I travelled to Rome, Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Venice and Sicily on my recent visit to Italy in September and October. Over my 5 week stay, my travelling companion and I spent, on average, 40 euro between us when eating out for lunch or dinner.
We ate only in local trattoria (no fine dining experiences or Michelin Star restaurants), and normally ordered
– a pasta or main each
– a salad to share
– a large bottle of water to share
– a quarter or half litre of house wine to share (which in most cases was very enjoyable)
– a dessert to share
and more often than not the bill came to just under 40 euro, 20 euro per person – we would then normally round up the bill to leave a small tip.
Of course we sometimes splurged a little and had a dessert each, or if we were starving after a big day of sightseeing we may have had a pasta and a main each, or we had to order a second bottle of water (the weather was unseasonally hot during our visit – click here to read our blog entry for more details on travelling in Italy in Autumn), which meant the price was closer to 50 euro for the two of us.
A note on tipping:
Tipping is certainly not compulsory in Italy, although if the service and food has been good you may choose to. That said, you may see written on some menus that service isn’t included and in that case you should tip as much as the service warrants based on your dining experience.
We hope this helps with your trip planning and budgeting. When you become a Passion For Italy client we provide you with travel guides and restaurant information for all the destinations you are visiting.
Travel in Italy
Autumn in Italy – When to Travel in Italy
WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT ITALY? Spring, Summer, Autumn (Fall) or Winter?
Each season in Italy has its benefits and drawbacks – our 4-part blog will give you ideas and information on how best to enjoy Italy, no matter the season.
Having just returned from 5 weeks in Italy it seems appropriate that we start the blog with Autumn (Fall)…
ITALIAN AUTUMN (FALL) – AUTUNNO September, October, November
Traditionally these months offer pleasant temperatures and significantly fewer crowds than summer, however my visits in recent years have proven to me that September and October can sometimes be just as hot and as busy as summer…
Rome can have temperatures of 30 C mid-September, queues for the Vatican museums were already underway at 7am (2 hours before opening!), there were 6 huge cruise-ships in port in Venice in mid-October, airports were crowded, planes were full, trains were full, hotels and b&b’s were full – north to south, Italy was busy, busy, busy and hot, hot, hot!
Many of the Passion For Italy hotel owners I met with during my visit agreed that the busy season really has been extended through to the end of October. The hot weather is definitely a bonus for the sea and lakes regions – I met many Europeans who had flown to Taormina in Sicily at the last-minute because the weather was so wonderful!
At some stage the weather has to change, and November will definitely be a cooler month. The challenge with November travel can be the high likelihood of rain – traditionally it is the wettest month in Italy. However, with the weather patterns being anything other than traditional in recent times, the prices and relative peace and quiet may outweigh the (even less predictable) chance of rain.
Many sea and lake properties close, and opening hours for museums and monuments start to shorten in October and November. Culturally, the opera and theatre seasons begin, and many towns and cities have food and wine sagres. Autumn food in Italy is a delight – truffles, mushrooms, the new oil from the olive harvest.
Personally, autumn is my favourite time to visit Italy. Here are my tips to get the most out of your autumn holiday:
* Factor in the variable weather patterns and ensure you have plenty of time in each destination to allow for days when the weather keeps you indoors
* Pack layers for the variable weather – that way you can simply add or take off a layer as the weather changes
* Research your destinations and be aware of the (limited?) seasonal opening hours of the museums, monuments and other attractions you wish to experience
* Research your destinations for food and wine festivals – on a similar note, know which foods are in season and order dishes with these fresh ingredients when dining out
– click here for our list of Festivals in Italy
* Rent an apartment instead of a hotel room – on a rainy day, it’s nice to have a comfy lounge to sink in to and read a book
– read our blog entry on Renting an apartment in Italy
* Ensure your accommodation in Italy has air-conditioning and heating – you don’t want to be uncomfortable if you end up with unseasonal weather conditions
* If travelling with children, have a plan B – perhaps you need to bring along some digital entertainment equipment (ipad, portable dvd player, e-readers, etc) or have some more traditional games up your sleeve for those days indoors – but always be aware of any costs you will incur for internet connections
* Consider joining an organised small-group tour – experienced tour operators know what works at this time of year
– click here to see our hand-picked small-group tour packages
Finally, the best part of Autumn for me is that as November draws near and the tourist crowds thin, only the locals are left in the towns and villages – it’s a wonderful time to start to see and experience authentic Italy.
Let Passion For Italy help you plan your European Autumn holiday in Italy. Contact us with your requirements and we will ensure your trip is a success.
On Learning to Speak Italian
I took the train up to Florence for the weekend to meet one of my good Australian friends, who had just arrived in Italy for the first time. It was wonderful to speak English again and so great to laugh and joke in our way with our sayings where we only have to look at one another and both get the joke!
When learning and speaking another language, it is really hard to express your humour as you never quite get the words right and it does not sound funny to the natives so I am often laughing to myself and I cannot share it as humour needs precise words to be comical and if you are not a native this is quite difficult….
To learn another language, one needs to develop courage, fortitude and humility. One has to become humble as at times you are bought to your knees with situations that develop. To not be able to express yourself is, at times very frustrating and challenging. One has to give away all pretence of being noble or arrogant and let go of all the social categories that you class yourself in when back home e.g educated or cultured. It is actually a good spiritual lesson and a great way to grow in personal development on the journey to discovering yourself – who you really are!!
You have to be prepared to assume the characteristics of, being viewed at times by the natives, as the class idiot, to whom people speak slowly.. as your brain is a bit damaged ..or even a deaf person who is spoken to with a raised volume. A curious thing is that ignorant people who have never tried to learn a language, think that shouting the words will make it clearer…..
People will frown at you as you speak, trying to understand what you are saying…You might also be subjected to racism.
I was in a group of Puteolano, (people from Pozzuoli- this village has its own dialect which is different to the 2 km up the road dialect) the other day who were speaking dialect. My lovely fruit man Peppe kept saying to them “Speak Italiano not dialetto/dialect.” The natives were too busy loudly chatting away (Italian language is very energetic) but he kept trying and finally shouted at them to shut them up and with strong hand language, “Speak Italian!!”
Finally the natives heard the shouting and turned to me and said, Where are you from and when I told them then they were interested and started speaking Italian – thank God as it was a bit dull just standing there only watching their sign language!!
However with all the challenging things mentioned above, there are so many wonderful aspects about learning a language – it is so good for the brain and memory. It is so interesting learning, all the time, new words and it is so wonderful when you can actually get to the other side where you can say a whole sentence with the correct grammar.
There are little challenges and victories all along the way. I absolutely love the Italian language – it is so beautiful to the ear – the cadence and it makes me feel happy . It is almost like singing and they say one cannot be sad when either singing or dancing. It is so wonderful when you can join in Italian conversations and your opinion listened to.
I do not know if I will ever be able to get to the level where I can read Italian novels but when I go into an Italian bookshop, this motivates me to keep trying, to keep persevering as I love books. It is a never ending learning curve just as it is in English – I still am learning new words in English – aren’t you?
Time in Italy is Gentle
In Italy never expect to get to an appointment on time. It is the unexpected chaos that ensures that Italians are always late. The other side of the coin is that they put themselves first which is both a good thing and bad. Good for their life but bad for services.
If it is coffee time and you have lined up in a queue at the bank….. Down comes the sportello – window and the bank man goes off to have morning tea leaving you standing there for another half an hour. “Please can you serve me first before you go”!! With a wave of the hand off he goes and you have to decide to wait or come back another day. Never go into a bank close to closing time or lunch time. As they say here – “Buonanotte“!!……
I find it hard remembering to get to the shops before they close at 1.30 p.m.and then at 7.30 -8.00 p.m.because after that – nothing is open; One cannot even buy a loaf of bread because there are no convenience stores open at odd hours. Closing time means that – everything and I mean everything is shut. You either starve or go to a restaurant to eat.
Time here in Italy is relegated – the work day is split around food, into morning, lunch, siesta (closing of shops for 3 hours) and late afternoon and then dinner at night. Pasta is always eaten at lunch then meat and vegetables for the evening meal.
Booking Apartments in Italy
PITFALLS FOR THE INEXPERIENCED!
I recently have had a huge challenge booking many apartments in Italy at short notice for a large family in the July school holidays which as you all know is also the European and American summer school holidays.
Also many Italians take holidays in July to avoid the August traffic jams. Large three bedroom apartments are rare as hens’teeth in the major cities of Italy as all the large properties have been split up into smaller apartments for rent.
At the end of it all I was so happy that I was able to help this family because if they had tried to do it themselves without knowing the Italian ways – it would have been a disaster as it was challenging enough for us and we know who we are up against!!….
Passion for Italy is here to do for you, those difficult bookings in Italy as they are indeed fraught with a lot of (unfortunately shall I say it?) – deceptive and underhand apartment owners or agencies who are willing to put your family’s holiday into calamity. Their only concern is getting an exorbitant fee up front with no accountability. It is only from dealing with Italians for so long now that I know their little tricks of the trade and it still disappoints me when I catch them out and have to confront them!!
Many apartment owners are often private ordinary people who have often inherited their property and are renting it out on the internet. They are not professional offices or agencies and often they act in an unprofessional manner. When you smell a rat trust your instinct which is always correct!!
I once did an experiment where I wrote to an apartment owner for a booking in Italian as a an Italian tourist. I then wrote to them as an english speaking tourist and the apartment was 150 euro per week higher in cost!! This really upsets me when english tourists are ripped off because I strongly believe in parity for all human beings in all ways.
This is why our team here at Passion for Italy Travel work so hard to bring prices down for our clients. Sometimes we have to fight huge wars over prices that can go on for a week and risk a heart attack by throwing an Italian tantrum back at those normally lovely people who turn into sharks when negotiating apartment prices or bank fees. We try very hard to make sure that our clients are not getting ripped off and that there is parity for everyone.
This is why we are travel agents – to do the hard work for you out of organising your holiday and it has taken years of experience to understand how the system in Italy exactly works.