Italy

Population:

60.2 million

Money:

In Italy, the official currency is the Euro (€), and you can exchange money very easily in various different places. You can go to most banks - hours are usually from about 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m, Monday to Friday. You can also exchange your money for Euros at Italian Post offices. Commissions here are generally lower at post offices than at banks. Bureau de Change's are, as always, less useful for getting a good exchange rate.

Italy is fairly expensive to visit so make sure that you save your pennies; the big cities like Rome, Venice and especially Milan are quite hard on your wallet, but the smaller towns can be relatively inexpensive, and your Euros will go further in the south.

Language:

Italian is the official language of Italy, and 93% of the population are native Italian speakers. Around 50% of population speak a regional dialect. Other northern minority languages include Ladin, Slovene and German. Albanian is spoken by 0.2% of the population, mainly in the southern part of Italy, as too are Croatian and Greek. Catalan is spoken in one city, Alghero, on the island of Sardinia, by around 0.07% of the population. On the rest of the island, Sardinian is spoken by over 1 million people, which comprises to 1.7% of the Italian population.

Dialling codes:

+39. Individual numbers for some of the main cities are: Rome: 6, Milan: 2, Florence: 55, Venice: 41, Naples: 81

Optional:

Watch out for:

In Naples, watch out for your bags - there is a well-known trick used by certain shady locals where they will drive by on a scooter and grab bags off people's shoulders - it's probably best to use a bag that can either go on your back or straps across your body!

Entry:

British nationals will need to have a valid passport to enter Italy. Visas are not required.

Current Foreign Office Advice for Italy