We are going on a two week Venice/Florence/Med Cruise trip in October. We plan to only take carry-on bags so we can travel light. However, it's likely that we will purchase several items as gifts and souvenirs to bring home. How easy/efficient is it to ship home wine/aged balsamic vinegar/cheeses, etc from Florence? That's our last major stop before we board a cruise for our second week of the trip.
Thanks!
C
It's not very easy, cheap, or efficient to ship wine which is heavy, fragile, and closely controlled by state authorities. See also some recent forum threads linked below. Balsamic vinegar tends to be in smaller bottles, so you could carry them along on your cruise, if you find a special bottle, for instance if you visit the actual manufacturer.
While you can carry cheese home in your luggage, shipping rules might be different. You'd also have no knowledge or control of what temperatures it's held at for a week or more before you re-take possession. A shipping container might be sitting in the hot sun at an airport.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/shipping-souvenirs-during-travel-in-italy
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/czech/shipping-wine-from-czech
Shipping in Europe is no more difficult than shipping in the US - just a lot more expensive. If you want some idea of costs, go online to any shipping site and run a dummy shipment home for 5 or 10 lb to find the cost. Most cities will have UPS, Fed Ex, etc., shipping offices. Sometimes if the purchase is large enough, the shop can arrange shipping and you then avoid the VAT tax. The VAT savings will come close to offsetting the cost of shipping.
Another approach is to bring it home with you. We can extra soft side bag that we use for dirty clothes during the trip. At the end we pack everything except liquids in our carry on. The other bag has dirty clothes, etc. protecting the liquids items and that bag is checked. Has worked great, except once.
Thanks so much for the quick and helpful responses!!
Last fall I shipped home a bottle of Scotch from Edinburgh. It was not cheap; however, it was worth the expense to me because it was a brand unobtainable in the US and was intended as a girft for a dear friend. It was well worth the cost IMO, because it was so well packed that it could have traveled by dog sled without breaking. Also when shipping alcohol (at least from the UK) there are customs duties that have to be paid.
Because I was traveling for several weeks, later on in my travels I shipped home a box of souvenirs intended for family as Xmas gifts. This load was much less expensive because the alcohol duties were not involved. Again, very pleased with the service.
FYI, both times I used Mail Boxes, Etc. outlets to do these shipments from the UK to the US. I had them sent to my business address rather than home, because international shipments have to be signed for. Both shipments arrived in the US before I got home from my trip, all safe and sound.
I wouldn't hesitate at all to ship items home again using this service.
Questions like this come up fairly often, and they raise the following thought in my mind. I don't know where you live; but where I live, I can walk to a shop where I can buy Italian cheeses, balsamic vinegar, etc. Even our local Safeway has a good selection of Italian wines. We all have internet access, even those living far from metropolitan centers, so we can order practically anything online. So why ship what you can buy here?
That being said, I usually pick up some small - - - think stocking stuffer size - - - items for my daughters, when we travel. These are usually consumables like jarred spreads or local specialty liqueurs. I do as one of the other posters suggested; cushion what must be checked with clothes and carry on what is allowed.
If you let the seller ship for you, they will probably use a molded styrofoam container for up to six bottles per box; one time I only shipped 3 bottles, but the container had spaces for 3 more.
Wine bottles are fairly sturdy, so even without the styrofoam box, if you take them to a Mailboxes Etc. location, they will pack and ship.
On my first trip to Europe I bought things for many family members, but I soon learned what a hassle it was to mail things home. I'm now of the Rosalyn school of thought. With the advent of the shipping companies, there's less hassle but more cost. You can be sure they will charge more than the local post office even before adding in their packaging fees.
I try to limit my purchases to things not easily available at home: artwork, small craft items (including costume jewelry), local photo books and calendars, etc. If there's a local specialty you're interested in--like German knives, Swiss watches, Wedgwood or Lladro ceramics--spend some time on the internet before you leave home so you know what you could order easily from home and at what cost. The same with wine.
The V.A.T. refund schemes may make a luxury purchase logical if the merchant will ship for you so you get the refund on the spot, but of course you must be certain the seller is ethical and that you have recourse if the item is lost ot broken in transit. Over the years I've read some sad tales in travel-magazine ombudsman columns: carry-away merchandise can be switched while in the backroom being packaged, and a much cheaper item may be shipped in lieu of what you paid for. I assume nearly all merchants are honest, but I've only tested that hypothesis once. I figured the Liberty department store in London was a safe bet, which it was. The item broke and they replaced it.
I've been known to schedule countries with good inexpensive crafts at or near the end of multi-country trips so I can buy pottery, glass or art and only need to carry the items around for a few days in a collapsible tote bag. I still regret not being able to buy a kilim in Morocco, but there was too much trip left to lug around a carpet.
It would likely be cheaper to purchase a suitcase and check it. If you plan on buying much wine (12 bottles) you can buy a wine suitcase (not cheap) and check that.
acraven' s idea is great, but not always possible to schedule that way. I visit the duty-free shop on the way back, but I refuse to check a bag again, so those purchases tend to be small.
The problem with having/buying an extra suitcase and checking it, or packing extra weight in a carryon, is schlepping it with you until you leave.
Shipping wine Italy-to-USA:
Prices have come down a lot in the last year or two as companies realize this is a growing/profitable market. Mailboxes Etc Florence currently charges around 100 Euros for 12 bottles, so you are looking at about 10 bucks per bottle. Shipping direct from the vineyard should be about the same price in my experience.
It IS worthwhile, but usually only if the wine is unavailable where you live, and if the wine costs upwards of 10 Euros a bottle, such as a Chianti Classico from a small family vineyard (or Brunello, Barolo etc etc).
At 10 USD per bottle shipping you'll still be making a saving as an equivalent quality wine on retail in the US (if available) will be going for well over 20 USD.
As always shipping rates depend on quantity and with wine tend to increase in increments of 3, 6, 9 etc and you will almost always be able to substitute a bottle of Balsalmic or Olive oil in there.
As for cheese, my advice would be to eat as much as you can while in Italy!!
