So now you are ready to travel and let’s face it, you are going to have a lot of time on the plane to review a few phrases in Italian as well as a few other odds and ends. Below are some tips which may help once you arrive in Italy.
Italian Phrases
In 90% of our interactions, we found our hosts spoke English; or at least well enough to communicate. However, Italians especially appreciate when you attempt to learn and use their language – even just a little bit.
So much so, it made interactions go from formal to very personal quite quickly. Just a quick “multo bene” or “grazie mille” would bring large smiles. Here are the phrases we found most helpful and appreciated by the locals.
-
- Good morning – Buongiorno
- Good evening – Buono Sera
- Good night – Buona Notte
- Yes – Si
- Please – Per Favore
- Thank you – Grazie
- Thank you very much – Grazie Mille
- Good – Bene
- Very Good – Multo Bene
- Beautiful – Bellissimo
- One – Uno; Two – Due; Three – Tre; Four – Quattro
- Bathroom – Bagno or Toilette
- How much? – Quanto?
- Water – Acqua
Tipping
There is a lot of debate on how much to tip in Italy. Personally, we felt the guide below worked well. Please note, in most Italian cities, waiters are salaried employees (and health care is part of their government system) so tipping is not required – especially large tipping. However, in more touristy areas (Venice, Lake Como, Rome) it seems they have become more accustomed to the U.S.-style of tipping versus the smaller towns and areas where it was less “expected”.
-
- Bell Boys – Similar to the US, a euro or two per bag seemed appreciated.
- Meals – If a tip was automatically included (which occurs at some restaurants so be sure to look) then rounding up a few Euros was fine. If not, a small tip of 10% is usually appreciated if the service was very good. Please note, when using credit cards, there is usually not an option to tip so leaving a few euro with the check is nice if you appreciated the service.
- Bars – One to two euro per round.
- Taxi – Just a few euro per trip.
- Group Tour Guides. If it was a great experience and lasted three hours or so, twenty euro was enough.
- Private Tour Guides. Anything from twenty euros for a half-day to fifty euros for a full day – depending upon the service and experience.
Shopping – VAT Taxes
The Value Added Tax (VAT) is an EU tax which can be quite high when you are shopping in Italy. At the time of our trip, it was 22%. However, if you spent over 155 Euro in a single store, you qualify to get a refund for the VAT tax which can add up.
But here is the catch. It is not nearly as easy as it sounds – especially in Italy. First, you must provide your passport with each purchase and then get a special VAT refund receipt for later. The goods must also be unworn and with you (not in checked baggage) at the airport of your departure. You are also supposed to declare these items at the airport where you are leaving the EU (so in our case Vienna, not Milan).
This means you may have to have a carry-on bag with everything you purchased (unworn) to show. This would have meant carrying dresses, hats, shoes, drinking glasses, etc. all in a bag unworn. And the line at the airport in Milan was several hours long to show your goods and receipts to get the refund credited. Worse, your flight might be at 7:00 AM and the customs only opened slightly beforehand.
All in all, it is a good amount of money but will require some planning if you really want your VAT money back. If you want the official rules, follow the link below.
Forgot Something?
We did not expect to run into this issue, but we did forget to bring something very specific (our laptop power cord). If you find you urgently need something, we found a little trick using Amazon. We went to our U.S. Amazon website (not the Italian one), entered the address for an upcoming hotel and then had the product shipped to that hotel. Of course, that costs more but it arrived in just a few days and meant we could download our photos.
For notes on our entire trip to Italy, here is our two-week Itinerary. And, if you are just starting to plan your trip, we have created four “how to” guides – Planning, Preparing and Packing, Getting Around and Driving and finally Once You Arrive.
We also have detailed notes for each individual destination for Positano, the Amalfi Coast and Capri; Rome and Pompeii; Tuscany, Siena and Florence; the Palio di Siena; Venice and Lake Como. We would love to hear if you found any of these pages and notes helpful – or if you have any feedback you would recommend for other travelers.
