Destination Guides & Maps - Italy

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Capital City: Italy is governed by the Eternal City of Rome, in the region of Lazio. Greater Rome has around four million inhabitants

Currency: The Euro

Area: 116,320 square miles (301,268 km2), including the main islands of Sicily and Sardinia (but not Corsica, which is French)

Population: Italy has a population of approximately 57.5 million. The population growth is practically zero. There are small minorities of German speakers in the Alto Adige, French speakers in the Valle d'Aosta and Slovene speakers in Fruili

Language: Italian, plus dialects. Most Italians speak good English because they study it at school. Italians do appreciate it if you learn to speak a little Italian - and it's a gorgeous language to speak.

Credit and debit cards and travellers cheques are the most convenient way of taking money on holiday to Italy, though it's a good idea to have some euros in cash for when you first arrive: not everywhere accepts credit cards. In Italy you'll get the best exchange rate at a bank.

Visa: British, Irish and other EU citizens can enter Italy and stay as long as they like on production of a valid passport, no visa necessary.

Legally, you are required to register with the police within three days of entering the country, though usually this is done for you if you are staying at a hotel.

Geography: Italy sits at the heart of the Mediterranean, a peninsula jutting out into and surrounded by water and shielded from the rest of Europe by the Alps. Its territory, with the exception of the Po valley in the north, is almost completely occupied by hills or mountains.

While the fertile valley of the Po river arcs horizontally across the industrial north, the Apennine mountains split the boot-shaped peninsula down its length.

Italy has 18 National Parks, 270 Regional Reserves, 142 State reserves, 47 Marsh reserves and seven Marine Reserves that are protected zones managed by the state or environmental associations.

Religion: The large majority of Italians are Roman Catholic. Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between Mussolini and the Catholic Church, Rome was recognised as the centre of the Catholic world.

From 1985, though, Catholicism was no longer the state religion and compulsory religious education has been dropped. However, first communions, church weddings and religious feast days, celebrated with elaborate festivals all over Italy, are all still an integral part of Italian life.

Around 85 per cent of Italians called themselves Catholics in a census conducted in the early Eighties. The rest of the population is mainly made up of Protestants, Jews, Baptists, Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Time: Italy is one hour ahead of GMT. GMT+ 2 hours from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.

Electricity: The electric current in Italy is 220V, 50HZ. Check with your hotel management though, as some older hotels may still use 125V. Power sockets have two or three holes and do not have their own switches. Make sure you take plug adapters with you.

Emergencies: If you need an ambulance anywhere in Italy, call 118. Generally, the further north you are, the better medical treatment you can expect.

Always take out your own travel insurance, which includes emergency medical care, just in case.

Telephone: Public telephones usually have clear instructions in English, and are likely to be cheaper, though less convenient, than calling from your hotel room.

Telephone cards (carte or schede telefoniche) offer the best value and are valid for six months. They are available from tabacchi (tobacconists) and newsstands.

If you can't find a phone box, look for a bar with a red phone symbol, which means there is a telephone available for public use.

Calling Italy from the UK: dial the access code 00, followed by 39, then the area code including the first zero, then the subscriber number.

Calling within Italy: the area code must always be used, even when dialling locally.

Calling the UK from Italy: for direct dial international calls from Italy, dial 00, followed by 44 for the UK, then the area code minus its first zero.

Post: Main post offices are usually open Monday to Saturday 8.30am-7.30pm. Opening hours may be different for smaller offices, and they may be shut altogether on Saturdays. Stamps (francobolli) are sold in tabacchi too, as well as some gift shops in tourist resorts.

Shops: Business hours vary from city to city. Generally, shops are open from around 9am to 1pm, then 3.30pm to 7.30pm. You will find that in mass tourist areas, shops are likely to stay open all the time, and for a lot later at night. Some stores may close for half a day during the week; some may now open on Sunday.

Banks: In Italy, you'll get the best exchange rate when changing money at a bank. There are a few nationwide banking chains - the Banca Nationale del Lavoro, Credito Italiano and Cassa di Risparmio, among others - as well as regional chains such as the Banca di Roma, Banca di Napoli, and Banca di Sicilia.

Banks are open normally Monday to Friday mornings from 8.30am to 1pm, and for an hour in the afternoon (usually 3pm-4pm). They are closed at weekends, but major tourist areas may well have a bureau de change open.

Bank opening times may vary locally, and on the day before a bank holiday, usually open only in the morning.

Outside banking hours, you should be able to change travellers cheques and cash at larger hotels, though the rate is unlikely to be as good.

Museums: Sadly, there are no uniform opening hours for museums and art galleries, although there are moves to try to make them all open continuously from 9.30pm-7pm. Many close on Mondays, too.

The best advice is to check locally before you leave your hotel: information in guide books goes out of date almost as soon as it's printed.

Don't be put off by a queue: even if there are people wrapped round the block, the Italians seem in many instances to have mastered the art of shifting people through doors very quickly.

Tourist offices: Most Italian towns and main city railway stations and airports have a tourist office, usually known as an APT (Azienda per il Turismo) or just officio turistico. Opening hours vary, but in larger cities and towns, should be open Monday to Saturday 9am to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm.

Chemists: Chemists are usually open from 9am to 12.30pm and 3.30pm to 7.30pm, closed on Sundays and usually Saturday afternoons.

Internet and e-mail: E-mail has been a little slower in catching on in Italy than other parts of Europe. Nevertheless you should be able to find an internet cafe within a reasonable walking distance of your hotel in any Italian city.

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