Passports - check in at hotel and can we leave them in room?

Your hotel will make a copy of your passport then return it to you- usually right then, sometimes a bit later, just depends on how busy they are.

You should have your passport on your person at all times, it is the only legit form of ID and along with a credit card it’s your ticket home.

It’s the most important thing you are traveling with.

I left mine in my Italian hotel room on many occasions. My wife always carried hers. We were asked to see our passport exactly 0 times after checking in - you always need to show the passport. In one case, we were asked to send a photo of the passport ahead of time, so this might be a good thing to do. We just took a cell-phone pix and sent that along.

Once the hotel has your passport copy, they won't need it again. Albeit in Trapani, Sicily, we were asked for our passports for the first time ever outside the hotel -- on a platform in the tiny train station. We didn't have them, but the police officers accepted a driver's license.

This example is during my travels in Portugal, but I think it's still illustrative. An elderly lady with whom I was on a day tour to Sintra fell and needed medical attention. The ambulance took her to the hospital. She had no ID with her, so her niece had to Uber back to Lisbon to get her passport and return with it.

Would a photocopy/digital copy or even her driver's license have sufficed? Perhaps. But she had none of those.

I generally have my passport on me. I put it in “deep storage” in a money belt under my clothes that I don’t access in public or this trip I’ve got it in a wallet I’ve fastened into the zipper pocket in my purse with a plastic coil.

You can also ask your RS guide!

We follow the same as ChristineH from what was said at our first RS tour years ago. We place it in our money belt to wear securely.

I’ve had a few times where I needed to show it with a ticket reservation. Otherwise the only other time was when French police wanted to see passports on a train.

This subject is beat to death frequently on this site. Do a search and you will find a couple hours of discussion with no absolutely answer. Two camps -- leave it, you don't need --- and the other -- should carry since it is the only id that proves you are in the country legally. I fall into the carry-all-the-time camp. In 30 years of travel we have been asked for our passports unexpectedly three times. Always glads we had them and have no idea if a driver's license or a copy would have been accepted. The officer asked for the passport, we handed it to them, he reviewed it, return it and we moved on.

Personally I don't see what the big deal is about carrying your passport but for some I know it is a major issue. We always have ours. Who knows what might happen.

Thinking about the fact that pickpocketing is very common, but hotel room robbery is practically unheard of: its safer to leave it in the room..
We carry a scanned photocopy while out and about, but have never needed it.
We were asked for our passport twice (out of 8 stays) last month - once by an airbnb host who took a photocopy, once by a hotel desk (who kept it until the next morning at checkout). We knew we were staying at the hotel and not going out that evening, otherwise I'd have asked them to make a copy and return it. As soon as we came out of the elevator the next morning with our luggage, she had the passports in hand ready to return.

In the 30 years I've been traveling, including two years living abroad without legal residency, I've never regularly carried my passport, and never been in a jam for that. (I do have when specific admissions state the requirement, when buying a SIM card, and of course at check-in.)

Per the US state department, nearly 300,000 US passports are reported lost or stolen annually.

I leave mine in the hotel safe.

I carried my passport, covid card (need original for RS tour), global entry card, extra cash, back up credit cards, ATM cards in my stashbandz moneybelt. Because it has four pockets, the bulk is distributed. It's stretchy so it's very comfortable. The picture on their website shows the stashbandz worn outside of clothes. Wear it under your clothes for security.

I don't use hotel safes because I'm lock deficit (I lock myself out of everything) and afraid of forgetting things in the safe.

As others have said, you will need to show your passport when you check into your hotel. But not while on a RS tour. Our guide gave us room numbers while on the bus before we reached town. All we had to do was get the key at the desk and trek up to our rooms.

Just for the record, I do not carry either of my passports (US or Italian) on my person at all times when I am just walking around town and I am reasonably close to my hotel (or my home). I also do not carry it on my person while swimming, snorkeling, water skiing, o skiing. I’ve never tried scuba diving but I can guarantee you that if one day I try scuba diving (Sardinia is great for scuba diving), I will not carry my passport under water with me.

I do carry it on my person when I drive, or when I travel far from my hotel or home. For example if I’m in Florence and decide to take a day trip by train to Bologna to visit my relatives there.

Having said that, in the post I linked below I wrote a comment on this subject which also contains the entire Italian law concerning the matter, translated into English for you. Read it then decide for yourself.

Just be very careful about losing your passport or having it stolen along with your purse or bag. Replacing your passport is relatively easy if you are nearby a US consulate, but US consulates in Italy are only in Rome, Milan, Florence, and Naples, so if you lose your passport anywhere else, you are not going to be a very happy camper.

And yes. Hotels are required to request passports to register their guests. However the process generally takes only a few seconds, basically just the time necessary to photocopy the passport.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/do-i-need-to-carry-my-passport-at-all-times

Thinking about the fact that pickpocketing is very common

But passports are valueless, and this is even more so today that all passports are chipped. From a pickpocket's pov a chipped passport is only an evidence. They can take one by mistake, but keeping it separate from anything valuable should be enough.

By law you must be able to show some form of identification at all times. In most cases a photocopy of the data page of your passport should suffice, but in this case you’re advised to also carry a second form of photo ID. The police will normally ask for your full passport if you are stopped while driving.

This is just plain, wrong. Not to tell it's a big bunch of bu****it Both before and after Brexit, it's a little masterpiece of Inaccuracy.

If you aren't an EU citizen and you hand a cop a photocopy / a second form of photo ID, they can legally detain you. Driving or not makes no difference, the UK foreign office is telling people to push their luck.

Now, if you ask me:
"What are the chances that a cop will actually restrict my freedom of movement till I'm able to show my passport?"

Sadly, I can only reply: "If you are white, polite and dressed as the usual US tourist... around 0,1%".

Another data point: On a regional train in Piedmont in September, the police requested and scanned everyone's passport/identification in our train car. I'm assuming they did the whole train since they entered from one end and left on the other. They specifically asked us for our passports. We were glad we had them.

This one is discussed a lot. I only carry mine if I am leaving the city of my hotel/apartment. I have never, in 20+ years of travel in Europe, had a need to present my passport. YMMV

We’re on Week 5 of a 6-week trip. Some places wanted our passports, either for taking a smartphone photo or a photocopy, or at least writing down the number - and other details. One B&B never bothered. There’s a tourist tax they all need to collect, and document.

Two police officers were checking everyone’s I.D. on a train station platform last week, so I was surprised to get “carded” out of the blue. Having my passport, even though I had to dig it out of my moneybelt, was reassuring.

As for where the passport goes, some hotels provide an in-room safe, some don’t. I don’t like keeping mine loose on the room. Do you have a lock for your luggage, so you can secure it there? Easier to just have your moneybelt on you, and your passport inside. You always know where it is!

We were in Italy last month. We carried our passports when we traveled in the car and in the bigger cities. We did not bring them when we walked around the corner for a morning cappuccino, or to the local grocery store, but we were clearly taking a risk.
We were only asked to see our passports when we checked into our airbnbs and the hotel. When we rode the bus from Montepulciano to Chiusi, an inspector got on the bus and checked tickets and we noticed that he checked someone’s passport, so we were glad we had them on us just in case.

I've had audioguide monitors breathe a sigh of relief when they see a photocopy of my passport to be left as security. They don't want responsibility for a passport or credit card. I only carry the actual passport in authoritarian countries, say, Singapore or Dubai. 50 trips to Europe.

You did say RS Tour. When you are constantly on the move and changing rooms almost daily, you need a different routine, and your passport should not be in a container you could lose or have stolen. It should be on your person, in a routine, automatic way.