1.    Avoid speak about Italian Mafia

One thing you should not do is talk about the mafia. Don’t come to an Italian and talk about the mafia. Don’t ask Italians what the mafia is like in the north or the south. The word mafia is something that is not pronounced much in Italy. Avoid talking the word mafia around because it’s a very complicated business.

2.    Avoid speaking ill of the Pope

Another thing you should avoid speaking in Italy is bad-mouthing the Pope, or anything that is disrespectful, one thing to assault him or offend the Pope.

3.    Your Clothes

Another thing to keep an eye on when visiting Italy is your clothes when visiting churches, you may even know this, but it is worth stressing the following, do not visit churches with blouses, short clothes, low-cut, because you will not get in.

Many of them are very strict, requiring that the woman has her arms covered, the man wears trousers, not wearing very short clothes. Some churches provide an “improvised outfit” for you to put on top, in case you are like that.

4.    Italian Gastronomy

Another point here is in relation to Italian gastronomy. I put one thing in your head that food in Italy is very sacred to the Italians. We should try to respect that because really, it’s their culture and they like it very much.

One thing that’s a bit weird that you do and that they might find really bad is to ask you to change dishes or change ingredients. They won’t like it, they think that the dish they made is already fine the way it is, and even if you want to take something out, put something else in, they might find it a bit weird.

5.    Don’t take a photo or video where it’s not allowed

Now another thing that may seem cliché, don’t do that in Italy. If you enter a museum, or a church, and there’s a sign saying ‘don’t take photos or videos’, don’t take photos or videos, because suddenly someone will come up and shout at you, saying that you shouldn’t be doing it. He may come shouting at you and telling you not to take photos.

6.    Buy a ticket for public transport or buses

Avoid riding on public transport without buying a ticket. In Italy everything is based on trust, there is no collector on the bus, no one will demand a ticket when you get on the bus. In Italy it works like this, you buy your ticket, you can buy it directly from the driver or you buy it before, and there is a machine on the bus where you insert the ticket, marking the time you got on the bus.

There is a control that they do from time to time, there is an employee who enters the buses and asks for tickets, if this employee does not arrive you can go back and forth without paying a penny, either by bus or train, even to go to other cities in Italy. There is this conference and if you do not have your ticket and by chance it happens that an official controls it, you will get a fine and will spend a terrible mico, besides this official can throw you out of the bus or want to call the police.

7.    Do not pick up fruit or vegetables if you are not buying

Another thing you mustn’t do is start groping the fruit and vegetables. In the little markets in Italy they don’t like you to pick things up, to feel them. If you want to pick that thing, you have to buy that thing, so please, don’t put your hand on the fruit or vegetables because it will be a problem.

8.    Do not sit down at a restaurant table without first asking the waiter

In Italy, in most restaurants, when you are arriving, even if everything is empty and there is nobody there, do not sit at the table before calling the waiter. It may happen that you sit down and he does not give you anything, or you may sit down and ask you to leave and sit somewhere else, this happens because sometimes 2 people want to sit in the place that would fit 7 people, then, by logic and logistics of the restaurant, they cannot let two people stay there, they have to leave and stay in another place suitable for 2 people.

9.    Don’t forget your bag

And finally, don’t leave your bag or backpack forgotten in any public place. It has already happened that a tourist left his bag near the Tower of Pisa and went away. Some time later the tower square started to empty, they called the bomb squad, thinking it was a terrorist attack and there was a bomb in the bag.