My wife and I are going to Italy on Tuesday - Milan, Venice, Florence and then Tuscany for a week. We know we can pay for wifi in our hotels, but just wondering if there are any free wifi hot spots in those three cities?
Dan, Which Hotels are you staying in? I've found that Wi-Fi is usually free in Hotels, but a password is usually required. I don't know of any free Wi-Fi in those areas. I believe McDonald's requires both a purchase and an Italian mobile number these days to get the access code, so that probably won't be an option. Happy travels!
My experience is similar to Ken's. We did a hotel, a B&B and an apartment in our Italy travels and all had free Wifi (with huge passwords!). I tried to get WiFi by standing outside a McDonald's and you need a password. I was asked to provide my phone # so they could text me the password. I can see where another location might also need the code from your receipt (just like some McDonald's provide the bathroom code on your receipt). I did not see any restaurants advertising free WiFi, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.
We stayed in a combination of nine hotels and B&B's last October and all but one had free Wifi.
This link might be useful; at the far right of the menu bar, click on the global wifi finder button. Have fun. http://www.jiwire.com/