Italy Tourism - Italy Shopping

Italy Tourism - Italy Shops & Travel

Big and small Shops of Italy
The biggest and most expensive shops in Italy are in the big cities such as Turin, Milan, Naples and Rome. They sell fashionable clothes, shoes and accessories by famous designers. Large, bustling department stores are also found in the centre of these major cities.
In Italy there are also small family-run shops like the frutterie that sell fruit, the panetterie that sell bread and cakes, and the gelaterie that sell ice cream. Tobacconists called tabaccheria, also sell stamps.


Italian specialities
Hand-made goods such as ceramics, lace and pottery are often sold in small shops, especially in areas where there are tourists. Different parts of Italy have their own special products, such as glass ornaments which come from workshops in Venice, leather from Naples and gold jewellery from Florence.



Italy Tourism Shops Opening hours
Shops are usually open from 9 am until 1 pm. Many close until about 4 pm and then stay open until about 7 pm. This is to avoid the heat in the middle of the day in summer, especially in the south of Italy. Butchers' shops are sometimes closed on Fridays and on some religious days. This is often done in Roman Catholic countries as a sign of fasting.
Italy Market stalls
Fresh fruit and fish are used a lot in Italian cooking. These foods, as well as salamis and other meats, are often bought in open-air or covered markets. There are not as many supermarkets and hypermarkets in Italy as there are in some other European countries. This is especially true of the southern areas.
There are regular 'flea markets' in many of the larger cities. These are markets where people come to buy and sell almost anything.

Italy Travel Transport

Traveling Italy - Italy Tourism


From Appian Way to Autostrada
The Romans knew how to build long-distance roads some 2000 years ago. This was the main way that armies could be moved around the vast Roman Empire. The Appian Way was built from Rome to the southern tip of Italy.

Appian Way


Roads were also important for transporting goods for sale. It was said that 'all roads lead to Rome'.
Now, motorists in Italy can drive on one of the best motorway systems in Europe. There are about 6000 kilometres of autostradas (motorways). There is a toll to pay on most of them. One motorway called the Autostrada del Sole, goes the whole length of Italy from Milan to Reggio di Calabria. This is a distance of 1250 kilometres.

There are only a few ways to get into Italy by land across the Alps. One is through the narrow mountain passes, such as the Brenner pass. The other is to travel through one of the tunnels that have been cut through the mountains. The Mount Frejus tunnel was opened in 1980. This takes cars and lorries for almost 13 kilometres under the Alps from France into Italy.

Rome Italy - Colosseum Rome

One of Rome's airports is named Leonardo da Vinci. Few other countries in the world would name an airport after a 15th-century artist and designer!

Tuscany Italy


Rail and boat
There is also a railway network for long-distance travel. About 20,000 kilometres of track link all the main towns and cities. About half of the railway lines have been electrified. This makes them faster, cleaner and cheaper to run. A journey from Rome to Palermo on the island of Sicily takes 14 hours by train. This includes a train ferry between the mainland and Sicily. It takes only 60 minutes to fly between the two cities. Other islands, such as Sardinia, are linked to the mainland by ferry boats and hydrofoil boats.

Traffic chaos
Rome is Italy's centre for business, politics and for culture. There is an underground rail system to help people move quickly around the city. Young people often prefer to travel on scooters. There are so many cars that pollution and traffic congestion are serious problems. This is also a concern in many of Italy's historic towns and cities where the streets are very narrow and trap car fumes.

More : Italy holiday tourism & Sports | Italy Tourism : Arts and festivals

Italy : Holidays Tourism & Sports

Italy Tourism & Sports

Italian Leisure -Sports
When the weather is warm on a summer's evening, Italians like to sit at a table outside a cafe, often in the central square called the piazza. Others go for an evening stroll called the passeggiata [passeh-JAta]. A more active thing to do is to play bocce [BOcheh] in the park. This is a game of bowls played in a similar way to French boules.

Italians also enjoy watching television. For many, the weekly highlight is watching a football match on Sunday afternoon. Popular teams such as Inter-Milan and Naples are among the best in Europe. Many people enjoy gambling on the Italian National Lottery called the Lotto and watching it on TV.

Cycle-racing is a popular sport and at weekends there are lots of long-distance races all over Italy. Basketball, baseball and tennis are also popular and many children learn to ski at an early age.



Venice is one of Italy's most visited cities. Here boats are called gondolas. An oarsman uses an oar at the stern to propel the boat. Dining Alfresco, Venice, Italy | Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy pictures

Italy Tourism

Tourism brings a lot of money into Italy. Visitors come from all over the world to look at the buildings and art treasures of historic towns such as Venice, Rome, Naples and Florence. The Tower of Pisa is a special tourist attraction. It has been leaning over since it was first built in 1173.

Tourism Naples Italy


Holiday time

Italy's long coastline makes it a popular holiday destination. In the west, there are seaside resorts and harbours, such as Portofino, overlooking the Ligurian Sea. Amalfi and the island of Capri are popular tourist spots further south. On the coast of the Adriatic Sea in the east, there are seaside resorts such as Rimini. In fact, so many tourists visit Italian seaside resorts that they have become one of the causes of sea pollution, which has become a major problem.



For a different type of holiday, tourists go to the Alpine ski resorts such as Courmayeur in the Val d'Aosta and Livigno in Lombardy. The Italian lakes, such as Como and Maggiore, are picturesque sites set in Alpine valleys, that people have enjoyed coming to for over 150 years.

More on Italy  > Tourism Italy Arts & Festivals

Tourism Italy Arts & Festivals

Italy Tourism ( Arts , costumes , leonardo da vinci, Religion + festivals of italy & vatican city )


Italy Customs and costumes

Punch and Judy puppet shows began in Italy about 400 years ago with a character called Pulcinella. At first, the characters were puppets worked by wires. By 1800 in England, the show had become a glove puppet show. Pulcinella had become Punch with a wife named Joan or Judy.

All over Italy there are festivals in which people dress up in masks and medieval costumes. There are colourful masked balls in Venice. In Arezzo, there are jousting matches between people dressed up as crusader knights and their enemies, the Saracens. In Florence, a football match is played between Italian teams - dressed in medieval costumes. People ride bareback in a horse race around the piazza in Siena. The race is called the palio and it began in medieval times. Before the race, there is a parade. Italian People wear medieval costumes and wave flags.

Opera and artists at Italy

Some of the world's best opera composers and singers have come from Italy. Italian painters and sculptors have created some of the world's greatest masterpieces. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City was painted by Michelangelo. It took him four years to complete, between 1508 and 1512. He had to paint while lying on his back up a 20-metre scaffold. Leonardo da Vinci was another great artist, inventor and scientist of the time. The Mona Lisa is one of his best-known paintings.




Italy Festivals



Religion and festivals of Italy

Almost all Italians are brought up to be Roman Catholics and many Italian festivals are connected with the Roman Catholic religion. There are local saints' days and other religious events throughout the year. A music festival is held during Easter week in Assisi, the home of St Francis. Some festivals combine Roman festivals with later Christian festivals. The festival of Ferragosto in August recalls the Roman Emperor Augustus, as well as the Virgin Mary.

Each town in Italy has its own saint. Many towns celebrate their saint's day with a festival, when a statue of their saint is carried through the streets . Different types of food are linked to these religious festivals . For example, marzipan or chocolate lambs are made to eat after Lent, a time when Catholics give up luxuries such as chocolate . On New Year's Day, the Pope gives a blessing to people all over the world from a balcony in the Vatican City. People crowd into St Peter's Square to hear him give this blessing.