Italy: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Italy feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 408 written places.
Food rules are real, dress is noticed, and la bella figura - making a good impression - matters.
✓ Considered polite
- Drink your cappuccino before noon; after meals it is espresso
- Cover shoulders and knees in churches - it is enforced at famous ones
- Say Buongiorno entering small shops
- Eat where menus are handwritten and short
✗ Better avoided
- Ask for parmesan on seafood pasta
- Sit down at a cafe without checking - table service can cost double the bar price
- Order a latte expecting coffee - you will get milk
- Expect dinner much before 19:30, later in the south
Worth knowing
- The coperto cover charge on restaurant bills is normal and is not a tip
- Validate paper train tickets in the small machines before boarding regional trains
- Many restaurants close between lunch and dinner
- Free church visits often pause during services - time around them
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.