Your trip to Italy could take in bustling cities, expansive mountains and mouth-watering cuisine. Take out a European travel insurance policy with the right level of cover for you. Cover options to think about include:
Standard travel insurance might not give you adequate cover. When you get quotes with us, we’ll ask you if you want to include winter sports cover. Make sure you’ve got enough medical cover and think about cover for your equipment or travel disruption caused by bad weather too.
Pickpocketing is common in the large cities in Italy. Be careful, and if you’re taking expensive tech with you, think about additional cover for your items.
In case you need to cut your trip short or cancel it unexpectedly. You’ll need to have bought your insurance a little in advance to take advantage of cancellation cover, so don’t leave it to the last minute.
State healthcare in Italy is like ours and you can access it if you have a valid EHIC. You can apply for an EHIC online, or over the phone, with the NHS.
Your EHIC won’t bring you home in an emergency, or provide routine medical care, so make sure your travel insurance policy provides some medical cover and includes repatriation.
If you need treatment but your EHIC doesn’t cover all the costs, some insurers will waive your excess - check policy details to see if you’d still need to pay it.
If you have a UK drivers licence, or a driving licence from a European country, you won’t need an international driving permit.
All UK insurance providers offer basic third-party cover if you’re driving in an EU country. Some might cover you for theft or damage to your car when driving abroad too, but it’s not standard. Check your policy details before you head off, and make sure you’ve got enough cover to suit you.
Consider European breakdown cover too. You’ll be given roadside assistance as standard and if your car can’t be fixed at the side of the road it’ll be taken to the nearest garage.
If your car can’t be repaired, it’ll need to be recovered back to the UK, so having repatriation included in your breakdown cover is important.
Italy has a strict drink-driving limit of 0.5mg of blood alcohol, which is much lower than the UK’s 0.8mg.
Penalties for being caught above the limit can include fines, vehicle confiscation, licence bans and imprisonment. Keep it simple and safe - don’t drink before you drive.
Drivers can only use a hands-free device to speak on mobile phones when behind the wheel.
Here are a few things you should be aware of when in Italy:
The currency for Italy is the euro. Be sure to take credit/debit cards with you that work in Italian ATMs and plenty of local cash
While crime levels are generally low across Italy there are higher levels of petty crime (especially bag snatching and pick-pocketing) in the big cities like Rome, Milan and Pisa
Only use officially licenced taxis, which will have a taxi sign on the roof, and make sure the meter gets reset before you set off
There’s a risk of forest fires in the height of summer, and large parts of Italy lie on a major seismic fault line - minor tremors and earthquakes are a regular occurrence
By law you must be able to show some form of identification at all times. A photocopy of your passport should be enough
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