Wifi cafes

They are less and less common due to smart phones, iPOD Touch, and tablets. Sometimes hotels and B&Bs have a computer you can use, though. What cities/towns will you be in? Do you know your lodgings yet? If so, ask them.

Some hotels will have a computer for guests to use. It might be worth it to include that among the list of features you are looking for in a hotel, given the decreasing occurrence of internet cafes.

Where in "northern Italy" will you be? As said, the number of Internet cafes is decreasing, but they are hardly dead. I assume that in touristed places, like Venice, they're still easy to find. I just checked the website for Internet Train, a chain of Internet cafes. They have limited outlets in some Italian regions (Emilia-Romangna has none, and the Veneto only has one Verona location), but a lot of places in others (Piemonte and Tuscany, in particular). But most Internet cafes are not part of a chain. Look at Rick's books (or other guidebooks) for Internet access locations. And, I agree with the suggestion of looking for a computer in your hotel lobby. If you just want occasional Internet use, you should be able to find enough places to get it. if you want regular access, you're better off traveling with a WiFi device (notebook, netbook, tablet, or smartphone with roaming disabled). You should know that if you're using a public Internet access point in Italy, you have to show your passport, and a copy will be made of it (this is Italian law, to deal with terrorists and Internet predators). One advantage of Internet Train is that you only have to register once; they give you a permanent card, which you can refill. http://www.internettrain.it/dovesiamo.html

Hi Lynn, I am an American living in Siena. There are two or three in Siena. They speak English at the one I go to.
Beth Young

My personal experience was that I found it difficult to find wi-fi hotspots. I tried searching the internet before my trip and found some but when I got there, I found it was not always a hotspot but my hotel did provide free wi-fi so it all worked out.