insurance

Slice of Tuscany provides several options for rates on trip items (i.e. Hotel rooms) from pre-paid non-refundable to fully refundable and transferrable. Clients must select the best options for them. We do recommend having a plan in place in case something comes up. Check with your credit card companies as many of them offer some trip insurance. Otherwise, look into one of these recommended options:

driving in italy

Driving in Italy doesn’t have to be as stressful as its reputation lets on. They drive on the same side of the road as we do! There are options for both manual and automatic car rentals as well. Remember to stay calm, move at a pace comfortable for you, and no right turn on red. Here is a document you can download for a few more tips.

ITALY DRIVING TIPS

Driving does require an international driver’s license in addition to your US driver’s license. It is inexpensive and easy to get. Here’s a link to get you started: AAA International Driving

phones & internet

I recommending budgeting $10 per day to use your phone carrier’s international plan. Please check with your provider for details of what all is included. It’s very easy to use and provides you great service while you are traveling.

Whatsapp - All Slice of Tuscany travelers are asked to download Whatsapp prior to traveling and plan to use this service for communication while traveling. You must save phone numbers as contacts to your phone and include the country code “+39” or “01139” before all 10-digit Italian numbers.

€ money €

EUR cash is king in Italy. You always want to have at least 20 EUR cash or coins on you at any given time, especially for small purchases such as a bottle of water or gelato. I suggest bringing EUR cash with you – an amount that you are comfortable traveling with, but I generally suggest 500 EUR to start. In Italy use ATMs to get more EUR cash as needed –– this gives you the most bang for your buck with lowest service fees. ATMs in Italy are called bancomats. Most hotels, restaurants and shops accept credit cards so check your international usage rates before travel.

handy apps

  • DuoLingo – fun language app that feels more like a game. È gratis!

  • Guides by Lonely Planet

  • Google Maps – Don’t be a hero, use a map. But sometimes get lost too.

  • All Trails – List of walking and hiking trails all over the world

  • Free Now (myTaxi) – app for ordering taxis in Europe. Works much like Uber or Lyft.