The complete list of what to bring to Italy in 2026: the right clothing for each season, shoes for the cobblestones, what's pointless to bring, the power adapter
Packing for Italy has a few specifics the generic packing lists don't address, Rome's cobblestones that destroy the wrong shoes, the requirement to cover your shoulders in churches, the thermal shock of the super-chilled high-speed trains on a summer day. This list is Italy-specific, not generic.
60% of tourists arrive in Italy with the wrong shoes and find out painfully within the first day. The Roman sampietrino (the gray basalt cube used to pave the historic-center streets) is perfect for the look and a nightmare for: high heels (they wedge into the gaps), soles with too aggressive a pattern (they warp), flat sneakers with little cushioning (after 20,000 steps they hurt). The shoes that work in Rome, Florence, and Venice: sneakers with a thick cushioned sole (New Balance, Hoka, On Cloud, not Converse Chuck Taylor, which look Rome-compatible but aren't after 5 km); sandals with arch support (not flip-flops); urban hiking shoes for anyone who walks a lot. Golden rule: bring the shoes you've already worn for 20 hours straight, not the new ones.
Italy uses type F plugs (2 round pins, no ground) and type L (3 in-line pins, the specific Italian system). The voltage is 230V/50Hz as across the EU. Travelers from the USA/Canada (110V/60Hz): modern devices (MacBook, iPhone, cameras, power banks) are universally compatible at 100-240V, you don't need a transformer, just a mechanical adapter. An EU-to-US adapter (€3-8 at electronics shops) is enough. For non-universal electronics (American hair dryers, appliances): leave them home and use the hotel's.
No, trekking poles in Italian cities are bulky and basically useless for urban visits. For real hiking (Dolomites, Abruzzo National Park, the Cinque Terre trails): yes, bring collapsible telescopic poles. Comfortable, well-cushioned shoes are infinitely more important than poles for Italian urban walking. If you have knee problems: a simple walking cane (not a trekking pole) is useful on the descents of hilly sites like Rome's Aventine or the streets of Positano.
Two pairs for most travelers: a pair of comfortable walking shoes for the daytime visits (the pair that will cover 15-20 km a day) and a dressier pair for dinners and evenings (for women: a low or kitten heel instead of a high one, the cobblestones don't forgive). The third pair (sandals for summer or boots for winter) is useful but not essential, decide based on your specific program. The rule: never a new pair of shoes. Italy requires already "broken-in" shoes.
ZTLs are the number-one source of nasty surprises for tourists with a rental car, cameras read the plates and automatically send the fine to the rental agency, which passes it to your credit card months after the trip. The main ZTLs to absolutely avoid: Florence (the entire historic center, almost always active, never drive into central Florence); Rome (ZTL with variable hours, some 24/7 in the historic center); Siena (the whole center inside the walls); Bologna (the T-Days zone). The map of every Italian ZTL is on Google Maps by searching "ZTL + city name", the Waze app flags ZTLs in real time. Prevention is worth infinitely more than appeal: a ZTL fine is nearly impossible for a foreign tourist to contest and arrives on your credit card 2-3 months late, when you've already forgotten the trip.
Acqua Alta (the rise in the lagoon's water level that floods the lowest Venetian streets) happens mainly in November-January, with peaks in October and February. The critical level: above 110 cm above sea level the problems begin in Piazza San Marco (the lowest point in Venice); above 130 cm a significant part of the historic center floods. The Venice Tide Center (www.comune.venezia.it/maree) publishes accurate forecasts 3-4 days ahead, the "Venezia Unica" app sends alert notifications. What to do during Acqua Alta: the city installs the "passerelle" (raised wooden walkways along the whole main tourist route Station-Rialto-San Marco) that Venetians use normally; buy or rent rubber boots (sold at newsstands and shops downtown for €5-10) or waterproof your shoes with plastic bags. Acqua Alta isn't an emergency, it's part of Venetian life, and seeing Piazza San Marco with 20 cm of reflecting water is a sight no "normal" day offers.
Transport strikes in Italy are common (on average 4-6 rail-sector strikes a year) but regulated by Law 146/1990, the essential services (regional trains during peak hours 6:00-9:00 and 18:00-21:00, Frecciarossa and Frecciargento on international routes) must be guaranteed even during a strike. How to check: Trenitalia publishes the list of guaranteed trains at www.trenitalia.com at least 5 days before an announced strike; the "Trenitalia" app sends notifications for tickets you've already bought. Your rights during a strike: a full refund if the train is canceled (even non-refundable tickets) or the option to reschedule the trip at no extra cost. In practice: Italian rail strikes rarely last more than 24 hours and almost never affect high-speed service in the early morning, the 6:00-9:00 Frecciarossa trains run almost always, even during a strike.
The strategies that work: (1) Search the towns 20-40 km from the main destination, Fiesole for Florence, Tivoli for Rome, Mestre for Venice, Sorrento for Amalfi; (2) Email hotels directly, some hold rooms for direct bookings not visible on Booking.com; (3) Agriturismo.it has properties the big OTAs ignore, over Ferragosto it's often the only reasonably priced option in rural areas; (4) Airbnb often shows private-home availability when hotels are full; (5) Family-run B&Bs (1-5 rooms) have more variable availability than the chains, look for them directly on Google Maps filtering for "B&B + city name" with the most recent reviews.
The signs of a low-quality tourist restaurant: a menu with photos of the dishes (almost no quality Italian restaurant uses photos, menus are written, full stop); staff outside the door "inviting" passersby in (never a good sign in Italy); a menu in 8 languages with the exact same offerings; "pizza and pasta and tiramisù" as the only dishes of a cuisine that should be regional; a spot on a main tourist square (Piazza Navona in Rome, Piazza della Repubblica in Florence, the rent pushes prices up 40-60% over neighborhood trattorias). The signs of an authentic restaurant: a menu handwritten or on a chalkboard (changing with the season); a mostly Italian clientele; house wine loose in a carafe (almost always good and €3-4); an antipasto you didn't ask for, brought automatically with the bread (in the trattorias of the South); the waiter who asks "where are you from?" with genuine curiosity, not as a routine.
Italian neighborhood markets run Monday to Saturday morning (7:00-13:00 in most cities), Wednesday and Saturday are the days with the most stalls in mid-to-large cities. The etiquette of the Italian market: don't touch the fruit without asking the seller ("posso?"), the seller picks the product for you and that's normal, not a scam; haggling is rare in Italian markets (more a Southern than a Piedmontese or Lombard tradition); prices at Italian neighborhood markets are always lower than the supermarket for fruit and vegetables, and comparable or higher for meat and fish. The most authentic markets by region: the Porta Palazzo market in Turin (the largest in Europe by area); the Sant'Ambrogio market in Florence (Florentines' favorite, near Santa Croce); the Ballarò market in Palermo (the most picturesque in Italy).
The Italian healthcare system is public and universal, in an emergency anyone is treated regardless of nationality or insurance coverage. The Pronto Soccorso (ER): at any Italian hospital for emergencies, the single emergency number is 118 (ambulance) and 112 (all emergencies). Triage: a red code (life-threatening emergency) is treated immediately; a yellow code (urgent) within 30 minutes; a green code (non-urgent) may wait 2-6 hours. For non-emergencies: the Guardia Medica (116117) is the after-hours and holiday continuity-of-care service, a doctor answers for free and can make a house call to your hotel. The night on-call pharmacy: every city has pharmacies that open at night on a rotation, the list is posted on the door of every closed pharmacy, or search "farmacia di turno + city name" on Google Maps.