Trains and Souvenirs: Last Questions

Here is a site from US Customs that discusses what is allowed in regards to food items. Avoid meat but generally if it is prepackaged it is okay. Any liquids or gels will need to be in your checked luggage. It is fine in your suitcase as long as it is checked and you are okay with potential breakage. Be aware that many items can now be found here in the US.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/agricultural-items

You do not need to validate a train that has a seat assignment. Validation is just so you don't reuse the same ticket over and over. If a train has a specific date and time, then you can't reuse it over and over. On the other tickets, maybe fold it so that it can fit in the machine? I have never bothered to prepurchase that type of ticket.

Each traveler is limited to quite a modest amount of tax-free alcohol, so check that carefully.

There are some prohibited food products--things like fresh cheeses and fruits/vegetables. And don't be tempted by the prosciutto, no matter how much the salesperson insists that it's OK because it's vacuum-packaged. Do your research to avoid wasting money.

I don't believe the 8.5x11 paper copy of the regionale tickets will fit in the ticket stamp machines. How do I validate those tickets?

If your tickets are for a specific date and time -- and I think print-at-home tickets always are even for the regionale -- you do not have to validate them. You only have to validate tickets that are good for an extended period of time, i.e., can be used any time within 60 days.

You do not need to validate Regionale tickets that were bought on-line and printed at home. It should have a date and a time window it can be used. It is, in effect prevalidated. The stamping machine are sized to accept Regionale tickets bought in Italy and are printed on old IBM card stock. They are now sold for the specific date you requested, but no time window so you must validate these before boarding.

My wife always brings some bubble wrap with and sealable plastic bags that are large enough that a wine bottle will fit in it, then pack dirty clothes around it. Wine bottles are very sturdy and I've never seen them break when we get home. They are heavy, so make sure it does not put you over the 23 kg weight limit on the bag. Olive oil bottles, on the other hand, are thin glass. I once brought one of these home for my wife from a business trip to Italy. But when she opened my suitcase......

Oh, just put everything on the border declaration card. Even if you are over the technical limit for alcohol, I have never seen a customs agent care. It is not worth their time to fill out the paper work to charge you the extra $2.38 duty you might owe on the wine. Unless its like 4 cases.

If it doesn't fit in the machine, it doesn't need to be validated.

My biggest regret was not bringing back a much bigger piece of well-aged Asiago cheese. Asiago cheese that I can find here in the States isn't made in Asiago.

put it another way, you can bring back all the wine or alcohol you can carry, you just have to declare it, and be prepared to pay the rather modest duty (tax) on it.

But all liquids have to be in checked bags, not carryon, just like here in the US. It takes some creative packing. Google up WineSkins for an idea.

You could alway go to the Customs and Border Protection website, and look for their pamphlet "Know Before You Go". They're trying to prevent bugs and plant and animal diseases from coming in to the US in your souvenirs, so just think through what that means - no fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, etc.

Like many things, its not what some people have gotten away with, but what they'll take from you if they catch it. My friend who works for Dept of Agriculture at a major airport loves to catch people trying to bring in sausage and other processed meats, and they know which flights are likely to have them.

Your paper tickets need not be machine validated. You can also download them to a smart phone and the conductor will simply scan them from your screen.

Wineskins are great for bringing wine back in your checked luggage. I think you can get them on Amazon.

Many people don't declare what they bring in, especially if it's relatively small. But, the process is quick!

Lauren H,

As mentioned in previous replies, you don't need to validate tickets on fast trains, as these are specific to train,date and departure time and can only be used on the one train listed on the ticket. If you try to use them on another train, you'll be deemed to be travelling without valid reservations and may face hefty fines on the spot! Regionale tickets purchased on-line are pre-validated but must be used within four hours of the departure time listed on the ticket.

For bringing things like wine home, you might want to pack some large zip-lok bags and a travel sized roll of Duct Tape. I've found that useful on past trips to provide some extra protection in case the bottle breaks during transit. Place the bottle in the zip-lok bag and then double seal the top with Duct Tape. I always pack the bottles in the middle of my pack and surround them with lots of clothing. So far I haven't had any problems with that method.

Lauren, one thing that I have done on recent trips: one or two days before I am scheduled to fly home, I look for a modest -sized, relatively clean and intact, cardboard box. They are often out on the street with trash from stores, thus available for free. In the box I place well-padded bottles or other more fragile items that I want to pack in a bag to be checked. I make sure that the box ends up very full, with any books or clothes making it full. Generally I still have room for clothing, etc. outside the box too. My checked bag is usually a lightweight, quite formless, small duffle, which had been folded in my carry-on earlier in my trip. I have never had any damaged item packed in this way, even when my trip home includes 2 or 3 connecting flights.

The winery I visited a few years sold some wine bags. Basically a wine bottle length ziplock bag with some absorbent material inside. It worked fine inside my bag sandwiched between clothes.

Let's keep it simple:

train tickets PURCHASED ON-LINE do NOT need to be validated.

It doesn't matter if you have reserved seats, it doesn't matter if you're travelling on an intercity, a freccia-something or a regionale train, it doesn't matter if you print at home instead of using a smartphone to show the pdf to conductors: if you got those tickets on trenitalia.com/tcom-en you can forget all you heard about validation machines, fines on the spot for those who don't validate etc. etc.

PS

Of course if you purchase on-line a regionale ticket, the period of validity starts from the departure of the booked train and not from the moment you time-stamp your ticket in the validation machine.

Hi everyone,
Thank you for all of the responses! We are traveling from Venice to Manarola one day, and then Manarola to Rome another day. Since I purchased the train tickets for these routes all at once, Trenitalia gave me the PDFs for the high-speed portions and regionale portions. So for example, our Venice-Manarola train trip includes tickets for Venice-Florence (high-speed), then Florence-La Spezia (regionale), then La Spezia-Manarola (regionale).

When we are in Rome, we plan to buy the three-day transit pass, and I know that any metro/bus trips we take with that pass will of course require ticket validation.

We'll think more about the wine and make a decision after reviewing the customs website. (Thank you for the link.)

Thank you again!

So you are good. Just show tickets when the conductor asks.

For the Rome metro/bus pass, you have to use it to enter the metro (to open the turnstile). If your first ride is on the bus, then you have to validate it on the bus. After that, it just has to be in your possession while you're on the bus. If your first use is on the metro, it is validated for the bus . . . and the trams too. Don't forget them. Very useful, especially in Trastevere.

On my last trip, I brought back 3 little bottles of limoncello and one of them leaked a little. I always wrap botlles in sealable bags, then in thicker clothes (sweater, jacket. . . ), then tuck them in the middle of my suitcase, trying to put sturdier things around them. So far, so good. I don't think I'd try a liter bottle of olive oil, though.

We were able to bring back vacuum packed meats no problem though FCO through Canada to the US.

Cured Bacon - Unless it is from Canada or two specifically approved (see link) producers allowed to sell certified pork products in duty free shops in Dublin and Shannon Airports , no.
Sausage - No
Salami and other cured deli products - Some
Prosciutto - No
Pate - If cooked and in a hermetically sealed container, maybe. Otherwise - no.
Fois Gras - If cooked and in a hermetically sealed container, maybe. Otherwise, no.
Parma, Iberian or Serrano hams - Call 301-851-3300 or toll-free at 877-770-5990. Only certain plants are certified exporters, and the hams must be accompanied by certificates and seals.
US customs
If you get "lucky" and are able to do this, you may run the risk of hefty fines if the products are discovered in your luggage.

You must either pack wine or olive oil or any other liquids in checked luggage, or, to do as I do and have it shipped to your home directly from the winery. (Note that some states do not allow wine shipping.) I have seen some people who bought wine in the airport after they had come through passport control be disappointed to see it confiscated at gateside passport check. If you choose to carry your liquids in your checked luggage, I would strongly recommend using one of the sealed bubble wrap packing sleeves, as I have seen the bottles break in transit, Staining the clothes in the suitcase.

THE best advice given to me on souvenirs: If you can already buy it in the US (wine, a specific brand of balsamic, olive oil, food items, Grapa, etc), don't haul it back. By the time you drag that "stuff" all over Italy, deal with customs, the extra storage in the overhead, heavier bags to check, getting on/off trains, etc. . . . unless there is some sentimental value for doing that . . . don't. Buy ONLY stuff that you can't get in the US. There is lots of that - handmade items, carvings, masks from Venice, glass from Murano, jewelry, etc. to name a few. And as for the glass in Murano, personally I'd have that shipped back to the US so it arrived in one piece.