Is tap water ok?

Italy left the 3rd world a long time ago. Their tap water is fine.

Yup, water's fine. Very occasionally people get sick from eating street vendor food, just like here.

Thanks, Patrick and Kent! I THOUGHT it'd be ok, but just checking. :)

The bigger cities like Rome and Florence also have many public drinking spouts, found mostly neas piazzas where you can refill your plastic water bottle with very cold, refreshing water. There will be a sign if the water is not drinkable.

You will not get sick by drinking the water in Europe. Europe is not Mexico (lol). Their are drinking spouts all around Rome (it's spring water that comes from the mountains and is very good and cold). We even drank water from the fountain in front of the Spanish Steps!!! (you ask, why would you drink water from a fountain?.........because everyone else was, but I wouldn't recommend it). Have fun and if your nervous, take a box of imodum with you!!!

It really depends on the person and you won't know until you get there. As Rick documents and doctors will tell you, tap water is not contaminated in places like Italy, France or the UK. Rather it is that there are different bacteria in them that some folks can handle and some cannot. I had trouble with the Italian water last summer but not in France but no one else in my family did. To show it goes both ways, my French cousin who visited us last year got a little sick from the Portland tap water, commonly recognized as about the cleanest of any large city in the US.