Walkie Talkies in Italy

That is correct. American based family radios used a different frequency than the European models and, therefore, are illegal to use in Europe.

Chris, As you've noted, using FRS Walkie-Talkies in Italy (or other parts of Europe) will be illegal, as they use the same frequencies as some emergency services there. If you're caught with unlicensed transceivers, you may have a rather "unpleasant" holiday experience. The North American products may also differ in terms of power levels or other spec's, and may not be type-approved for Europe. Walkie-Talkies are not the most practical solution for travel uses. The range is greatest in line-of-sight situations, but will be greatly reduced in cities with lots of buildings. I'm a duly licensed Amateur (Ham) Radio Operator, so have encountered that on many occasions even though the radios I use have much higher power levels. You might ask your husband to read this website, as it's VERY CLEAR on this point: http://www.walkie-talkie-radio.co.uk/walkie-talkie-international-issues.html
Happy travels!

I assume your husband is interested in walkie-talkies from a concern of getting split up and not finding each other. You can reassure him by agreeing on a system for finding each other if you do get seperated. Make it a multi-layered approach with the obvious one to meet back at the hotel. Another is to meet at the entracne to a museum or site. Another is to meet at a common place easy for both of you to find. If seperated on a subway, just get off at the next stop and wait to meet there. Families with kids set these rules up all the time and I've never heard of anyone ever getting permanently lost...

I like the idea of backup plans in case you get separated. Before we got Italian cell phones we agreed that we would meet at the last place that we both looked at each other. Combine that with just being really aware of our surroundings and where the other one was and we never had a problem.