I have purchased, for obvious reasons, a travel corkscrew tool that also has a small knife. Do they check your bags for weapons as you enter a museum (Vatican, Borghese, Uffizi, Accademia, etc)? Will this be confiscated? In case of an impromptu picnic I'd like to carry it with me (and the knife will be handy to separate watercolor pages from a block), but if it will cause me trouble at museums I will leave it at the hotel. (I ask because I live in DC and here they inspect your bags as you enter.)

I had a picnic knife confiscated from me at the Vatican a few years ago. The guard took it away and gave it back to me when I left.
I would not count on being able to get through any museum these days with a knife, even a small one.

Many museums search bags. I never carry a bag when going to a musuem so it is not necessary to stand in a long line to go through security. If the item is small enough to fit in your pocket, you might get by. I have never had my pockets checked.

I've had no problems with any Paris museum. But I can imagine that museums in other cities will not allow slashing devices.

It's been a couple of years since I was there and perhaps things have changed, but you won't be able to take anything into the Borghese Gallery. All purses, bags, cameras, etc., have to be checked (they have lockers). They were very strict about it.

yes they do search bags. and at st peters they use x ray/metal detectors. i dont know why you need to take a corkscrew tool or a knife to the vatican. what are the 'obvious reasons'?

Sam

Sam--the obvious reason is that one may be carrying the knife and corkscrew all the time for picnicking. One could visit the Vatican in the morning and decide to have a picnic lunch without going back to the hotel.

Not intending to hi-jack your thread, nicegirl, but I've got the same question about Paris. Will a corkscrew and/or small knife be a problem in Louvre, d'Orsay, or Rodin? How about Notre Dame?

I remember a hilarious question on Sept 12. A security guard at Chateaux Chenanceux(?) refusing us entry carying small daypacks. I asked if it was okay to carry a water bottle, a camera and a sweater. She said 'Yes of course but don't joking with me' We are worried about what happened in America. You know with the planes'. I could not convince her that I could not fit an airplane in my pack.

No sense of humour with security guards sometimes. They may fear you will spontaniously open a bottle of chardoney and spray the paintings.

Yes, at the vatican museum they will take your corkscrew. They will give you a receipt, you turn in the receipt and you will probably get the thing back (it will delay you 10 - 20 minutes). They impounded my wife's swiaa army knife.

beachbum,yes all except ND have metal detectors and bag search everyone. you might alternatively try to declare the items and leave them with the guard.that would be a good solution too.

Sam

I guess you will just have to have wine from a twist-top bottle.

Thanks, Sam. Maybe our picnics can't be as spontaneous as I'd hoped.

I remember reading not long ago that some good wineries are now bottling with twist-top caps, so thanks for that suggestion too, degas. Any personal recommendations?

I carry a Swiss army knife with a corkscrew. In 2003 in Florence, Venice, Bern, Caen, and Paris we visited every major museum and many others, and the only time I had to surrender it was at St. Chappele in Paris. They gave me a receipt and returned it when I left.

At the Vatican Museum I witnessed a woman and her butter knife being escorted away by security.

Sorriso,

Butter knife?

Yup, the guard had a cloth wrapped around the handle and was carrying it like a torch as she was whisked away.

yes st chapelle is inside the justice dept. metal detectors & xrays. if u declare them and leave them at door i dont think you will have a problem.

Sam

It's not that hard to get a bottle of wine opened! I never carry a corkscrew anymore, for the reasons mentioned above.

Especially in whites many local varieties do come with a twist off top, this is not necessarly a sign of cheap wine but only that whites are not meant to age but be enjoyed sooner than later.

Or if you buy from a wine shop, ask them to uncork it for you there. I've done this successfully in both Paris and Venice.

beachbum, I agree with Suze, that many good wines (I know, I know, its all subjective) now come in a twist off top. But I'd be the last person to suggest a wine on this forum - the howls of laughter would be heard in China!