you can prove it.
• before visiting Italy try to learn Italian even a little bit. Not all Italians understand English, so it will play into your hands if you are able to say something in Italian or understand a native-speaker.

Take into your account all these tips and go forward to buy tickets to Italy and plan you’re unforgettable to the country of endless pleasure and delight.