Holiday Topics
Important Questions for your Holiday.
Here you will find some useful information during your holidays.
Normal bank opening time are from Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 13:30 and again one hour in the afternoon from 14:30 to 15:30. Almost all banks are equipped with a 24h cashpoint.
In the case of an emergency contact the Italian automobile club ACI, free phone number 803116. ACI's services are also available for members of foreign automobile clubs. At regular intervals alongside the motorways there are special emergency phones (marked in yellow).
You have to pay for medical treatment then and there. You will receive a bill which you can submit to your health insurance. For members of the EU the form E111 guarantees emergency medical treatment. Generally you are entitled to reduced cost treatment in certain hospitals.
EU citizens are not restricted to any regulations, personal objects can be imported and exported without any limits.
Dialysis machines are made available for dialysis patients. Contact Centro Emodialisi Garda in Arco 0039-0464531153 or the hospital in Caprino Veronese 0039 -045-7241533 for further information. Tourist offices can also provide further information.
Usually the local police run the lost property office. They can often be found in the town hall (municipio).
You have to pay to use the Italian motorway. To avoid queuing at the toll booth we recommend the use of the Viacard, a pre-paid card worth 25 or 50 Euro. You can use this card until the pre-paid amount of 25 Euro has been used up. All well-known automobile clubs as well as some toll booths sell this card. You can also pay the toll using one of the following credit cards: Visa, Euro/MasterCard, Diners, Aura, American Express.
Each small town on the Lake offers at least one petrol station. They keep to normal shop opening times. At lunchtime and during the night you can pay via a special machine which can be operated with banknotes (Euro) and EC-cards.
The Italian word for pharmacy is "farmacia". Pharmacies can easily be recognised at the green cross against a white background. They keep to normal shop opening times (during the high season some pharmacies are also open on Sundays). The selection of medicines corresponds with international standards. Italian pharmacists are well trained and can save you a trip to the doctors’. In the case of an emergency you should consult the “pronto soccorso” (emergency ward) or the “guardia medica” (emergency medical service).
Most post offices are only open until 2:00 p.m. During weekends they are normally closed. Apart from buying stamps in post offices you can get them also in tobacco shops (tabacchi).
Since April 2004 a new law has been put into place - all vehicles have to be equipped with a safety jacket. This jacket has to be worn when the driver leaves the car outside built-up areas and attends to his vehicle on the road. This is very important in case of emergencies such as accidents or breakdowns.
Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 12:30 and again from 15:30 to 19:30. During the summer many shops close as late as 22:00 and large shopping centres and shops in town centres are often open on Sundays and do not close for lunch.
Italy's dialling code is 0039. Please note that you always have to dial the complete local code, that includes 0. While driving you are only allowed to use your mobile phone if it is equipped with a hands-free speaking system or headphones, otherwise you are liable to penalty.
To stay overnight in your car or camper van
Outside camp sites the Italian police permits to spend one night in your vehicle on the roadside, public carparks or road service stations. Parking restrictions or local restrictions, e.g. roads needed for markets, have to be taken into account.
Maximum speed on motorways is 130km/h. On dual carriageways (superstrada) the maximum speed is 110/h and on ordinary roads 90km/h. If the kerb is marked in yellow, you are not allowed to park your car. If a parking space is marked in blue, your parking time is limited. The Italian police punishes (with a high fine) parking in the wrong place, going over the speed limit and other traffic offences. During the day all vehicles have to drive on dipped headlights on motorways as well as outside built-up areas.
According to a new Italian law all new hotels (depending on their size) have to offer at least one or more rooms which can easily be accessed by wheel-chair users. Museums as well as other public buildings are in the process of being refurbished with lifts and ramps. Bigger car parks normally have special parking lots for wheel-chair users in the front row and the pedestrian areas in the small towns on Lake Garda often do not have a kerb, and if they do they are lower than normal.
For the time being there are no special compulsory vaccinations for Italy. However, if you intend to spend a lot of time hiking or mountain biking in woods, we recommend a vaccination against wood ticks.