Passport is Italian cities

I don't know about the rest of the cities, but FOR SURE use your money belt in Rome, or leave all precious items that you aren't going to use in your hotel safe. Pickpockets in Rome are very good at their craft and target the tourist areas and buslines,etc.

I don't carry my passport, I leave it locked in the safe. I did read one post where the person carries a photocopy of the passport for id. To me it is too precious a document to risk having pickpocketed.

I carry a copy of my passport with me and leave the real thing in the hotel safe. I also leave a copy of it at home with a trusted individual that I can get hold of in case of an emergency. I have never had anything happen but it's almost best to have a backup plan.

Definitely use the money-belt in Rome. The metro cars have signs posted in italian and English, warning about pickpockets. That's enough warning for me. As far as the passport, we leave ours in the safe at the hotel. The only time we have been asked for our passport was years ago, when cashing travellers checks. Since we didn't have it on us, the teller accepted our driver's license with no problem.

Thanks for your suggestions and help. I like the copy ideas and especially the one about keeping a copy at home. I had read where many people use the money belt for passports, and that did not too sit well with me. Thanks again.

keep your passport in the hotel safe!!!!!! I don't use a money belt as they are cheap and usually break during your trip. The best thing is go carry a credit card/atm card and some cash in your front pocket. Don't be scared, just remember that in big cities anything can happen. Don't walk around being paranoid all day just be aware. Probably nothing will happen but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Money belts are great. I cannot agree w the prior post that they are "cheap". Ive worn one during each of 3 trips (42,66 and 147 days), without mishap or breakage.
Thieves are interested in money and valuables, not passports. You never know when you need a pp. In Italy, they are required of foreigners using the internet at internet cafes. Keep money and pp separate.
Rome is pickpocket capital of Europe.

It's not correct to say that thieves are not interested in passports. A US passport is a highly valued commodity, in the "right" circles. Yes, a pickpocket will take cash over anything else, but a US passport can fetch a nice price.

Mark, front pockets are "pick pocket heaven" for the theives in Rome, and elsewhere. I don't like money belts either, so I use a "neck purse". Also, It is a great idea to "flatbed scan" all of the credit cards and documents that you are going to carry, and keep this info in a file that you can access from any computer in the world with a "Hotmail" account. Paper copies in your luggage can also get stolen. We just had a friend who had this happen to her. We seldom carry our passports with us, but carry our US driver's license as a good piece of photo ID.

We carried our passports with us at all times. I even carried mine in my over the shoulder purse, but it was locked in a zipper section. We had no pickpocket attempts at all, and I never felt threatened in the least bit. Our son used a money belt, and my husband secured his money belt in his front pocket. Maybe we were just lucky, but after 3 trips to Rome, we never had any problems. But we were aware and cautious at all times--just like in any US city, especially NYC!