Blending in as much as possible

Us Southerners always look like "country come to town." I'll have you know we really do wear shoes. Just try not to wear any UGA or Ugga t shirts and hats. Just dress like normal.

David...Thanks, we will then and won't give it another thought, As long as it fits in my backpack. I grew up in Florence,,, left when I was 19. No UGA stuff here, just a Tour de France shirt !

This will generate a lot of silly discussion and comments - at least it has in the past. There is a difference between standing out and blending in. Some tourist just stand out in their shorts, t-shirts, baseball caps, etc. And that is fine if they are comfortable looking like that. We do tend to dress a little less casual. And it is true that the locals who are shopping and dining tend to dress a bit better. But they will wear shorts when they are at the beach. And European teenagers tend to look like American teenagers. We avoid jeans but that is because jeans are hot and hard to carry for but like jeans. Jeans by themselves are not bad. Dress causal with nice clothes and you will be fine.

Thanks, Frank, for your insight.

Young Italian girls wear jeans/jeggins (very tight) with cute jackets and scarves, in cooler temps boots. I don't think I could bear to wear boots all day for a day of touring, but maybe some cute flats. If you go to the Vatican/St. Peters, you must wear sleeves at least covering the shoulders and a knee length skirt or any kind of pants. They also love nice bags, but be careful to carry one across your body and tightly held. I'm old and don't care anymore, so these are just my observations. I am also from Georgia! You will probably stand out because of your natural Southern Beauty. No shorts for the boyfriend/husband at the Vatican either.

Donna, Of course...that is a given! I'm old too,or so they say...somebody forgot to tell me! Thanks for the advice!

Lots of Americans roam around Florence wearing their gym work out clothes straight out of their laundry hamper. If you wear regular nice casual clothes you will be several notches above them. I like nice dark or kaki cotton pants. I dont like blue jeans either. You cant pass them for nice slacks if you need to, they are hot in summer and cold in winter. Totally useless for travel.

If you are going in summer ( June -September) just wear cool clothes, I am big into sundresses, easy to wear and pack, those and shoes/sandals and you are done for the day, I will tuck in a lighweight scarf /shawl into my purse if planning to visit a church( since most of my sundresses have short sleeves or spagetti staps , a no no ) . I can't imagine wearing jeans when its 80-100 degrees out!

LOL, not at you but me. First trip to Europe many years ago I took so many clothes I could have been gone a year as I was afraid to be seen in same things twice. Now just take casual clothes, no t shirts with any insignias and blend right in no matter where I go. I don't wear jeans as they are too heavy and hot, just khaki pants, nice t shirts and sneakers. Relax, you will be seen as tourist no matter where you go, just enjoy,

I never used to take my jeans when I travel, but now I do. I decided I'm very comfortable in them, and they are good at night when it's cooler. I also started to pack a black dress, or a maxi dress, or a cute striped dress, just to have something nice for dinner out. Have a basic black sweater to wear over my shoulders, and of course a scarf or two. We travel shoulder season, so nights are cooler, and last September we about froze our tushes off. I didn't bring enough long sleeve tops. I got so sick of the one long sleeve top I took! I think I wore it 7 days in a row. I never travel with logo'd t's, but do have several from JCrew that I take (usually a solid color, but sometimes with a stripe or... I'm done trying to fit in. I wear what I own and wear at home. I dress neatly and fairly tailored anyway, so pulling from my closet for travel isn't a big deal. Italian women are very dressed up, but they are mostly going to work, just like you would dress up. You are on vacation, so your needs are different.

This topic does come up regularly (as you said) but what always cracks me up is the oft-repeated sentiment along the lines of "Italians can always spot tourists, so don't worry about it." or "I can always spot tourists." But that is an impossible statement to make unless you approach literally every person you see and ask them if they are a tourist. It's certainly true that almost everyone who looks like a tourist is indeed a tourist. But that doesn't make the reverse true. I've been mistaken for being Italian several times by Italians. And it's in part because I give a little more thought to what I'm wearing than a lot of tourists do. It makes me more comfortable to blend in a little and not draw so much attention to myself. (It also helps avoid becoming the target of pickpockets.) BTW, one thing I've been told really gives Americans away is that we tend to smile at strangers WAAAAAAAY more than Italians do. See if you notice the same thing on your next trip to Italy.

You can spot Americans easily from what they dress and how loud they are. Michael is right about the smiling at strangers. You would look a lot more like an Italian if you look totally teed off all the time. Also don't be afraid to stare at people. Staring is not considered impolite in Italy and if you don't stare at people, preferably with a mean look, they will immediately figure out you are an American. People in Emilia Romagna region are notoriously super friendly and overly nice. Therefore it's ok to smile at strangers in Bologna, since they are used to that phoney stuff. Tuscans are notoriously abrupt and not phoney and will tell you what they think of you in a minute (in fact they are called 'Toscanacci' or "bad Tuscans'). Smiling at strangers in Florence is like smiling at strangers in the NYC subway: it might make a Tuscan absolutely uncomfortable and suspicious of your real intentions (there was a lot of back stabbing, literally, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Florence and people there still mistrust one another after 600 years).

I've never understood why some Americans feel they have to be SO LOUD when they're traveling. Years ago, I was mortified on one train ride when we got stuck next to two loud American women who not only were LOUD but just wouldn't stop talking about everything that was wrong with Italy.

Thanks to everyone , once again, for your valuable insights and tips. I love hearing about our cultural differences and the rational behind them ( Thank you, Roberto). I would always want to be respectful of ones ways while I am in their country, just as I would expect a Non-American to be here. I remember when I lived in Germany, the Germans were not overly fond of most Americans for the same reasons... loud, obnoxious, sloppy, etc.

It's true that "Ciao" is considered very informal. It's kind of like saying "Hey" in most parts of the US. "Arrivederci", while technically informal, is not as informal as "Ciao". "Salve" is a good anytime greeting to anyone, although more common in some parts of Italy than others. "Buongiorno" and "Buona sera" are another way to say "Hello", but depend on the time of day. Italians switch from one to the other at some point between noon and 5 pm, but I've discovered that that switching point varies by region. That's why I use "Salve" so much. I've had different Italian instructors give different opinions as to whether "Ciao" would be taken as offensive by most Italians, but I figure why take the chance? Now let's talk about the correct way to pronounce "Grazie" for "Thank you." It's "GRAHT-see-yay", not "GRAHT-see." :-)

Christy, I'm not really too concerned about whether I "blend in" or not. The locals (especially the scammers) can usually spot a tourist, so I'm not sure there's much point in "blending in". I wear my "usual" Tilley travel wardrobe which is more "dressy" than "casual", so it's also appropriate for Churches and other places that have a dress code. I tend to be somewhat quiet and polite and usually solo when not on a RS tour, so I don't get into loud and obnoxious conversations with travelling companions. Cheers!

Pronounce Salve, please. Wow can't imagine taking a suitcase just for shoes.. Everything I take will go in a backpack.. Same for the husband. Not even taking my roll aboard. I've really narrowed down my packing list from what it was, using the suggestions that RS has. Guess I will have to take a medium weight jacket since we are going 1st week of April.

Christy, this is the best guide I have ever read for dressing appropriately - http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a-trip/what-to-wear-in-italy-in-the-winter.html In case you are going in warmer weather just go to the end of the article for a summer link. Many years ago when we first went to Italy, my wife packed a separate suitcase with nothing but shoes. Can you imagine bringing all those shoes to Italy of all places? Sort of like carrying coals to Newcastle!

Thanks, guys. This was a very nice posting. I too prefer to wear cooler khaki pants when traveling, but end up wearing blue jeans most of the time. That's no different than when I'm at home, however. Now if I can just get my proper southern wife to get off her duff and iron those khaki's, we'll be doing great. Since I retired young and don't dress business casual, she no longer does any ironing. My travel tip on clothes is to take the pants and dress shirts to the laundry for heavy starch. Unless you get mud on starched blue jeans, you can wear one pair two weeks. Starched clothes keep down the weight on the 21" rolling bag.

David, since your wife has retired from the ironing board this is an excellent opportunity to learn a new skill.

While I stand waiting to be corrected from Roberto or one of the more experienced Italian travelers on here, one thing I have seen Americans do (and did my first trip) was greet all Italians enthusiastically with "Ciao," and say goodbye with "Arrivederci," equally enthusiastically. However, it is my understanding that except when addressing family, friends or youngsters, this is frowned upon. One should say, "Salve" to greet those who are not family, friends or children, and when leaving, say "ArrivederLa" or "Buon giorno/Buona sera." I have to say, being from the southern United States, it makes sense to me. As a child I was taught that just answering "yes" to an adult was in sufficient. It had to be: "Yes ma'am" or "Yes sir." (Kinda scarry.)

Salve is pronounced "SAL-vay." A cool website to learn pronunciations of foreign words is forvo.com, where native speakers upload audio recordings of words in many languages. When I lived in Germany, I wore clothes that were vaguely European in style. I was mistaken for a local regularly in Germany and occasionally in France. However in Italy I found my Anglo-Saxon facial features were a dead giveaway.

Here is how to pronounce "Salve," as found on that excellent forvo.com site: Salve And here are a few other words that Americans often butcher. :-) Just click the blue arrow to the left of the word. Grazie Buongiorno Giorgio