eks - if you have a list of things Americans might not know about in Italy, but should, I'm all ears. I'm glad you brought this up - I've only been it Italy once before and it didn't seem so different to me than traveling in other European countries. I know about the washcloths. Luckily we're not fussy about towels (unless you count just wanting one at all to be fussy ) I did already hear about ZTL - that was a new one on me - so I know to be careful with driving in cities, or better yet, avoid it just to be safe. What else should I bring or know about?

sass - thanks! I didn't know towels was such a serious topic, but I'm getting lots of good info too!

I haven't been to that many resorts or hotels with pools, but of course there are countries that provide them presuming you are staying in top-end hotels. They all do, I bet. I've stayed in Mexico about a half dozen times and most of my hotels provided pool towels, but they were not super cheap hotels. I would never expect a self-catering place to do that, even in the US. In fact, I've been to budget hotels in the US with pools that did not provide them, either.

Hi Kwren

I sent this link to my family members the first time we all went to Italy together:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm

Its a good reference all round...but you may want to check out the section on vacation rentals, it helped us plan!

enjoy your trip!

jam - I've slowly been reading these SlowTrav pages, but hadn't seen the vacation rental page. Thanks! Great reference - I'll have my husband read it too!

No problem, we found it very helpful!

talking about towels, we wrongly interpreted the "linen provided" info about our french gite as meaning towels too, especially as that had always applied before when we had rented linen.

not this time - we arrived to find no towels at all. not even a tea-towel for drying up. fortunately we'd taken beach towels, [we were driving our own car so had plenty of room] but no others. so if you are self-catering, always check whether towels as well as bedding are provided.

Good thing you had those beach towels! Now that I've been reading this post, I noticed only sheets listed on one website. Of course it's up to them what to provide, but needing to take pool, bath and kitchen towels to me is one way to eliminate one of many possibilities. I don't need the hassle when I'm on vacation. I haven't run into one which doesn't provide sheets yet, but now it wouldn't surprise me if I did.

Some places also state a price for "everything". I would definitely ask them to define that after reading this post!

In our travels through Italy the number and quality of towels at our apartment rentals and agriturismos has been far from the quality one would assume in a medium priced US hotel or US vacation rental.

Generally, a set of towels has been provided for each guest and we make certain to arrange them about our lodgings for drying between uses. With a family of five it has sometimes resembled a laundry. We have purchased beach towels on many of our trips that include swimming at pool and/or beach and have brought them home (they are "place" towels and thus souvenirs).

They are now in service as beach towels at our vacation home on Martha's Vineyard.

It was on our first trip to Europe, a Greek Islands honeymoon over 25 years ago, that we first purchased towels.

I wouldn't let towels determine my lodgings - while it's nice to have a large, fluffy bath towel and a beach/pool towel for lounging and after swim - we've never considered it a problem.

In general, to further our vacation travels, we choose rentals on the basic end of the range available. We don't have expectations for anything beyond a comfortable bed, clean bath, and a location convenient to our purposes.

We always rent lodgings with a washing machine to launder our clothing, but I haven't washed towels - I wouldn't think it's a good use of time and dryers are rare. We've been satisfied with towels air dried between use for a week's stay. Perhaps we have lesser standards than other travelers.

And do ask about what's included to avoid any surprises.

Doesn't everyone have masses of no longer appealing towels in their cupboards? This is the ideal opportunity to shed them and ensures plenty of space in your return luggage for newly acquired items. (This procedure holds true for underwear, clothes, books, etc.)

I always travel with beach towels. On this last trip in Europe they were very helpful as several places didn't have more than 2 towels for us. My towels always ended up padding whatever breakable I bring back, usually booze of some sort, this time Limoncello and some dishes.

We've done the shedding clothing routine on our travels (tarquin) and find the purchased towels do pad the bags nicely on our return with breakables (pookymini).

It seems the towel problem has a variety of creative solutions, as do many other questions that arise when leaving the comforts of home.

Is it easy to find beach towels with pictures of let's say Tuscany, in Europe? I like the idea of them being a souvenir and used as padding for purchases.

We found towels with a map of Italy, world cup team flag, and various monuments/landmarks at a supermarket we stopped at for groceries in either Umbria or Tuscany. Umbria, I believe.

Similar to super stores in the US, it carried an assortment of convenience items, including towels. It was part of a "mall" that we visited when we arrived after the closing time for local shops and were directed to the supermercado.

The towels are more kitschy than luxe.

Sounds like a European Target - we love those! Kitchy is good! I'm not expecting any luxe towels this trip

For trips where we thought we might be stopping for a swim, we have packed lightweight, super absorbent microfiber towels. The sort of towels that backpackers use and that you find in an outdoor supplies store. They don't take up much space, dry fairly quickly and weigh next to nothing.

Is it easy to find beach towels with pictures of let's say Tuscany, in Europe? I like the idea of them being a souvenir and used as padding for purchases.>>

a very "popular" image on towels, AND on men's underwear, is a life-size [lol] reproduction of a certain part of Michelangelo's David's anatomy! that would definitely raise eyebrows on Martha's Vineyard.

Gotta get me one of those towels! LOL
If we have to buy towels, might as well have fun with it!

I wish I had one of that particular "monument". Next trip . . .