In Italy now!

Yay! You made it!
Thanks for taking time to report

That’s an annoying shame that Delta employee didn’t know requirements, can’t recall exactly but hasn’t the test but unnecessary for a few weeks now for the vaccinated?

I’m taking a screenshot of United’s requirements for myself
Good advice

Enjoy your trip
Pop in and report whenever you can
I know I appreciate it

Soooo glad that you made it on the same day you were supposed to, even with the change of plans.

Enjoy your trip !

Thanks so much for the report! Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Beth, Happy to hear you all made it. Enjoy! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your journey!

Have a wonderful time!

How is the weather and the temperature for August? Thanks for checking in look forward to hearing more of your experiences.

Must be nice having Italy to yourselves! Enjoy the rest of your journey.

Oh that's fine, welcome to Italy. Have the best of your time

Find some ice:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/europe/europe-weather-heat-record-climate-intl/index.html

A few more updates.

We had to show our cdc card to go into house museum at Villa Carlotta and to go even into the garden at Villa del Balbianello. I would not say that we have Italy to ourselves. There are plenty of people-just not many Americans. The ferries in the afternoon are crowded enough that there are not necessarily seats. We have stood for awhile. We did meet one American family today while waiting for a ferry-their daughter works in Frankfort and they were touring with her. Otherwise, other Europeans. We have meet people , for example , from Belgium, Germany, and France.

We went into a restaurant today for lunch and were asked for our green passes. The woman seemed a bit confused by our cdc cards but let us stay. It was 3 pm so not prime time so that may have played into it.

It is hot. It is cool in morning and evening but pretty streaming in afternoon. I brought capris but no shorts but have regretted it.

We go to Verona on Saturday and it is even hotter there. But maybe not so many tourists.

Thank you for the update, we are supposed to leave September 2nd. You will love Verona and if you stay away from the cheesy "Romeo and Juliet houses" you won't see many tourists at all. The arena is stunning and the walkways around the river are beautiful and should help you fight off the heat a little. Take the vehicular up to the city view points and take in all its glory, you won't regret it! Keep the updates coming if you can, us who are about to go really appreciate it. My wife has been leaning towards not going on our trip so these updates from people on the ground are helping me to try and ease her worries. Thanks again and enjoy Italy!

Thank you, Beth, for your information. We leave for Italy in a few weeks and so appreciate hearing your experiences! This friendly and helpful forum is definitely another reason to love Rick Steves travelers!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I hope you and your family have a wonderful trip!

Just wanted to add that we had the most fun eating wonderful food at a restaurant Bellano last night. I had found it online and selected it based on reviews. It had several people who said their land lady recommended it and that everything was in Italian. Having eaten in Varenna in the most touristy part of town the night before, we were ready for something different.

We ate inside (outdoor tables were already reserved) but most of the time we were only ones there. The menu was handwritten and only in Italian. We were not doing very well figuring it out. The waitress who spoke a little English asked us if we wanted her to pick out primo course dishes and we could share.

The food was fabulous and it was so fun passing the dishes around and having a bit of everything. We then picked out with her two second dishes (we were pretty full) and vegetables like she recommended. The second was good but I liked the first better myself but the vegetables were a favorite. We had two plates of a selection of various vegetables and they were so tasty.

She picked us out a bottle of regional wine too.

The tab for seven of us was 165 euros.

Half of our group had gelato afterwards!

Good thing we had a walk up hill of .8 miles back to our air BnB to burn it off!

That sounds like an absolutely delightful dinner experience!! Good for you guys for going with the flow and with your waitress for being thoughtful and helpful.

I am sorry it is so hot there now. My husband is in Turin and I am just so glad I am not with him as I can not stand the heat !!!!!

You said the "...wearing a kn95 mask and was told he had to change it or put it over his present mask." What kind of mask do they want? I thought the KN95 masks were more acceptable than regular cloth masks. On a radio report a couple days ago I heard someone say an airline would not allow someone to use a KN95 mask.

They wanted surgical masks. Kn95 masks are supposed to be better but I guess they do not want to evaluate alternatives. We spoke to a family who entered Europe in Frankfurt and they had to purchase n-95 masks before being allowed on plane.

A part of the general confusion and mis-information that persists. A KN95 is superior to any of the standard surgical masks if constructed properly. The only difference between a KN95 and N95 is the certification process for medical usage. Both need to be "fitted" properly to function at their maximum effectiveness.

There are three levels of surgical masks, and in my nearly 40 years of wearing one daily the fit is generally poor, especially on the sides. Especially poor when pulled down under your nose.....sigh. I suspect the surgical masks sold at your local retailer are not S-3 masks.

Latest research substantiates that all those pretty cloth masks are basically useless with a virus. The particles are just too small to be filtered by a cloth mask.

Beth, thank you so much for the updates! Have you been able to get a Greenpass or do you not need it?

Calimom

As has been posted there really is no mechanism for US citizens to get a Green pass nor is it necessary
Your CDC card will suffice and will be accepted

Thank you Florida Beth for this helpful information. I am flying into Milan on September 2nd. I know I have to fill out a European Locator Form to fly into Italy 48 hours prior to our arrival. Do each of us need to fill out a separate form, or can you put multiple names on the form. Florida Jack

Thank you for this, Beth! As we prepare for our own trip in November, it is so helpful and reassuring to know that people are getting to Italy and having a great time. Ciao!

We are in Verona now. It was 99 the day we arrived and today it was only 93. Fortunately our apartment has good a/c!
We have become quite used to showing our passports and cdc cards everywhere. They are often studied very carefully as I don’t think there are many Americans here. People are really surprised to find out we are from the US. We also have adopted the European style of wearing a mask on our arm so it is always available when entering an indoors establishment.
At one restaurant we were asked if we wanted to eat indoors or outdoors. When we found out there was ac, we opted for indoors. We were then asked if we had a Green pass. As we started to get everything out, he just ushered us in. But most of the time, people are very serious about checking.
We went to Lake Garda by bus yesterday to escape the heat and rented a boat for a couple hours. My son has driven boats before and was up for the challenge. It was great fun and then we wandered through town and went to the beach. Sirimone was full of European tourists.
Verona is very charming and we have liked it very much. We are staying not far from the train station which is convenient for transportation but not so much for an evening stroll. We have walked a lot and tonight are going to stay put and cook up some pasta we bought at the grocery store.
Tomorrow we go by train to Venice.

Sounds like it is going well! Thanks for your on the ground reporting!

Thank you for sharing your trip, Beth!

It's a bit concerning that some restaurants aren't accepting the CDC card.

I got an email today from Italo saying that the trains will require the green pass beginning 9/1/21. I need to find out if CDC cards will be fine for Americans. Not sure how to go about getting that info, but I need to look into it.

It does seem like some sort of universal notification would be really helpful, but I know there are concerns with that as well.

Anyway, glad you're having a good trip!

Italy has already stated quite clearly that CDC card will be accepted in place of Green Pass
I can’t imagine it not being accepted on trains.

If some restaurants are not accepting, well that’s on them, move on to the restaurants that are following the guidance properly

I must not have been clear-we have had no problem with using CDC card in lieu of Green Pass. The one restaurant I was talking about just did not bother to actually look at the card but instead just waved us in. The rest of the restaurants and sites have examined the cards quite carefully.

Thank you for the update. We leave in a few weeks and are a little nervous about keeping up with the latest requirements. Hope you enjoy your trip!

We arrived in Venice yesterday. It is crowded. Much more than Rome according to our daughter who went to Rome before joining us in Milan. The vaporetto was jammed as was the way to st. Mark’s square.
We waited about 20 minutes to get it into St Mark’s which was checking temperatures as well as Green Passes/CDC cards. They also were limiting capacity.
My daughter got nervous about getting covid tests as soon as we arrived. She said if there is anywhere we were going to get covid it would be here.. There was a ridiculously long line for covid testing at the train station for testing. She talked us into leaving the apartment at 6:30 to wait in line at the train station. We got here at 7 am and there were already 20 people here. The line is twice as long now and it is 7:30. It opens at 8:00 am.

Hi. I hope you answer me. You wrote you were getting Covid texting at the train station, is that mandatory to get on the train? I didn’t think you needed testing until you were boarding the plane to go home m

We got at train station at 7 am and all had our thankfully negative result by 8:45 am. By 8 am, the line was three times longer than when we arrived at 7 am so going really early is the obvious strategy.

We got tested in order to board the plane back to the US. You do not need a covid test to board the trains at this time. We did the testing at the train station because the Italian Red Cross offers free covid testing for tourists there.

We went on Secret Itinerary tour at Dojes palace. There were only 8 people on tour because of covid while normally there would be 25. It also allowed us to skip the long line of people waiting to get in. We all really enjoyed it.

So glad you all were negative!
Thanks for all the boots on ground info!

Question- what sites did you book ahead? Before leaving US?

Secret Itinerary Doges?

I leave 9/30 and only booked Necropolis- Rome.

Would you recommend booking now or wait?
Did you book your trains ahead?

Thanks

I booked the Secret Itinerary tour on July 4th for mid August. There were 7 of us so I booked the first day we could, since tours were limited to 8.

I booked train tickets a couple days before we left. They all were regional tickets so no cost savings doing earlier. It was much easier to have the train tickets ahead of time though. I would recommend doing that.

I also have booked a water taxi to the Venice airport for the day we leave. .

Everything else we did on the fly. We didn’t go to Rome or Florence though. My daughter and her husband went first to Rome and they booked tickets to Vatican museums, the coliseum, and Roman Forum ahead of time.

Hi, my sister and I are going to Italy, first stop Milan on Sept 10, then Lake Como, Siena, Cinque Terre, Florence. We are all fully vaccinated with CDC cards. I read through this entire thread, and there is one burning question from me. Without the proper QR green pass code, can you get into museums? While it is likely ok with restaurants, did the CDC card work with museums? Did anyone have any experience that you can share. Thanks so much in advance.

Italy has made it quite clear that CDC card will be accepted in lieu of Green Pass

Scroll thru some other threads and you’ll see others reporting no problems with acceptance

also note that you will need prebooked timed entries for most if not all museums now
Go to the venue’s actual website to do this

Beth did post about no problems in Venice- St Marks and Doges

Thanks, Christine!

I am in Florence now - arrived to Italy 05 Sept, went to Cinque Terre, and now in Florence. Here, CDC card or not, we all (3 adult females) have been unable to go in to dine anywhere or visit any museums. We have been able to dine outside which has worked fine, plenty of lovely weather and outside tables everywhere. I was a bit sad that we cannot enter any of the museums as I really wanted to visit the Medici Chapels this visit. Now, I haven't tried to just show my passport/CDC card when asked for the green card - perhaps that would work? We HAVE been able to enter into churches that you don't need a ticket for. Even without going inside so far, it has been a glorious trip.

I was in Rome, and now in Sicily. Everywhere requiring a green pass has accepted my CDC card and passport....Capitoline museum, Palermo Cathedral, Monreale, domestic flights. I have not been asked at restaurants, but we have eaten outside every meal. I will note, that despite Sicily being a higher level zone, at Yellow, things are much more lax here than in Rome. I think everywhere people are wearing masks indoors, but the Sicilians just refuse to wear them outdoors as the Yellow requirements state.

Winegypsy-your passport and cdc card are your Green Pass. You should be able to enter all sites with it. We were able.

Remember folks, that if you are not Italian you have to show BOTH your CDC card and passport. The gatekeepers need to see that the person on the CDC is you. Without the passport, they have no way of knowing that; you could have theoretically bought or stolen the card. And please, stay safe out there. At least Italy's infection rate is wayyyyy below that of the U.S.

Echoing the folks above, I am in Rome and my CDC card plus passport have been accepted everywhere. Just carry both, as the staff at museums and restaurants need to see that you are the person your CDC card says you are.
Cynthia