Online Italian travel guide for your next Italian vacation including culture and heritage.

American Express Traveler's Cheques phone numbers
posted Sunday, August 30, 2009 |

When ATM machines (bancomat) starting popping up all over Italy, the traveler's cheque lost a lot of its appeal for use in obtaining money in Italy. The reasons were pretty obvious: no ATM fees (by both banks), convenience, and you could get an exchange rate a little bit better than the merchant would give when accepting the traveler's cheque.

However, the good old days are gone - banks are now charging pretty heavily for ATM use (domestically and abroad). That means the use of traveler's cheques will start making more sense when traveling in Italy.

The one advantage of using a traveler's cheque is that if they become lost or stolen, you can obtain a refund. Just make sure you have the serial numbers recorded properly, and keep them separate from your cheques.

Here are some useful numbers (all toll-free) that you will need in the event you lose your American Express Traveler's Cheques:

When you are in:

Italy - call 800-914-912
France - call 0800-832-820
United Kingdom - call 0800-587-6023
United States - call 1-800-221-7282
Canada - call 1-866-296-5198

A customer-service representative is available for assistance 24 hours a day.

Cefalu' one of Sicily's best kept secrets
posted Friday, August 28, 2009 |

Gaining in popularity as a new Italian resort is Cefalu', a quaint little village nestled between a rock and a beautiful beach, on the northern coast of Sicily with tons of Sicilian charm. Long a favorite vacation spot for many Europeans, Cefalu' is quickly becoming known outside of Europe as a great place to spend a vacation. After all, would Club Med put a resort somewhere that wasn't worth visiting?...More>>

A picture of a beach at Cefalu', a little village on Sicily's beautiful northern coast.
View more pictures of Cefalu'

Labels: Cefalu', Sicilian resort, Sicily

Toll-free numbers or 'Numero Verde' in Italy
posted Saturday, August 22, 2009 |

In Italy, they use a "numero verde" (literally a "green number" - green to signify "go") to indicate when the cost of a phone call will be borne by the receiving party. Or in other words, a toll-free, or as referred to in the United States and Canada, a "1-800" number.

Of course, many companies and public entities will have a toll-free number. The image or graphic will typically look like this:

Numero Verde example

Originally, the number format was something like this, with the numbers used to identify the phone network:

1678-XXXXX
167-XXXXXX

However, as the years have passed, many of them are being converted to this format:

800-XXXXXX
803-XXX

In all of Europe, the 800-XXXXXX format is now used to signify a toll-free call.

Labels: numero verde italy, toll-free call