We will be in Italy in July, flying in & out of Rome. We're not staying in hotels at all, only vacation rentals. If we need to print travel documents – specifically Covid-related documents – does anybody have advice on where to do that in Rome?
I'm fine uploading digital files or showing them my phone, but reading through all the Covid testing threads here, I'm a little nervous that we'll want hardcopies as backup.
I did not need a paper copy to check in for my flight (Iceland Air). I had wondered the same thing. I decided that in an absolute pinch I would stop by a hotel and ask to use their business center or for their help.
I would recommend printing what you might need at home before you leave. If you get a Covid test in Italy you will be given a hard copy of your results.
I can't help with that in Italy.
In Paris, Vienna, Munich, Düsseldorf , Berlin I know of internet cafes within walking distance to my hotel where that printing can be done, used to be in London Kings Cross too but that one is gone.
There are internet cafes you can this from around the city (for a fee of course) - or at least there were in the past (I haven’t been since 2016).
My first rule of business when arriving in Rome or any other city - after checking in to my hotel/apartment/rental-go for a stroll around the neighborhood to locate ATMs, pharmacy’s and internet cafe. I suggest doing this in the beginning so you don’t have to worry about locating them when you may be in a rush later..
I just showed mine on my phone. I don't think you need them printed, but there are some good ideas here if you need. Vacation rentals run by a company or a person who makes it their full-time business will likely be able to print for you, and either drop it off or have an office where you can pick it up. Can't hurt to ask the vacation rental owner if they can print or if they know of a place. If not, some airports have business centers. Internet cafes or other types of print shops still exist, they are much less common than they used to be but you can probably fine one.
For your electronic copies, you want to be sure to download them to your phone, not just have them online. So they still can be shown if you hit an internet dead zone.
The TI centers sometimes have printers with public PCs. Once in Germany a few years ago, a hotel (the owner actually) promised me they would print train tickets the next morning before my train. Of course, the next morning, the clerk on duty refused. Fortunately I was able to print them at the nearby TI.
I'm guessing at larger train stations there would be some kind of business center/office supply type place that could print your stuff out.
Recently in Paris, when we checked in the desk clerk gave us a small slip of paper with their email address. He said to send them anything that needed printing and they would be glad to oblige; obviously this came up a lot.
You are wise to want paper copies as backup. Belts and suspenders, everybody.
While better safe than sorry in terms of printing, I do feel you will be fine with just phone / digital versions.
Have flown back to the US twice from International flights over the past month plus and screenshots from my phone was all the airlines needed to see. I did not bring any paper backup to the airport in either case.
I agree with the others about using digital results for your return Covid tests. It works fine although like others I back up with a copy in Notes and a screen shot. The folks at airline check in are used to viewing them on phones.
This last trip I tried to do digital everywhere and it worked well. When I left I had printed out various tickets and boarding passes but made myself use the digital version and in Europe that is what is expected in my experience.
While your Covid testing location may offer to print it out for you, mine in Amsterdam this trip did not. Previously the pharmacie I used in Paris did automatically print out the results.
Thanks for the reassurance that digital documentation will suffice! I'm leaning towards doing proctored tests in our Airbnb rather than a pharmacy so that's another reason I was concerned about printed test results.
Back when you had to print a boarding pass, I went to public libraries all over Europe as they all had computers and printers
Have done the emed self test twice now overseas for 3 of us each time
2 things
Make certain you have strong wifi at your lodging. If questionable would skip the frustration and test locally instead (the test boxes are large so not wonderful for travel and the stress of disconnection and test being invalid is real )
Screenshots of the results in the app are fine, you will need 2 screenshots to vertically capture all of the information I found
I concur with the make sure you have a strong Wi-Fi connection. Test it using YouTube or something. We didn’t and ended up half way through the tests when we lost ours. When we did finally reconnect, we were shuffled from agent to agent while they figured out what to do with us. With pharmacies closed on Sundays, our pleas did eventually allow us to complete the tests, but it was three plus hours of hell. Never again. The were told phone results were enough for check-in staff, but honestly, we arrived at Schipol in transit, they didn’t even care.
Probably where you do the test they ca supply even a printed copy of the certificate. Of course means come back a second time to the place where you did the test.
In any case try to look for "copisteria": are place who sold notebooks and similar things, but they even print documents or copy full books. Are pretty common near high schools and universities, so easy to be found even in historical center of Italian cities.
