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romeonfoot Oct 11

Italian food labels: the words worth learning before your next supermarket trip 🇮🇹

You do not need to stand in an Italian supermarket translating every ingredient on the back of a jar.

For most everyday purchases, I would look for three things first:
1. Where does it need to be stored? Look for conservare.
2. What happens after I open it? Look for una volta aperto or dopo l’apertura.
3. How much food did I actually buy? Look for peso netto and, where relevant, peso sgocciolato.

That last one is particularly useful. A photographed 400 g tin of peeled tomatoes, for example, contained 260 g drained weight. And a tuna multipack marked 3 × 80 g tells you there are three 80 g units, not 80 g divided between three tins.

Also learn this distinction:
da consumare entro = use by da consumarsi preferibilmente entro = best before

And remember that opening a package can start a completely different clock. A jar with a best-before date months away may still tell you to refrigerate it and finish it within a few days once opened.

Follow the exact package you bought rather than assuming every pesto, tuna or fresh cheese has the same storage rules.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

#italytravel #italytraveltips #italianfood #italysupermarket #italytrip

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romeonfoot Oct 10

Arriving in Italy hours before hotel check-in?

The instinct is often to ask what you can squeeze into those extra hours.

I would solve a different problem first: where are the bags going?

If your hotel confirms complimentary pre-check-in storage and it is already in the direction you need to travel, taking the luggage there can be the easiest option.

But “free” does not automatically mean convenient.

At Roma Termini, for example, the official luggage deposit is on the Via Giolitti side. Mercato Centrale Roma is only a few doors away. So depending on where your hotel is, station → luggage storage → lunch → hotel may involve much less backtracking than taking the bags to the hotel first.

The other thing I would avoid is building your first few hours around an early check-in that has not actually been confirmed.

Four hours also disappears surprisingly quickly once you include finding the station exit, dealing with luggage, eating, getting to the hotel and leaving a reasonable buffer.

So my arrival-day rule is:
bags first, lunch second, everything else optional.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

#italytravel #rometravel #italytraveltips #rometermini #italytrip

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romeonfoot Oct 8

Cheap train tickets in Italy can be a very good deal, if you know what you’re buying

When you see €20 and €40 tickets for what looks like the same high-speed train, you may actually be comparing two very different products.

The question I would ask is not simply:

Which ticket is cheapest?

It is:

What happens if my plans change?

That matters especially when your train comes after a flight, ferry, separate train journey or anything else you do not completely control.

A few things worth knowing:

🚄 Trenitalia Base, Economy and Super Economy have very different change and refund rules.

🚄 Italo Flex, Economy, Low Cost and eXtra are also very different. “Changeable” can still involve a substantial fee.

🎟️ Regional trains are a separate category. Trenitalia’s standard Digital Regionale ticket is currently surprisingly flexible compared with some discounted high-speed fares.

✈️ Be particularly careful booking a restricted high-speed ticket immediately after an arriving flight.

🔗 And if you build your own connection from separate tickets, do not assume the second operator has to protect you when the first train is late.

My rule is simple:

Buy restrictions deliberately.

If you are leaving a hotel and walking to the station, the cheapest locked fare may be perfectly reasonable.

If your departure depends on a flight landing on time, saving €10 now can expose you to a much more expensive replacement ticket later.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

Save this before booking your Italian trains.

#italytravel #italybytrain #italytraveltips #trenitalia #italotreno

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romeonfoot Oct 6

What can a tabaccheria actually help you with in Italy?

Probably more than you expect, but the important thing is that every tabaccheria is different.

The big T tells you that you have found an authorized tobacco retailer. It does not automatically tell you that the shop sells bus tickets, Trenitalia tickets, handles pagoPA payments, offers cash withdrawal or accepts parcels.

For those services, look at the other logos around the entrance: local transport companies, PuntoLis, Mooney, parcel networks and other service decals.

A tabaccheria may be able to help with things like:
🎟️ local transport tickets 🚆 some train tickets 📱 phone top-ups 📮 postage stamps 📄 marche da bollo 💳 pagoPA and other payments 📦 some parcel collections 💶 cash withdrawal in certain enabled locations

The easiest rule is: see the T, then check the other signs and ask.

And if you do not know the right Italian vocabulary, show what you need and say:
“Si può fare qui?” Can this be done here?

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

#italytravel #italytraveltips #italytips #italytrip #italyonfoot

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romeonfoot Oct 3

One of my favourite things to do when visiting museums has been the same for years: I look for the dogs in the paintings. 🐕

I’ve been doing this for so long that I now automatically spot them before almost anything else.

Hunting dogs, lapdogs, working dogs, dogs sleeping under tables, following their owners through the countryside, sitting beside children… once you pay attention, they appear everywhere.

And sometimes they show up somewhere unexpected.

One detail I especially love is seeing dogs inside churches in 19th-century paintings. In Angelo Inganni’s 1844 painting of the interior of Milan’s Duomo, for example, there’s a dog casually walking through the cathedral.

You can find similar scenes in old paintings of St Peter’s Basilica too.

I wouldn’t take a painting as proof of an official “dogs allowed” rule, but I love what these tiny details tell us about everyday life at the time, the things artists included because, to them, they were completely normal.

Honestly, this is often what I enjoy most in museums: looking beyond the main subject and finding the little pieces of ordinary life hidden in the painting.

🐾 Does anyone else have one specific thing they always look for in museums?

#dogsinart #arthistory #museumlover #museumlife #ıtalianart

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romeonfoot Oct 2

Rome in the rain without spending the whole day running between museums ☔️

My rule for a wet Rome day is simple: make the plan smaller.
Choose one part of the city. Keep the outdoor connections short. Give yourself one substantial indoor visit and somewhere you can actually sit for coffee or lunch.

These are three routes I would consider:
☂️ Pantheon area: Pantheon → Santa Maria sopra Minerva → Sant’Ignazio → Caffè Doria
🎨 Piazza Navona area: San Luigi dei Francesi → Sant’Agostino → Palazzo Altemps → Chiostro del Bramante
🌧️ Trastevere: Santa Cecilia → Giselda → Santa Maria in Trastevere → Museo di Roma in Trastevere

A few details matter more than they seem.
The Pantheon currently costs €7 and officially has no “skip-the-line” option, so buying a ticket does not guarantee instant shelter.
Some churches close over lunch. Sant’Agostino, for example, currently reopens at 16:00.
And Galleria Doria Pamphilj is closed on Wednesdays, although Caffè Doria can be accessed independently.
The point is not to complete every stop. If the rain gets heavier, stay somewhere longer and drop the next thing.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

#rometravel #rometraveltips #romeintherain #italytravel #italytraveltips

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romeonfoot Oct 1

Travelling in Italy in October 2026?
The useful story is not “Italy is shutting down.”
It isn’t.

But there are already several confirmed engineering changes, a list of announced strikes that still need operator-specific checking, major local events, a clock change, and one calendar update older guides may miss.

📅 4 October is now a national public holiday again: Saint Francis of Assisi Day.
✈️ Rome–Fiumicino: selected Leonardo Express trains are cancelled on specific October dates, including the 04:50 Termini departure on several mornings.
🚆 Florence–Rome: works continue through 31 October, and some affected trains can actually leave earlier, not simply arrive late.
🇨🇭 Milan–Switzerland: flag 2–4, 16–18 and 23–25 October for selected EuroCity cancellations and bus substitutions.
🇮🇹 Eastern Sicily: replacement arrangements are in place from 30 September on the Catania Airport–Siracusa and Catania–Caltagirone/Gela corridors, with no reopening date stated in the current notice.

⚠️ And remember: an announced strike is not the same thing as a confirmed cancellation of your train, tram or flight. Check the operator before changing your plans.

My October rule:
Check the journey you actually booked, date, train number, station, replacement-bus stop and onward connection.

Italy on Foot’s Trip Check can also flag risky transfer timing and closed-day problems before they become expensive mistakes.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the Italy on Foot app + my free Italy newsletter.

#italytravel #italytraveltips #italy2026 #italybytrain #italytrip

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romeonfoot Sep 30

The famous Italian artworks people often look for in the wrong place 🎨

Michelangelo’s David is not at the Uffizi.

The Pietà and Sistine Chapel are both in Vatican City—but they are different visits.

Leonardo’s Last Supper is not hanging in Milan’s main art gallery. It is still on the wall of a former monastery dining room.

And some of the art I would most strongly recommend in Rome is not inside a museum at all.

That is why I think planning an art-focused Italy trip should start with one question:

Which original do you actually want to see?

Then find the exact building, check whether it needs a reservation, and build that part of your day around it.

A few visits deserve especially early attention, including Leonardo’s Last Supper, Galleria Borghese, Cappella Sansevero and the Scrovegni Chapel.

And before travelling specifically for one artwork, always check the museum’s current display information. Works can be temporarily moved, loaned or under restoration.

You do not need to turn your Italy trip into an art-history course.

Choose a few originals that genuinely interest you and give yourself enough time to actually look at them.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you the app and pass details.

Save this for your Italy planning. 🇮🇹

#italytravel #italianart #italytraveltips #italymuseums #italytrip

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romeonfoot Sep 29

Italy transportation strikes to watch in October 2026 🇮🇹

🚆 Oct 2 - National rail action, 11:00–14:00 Rail service may be reduced during this 3-hour window. Airport rail links, including Malpensa Express, may also be affected.

🚌 Oct 3 - Genoa local transport AMT services may be reduced outside guaranteed time bands. Check your route if you’re relying on buses, metro or other AMT services.

🚌 Oct 9 - Milan ATM A 24-hour ATM strike is listed. Metro, tram and bus services may be affected, including connections to Linate Airport.

🚊 Oct 10 - Florence trams GEST tram service may be reduced. Important if you plan to use the T2 tram to or from Florence Airport.

🚌 Oct 12 - Bari AMTAB, 08:30–12:30 Local bus service may be affected during the morning.

🚆 Oct 12–13 - Sicily rail infrastructure RFI staff action runs 21:01 Oct 12 to 21:00 Oct 13. Train circulation may be affected, so check your exact train.

🚆🚌 Oct 14 - Tuscany Rail action is listed 09:01–17:00, with separate local transport strikes depending on the city. Florence trams and aviation are excluded.

🚌 Oct 15 - Foggia ATAF Local bus service may be reduced outside guaranteed periods.

✈️ Oct 16 - easyJet + Venice airport staff easyJet flight crews have a 24-hour strike listed, with separate airport staff action at Venice Marco Polo. Delays, cancellations or longer airport processing are possible.

🚆 Oct 16 - Naples EAV, 19:30–23:30 Some EAV services may be affected in the evening. Check Circumvesuviana and other EAV journeys.

⚠️ Oct 30 - port action to watch The general strike excludes major passenger transport sectors, but separate port-worker action is planned. Check ferries and cruises directly.

Strikes can change, be reduced or be cancelled. Recheck 24–48h before travel and again on the day.

Comment TRAIN and I`ll send you my free Italy Train Guide 🚆

Checked Sept 29, 2026.

#italytravel #italytraveltips #italy2026 #italytrains

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