Italian Timing - Everything Closed 1- 4 pm??
 

I keep reading in these posts that everything in Italy is closed down midday. I will be there the last week Sept through first week of October.
Does that mean from 1 to 3 pm typically or through 4 pm?
Are restaurants also closed during these hours? Or should I schedule leisurely lunches to fill these gaps?
Are Museums also closed during these hours?
Thanks!

Yes - that is when everyone goes to lunch. 1-3 is normal. So you can lunch and travel to the next town on your itinerary during that time :-)

when driving i've found that off the autostrada most gas stations are Chiuso or closed between 1 and about 3:30 or 4 so if motoring plan ahead. It's also a good time to drive as most of the traffic on non-autostrada roads is out to lunch, so to speak. Especially if driving thru cities - can be a snap with no traffic.
In large cities no all stores, like some supermarkets, etc. may remain open all day.

Restaurants are not closed !! These are the best business hours for them :)

You should schedule leisurely lunches to fill these gaps. Mmmmm....

Dont order a cappachino after 10am ... it just yells tourist to everyone :)

And ? Cappuccino is not only for breakfast , it's just a way of making coffee. I don't mind if anyone thinks I'm a tourist in Italy for this..that's what I am.

Unless you're in big cities, yes, everything except restaurants will close between about 12:30 and 3:30 or 4. In addition, many places are closed on Mondays. As to gas, there are many self serve stations where you can just use a credit card.

In Italy every city, town etc. has different laws as to when different type of retail businesses have to be closed. The small city I love to stay in has to close their wine stores on a certain day..think it is Wednesday. Without fail I always try to buy bottles of wine on the day they are closed. A long leisurely lunch is a great way to spend the time when a lot of places are closed. A good time to take walks also.

As mentioned above, in rural Italy many places close for a few hours around lunch time. In Rome many of the churches, such as San Clemente, close during these times as well. Otherwise, I think that most things in the cities usually stay open.

Tracy

In the north, 1:00-3:30/4:00 is the norm. In the south, 1:00-5:00 can be the norm-in Puglia, this was the case. Larger department type stores sometimes will have "orario continuo" and remain open through the lunch hours. Restaurants will be open because this is the time for eating lunch and having a rest. Restaurants stop serving lunch about 3:00 maybe? And then open back up for dinner about 7:30 p.m. depending again if you are in the north or south.

When you see shopkeepers rolling down their grates, that's your signal to head for a restaurant. In many towns, either the shops are open or the restaurants -- rarely both at the same time.
In Rome, smaller churches and family-run shops are closed at midday, but the major tourist attractions welcome visitors all day.

Thanks everyone. Now I can better plan my drive time and lunch time. YUM. A good excuse for eating slow, big lunches.

Just make sure that you get into the restaurant before 2 pm, or they may close on you too! Once you are in then it's OK to stay even until 4 pm, when things start to cool down and you can wander around. When I am travelling I like to have an earlier lunch, around 12.30 or so and then find a nice place to have a snooze for an hour or so after lunch, that's very Italian, get a cafe (or a cappucino, I have never been taken for a tourist, and frankly who cares?) to kick start you again!

In much of Puglia, everything closes from 1pm to 5 or 6, even most of the restaurants. Everyone goes home for lunch then hits the beach before returning to work. Ain't such a bad life, is it?

I'm with kenderina...I usually don't order coffee of any kind in the evening because it keeps me awake but I order Cappucino any other time of the day that I feel like one. I can't really hide the fact that I am a tourist as I do not have olive color skin and can only get by in the most rudimentary Italian. I have never been given a sideways glance for ordering Cappucino after my meal at lunch time.

Re: cappuccino after breakfast time

Once in a restaurant in Rome(off the beaten tourist path)before I lived in Italy, I was having dinner with a man from Rome. I wanted a cappuccino after dinner and my companion was a bit shocked and disgusted that I wanted one. I insisted, and he ordered a cappuccino for me (while rolling his eyes at the waiter). The waiter then told me no, that I could have one tomorrow morning and that he would bring me an espresso instead.

Another time I was having dinner with my father and stepmother at a restaurant in the hills outside of Florence (again off the beaten path) and my stepmother ordered a cappuccino after dinner. The waiter was taken aback a bit, smirked, and asked her if she also wanted a brioche to go with it.

I like cappuccino, but have taken on the Italian way by only ordering it for breakfast with a brioche. I drink caffe macchiato now after lunch and dinner, which you probably still shouldn't drink because it contains a bit of milk. However, I just prefer macchiato now, rather than so much milk at dinner time.

But my Italian husband sometimes orders a cappuccino after dinner. The waiter always assumes that I wanted the cappuccino, always gives me his cappuccino and my caffe macchiato to him. My husband will only do this in Florence or other high tourist areas where he knows the waiters won't bat an eye at ordering a cappuccino after lunch or dinner.

This may be a silly question, but if everything closes for the afternoon, what do you do in the case of a large museum that you are enjoying (or the Vatican?)? Are you shooed out the door until 4pm when the doors re-open? Going in October and this is a real eye opener of a thread!

Yes, you will be shooed out. Closed means closed!

Everything does not close for lunch. The major Rome tourist attractions, including all the big museums (Vatican, Borghese, Capitoline, Museo Romano), the colosseum, and some of the important churches (St Peters for sure), are open all day. Department stores and supermarkets also keep all-day hours.
It is the smaller churches and businesses, and maybe some of the very small museums, that close for lunch.