Honeymoon in Europe (Italy) - What about rings?

I don't see why you wouldn't wear them ... Someone has to get pretty close to you to steal it from you. My husband and I had our honeymoon in Greece, and I was never nervous that our rings would be stolen. But, if you feel really uncomfortable about it and will constantly be thinking about it, then you might want to leave them at home.

Seriously? You think somebody's going to come along and cut off your fingers to get your wedding rings? In Italy? Yikes. You really worry about this?

Yes smart ass, I really have been spending all my time worrying about this. Thank you for the extremely pointless remark about my inquiry.

Emit,
I think it'll be fine wearing the rings. If your wife is a little apprehensive or if you both feel the area/people you are around at a particular point in time is a little shady, she can just turn the engagement ring (stone part) around so it is facing her palms and then it'll just look like a plain gold ring from outside. I do this all the time while travelling. Congratulations and have an awesome trip :)

There is no reason to worry about wearing rings in Italy. Italians wear them, too. It's not worth worrying about, honestly.

Thanks, I appreciate everyone's response (well, just about everyone). I am fine, but the bride began to question it after she started reading some of Rick's comments about theft, pickpockets, etc. I told her by posting this question, that the feedback from other experienced travelers should put her more at ease.

And thank you very much Aries. :-)

I, too, think it's fine to wear them. A few ideas:

1) leave them at home if it really freaks you out (or you don't have them insured) and have fun shopping for a set of 'travel only rings', I have friends that picked out really random ones for fun. If you're stressed about it, it will be a trip-downer.

2) spin it stone-side under as a PP suggested when out and about. Most Europeans only wear a simple band once they're married.

3) use something to make the ring 'stick' to your finger a little more, like wear a band-aid under where your ring normally goes to make it thicker, or, what I usually do at the beach, is to get a smaller hair-elastic thingy (they also make them in clear), the kind that are 'seamless' without the metal claspy things, and wrap that around my finger twice just above the ring. Obviously you don't want them too tight or you cut off circulation; definitely play with which ones work best.

I KNOW this may make some of you laugh, but I feel better when I do this with water activities. We were in Greece for our honeymoon and one day I was on a boat applying sunscreen when I realized my rings were REALLY sliding around w/all that lotion, then I was supposed to go swimming off the boat...yep, there I was 'swimming' with one tightly clenched fist around the Ionian Sea. Stooopid! This is when I discovered the hair-tie method; necessity is the mother of invention.

Other than pendants and broches, I've never heard of anyone "losing" (I guess we can assume "losing = stolen") jewelry as they wore it in Europe. A female colleague once lost a wedding band, but this occurred after she took it off and left it on a table. So, keeps your rings on your fingers and you should be fine.

Actually, a bigger problem is often people trying to aggressively sell you crappy jewelry you don't want...

I usually wear a simple band when I travel...no matter where I travel.

As long as you have insurance - if the rings are expensive or really sentimental, you should be OK. Don't let this board scare you - Europe is safe, and Italy is fine. It's no worse than being in New York or Chicago, or LA. The smaller towns in Italy are charming, and I've never heard of any problems there. it's just the big cities....anywhere in the world!

My hubby always wears his ring, and I sometimes take mine off. I don't sleep in my ring, so it can be a worry about forgetting it in a hotel - but I'm so careful about all our belongings, I double and triple check our room before we leave - table tops, sink, bathroom, all the drawers (and we never put stuff in drawers - just live out of the suitcase!)

Emit, (and the many other posters who have the same questions/concerns about pickpockets, etc. in Europe) Yes, Rick devotes time in his books and shows telling us how to avoid scams, pickpockets, and how to stay safe while in Europe because this is valuable information that will help us be smart, savvy tourists --- not because it's constantly happening all the time, everywhere you go. It's not a topic that should be blown out of proportion, in my opinion. I think you will easily realize this after your trip in October.

Emit, you can explain to your wife that pick pocketing is different them holding you up ans stealing the ring, it would be impossible to "pickpocket " the ring off her finger! Muggings, as in being held up and forced to empty pockets and hand over jewerly is very very rare. You are likely safer from it in Italy then you are in Austin.

The only big issue I see is for women who remove rings at night or when washing hands,, too easy to forget it . I never remove my ring, and have always felt safe, and I travel alone many times.

If you are one of the people who takes off your jewelry every night in the hotel; bring the brightly coloured lid of a peanut butter or mayonnaise jar on holiday with you, and get used to putting all your rings, earrings,etc.
in it every night. That way it stands out, as it's colourful, and you have a better chance of remembering it and your jewelry when you are packing to leave.

Like another poster said, you would have to be mugged, not pickpocketed, for someone to get your wedding ring. Muggings are much more common in the US than in Europe, so if you don't worry about it here, don't worry about it there.

Emit,
Well, first off, congratulations to you and your bride to be! What a wonderful way to begin your life as a married couple! My husband and I just celebrated our 26th anniv. (Our 25th was celebrated in Italy!) As a seasoned traveler and married lady a couple of hints:
- having a less precious set of rings is a great idea and comes in handy. In the work I do I often use my hands alot in ways that could damage my beautiful rings so I have a simple gold band for when I do this type of work. I wear it when I garden or do other messy things for a prolonged time, go to Home Depot to handle lumber, swim or dive, do anything that might damage the setting.

-I usually wear my good rings when in Europe and have not had any problems, but leave them home if it will hinder your enjoyment of the trip.

-If you are in Rome when the Pope gives his Wednesday address to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, he will give his general blessing and this will include your rings. So, if you are unable to have an audience, you and your rings (and any rosaries, etc. you have with you) can still be blessed.
-You may have already done this but santasusanna.org is the source for getting tickets to a Papal audience and I think newlyweds get special priority!

Since you are just a few weeks away from the BIG day, take a deep breath, don't let all of the wedding festivities and planning stress you out too much, and enjoy this very special time in your life!

I think you can safely wear them and not worry about them. My husband lost his wedding ring swimming in the sea in Calabria, but that was his own fault. As a pp pointed out, the only risk is being held up at gun point, which is much more likely to happen in Austin TX than in Italy. I wear mine everyday, as do most married Italians, without giving it a second thought.

When we travel, my wife and I wear only simple wedding bands and leave anything flashy or expensive at home. Since you're travelling at low season for thieves, you will probably be okay wearing your rings on your trip. It's your honeymoon and it might spoil it somewhat if you didn't wear your rings.

Having said that, expensive jewelry does make you stand out as more of a target so take extra care to keep track of your stuff (my best technique is to always limit myself to one item to keep track of. Whatever I have, I reduce to one bag).

Probably the biggest risk is losing either ring, especially when you haven't built habits on where you put it at night and when you bathe. If you wear them on this trip, it would probably be best to just wear them all the time (even to the beach) so they don't get lost.

My husband and I married last year and also spent our honeymoon in Italy. Congratulations!

My husband wore his band and I wore my engagement ring and band with no problems. I thought about leaving my engagement ring at home but decided not to and didn't think about it at all while we were on our trip.

I take my rings off at night, so I always doublecheck to make sure before we checkout that both of us have our rings.

Considering all the ring-wearing people, married or not, who post here, no one has ever posted that they were mugged in Europe and had to hand over their rings, or that a thief managed to slip a ring off a finger of a living human being without it being noticed. Your rings will be new so you will be very conscious of them, but you really need not be fearful. Enjoy being newly married and newly ringed. (Or is that rung?)

Congrats & enjoy your honeymoon!

My husband and I just got back from backpacking through Europe for two months. We were also on our honeymoon.

We both wore our rings and had no problems at all.

Safe and happy travels!

Thank you all for offering your thoughts on this. And next time I think I'll be more specific on what I was concerned with. I kinf of assumed the chances of getting out rings pickpocketed, I was just a little concerened about a possible mugging and if it has happened to anyone before. I am aware it is about the same as it happening traveling my town or anywhere in the US, but it's nice to be reassured. I appreciate it!