We recently took a two week trip to Italy with our 9 and 12 year olds and had a blast! This was my 4th trip to Europe but first with kids and even though I researched a ton there were several things I wish I knew ahead of time.
What to know about renting air bnbs in Italy
This was more of a pleasant surprise! When booking internationally the hosts need to get a copy of your passport when checking in. This means we met most people face to face and had great interactions. Our Rome airbnb host even met us at the train station and walked us to the apartment. In Bologna we were having issues with transportation and I was able to whatsapp with our host to get options. She even offered to come get us except we weren’t going to fit in her small car.
What you need to know about recycling and trash in Italy
This is also airbnb adjacent. Almost all of our airbnbs required us to take the trash out. Like all the way out. There aren’t any outdoor trashcans, you have to take them down the street or even into town! This is normal there, but was a surprise to us. Also separating recycling is a much bigger deal. Venice collects trash daily and has fines for not putting things in the right place.
What you need to know about tipping in Italy
You guys, I still don’t know. We read a lot of things that said that tipping is not a thing. And some places that say it’s dependent. For example, If you’re sitting at a table for a while it’s more customary to tip. I would do more research on this before going back to be sure.
What you need to know about grocery stores in Italy
I’m so glad we met up with my German friend Simone at a grocery store. I would not have figured out that we needed to weigh all produce before checking out. Also you have to put a coin in to get a cart from the cart stall. Some people have this non-coin but coin shaped thing they use just for that purpose 😆. Also plastic/paper bags are really frowned upon and sometimes not available. We ended up buying a reusable one while we were there.
What would you add? Comment and I’ll add to the post!
