Is it safe to drink or should we stick to bottled water? (If it's not safe to drink, does that rule out all drinks made with water too -- coffees, teas, etc.)?

Perfectly safe unless it says ... 'Non potabile.'

Steve

Is is perfectly safe to drink the water in Italy so don't worry. We usually drink bottled water just because it is available everywhere and easy to transport but you can ask for tap water in restaurants and they will bring it in a carafe (carafe di acqua) but you won't get ice. Perfectly safe to drink though.

Thanksd SJ and JD!

Not only is the tap water safe to drink, the water in Rome is still brought into the city via aqueducts. There are many decorative fountains around Rome that are not only useful for a quick drink, you can use them to fill up empty water bottles!

I just returned from Rome last week, and the entire city has these water fountains for either drinking, or filling up plastic water bottles, everytime you turn around. The quality of water is not only completely safe, but very clean tasting (dare say better than bottled). My husband and I just kept refilling whenever we needed to during our sightseeing and never bought a single bottle of water the week we were there.

Hi

There are lots of drinking fountains around Rome and we used this all the time when we went to Rome in July a couple of years back. So bring a bottle so that you can fill it up while you are sightseeing Here is my trip report with pictures and links: http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

hi, auhammer,

this is the third recent thread about water safety in Italy. Has there been a programme on US TV suggesting it's unsafe?

regards, ann