Italy holidays 2026: A Step-by-Step Guide on Planning a Trip to Italy

When traveling to a new country, knowing what to expect and getting all the information needed to plan the best holiday is always better. In this article, you will find everything you need to know when planning a trip to Italy if you visit it for the first time. Italy is beautiful, and I am not saying that only because it is my country. 

Millions of travelers visit Italy every year, and they are so fascinated by its beauty, friendly people, food, architecture, and culture that they cannot wait to visit again and again.

This will probably happen to you after visiting Italy for the first time because every Italian region differs from the others and offers fantastic experiences.

From the beauty of the Italian Alps to my hometown Trieste, to the romantic canals in Venice to the delicious food in Rome, and let’s not forget south Italy, with its still active volcanoes and local food. If you plan to visit the Campania region, check out this Amalfi Coast itinerary.

What is the etiquette to follow when visiting Italy?

Italian friends and families are expected to kiss on both cheeks when they meet, regardless of their gender. Remember to stand up to show respect when an older person enters the room. 

Also, Italians love to wear nice clothes. For us, it is essential to dress neatly and respectfully, even to go to the supermarket (my mom would give me the devil’s eye if only I dared to get out of the home if I did not dress up appropriately). It is almost unthinkable for a woman to go out without makeup in Italy (unless she is going to the gym, and even there, something, some ladies do wear makeup).

Since living in London, I have seen people going to the shop wearing even pajamas, while in Italy, my mom would tell me off if she saw me leaving home without being more than decent (this implies wearing nice clothes and makeup).

The perfect guide for planning a trip to Italy

What is the language spoken in Italy?

The language spoken in Italy is Italian. But in every region and sometimes in each city of a region, people speak a dialect. It’s widespread for people from different Italian regions not to understand each other when both speak in their dialects.

I’m from the beautiful city of Trieste, and I don’t understand the South Italian dialect. For me, it’s an entirely different language.

Italy Travel Tip: I highly recommend learning a few Italian sentences before your trip to Italy. Not everyone speaks English in Italy, and also, keep in mind that when traveling, locals will highly appreciate it if you can say a few simple phrases. To do so, check out Duolingo, a simple, fun, and free way to learn a new language.

Time Zone in Italy:

​Italy is in the Central European Time Zone, 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +1). During summer, Italy observes daylight saving, where the time is moved forward by 1 hour, so it becomes 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +2).

In winter, the time in Italy is moved back by 1 hour to Central European Time. These changes happen on the last Saturday of March and the last Saturday of October. 

Currency in Italy:

​The official currency of Italy is the euro, even though the country is still somewhat of a cash-based economy. You won’t be paying cash all of the time, so I advise you always to have some money with you when traveling through Italy. 

I can’t imagine traveling without my Revolut Card, which allows me to exchange money in real-time from its app and get cashback in many shops and restaurants.

Most shops and merchants in Italy are well equipped to accept card payments – Visa and Mastercard are more common than American Express. Check the actual currency change. 

Vaccinations to visit Italy:

​Before planning an Italy trip, ask your family doctor and ensure you receive all the appropriate vaccinations. Ensure you’re up to date on recommended vaccinations for your home country, and look at The Travel Vaccines and Advice here.

Voltage and Adaptors in Italy:​

The standard voltage in Italy is 220-240 volts. Most sockets have European plugs of the two round-pin varieties. I recommend you buy a universal travel adaptor. You will need a voltage converter and plug adaptor to use other appliances.

Check the Plug adaptor that I use.

Visa and passport requirements:

This depends on where you are from, so you should always check the IVisa website to see if you need to apply for a visa before departure. If you are from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, you can enter Italy and stay up to 90 days without requesting a visa. 

Remember that your passport must have six months of validity.

When is the best time of the year to travel to Italy?

The best time to visit Italy depends on the purpose of your holiday in Italy.

Winter Skiing vacation: if you love skiing and dream about the fabulous Italian Alps, plan a trip to Italy from December to the beginning of March and maybe look for some Italian Alps hotels with spas.

Winter cultural vacation: if you wish to spend your holiday visiting Italian cities and museums and learning about Italian culture, planning a trip to Italy from November to March will allow you to avoid the high-season crowd and plan a trip to Italy on a budget. But remember that the winter temperature can be pretty low if you visit northern Italy.

Springtime is the perfect season for an Italian tour. Enjoy sunny but chilly days while exploring the fabulous Italian cities. Don’t forget when Easter is and try to avoid it because everything gets more expensive that week.

Summertime: If you want to spend time at the beach, the hottest months are from June to the beginning of September. The Italian beaches are lovely, especially in southern Italy. The best places in Italy to vacation at the beach are Puglia, Calabria, Campania, Sicily, and Sardinia. Remember that Italy gets very expensive and crowded in summer, especially in August.

Heads up! Looking for the perfect tan this summer? Read my “Guide to the perfect tan.”

Autumn: From October to November, the days get shorter, colder, cheaper, and less crowded. It is the best season for planning a budget trip to Italy.

Heads up! Do you want to see everything Italy has to offer?  Check all the activities and tours available. You won’t regret it! 

Going from the Airport to your accommodation:

​When planning a trip, it is always wise to check how to get from the airport to your accommodation. There are always many ways to choose. 

Some shuttle buses go to the city center, major Italian airports have train lines, or you can book a private taxi in advance to take you to your accommodation. My go-to airport transfer website is Kiwitaxi, where I always find some great deals. 

Welcome to my travel guide, my lovely anxious traveler! Want to know who is behind Valentina’s Travel Guide? Let me tell you more about myself.

​Pro Travel Tip: In every article titled “How to plan your travel to (a city),” I list all the ways to go from that specific airport to the city center and how to move around that particular city, with links to purchase tickets for all your trips to Italy and more.

Check out how to reach the city center of Rome, Venice, or Trieste from their local airports. 

Travel Tip: If you arrive in Italy too early for your check-in or your departure time is too many hours after your check-out, and you need a place to store your luggage, check out Radical Storage, a website that shows you all the safe places to keep your bags while still exploring Italy.

Best way to visit Italy:

There are many ways to visit Italy. It all depends on where you wish to go, how much you want to spend, and how fast you want to get there.

Move around Italy by Bus:

You can easily explore Italy by bus; every city is very well connected, and there is always a bus company to get around. I always advise booking bus tickets in advance to plan your holiday as efficiently as possible. 

Check bus ticket options and prices on Omio. Then, you can decide whether the best option is by bus or Train and keep all your tickets inside your app.

​Move around Italy by Train:

Not every Italian airport has a train connection to the central city, but luckily, most have one. I always use Trainline while traveling. It is a great website for booking train tickets in Italy. 

​Move around Italy by Car:

If you like driving like me, you can always rent a car. When planning trips to Italy, I always look at my favorite rental car websites to see where I can find the best deals. 

Have a look at them here:

• Rentalcars: the world’s largest online car rental service.
• Economy Bookings: has a wide range of cars from 25,000 rental points across 150 countries, always at an excellent price.

Are tap water and food safe in Italy?

​If you are traveling to Italy for the first time, you may wonder if tap water and food are safe everywhere. The answer is yes! Drinking water in Italy from taps (especially near and on the Alps) and fountains in major cities and parks is safe.

I always carry reusable bottles so I can fill them up anytime. If you are not sure, it’s always safe to ask locals or, in doubt, to drink bottled water.

Do I have to tell you if the food is good in Italy? I don’t think so. If you have decided to plan your trip to Italy, you already know the answer.

​Heads up! Plan Your Vacation in Italy! Check out all my articles in the “Most Complete Guide of Italy” and get all the information you need to make your next trip successful. 

Italy Travel Tip: I added a complete guide on what to eat for every city I wrote about so you will know the local dishes and drinks. Check out what to eat in Rome, Venice and Trieste. 

Italy has so much delicious food to offer. The only problem you will have is that your stomach is not big enough to eat everything you wish. That’s why I always carry with me some Nature Aid DigestEeze Milk Thistle, just in case I overeat because, as my mom always says, “I eat with my eyes and not with my mouth.”

​Unfortunately, bad luck happens everywhere. Sometimes, it is not the food but our stomach that needs to get used to the new cuisine (and let’s be honest, we all eat and drink more than usual when on holiday). 

My favorite Natural remedies for stomach upset or food poisoning: (Ask your doctor if you can take them and if they suit you).

​Milk Thistle: is a traditional herbal medicinal product used to relieve the symptoms associated with occasional over-indulgence in food and drink, such as indigestion and upset stomach. Milk Thistle is an excellent natural remedy to have when traveling.

Charcoal capsules: recent studies prove that charcoal can be a good help if you eat something that is not good and can prevent you from having diarrhea.

Probiotics:  These are an excellent help while having food poisoning. Take as soon as you start to have symptoms and after, for at least a few days. My doctor advises me to start taking them some days before my travel, as a prevention, in case I visit a country where water and food can be easily contaminated. 

Eating and Drinking Out in Italy:

​In Italy, you will find a wide variety of food, from meat to fish. You won’t find only the typical Italian cuisine because every city and region has different dishes to try and love.

Italy Travel Tip: check out my articles about Rome, Venice, and Trieste and read my articles about “what to eat and where to eat local food” in that specific city. I always list suggestions, whether you want a place to eat on a budget, a mid-range restaurant, or a fine-dining restaurant. 

​Food prices may vary from bar to restaurant also from where the place is located if near a famous tourist spot or a bit further, but these are the approximate prices for the most common foods and drinks in Italy:

​In an Italian Supermarket:                                                                                              

• Bottle 1.5 L water: around 0.40-0.50 Euro                                      
• Imported Beer 0.33 L: approximately 1.50 Euro                                         
• Bottle of Wine: 5-10 Euro                                                                 

In an Italian Bar: 

• Coffee latte: 1.50 Euro
• A glass of 0.5 L Beer: around 1.50-2.00 Euro 
• A bottle of wine: 12-20 Euro
• Coke in a Can: Around 2.00-2.50 Euro
• A glass of Wine: Around 3.50-6.00 Euro   

In an Italian Restaurant:                                                                           

• Restaurant on a budget per person: Around 15 Euro                    
• Restaurant medium-range per person: Around 30-40 Euro
• Fine dining Restaurant per person: From 80 Euro

Do you have to sit yourself in Italy?

Italian seating customs are similar to those in many other countries. When at a “ristorante” (restaurant), a pizzeria, or a local trattoria, you should always wait for the waiter to take you to a table. 

While in a café, bar, or gelateria (gelato shop), you can choose a table and sit without waiting for a waiter. Be aware that if you wait standing still waiting to be seated at a bar, you might end up waiting a long time because waiters might think you are waiting for someone. So pick up a table, and sit!

Tipping guide in Italy:

​A gratuity of 10-20% in Italian restaurants is often added to the bill, so check that you’re not already paying the tip before you add more to your payment. If not, a 10-15% tip is encouraged, mostly in tourist places. 

The tip should reflect the customer service you received, so it is up to you to decide how much to give. Read this guide to learn more about tipping in Italy.

How much does a trip to Italy cost?

Italy is a very famous country, and often people ask me, “How much is a trip to Itay for two?”. The cost of a trip to Italy depends on when and where you want to go and for how long. Even during summertime, some less-known cities and towns are cheaper than the most famous ones but still full of charm and beauty.

Italy Travel Tip: Staying in an “Agriturismo” (a family farm with guestrooms where you can eat freshly made food). By doing this, you save a lot of money, eat delicious fresh food, and save some cash.

​Flights to Italy can be very cheap from October to April (once I went from London to Rome, and a return ticket cost me 60 £), so have a look at my favorite flight websites that I used to travel to check flights to Italy: 

​Skyscanner is a search engine that allows users to compare airline prices and offers.

​Accommodations in Italy:

The websites I love the most for finding amazing deals are Booking.com, Skyscanner Hotels, and Agoda. I usually open all of them simultaneously and then search for suitable hotels for my needs. In Italy, you will find hotels, hostels, and B&Bs for every price. 

If you are planning an independent trip to Italy, book your flights and accommodation as soon as you finish your Italian trip itinerary and know exactly where you will be each day. 

Shopping and souvenirs in Italy:

​The options are limitless in Italy, from leather jackets, shoes, and high street brand clothes waiting for you to take them home and create your following season outfits. Italy offers many choices. Even if you plan a trip to Italy on a budget, you will find something to take home.

My favorite souvenirs are local food, from olive oil, liquors like limoncello, cheese, cured meat, dried pasta, or spices to recreate the dishes you ate on holiday. 

Handmade ceramics and paintings are great souvenir ideas. Or some delicious lemon soaps from Sorrento that my mom bought for me when she went there on holiday. Oh, the smell of those soaps is fantastic!

My favorite Italian products:

Do you want to feel like you are in Italy even when you are home? Check out these fantastic Italian items:

• Tuscan Lemon soap: to feel like being on an Italian vacation, even at home.
• Italian extra virgin olive oil: I love this olive oil daily at home.
• Limoncello: the best lemon liquor in the world.
• Italian pasta: to prepare at home a delicious Italian meal

Is Italy safe for a solo female traveler?

​Italy is pretty safe. During the day, with tourists and locals around the streets, the only thing you will have to worry about are pickpockets that, unfortunately, can be present in every tourist city. 

​So, the best way to travel in Italy is to have an antitheft purse or backpack. Prudence is never enough when you are far from home, even in the safest place in the world.​ Overnight, I advise a solo woman traveler to keep her eyes open wherever you are because bad things can happen anywhere, anytime, to anybody, so please put safety first. 

​During my solo travels, I always contacted locals through travel Facebook groups, and I have been lucky to meet people who took me around and showed me their city. Hence, I felt pretty safe being out late in the evening because I wasn’t alone.

What to see and do in Italy:

Italy is a country full of surprises. Every region is different, so It depends on what type of vacation you are looking for. The Alps are perfect for winter sports and great during summertime if you love hiking while enjoying marvelous landscapes.

If you are looking for culture and art, don’t forget that Italy has 58 UNESCO sites, and cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, Turin, Verona, Ravenna, Palermo, or Naples are the perfect destinations for a vacation full of history, architecture, fashion, and art.

Book Tours and Activity in Italy:

So far, I have written about Rome, Venice, and my hometown Trieste. In these, you will find everything you need to plan your trip, what to do and see, and where to book any tickets and tours you wish.

​To book museum tickets, I always check two different websites: 

​The first one is Tiqets, where you can buy every ticket in advance. For activities, I check to GetYourGuide. Suppose I wish to download an excellent audioguide to explore on my own. In that case, I check what is available on WeGoTrip, where some great audioguides are always available for a very affordable price.

For more than a day’s tour, check out TourRadar, the world’s first Adventure Booking Platform. On TourRadar, you can find private, group, and tailor-made multi-day organized adventures from 160+ countries worldwide. See Italy tours available here.

Is it easy to find wifi in Italy?

​You won’t have any problems finding wifi here. It is available and fast in all hotels and most restaurants or bars. You can also find it on some trains and local buses.

IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

I wish you only sunny and safe days while exploring Italy, but just in case, here are all the essential telephone numbers you may need if something doesn’t go as planned:

• Police (Polizia) 122
• Ambulance / Medical Emergencies (Emergenza Sanitaria) 118
• General Emergency (Soccorso pubblico di emergenza)  113
• Fire Brigade (vigili del fuoco) 115
• Forest Fire (Incendio Boschivo) 1515
• Car Breakdown Assistance (Soccorso Stradale) 116
• European SOS 112 (this is a European number you can call from anywhere in Europe and will help you with serious medical problems, fires, and life-threatening situations).

My final thought about traveling to Italy:

Let’s start planning your trip to Italy! I hope you found this article helpful in planning the perfect trip. I gave you all the tips, necessary information, and links to book everything you need to plan the perfect vacation in Italy. If you have any questions, please message me here or on my socials! 

More Italy travel resources:

•  The best guide to Rome
• The best guide to Venice  
• The best guide to Trieste