Hi everyone! In less than a month I will be flying into Milan & traveling up and down Italy to visit family. Any helpful tips for packing or even sightseeing would be great! I so far have purchased the adapters & converter for electrical outlets. Any other useful information I should know? I heard July in Italy can be very hot, no need for a raincoat or light sweater? Thanks in advance for any input I appreciate it.

Why do you have a converter? Is it for a hairdryer or curling iron?

Yes I will be bringing a blow dryer.

Don't bother to bring a hair dryer; most places will have one and even if they don't, you'll find that yours will not work well (or worse) with a converter.

For other tips, it might be helpful if you told us a bit more about yourself, your itinerary and your mode(s) of travel within Italy.

I think I thin raincoat could come in handy even if it's hot, and you never know when you might have a cool morning/night, so I'd bring a light sweater as well.

Italy is very hot in summer and I would never bother with a sweater and certainly not a raincoat.

If you are going to the Dolomites or the northern lakes next to Italy you might want a tissue weight rain jacket (typically with hood and folds up into a tiny pouch and weighs a couple of ounces.

Since you don;t say where you are going or your itinerary - and will be visiting family it's very difficult to make specific recos beyond the very basic.

Always bring more than 1 CC in case there is a problem with one and get a second ATM card if necessary. Charge everything you can on your CC and pull walking around money from you checking account with your ATM cars - preferably from bank ATMs.

Are you planning on travel by trains? Have you plotted out your train journeys with realistic times and know if you are using regional trains (buy tickets on the spot) or fast trains (tickets bought in advance will be much cheaper)?

If you provide more info if you tell us where you will be going and for how long? Will you be staying with family the whole time -or need hotels for some stop?

Learn about the italian rail system, which is excellent, on themaninseat61.com. Schedules here and tickets using italian city names:

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

A very good source for hotels is booking.com.

Have you read any guidebooks? If not, start.

No point in giving sightseeing tips without knowing your itinerary.

I am starting off in Milan my family will be taking me to Florence, Pisa, Rome, & then shoot down toward amalfi coast and visit more family in Reggio Calabria. I will be spending 14 days in Italy starting from northern Italy and then heading south. Thank you for the tip on the blow dryer. I am staying with relatives not in a hotel so I'm sure my cousins will have hair tools I can use. I will keep the adapters for my cell phone charger and laptop but maybe return the converter after reading these tips.

Sounds terrific. You need to figure out what gifts to bring.

You got good advice about the hairdryer. It is much better to pick one up there. I have seen several Americans blow out the systems, even in a small hotel, by using our appliances. Converters are heavy to carry around too.
Also good advice about having at least two credit cards.

Make sure you call your bank and CC issuers to tell them you will be traveling.

That is a lot of ground to cover in 14 days! Not sure you will have time for more than whatever your family wants to show you.

A small correction, the comprehensive website for trains can be found at:

http://www.seat61.com (leave off "themanin")

Can't you get a cheap dual voltage travel blow dryer? The hairdryers in hotels are pitiful - usually those ones attached to the wall that wouldn't dry a tissue.

Always pack a light rain jacket with a hood. They roll up very small and you will be grateful when it rains - which it has been doing along the Amalfi Coast in the last week even though it is summer.

Make sure your shoes are worn in - many people surprisingly buy new shoes for a trip and then have to deal with blisters.

Have you made hotel bookings for the Amalfi Coast? It's a very busy time and reservations are often made a year ahead.

Make sure you put the correct petrol in your car

As the Kingston Trio once said in a song, "This could happen to you!"


<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/chapter-five-gubbio-bucket-bolts-bad/</B>

Thank you all for these wonderful tips! I won't be able to see everything I would like to in a 14 day trip but I will be grateful for all that I do see and spend quality time with my family I was told to also get travelers checks. Are these obsolete ?

Do not use travelers checks. I don't even know if anyone takes them anymore. ATMs are your friend, and try to find a card that doesn't charge extra fees (people on this board know a lot more about that than I do...my better half is my official banker..I just listen to her).

No one wants travelers checks. Local banks will not take them, hotels and restaurants do not want them. They MIGHT - not sure - be usable at bureaux de change but you would probably lose 10 to 12 % of your value if you do that (through fees and terrible rates of exchange).

Haven't needed or used traveler's checks in years.

Your family probably has hair driers. If not, buy a cheap one there and leave it behind. Consider it part of the trip cost. Probably cheaper than a converter for sure.

Yes Italy is very hot in the summer!!!!
I would definitely recommend Venice and Rome. If you go to Venice, I recommend going to Burano (another island near by). It's very cute!
Pisa was ok (I only went to see the Leaning Tower just to get it off my checklist but I don't think I would go back again).
While you are in Italy, I recommend checking out Vatican City. It was a wonderful experience.

Italy was amazing. I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!!!

T checks died about 20 years ago because of fraud. Use some type of a money belt, hidden pocket, etc., secured all of your valuables except for a little daily cash and perhaps a credit card in secured pockets on your body. Keep you luggage as light as possible, perhaps 20 at the most 25 pounds. Take min electronics and protect them. Any high wattage appliances such as hair dryers, curling irons, etc. should also be left behind. Even with a converter they work poorly and the dual voltage are better but only marginal so.