How bad is the smoke - ALL kinds?

You'll still smell more cigarette smoke in Italy (not marijuana) more in public than in the USA. The only thing you can do is stay home if cigarette smoke is your primary asthma attack trigger or make sure you carry your rescue inhaler. I have asthma but cigarette smoke is not what triggers it.

I have never noticed marijuana smoke in Europe (Italy being the country I have visited the most) being that omnipresent, even in Amsterdam. You will encounter cigarette smoke, as sure as the sun will rise.
Perfume is also a problem, and I have had to move tables due to that I am sorry to say. Also be on alert about accommodations, as those "stick in perfume oil" home fragrances are popular, but I find putting them in a cupboard usually does the trick.

On our first Rick Steves tour, our amazing tour guide Daniela acknowledged our American aversion to cigarettes, and said this, "please, it is important not to consider it a moral failure that European's enjoy smoking!" I thought it was brilliant, and have applied that thought to many things other than smoking and far beyond travel!

But, that doesn't fix how hard it can be to tolerate the actual smoke smell when you are sensitive or asthmatic. We were only overcome by pot smell on a few streets in Amsterdam last spring. It's hard to avoid the smoking anywhere in Europe. In Germany we marveled at the very fit looking long distance bike riders enjoying a break for cigarettes and french fries.

It's not only when eating outside, though. If your hotel room overlooks the street, you might get it coming in the windows. I haven't been to Italy recently, but I had this problem at several stops in Ireland last summer.

I expected to run into smoking cigarettes, but hadn't really thought about the more offensive marijuana smoke until it gained steam seemingly everywhere here, but wasn't sure if it's as popular (or legal) in Italy. Been to Amsterdam and yes, a LOT of it there but I was prepared and masked up/did a runner when needed LOL. But after the explosion of pot hawkers all over the place infringing on local businesses' air space here, I thought I had better ask. We're staying in apartments throughout our stay so not too worried about that as I'm in communication with the people for each - we wanted a full kitchen to make tea/breakfast and some of our dinners - we love to browse the markets and cook up special things wherever we go, all part of the fun for us.

Valadelphia, was it a problem to ask to change tables? Please let me know if you got the stink eye or if was no big deal as I am a bit concerned about that. I usually don't have an issue with people's perfume when we sit outside as there's plenty of air circulation, so it must've been reeeeeeeeeeeeally strong! Kiddo and I are on opposite ends of the asthma "spectrum" - she closes up in real humid heat and around certain animals (her cat allergy is so bad she had swollen eyes after just a quick hug with a peer, turned out has cats) and I have chest pain in severe cold and bronchospasm from my asthma triggers, so I violently cough rather than close up. Pot smoke destroys us both - smell and the burning sensation in my chest is just awful. No way to just quietly move away if something really gets me - I've cracked a rib from coughing fits when I'm exposed to enough of something.

I have zero qualms about asking for something like moving away from perfume (which I find noxious and think should be illegal far more than pot) and care not one whit if anyone else finds it strange, so I'm not the one to ask. While they probably thought it was strange, they moved me (there was a language barrier, with my elementary Italian being able to get me what I needed but not enabling me to pick up on any weirdness about it). Perfume lingers, while smoke, as awful as it may be, does waft away.
No one will be burning down right next to your table--I think cigarette smoke will be far more of a problem. good luck!

You should be prepared for smoke. A few years ago we had to pass through a gauntlet of smokers outside the doors of every train station in Switzerland.

And more recently I was unpleasantly surprised at how pervasive smoking was in Vienna. Even following someone walking down the street was not fun, perhaps we're just not used to it because here in CA smoking is practically a capital crime.

We had a fantastic apartment rented one or two blocks from the Duomo in Florence. We were on the third floor. There was a small restaurant on the ground floor. I was concerned that noise might be a problem. Noise was no problem, the problem was that because smoking wasn’t allowed in the restaurant, everyone stood outside the door to smoke and the smoke of course went right into our apartment. It was a bummer. Really couldn’t avoid it. I also live in California, and I’m rarely exposed to any kind of smoking so it was quite a jolt. This is when you have to choose to accentuate the positive and ignore the negative—-ensuring you have an inhaler if you need one or perhaps even choosing to sleep in a different room than you expected to sleep in i.e. shifting into a living room rather than a bedroom.

As the previous reply mentioned, I've found that many restaurants in Europe don't allow smoking inside so smokers sit outside on the patio. If that's the case, I always request indoor seating and so far that method has worked well.

I don't like to have my aperitivo or eat outside here... too many smokers. Outside highschools it is amazing how so many teens are smoking. At running races, spectators are smoking.

As a former 25 year smoker who quit in 2009 secondhand cigarette smoke bothers me to no end. That being said the amounts of cigarette smoke you’ll encounter at bars and restaurants in Italy, but not pot smoke as that’s illegal in most of Europe, is far smaller than it used to be years ago. A few if my Italian friends still smoke but they always go elsewhere to smoke up snd don’t do it even if we’re sitting out on a patio outdoors. Usually it’s easy to take if it’s just one or two people but in some cities in Italy they’ve banned outdoor smoking as well. Is it enforced? Probably not, just like the helmet laws in certain cities.

Legality of marijuana and exposure to its smoke don't correlate that much, in my experience. I have smelled marijuana on the street in Dublin, Belfast, London and Edinburgh. It's illegal in all of those places. This has only been in passing, though, vs cigarette smokers who sit or stand in one place and smoke.

Maybe my sense of smell is poor!!! I don't think I've ever smelled pot on the streets in Italy, and I noticed that fewer people seem to be smoking cigarettes. Just my own observation..

I only ate restaurant food twice in Italy in my 14 night trip, in July 2017. I was sitting indoors both times. I encountered more smokers in Greece and Germany than in Italy. I didn't eat any restaurant food in Germany. I only ate restaurant food about 3 times in Greece. If I smell smoke, I more away from it. If I see somebody smoking, I avoid them, wait for them to walk far enough ahead, or breathe in before approaching and then breathe out slowly for the next 35 seconds as I past swiftly by. I was travelling alone. I had no travel companions to complain at me for dodging smokers. Everybody thinks you have to eat restaurant food when you travel. Italy has good grocery stores. I encountered at least two outdoor food vendors selling various fruit and produce.

You can smoke a cigarette at a restaurant only at outdoor tables, if the restaurant permits it since it’s up to the restaurant management (inside it is prohibited by law).

Smoking marijuana in public is illegal in Italy therefore you won’t experience what you experience in places like California.