Passport & Visa - Any person of foreign nationality who wishes to enter Italy and stay there for a period not exceeding three

months must have proper documents (passport, travel or identity document) required for entry into Italian territory.

Language - Italian is the official language. However, English is widely understood.

Time Zone - Italy is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

Credit Cards - All major credit cards are generally accepted.

Currency - The Euro is Italy's official currency. It is based on the decimal system. There are one hundred cents to each Euro.

Euro notes come in

denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. Coins come in denominations of 1 and 2 Euro, 50, 10, 5, 2, 1 cents. The Euro sign

is €

Money Exchange - You can change money at the hotel or at the nearest banks. Bank hours are 9:00AM to 1:30PM and 3:00PM to 4:00PM. Banks are closed on weekends and national holidays. ATMs that accept US based bank cards are widely available in most towns.

Voltage - The electric current in the hotels is 220 volts, 50 cycles (in the US it is 110 volts, 50 cycles). A transformer is necessary to convert local power to U.S. standard. An adapter is needed for plugs, as European plugs are different from the ones in the U.S.

Shopping - Shopping hours are from 9:00AM to 1:00PM and from 5:00PM to 8:00PM from Monday through Saturday. Businesses may be closed on Monday mornings and Sundays. Malls and outlets follow different schedules, please consult their websites.

Telephone - When calling home, all major long-distance phone carriers make it easy to phone using their calling card codes from any pay phone or hotel. The country code for Italy is +39.

Tipping guidelines: Please remember tipping is first and foremost at your own discretion.

The following is meant to be a guideline while traveling in Italy:

• Drivers:15/20/25 Euros for a single service less than 3 hours or 50/70 Euros for full service tour/trip;

• Private Guide: 20/25 Euros fo a service less than 3 hours or 40/50 Euros for full day service;

• Porters: Euro 1-2 per bag

• Hotel Staff/Maid Service: Euro 2-3 per day

• Taxis: Expect 10-15% of the fare, but if the driver was discourteous, you don’t need to tip.

• Restaurants: no more than 10% of your bill.

VAT Refund - To benefit from a VAT (Valued Added Tax) refund, the total purchase price inclusive of tax from any single store must be at least 154,94€. At the time of purchase, the salesman can either refund VAT immediately or collect the tax directly and wait for the reception of the stamped “export sales invoice” from Customs to be refunded at the departure airport. In both cases, an “export sales invoice” will be given to you. Look for shops with duty free stickers in their windows. For more information, please visit the official web site of Agenzia delle Dogane (www.agenziadogane.it).

Postal Information - Post offices have a full range of services, including telephones, telegrams, fax and calling cards, and are open Monday through Saturday from 8:00AM to 1:30PM. Only a few post offices are open in the afternoon until 6:00PM.

Important notes regarding the itinerary, guides, drivers and local ground service providers:

To ensure the fastest response time, please refer to the direct contact numbers and emergency numbers included in the itinerary for any last-minute changes or delays.

If you would like to make changes to the itinerary, add services, or request concierge services or assistance, please contact your local agent.

Guides and drivers are at your disposal, and the itinerary contains suggestions with inputs and reservations confirmed and included.

Please express your interests and preferences to the guide at the beginning of each day so that any changes can be made to ensure your complete satisfaction. If you wish, you may invite your guides to join you for lunch, but this is never an obligation and is solely at your discretion.

Please be advised that the name and contact information of the guides may change without clients being informed.

Always consider the phone number listed under in your final document to be valid and use it EMERGENCY CONTACT IN ITALY

in case of emergencies or for updates.

The cancellation policy for our tours does not provide any refunds in the event of requests to cancel individual services during the trip.

We recommend that you purchase travel insurance before departing your country.

Now that you are in the hands of all the necessary info, we just have to wish you a pleasant journey!