My honest tips if you’ve never come to Italy before

If you’ve never come to Italy before you might find the following honest tips useful. We’re going to talk about bags (not designer bags), bus tickets, Italian bars, and…toilets.

Ready? Let’s start.

Bags

The first tip of my honest tips’ list I feel like giving you today is about bags. If you go to an Italian supermarket, buy something and head to the register, you’ll soon discover that there are some bags that you can take to put your groceries in. These bags, of course, don’t come for free, you have to pay them some cents. But the most important thing is that the bags aren’t made of plastic. Not anymore. They used to be some years ago but not since 2018 when the government, and the EU, decided to reduce plastic bags in favor of eco-friendly bags. This is surely a good thing for the environment but, in my personal opinion, the downside is that these new eco-friendly bags are not as durable as plastic bags. So, I don’t really trust them if I’ve to buy a lot of things. I personally rely on reusable bags. I bought them some years ago and are still as good as new. I bring them with me anytime I’ve to go shopping and I find them very convenient. So, if you decide to enter an Italian supermarket and buy a lot of things, my
suggestion is to bring some reusable bags with you.

Buses

The rules when you take a bus in Italy might change according to the region where you are or according to the company operating the buses. So, sometimes you can buy your tickets directly on the bus but sometimes you have to get them in advance, before getting on the bus. Now, where do you usually buy bus tickets in Italy? You have to search for a shop called Tabaccheria or Tabacchi. These are usually small shops that sell a lot of stuff like cigarettes, lotto tickets, candies, pens, keychains, birthday cards, and bus tickets as well. Like many Italian shops, tabaccherie aren’t open 24h a day, 7 days a week, so be sure to know when their opening hours and their closing days are.

Once you have your ticket, you generally have to validate it on the bus. If you don’t do it, and a ticket inspector gets on the bus, you’ll most probably end up with a fine.

Public toilets

One of the most important honest tips I feel like giving you today is about public toilets. This is probably obvious, but I’m going to put it in the list anyway. Public toilets aren’t always in perfect state. Sometimes they’re clean, sometimes less so. Sometimes, there’s no lid, sometimes there is. Sometimes the soap is not there, sometimes it is there. Sometimes there’s no toilet paper, and sometimes there is. You’ve got it. So, I strongly suggest you to always bring with you some hand sanitizer and some tissues (or some toilet paper if you prefer). These two things can save your life.

In some occasions, you have to pay to use a toilet, like a euro or so. This is generally good, because the state of pay-to-go toilets is usually better than most free public toilets.

Bar

Finally, I’m going to end this list with one of Italians’ favorite places to meet friends: bar. Don’t think about Italian bars as a place where you drink alcohol and get drunk. Think about them as a place where you can get your breakfast, have a quick lunch, and eat your merenda (snack) in the afternoon. You can, of course, buy a glass of wine, a beer or some cocktails as well, but remember that, generally, when you order something alcoholic in Italy, you do so as an aperitivo, so you generally get something to eat as well.

Do these tips apply to your country as well or not?

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Credits

Original image by user32212