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Italy School Trip

19 replies

jollyhollyday · 06/01/2024 12:38

Hi my DS (year 13) is going to Italy next month. Full itinerary but will have free time.
Any tips for his travels on money, what to look out, what essentials to take etc
We are not seasoned travellers
I have got him a plug converter but so far that's about it :-/
Any help... thank you

OP posts:
cestlavielife · 06/01/2024 12:40

Learn key phrases grazie etc
Portable phone charger
Instruct on being careful with phone put in zip up pocket etc
He is going with others right
He will be fine

cestlavielife · 06/01/2024 12:41

Get a post office travel or other pre pay card with 100 euros on it

withthischoice · 06/01/2024 12:42

i imagine the school will provide or have done already a very comprehensive if not exhaustive list?

Caspianberg · 06/01/2024 12:42

Revolut card. You can pre top up with what he needs, and add more easily in emergency with no fees

decent shoes, you walk a lot

rookiemere · 06/01/2024 12:50

cestlavielife · 06/01/2024 12:41

Get a post office travel or other pre pay card with 100 euros on it

Agree with this. You may need to get it in your name and give the card to him to use ( all probably strictly illegal but it's tricky finding something for under 18s).

You can keep an eye on spending on the app and send across funds instantly if needed.

Our school usually provides a rough list of what is needed.

anothernamechangeagainsndagain · 06/01/2024 12:53

Apart from a plug converter and euros (though I just use my debit card all the time) there's really nothing different than a school trip to London prep wise - normal guidance on pickpockets, not drinking too much etc.

anothernamechangeagainsndagain · 06/01/2024 12:55

As far as language, I've never had an issue not speaking Italian - I know enough to read menus just from British Italian restaurants, ditto coffee and wine. Hello, goodbye, please, thank you and bill are the only other phrases I have used

LIZS · 06/01/2024 13:02

Check if his phone will be able to roam free in EU or if you need it set up and pay a fee. Whereabouts is he going? Keep valuables inside jacket. Coffee etc costs more than here in tourist areas, it is cheaper to takeaway or stand up at the counter rather than table service. You can buy pizza by the slice and local baked goods for snacks.

TheChosenTwo · 06/01/2024 13:05

School should provide and fairly full and comprehensive list of what they will need, I’m surprised they haven’t!
my dd applied for an international travellers account when she was abroad for a few
months, HSBC did it and she already banks there, applied for it and almost instantly it was open. She transferred money across to it and could use it instantly abroad.

LIZS · 06/01/2024 13:06

Does he have a ghic card ?

Star81 · 06/01/2024 13:10

Get him to take a photo of his passport and save it as favourites in his phone. Always useful even in the UK as Identification. Also photos of his EHIC card too.

Any cash taken tell him to split into 2 places. Bank card is useful as many airlines as cashless if he wants a drink etc on the plane.

jollyhollyday · 06/01/2024 18:11

Thank you all!! Really good ideas
No list from the school apart from health card and the passport!

I will definitely get a portable phone charger and check on his phone roaming and also his bank.
Thank you :-)

OP posts:
withthischoice · 06/01/2024 18:13

jollyhollyday · 06/01/2024 18:11

Thank you all!! Really good ideas
No list from the school apart from health card and the passport!

I will definitely get a portable phone charger and check on his phone roaming and also his bank.
Thank you :-)

i’d be very concerned by a school not issuing a list to a large group of teens travelling to italy.

What about activities planned just for an example?

jollyhollyday · 06/01/2024 18:14

He is off to Rome and Pompeii and also the Vatican
Monday to Friday

OP posts:
AnnaMagnani · 06/01/2024 18:21

Tell him not to buy anything, anything at all from people selling stuff on the street.

He may have this easier as a boy. We spent a long time in a queue behind a school party and their very fed up teachers who had spent the whole trip coping with teen girls who bought a friendship bracelet from a street seller, then thought the seller was their boyfriend and then he stole all their money.

That and yes they did need to cover their shoulders in church, no it didn't matter that it was hot or that they thought their cute outfit would be ruined.

jollyhollyday · 06/01/2024 19:22

They have issued a full list of activities and dates and times just not useful things to bring

OP posts:
Sonora25 · 06/01/2024 21:45

Comfy shoes and clothes
a good backpack - careful lots of pickpockets in Rome
somewhere with emergency numbers/teachers number in case he loses his phone or runs out of battery
rain poncho
a book or console for the plane/queues
A refillable water bottle
plasters for blisters
eye mask/ear plugs if sharing accommodation

BlindurErBóklausMaður · 07/01/2024 10:12

Apart from sensible considerations already mentioned (sensible shoes, Rome is tough on the feet) the one thing I'd say is not to automatically expect to be able to pay by apple pay, revolut, google pay, contactless, or any other digital form of payments. This was the biggest shock to my daughter, born and brought up in Italy, now at university in England- that cash is fast disappearing. Here it's still very much King.

Obviously, most places will accept contactless, and according to Italian law, must. But you'll still find a LOT of places that will either not accept digital payments, or will impose a minimum amount to do so. So, some cash will be handy.

I take kids in groups in the other direction and the information I give them is: nothing worse than a backpack for advertising you're a gullible tourist- anywhere, not just Italy. Likewise a phone in a back pocket. Not sure what a teenager would accept as an alternative though! Only on Friday there was one of the regular news items about pickpockets around big tourist sites- the most famous are NOT African immigrants, but very normal looking teenage girls. Operating in giggling groups. I've been pickpocketed in Florence (many years ago though) but never in Rome.

You won't be allowed to pop into a McDonalds to use their loo. They've long cottoned on to tourists doing that (a clean loo is always a lovely thing to behold) and you can't get into them (also Starbucks etc) without the code on your till receipt. Speaking of, it's illegal for any retailer not to give you a receipt and it's illegal for you not to take it. Even if it's something for a euro. You'll find a multitude of retailers not giving them obviously. Prices in these places are, however, fairly standard and the same as the UK, whereas sitting down in a cafe for a coffee, you'll pay waiter service.

Rome is very cheap to eat out, and eat well, although am guessing they'll probably be half-board or something?

If they have any free time, avoid the area around Termini station.

ParentOfOne · 07/01/2024 11:35

Rome is actually safer than London when it comes to violent crime. I remember reading somewhere that there were about 30 homicides in Rome vs 130 in London; even if you normalise by population (London has ca. 3x more people) it's still much lower.

But most tourists in Europe are not worried about being killed, but about pickpockets and petty crime. No idea how Rome compares vs London, also because a lot of this crime remains unreported so I'm not sure how reliable stats are.

If they're travelling in groups, it will be practically impossible to avoid shouting from the rooftop that they are foreign tourists.

The usual common-sense advice applies: keep your belongings safe, do not have valuables in easy-to-open external pockets, etc.

Pacsafe makes a lot of bags backpacks etc with some additional closures that make a pickpocket's life a tad harder. Obviously a determined thief will still be able to snatch it.

O2 and CoOp Mobile (on the EE network) are among the few mobile operators which do not charge for EU roaming. Money Saving Expert has a page on that, look it up.

Be sure to check with your bank what charges they apply for foreign purchases. Most banks levy a 2-3% fee. I have a Natwest credit card which doesn't; I also seem to remember that Monzo and Starling don't, but do double check as these conditions change all the time. Starling has Kite, a debit card for minors, linked to an adult's account.

They will use cash more than in the UK, so might want to bring a wallet which stores bills and coins.

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