I live in Chicago and have a friend that lives in the Amalfi Coast (I know, lucky guy!) I recently sent him pictures via FedEx and of course it was little pricey. I've heard Italy mail service is pretty bad, or at least it used to be. Does anyone have any experience sending regular mail from the states to Italy and how long it took?

My fam sends me stuff from California to Milan which usually arrives in about 10-12 days. If I send something to CA, it takes about the same. Fed Ex should have it there sooner.<BR>Mel

Mail in Italy has improved tremendously. In the past and even still, mail going from the US to Italy usually arrived faster. Recently the Italian postal system was reorganized (privatized?) and has improved. Italian friends tell me of better service at the post office as well as faster service. For a seemingly small supplement, you can send items posta proirita---priority mail. I've done this and have had a variety of results. On one trip, all my posta priorita cards arrived 5 days (shocking!) later at all my US destinations, east and west coast. The next time, all my west coast cards arrived in 5-6 days, while all my east coast cards arrived two months later. I think someone left that mailbag in the back room...

Thank you for your responses!

I send both letters and packages to Italy first class regularly and they usually arrive within between one and two weeks.

Leters to a small town in sicily seem to take 5 or 6 days. About two years ago, I think a heavy package took only two weeks. <BR><BR>Mail FROM small towns in Italy also arrives in the US very quickly, in my experience--usually around 5 or 6 days, but once it took only 4 days. It seems that mail from cities and touristy areas takes longer to get here.

Though you're asking about mail FROM the U.S. TO Italy, I thought I'd share a funny anecdote from a couple of years ago. I sent postcards home from Italy from all of the towns I visited. Some of my friends and family continued to receive them for six months or more after I returned home! Perhaps postcards get a more lax treatment than the rest of the mail, ha ha.

Letters, which still are mnaged by the public mail system, still arrive fast enough. Parcels, which have been handed over to a private service can kill you. While letters from my friends in the Us reach me in 10-15 days, a small parcel (a book) took two monts to arrive. Also, some friends of mine say that they had experiences of parcels never ever arriving, they just got lost. My suggestion is to send letters via mail, but parcels (even small ones) are better sent through a prvate service and not through the Italian mail, since the private service that handles them is so foul.

This March we were in Italy....sent postcards Air Mail, costing about $1 each for stamp...back to United States.<BR>'They arrived after about a 5 weeks!(three weeks after WE arrived back home)

has anyone had trouble with things getting stuck in Italian customs?

It all depends on what you send and what you put down on the customs label. Never write medicines or vitamins. Never write electrical anything. Nevber include receipts. Check out the US Post rules for what you are not alowed to send to Italy (playing cards, coffee, toys, shoes are just some of the many not allowed).