Passport?

There are dozens of discussions here on this topic

Your passport is your official ID and the most important thing you carry while traveling

Why would you leave it anywhere out of your possession?
Keep it in your money belt

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Passport

I only carry a picture of the relevant page and I have never taken my passport out of my accommodation in 40 countries.

I guess in some countries you must have ID on you at all times but that’s not a British thing so who I am is my business.

Thank you.

I always carry my passport and back-up credit cards/ATM in my money belt which I wear all day. Everything I need to leave for home immediately, forbid the reality.

I would never, ever carry my passport around with me.

I leave it in the hotel unless I am certain that I would need it, for example, on a train trip and then I am taking all my belongings anyway. Other reason to carry it is if I plan to do some real shopping and would need it to fill the forms for a tax refund.
I always have a copy on my phone.

I would much rather take the remote chance that I could be stopped and asked to show my passport than the slightly less remote chance of having it lifted, or misplacing it somehow.

I carry a handbag, not a money belt.

My thought is this---let's say there is a one in one thousand chance that I get stopped on the street by the Carabineieri or the Guardia di Finanza. Probably closer to a million in one chance. What is the very worst that could happen? Have you heard of many foreign tourists hauled off to jail? And kept there?

I am more concerned about slipping and breaking an ankle than I am of being carted off for not carrying a passport.

I have the passport card in addition to the passport book. I leave the book in my lodgings and carry the card as I roam. I’ve never had a problem without the book in my possession.

Personal choice.

For 50 plus years of travel in Europe, and during a tour of Cuba I always had my passport with me.

Leg wallet, money belt, neck wallet, interior security pocket of rain coat. Have be asked for it twice. Once by airport security in Havana and once in Germany.

While I might not be as concerned about being stopped by police or federal agents in Italy as I would in another country I could name, the same rationale applies: my passport is the only legal identification and proof that I am in the country legally. And should I fall and break an ankle, or get hit by a scooter, or fall ill and end up in a hospital? I would much prefer to have my passport with me (and I think the hospital would too). I keep my passport and spare credit/debit cards in a neck pouch that I wear secured to a bra strap and hanging down my side. Only on travel days, when I anticipate needing to show it, do I keep it in an inside zipped pocket of my crossbody purse.

My passport is stored in the accommodations utilized and only with me when moving locations. After checking in at accommodations, I securely store my passport. My Global Entry (photo ID) card is always with me. I have never been asked for ID after dropping my luggage at accommodations and then bouncing around. That's my M, your YMMV.

My comments referred only to western Europe.

Everything I need to leave for home immediately, forbid the reality.

This ^^

Non EU citizens are required by law to carry their original passport- not a photo, not a copy.
We have been asked to show ours 3 times- all in Italy in the past 2-3 years (Orvieto, Florence and I can’t remember think it was Milan) while out sightseeing. We look like typical American tourists, not suspicious characters.
We have observed the police asking for passports many times- just happened to be far enough away.
They can fine you and they can haul you in- whether that happens or not I do not know- but I am not willing to take the chance or the hassle.

Only on travel days, when I anticipate needing to show it, do I keep
it in an inside zipped pocket of my crossbody purse.

Same here.

A Global entry card is a US document- doubt it would serve as official ID while abroad.
I would never trust the supposed "secure safe" in lodgng.

There are a few venues now that require passport along with ticket for entry. It would be up to the employee that day if they would accept something else.

Pickpockets do not want your passport- they want your cell phone, cash and credit cards.

Mainly we keep them with us because the law requires that we do and for any emergency- with your passport and a credit card in your possession you can get yourself home or to safety.

Italian law requires that a foreigner exhibits an ID proving the legal presence in the territory of the State when requested by a public officer.
It is a crime punishable with up to one year of imprisonment to fail to exhibit such documents “without justifiable reason”. The law does not clearly state what constitute a justifiable reason, but the courts have determined that those reasons may be:
1. Theft of the alien’s ID documents
2. Undocumented entry by the alien following a shipwreck.
3. Loss of the alien’s ID due to wars or public calamities
4. When the alien has never been in possession of documents
5. When the alien requested to exhibit the ID is a minor
6. When the alien is only temporarily not in possession of the ID as long as the alien does not obstruct and hamper his/her identification to the public officer.

So, if you leave your passport in the hotel safe, you can probably fall under the last “justifiable reason” if you cooperate with your identification by providing other ID and photocopies of the relevant passport pages. Unless of course you want to claim that you ended up at the Cinque Terre after swimming ashore following a shipwreck.
https://www.dippol.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/I-motivi-che-giustificano-lomessa-esibizione-di-documenti-da-parte-dello-straniero.pdf

Also in the camp of keep it with me always.
It’s in my underclothing moneybelt.
If my accommodation has a fire, there’s an incident, I am injured…..then I need it with me, not across the city in a safe that every hotel employee can get into with their eyes shut.
Many countries require it as legal ID if you are stopped and asked for it.
I’ve been stopped a few times in Italy and asked for it.
The police just have to wait while I untuck my clothes to retrieve it.

I fall into the category of carry it with me.

As my former employer emphasized when we went on business trips; in an emergency that required you to leave the country immediately without being able to return to your hotel, the most important document is your passport.

And those of you who think they can get away not carrying your passport while while scuba diving because no officer will ask you there, don't be so sure. A special unit of the Carabinieri is always on the lookout for foreign tourists scuba diving without proper ID. In that case you can only claim you just survived a ship wreck. Tell them your name is Robinson Crusoe.

"Do you take your passport with you when you go out during the day/night while on the Rick Steve’s Italy tour?"

To specifically address whether you need it while you are on your Rick Steves tour, I'll say that I am more casual when I am with a RS guide than I am on my own. There will be times each day when you are on your own, however. This is also a good question to ask your tour guide at the initial meeting...along with where are the laundry opportunities!

In general, though, I am on the side of carry it in your money belt.

BTW, one of my earliest tour guides told me he never worried about leaving stuff in the RS hotel rooms. He said the hotels are eager to get the RS tour business and know that any sign of theft would get their contract cancelled.

I carry my passport on me regardless of the legal requirement of the country I'm in.

If all hell breaks lose, with my passport, credit card and phone, hopefully I can get home.

I'm just going to reiterate what others have said.

You are required by law to carry official ID with you in Italy. The only official ID for a non-EU resident is your passport.

What can happen if you don't have it and are asked for it? Or you show your "Global Entry" card or a picture of you next to the American flag....well....they could:

A) march you back to your hotel to see your passport. It could mean missing something on the tour.

b) Take you to the police station while they check your identity. This will take a few hours.

c) Fine you up to 2,000 Euros.

Some say you could just carry a photocopy of your passport and it might suffice. It might but you may also still have to show them the original. You'll be given a few hours to bring it to the police station. Or they may not accept it at all.

It depends on the officer stopping you and the mood he/she is in.

We have travelled in quite a few Western European countries and we keep my passport on our persons in deep storage. We have been asked for our passport on trains and our family was also asked for our passports as we were waiting in the train station (outside the platforms) in Florence. Law enforcement was very polite and we did not feel threatened in any way, but I am very glad we had our passports with us - they said thank you, have a nice day and we proceeded on.

We keep copies of our passports and the inside back flap on our phones if we have to get new ones while we are traveling and also have them saved to the cloud on 2 different storage systems.