Italy by Interest

Overview

Italy is one of the easiest countries in Europe to travel with children, celebrate a honeymoon or simply wander alone, and one of the harder ones if you use a wheelchair or struggle with stairs. Historic centers were built for feet and mules. Cobblestones, steep hill towns, elevators the size of a phone booth and trains with steps up from the platform all shape how you plan.

This page takes each kind of traveler in turn: what works, what costs extra, what paperwork you need and where Americans get tripped up. For the basics that apply to everyone, start with planning your trip, entry rules and safety.

Families with kids

Italians adore children, and you will feel it. Waiters bring small plates of plain pasta without being asked, strangers chat to toddlers on the train, and kids running around a piazza at 10 p.m. are completely normal. What Italy lacks is American-style convenience: few changing tables, cobblestones that punish cheap strollers, and dinner that starts at 7:30 p.m. at the earliest.

Pacing and where to base yourself

The classic Rome, Florence and Venice trip works with kids if you slow it down. Plan one major sight per morning, a long lunch, a rest during the afternoon heat and an evening walk with gelato. Families tend to do better with two bases of four or five nights each than with a new hotel every two days.

Some combinations that work well:

• Rome plus the coast or the countryside. Four nights in Rome, then a farm stay in Umbria or Tuscany with a pool.
• Lakes and mountains. Lake Garda or Lake Como in summer, or the Dolomites, where lifts take small legs up to easy high-meadow walks and huts serve lunch.
• Naples and Pompeii. Children who have read about the eruption find Pompeii and Herculaneum gripping. Herculaneum is smaller and easier to cover before anyone melts down.
• A beach week. Puglia, Sardinia and the Tuscan coast have shallow, sandy water. The Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre are mostly rocks and stairs.

Museums and sights

Children and teens under 18 enter Italian state museums, monuments and archaeological sites free, and the rule does not depend on nationality. That covers the Colosseum, the Uffizi, the Accademia, Pompeii and many more. You still usually need a ticket for each child, often with a small booking fee, and you must reserve a time slot at the busy places. Children under 12 must be with an adult. The Vatican Museums are a separate state with their own reduced child prices; see the Vatican.

Museums in Sicily, the Aosta Valley and the provinces of Trento and Bolzano set their own prices, as do city-owned and private museums, so check each one.

Trains, cars and strollers

Trains are the family-friendly way to move. Trenitalia and Italo both sell child fares and run family promotions on high-speed trains, and very young children who sit on a lap generally ride free. Check the current offers when you book on the Trenitalia or Italo sites, because the terms change. More in getting around.

If you rent a car, Italian law requires a proper child seat for children under 150 cm (about 4 ft 11 in), and Italy also requires an anti-abandonment alarm for children under 4 in Italian-registered cars, which rental seats should include. Reserve seats with the rental company in advance and inspect them on pickup. See driving in Italy.

Bring a light umbrella stroller or, for babies, a carrier. Venice has hundreds of stepped bridges, hill towns have staircases for streets, and Rome's cobblestones rattle small wheels.

Food, beaches and sleep

Kids eat very well in Italy. Pizza, plain pasta (pasta in bianco, pasta with butter or oil and Parmesan), grilled chicken, focaccia and gelato cover most picky eaters. Many restaurants will make a half portion (mezza porzione) if you ask. Children's menus are rare, high chairs common.

At the beach, Italians rent loungers and umbrellas at a stabilimento (private beach club) with lifeguards, toilets and a snack bar, which is ideal with small children. Free public beaches exist but fill early. Details in the outdoors guide.

For sleeping, ask hotels for a camera familiare or a triple or quadruple room, or look at apartments and agriturismi (farm stays) in where to stay. Rooms in historic city hotels are small by US standards.

Traveling with a child who has only one parent along, or with grandparents? Carry a notarized consent letter from the absent parent. Italy rarely asks for it, but airlines and border officers sometimes do. The entry page covers minors traveling.

Honeymoons

Italy is the top honeymoon country for many Americans, and the trick is to pick one or two places and stay put. A week split between a city and the sea feels like a honeymoon. Six cities in ten days feels like a business trip.

Getting married in Italy

You have three options, and they differ a lot in effort:

1. A symbolic ceremony. You marry legally at home, at a county clerk's office, before or after the trip, and hold a ceremony in Italy with no legal force. This is what most American couples do. No Italian paperwork, any venue, any officiant, any language.
2. A civil wedding. Performed by the mayor or a delegate at the town hall (comune) or another venue the town has approved, often a frescoed room in a historic palazzo. Legally valid in Italy and generally recognized in the US.
3. A religious wedding with civil effect. A Catholic wedding can be registered as a civil marriage at the same time. Some other faiths can do this through approved ministers. The church side has its own preparation and paperwork requirements.

Documents for a civil wedding

Italy needs proof that each American partner is free to marry. The usual sequence looks like this:

1. Ask the comune first. Contact the marriage office (Ufficio Matrimoni or Stato Civile) of the town where you will marry. Confirm dates, venue fees and exactly which documents it wants, including whether it requires your birth certificate.
2. Atto notorio. A declaration, supported by witnesses, that nothing in Italian law prevents your marriage. Americans can get it at the Italian consulate serving their US home before the trip; the San Francisco consulate, for example, issues it at an appointment with two witnesses per partner who know you well and are not close relatives, and it is valid for 90 days. It can also be done in Italy at a local court.
3. Dichiarazione giurata. A sworn statement made before a US consular officer in Italy, at the Embassy in Rome or the consulates in Florence, Milan or Naples, by appointment, with a notarial fee. This is the main role of the US government in your wedding. The consulate does not perform marriages and cannot shortcut Italian requirements.
4. Legalize the sworn statement. Take it to the local Prefettura (the national government's provincial office) to have the consular signature legalized. Expect to pay with a revenue stamp (marca da bollo, €16, about $18).
5. Supporting papers. If either of you was married before, bring the final divorce decree, annulment or death certificate with an apostille from the issuing US state and a certified Italian translation. The same applies to a birth certificate if the comune asks for one.
6. Declaration of intent. A few days before the wedding, you appear at the comune with two witnesses (and an interpreter if you do not speak Italian) to make the promessa di matrimonio. When neither partner lives in Italy, the usual public posting of banns is generally waived.
7. The ceremony. Two witnesses again, an interpreter if needed, and the officiant reads the relevant articles of the Italian civil code.

Costs and timing

Comune fees vary enormously. A weekday ceremony in a small-town hall can cost a few hundred euros, while a Saturday in a famous room in Rome, Florence, Venice or on the Amalfi Coast runs well over €1,000 (about $1,120) for nonresidents. Translation, apostilles, interpreters and a planner add more. Start at least six months ahead for a civil wedding, longer for a Catholic one, which also needs certificates and approval from your home parish and diocese.

After the wedding, ask the comune for a copy of the marriage certificate and have it apostilled at the Prefettura so US agencies, from the Social Security Administration to your state DMV, will accept it.

Same-sex couples

Italy does not offer same-sex marriage. Since 2016 it has had civil unions (unioni civili), which foreign couples can enter with similar paperwork. How a US state treats an Italian civil union is less certain than how it treats a marriage, so most American same-sex couples marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Italy, which venues and planners handle routinely.

LGBTQ+ travelers

Same-sex relations have been legal in Italy since 1890, and the big cities are relaxed and welcoming. Same-sex couples rarely have any trouble booking a double room, and you will see couples holding hands in central Milan, Rome and Bologna. Italy is still more conservative than Western Europe's most liberal countries: there is no same-sex marriage, recognition of same-sex parents is contested in the courts, and a proposed hate-crime law covering sexual orientation and gender identity failed in parliament in 2021.

Outside the cities, especially in small southern towns, public affection draws more stares. Harassment of tourists is uncommon, but use the same judgment you would in a conservative part of the US.

Where the scene is

• Milan has the largest and most open scene, centered on the Porta Venezia neighborhood, and a big Pride in late June.
• Rome holds one of Europe's large Pride parades, usually in June, and has a cluster of bars near the Colosseum along Via di San Giovanni in Laterano.
• Bologna, a left-leaning university city, is home to one of Italy's best-known LGBTQ+ community centers, Il Cassero.
• Torre del Lago on the Tuscan coast near Viareggio and Gallipoli in Puglia are long-standing summer beach and club destinations.
• Naples, Florence, Turin and Palermo all hold Pride events and have smaller scenes.

Pride dates are set each spring, so check the organizers' sites. Read the State Department's notes for LGBTQI+ travelers on its Italy country page before you go.

Travelers with disabilities

Accessibility in Italy is improving but uneven. New buildings, high-speed trains, airports and major museums are generally accessible. Historic centers, older hotels, hill towns and anything built before elevators can be very hard. Plan more carefully than you would in the US, where the ADA sets a baseline Italy does not have.

Flights and trains

Under EU rules, airports must provide free assistance to passengers with reduced mobility, from the curb to the seat. Request it through your airline at least 48 hours before departure, and again confirm at check-in. Assistance at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa is well organized.

Italy's rail network operator, RFI, runs assistance desks called Sala Blu at the main stations, which arrange help boarding and leaving trains with ramps or lifts. EU rules ask you to request rail assistance at least 24 hours before travel, so book through the RFI website or app a day or more ahead, and expect to meet staff at a set point up to an hour before departure. High-speed Frecciarossa and Italo trains have wheelchair spaces and accessible toilets. Regional trains vary; newer ones have level boarding, older ones have steep steps.

Sights and museums

At Italian state museums and sites, visitors with disabilities and one companion get in free. Bring documentation of your disability; a US document usually works, though staff at some sites expect an official certificate. The Vatican Museums offer free entry with a companion for visitors with significant disabilities and have accessible routes.

• Rome: the Colosseum has an elevator to the upper level, and much of the Forum is gravel and uneven. Not all metro stations have working elevators; buses and trams are newer and mostly have ramps. The sampietrini (cobblestones) are the real obstacle.
• Florence: flat and compact, with accessible routes at the Uffizi and the Accademia. The Duomo climbs are stairs only.
• Venice: the vaporetto (water bus) boats are boardable with a wheelchair, and the city publishes an accessibility map showing which areas you can reach without crossing a stepped bridge.
• Pompeii: has a marked step-free route through part of the site. Herculaneum is more compact.
• Hard places: the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre, Capri's back streets, Matera's Sassi and most hill towns involve steep stairs.

Seniors

Older travelers make up a large share of American visitors, and Italy suits a slower pace well. The challenges are physical: walking on uneven stone, climbing to hill towns and lifting bags onto trains, since Italian stations have no porters and racks sit overhead.

• Pack light. One rolling bag each that you can lift by yourself. You will carry it up train steps and possibly hotel stairs.
• Choose hotels with elevators and confirm it by email. The Italian primo piano (first floor) is the American second floor; the ground floor is piano terra.
• Use taxis and private transfers between station and hotel. They cost far less than a fall.
• Avoid July and August heat, which regularly tops 95°F (35°C) in Rome, Florence and the south. May, June, September and October are kinder.
• Plan one base per region and day trips from it, rather than a new hotel every night.

Discounts

Italian state museums dropped age-based discounts for seniors years ago, so expect to pay full price at the Colosseum or the Uffizi. Some private and city museums still offer reductions for visitors over 65; always ask, and carry your passport. Both rail companies have run fare offers for travelers aged 60 and over tied to their free loyalty programs, so check before you book.

Health and insurance

Original Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the US. Some Medigap supplement plans include a limited foreign travel emergency benefit, and some Medicare Advantage plans cover emergencies abroad, but neither covers medical evacuation home. Buy travel medical insurance that includes evacuation, and bring medications in original pharmacy containers with a copy of your prescriptions. Pharmacies (farmacie, with a green cross) are excellent for minor problems. See health in Italy.

Solo travelers

Italy is a comfortable country to travel alone. Trains connect nearly everything, cities are walkable, and eating alone carries no stigma, especially at lunch, at the bar counter of a wine bar (enoteca), or with an aperitivo (early evening drink with snacks) at an outdoor table.

Rooms and money

A true single room (camera singola) is often tiny, with a narrow bed. Many hotels instead offer a double for single use (doppia uso singola) at a discount on the double rate. Hostels in Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice have private rooms as well as dorms, and they are a good way to meet people. Tourist taxes are charged per person per night, so solo travelers pay less of them than couples. See money and costs.

Meeting people

• Join a walking tour, a food tour or a cooking class in Florence, Bologna or Rome. See food and drink.
• Take a week of classes at an Italian language school, which most cities have; many arrange homestays.
• Hiking huts in the Dolomites seat solo hikers at shared tables.

Staying safe

The biggest risk for any solo traveler is pickpocketing on crowded buses, metros and at major sights. Keep your phone out of back pockets and away from café tables. Solo women report persistent comments and unwanted attention, particularly in the south and around big stations; a firm "no" and walking on usually ends it. Around Roma Termini, Milano Centrale and Napoli Centrale late at night, take an official white taxi or a ride booked through an app rather than walking.

Share your itinerary with someone at home, enroll in the State Department's free STEP program, and save 112 as the emergency number. More in safety.

Students

Study abroad

For a semester or year in Italy, any stay over 90 days needs a national student visa from the Italian consulate that covers your US residence, applied for before you leave. Your program usually guides you through it. Expect to show your enrollment letter, proof of funds, housing and health insurance. Consulate appointments get scarce in the summer before fall semester, so apply as early as your consulate allows.

Within eight working days of arriving you apply for a permesso di soggiorno (residence permit), and you will need a codice fiscale (tax code) to sign a lease or a phone contract. Students with a valid permit can generally work part-time, up to about 20 hours a week. All of this is covered in long stays in Italy.

For a full degree at an Italian university, the pre-enrollment process runs through the government's Universitaly portal, and public university fees are a fraction of US tuition.

Student discounts

Discounts in Italy are mostly tied to age, not student status. The reduced €2 ticket (about $2.25) for visitors aged 18 to 25 at state museums is set for EU citizens and for others only where their own country reciprocates, so Americans are often charged full price. An ISIC card helps at some private museums, cinemas and shops. For trains, look at the youth offers for travelers under 30 that Trenitalia and Italo run through their loyalty programs, and at Eurail's youth passes if you are covering several countries; see combining Italy with the rest of Europe.

Getting more help

Every kind of traveler benefits from booking the timed-entry sights early (see art and churches), understanding the trains (getting around) and building a realistic route (plan and the trip builder). If you are bringing a pet, see traveling with pets; for roots trips, Italian ancestry; and for longer stays, living in Italy. Our trip planning service can put together an itinerary around a wedding, a wheelchair or a three-generation family.