In Italy, it is heavily frowned upon to drink cappuccino after 11 a.m. or during meals, ask for parmesan cheese on seafood, order coffee "to go," or cut spaghetti with a knife. Other taboos include wearing beachwear in cities, overtipping, ignoring formal greetings (using "tu" instead of "Lei"), and being excessively loud or drunk in public.
Italy Packing List
Be aware of your surroundings, especially in crowded areas. Thieves and pickpockets take advantage of large gatherings to target travellers. People may approach you on the street to sell tickets to events.
It is improper to put one's hands on one's lap, or to stretch one's arms while at the table. Resting one's elbows on the table is also considered to be poor manners. Do not leave the table until everyone has finished eating. Drinking beverages other than water or wine with a meal is quite uncommon.
Understanding Italy's Customs Restrictions
Certain items like weapons, drugs, and counterfeit goods are strictly prohibited. Additionally, there are restrictions on bringing in certain foods, plants, and animals to protect public health and the environment.
Italians tend to dress up, and rarely leave the house in flip-flops or gym clothes. To avoid looking like a total tourist, leave the flip-flops behind and dress up a bit. Just be sure to bring comfortable walking shoes, as old cobblestone streets can make walking a bit challenging!”
A tourist trap isn't just a place that's popular, it's a place that takes advantage of that popularity. These are the restaurants, shops, or tours that cash in on Italy's global appeal by offering watered-down, overpriced, and often inauthentic experiences.
25 important things to know before coming to Italy
The "333 rule" in clothing refers to two popular minimalist fashion challenges: the viral TikTok trend of creating outfits with 3 tops, 3 bottoms, and 3 shoes (9 items total) for many combinations, and Project 333 by Courtney Carver, which challenges you to wear just 33 items (including clothes, accessories, jewelry, outerwear, but excluding underwear, sleepwear, and workout gear) for three months to reduce decision fatigue and declutter. Both methods encourage mindful consumption and creating versatile capsule wardrobes from existing items.
Don't order pineapple on pizza. This is a good rule, in general. Don't ask for steak sauce or—god forbid—ketchup on a Florentine steak. The bistecca alla fiorentina is a national treasure.
It is therefore commonly used as a term of endearment roughly equivalent to "friend," "brother," or "comrade" among close friends or associates (generally males) in certain parts of Southern Italy, including Campania and Sicily, where it becomes cumpà or cumpari in the regional Southern languages.
Forget handshakes
When you dive into the world of cheek-to-cheek contact, you'll find that the perfect Italian kiss is not just a greeting but a cultural embrace that speaks to the country's good-natured hospitality. This is not just an ordinary peck; it's a special moment where cheeks meet for a brief unique union.
"Bafangool" is a common misspelling of the Italian expletive "vaffanculo" or "va fangool," a contraction of "vai a fare in culo" or the Sicilian "vâ fa 'n culu," all of which mean "go do it in the ass" and function as a very offensive "f### you" or "f### off".
"Boo-fo-so" (Bufoso?) is not an Italian word, but in Parmesan dialect "Buf" (pron. Boof) means "gun shot", so it's something quite loud and annoying. In a distorted Italian-Parmesan language Bufoso could mean something/someone loud and obnoxious.
In Italy, it's considered rude to be loud or rushed, dress sloppily (especially in churches), touch produce at markets, ask for cheese on seafood, order cappuccinos after noon, overtip, or be disrespectful to historic sites like eating on church steps, while being overly attentive or interrupting meals is also frowned upon. You should also avoid specific hand gestures like the thumbs-up (meaning "up yours" in some areas) and treat dining as a leisurely experience rather than rushing.
Italy has passed a landmark law banning the production and sale of lab-grown (cultivated) meat and related synthetic food products. Approved by the Italian Parliament in 2023, the legislation makes Italy the first country in the world to formally prohibit these products, with fines imposed for violations.