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4 Scams to Avoid In Italy

April 11, 2018 /

Italy, and Florence specifically, has been one of our favorite places to visit so far. The food, the culture and let’s be honest – the wine were all incredible.

We made our way from Venice through Florence and ended in Rome. Each stop along the way taught us a different lesson and added to our list of “experiences to avoid”. I think we can agree that Rome taught us the most by far.

Sean and I were lucky in that we did our research ahead of time. Otherwise, I can totally imagine us coming home  totally scammed out.

If you’re going to be traveling to Italy this summer, we recommend you steer clear of these scams so you can have the most amazing time on your trip!

4 Scams We Encountered in Italy

    1. Roses – They may be pretty, but they are not free. No matter where we went, there were ALWAYS people trying to place roses in our hands. This was the case with items like bracelets as well, but roses were definitely the most common. The men would come up with small bouquets in their hands and try to hand me one. Sounds sweet, right? If you accept the roses, however, you are expected to pay, and if you don’t they will take the rose back and try to make you feel bad about not buying it. Not so sweet. These guys were EVERYWHERE in Italy, but specifically at all the super touristy spots. We got accustomed to seeing them if we were in San Marco or if we were at the colosseum. Don’t be surprised, though, if they approach you inside of a restaurant while you’re trying to enjoy you meal – because that definitely happened.
    2. In Venice, we learned ahead of time that there would be men waiting at the metro right by the steps. They try to catch you before you head over to the area where you can buy your tickets to get on the water bus, and they try to sell you tickets for a much higher price than you would pay if you walked past them.
    3. Pickpockets -This was definitely the most annoying experience for me. As soon as we got to Rome, we were heading down the escalator to get on the train. Rome is a little crowded, even towards the off season, and the train stations are no different. So, it wasn’t really shocking when a group of young girls got really close to us on the escalator. But then one of them slid in between Sean and I and started to act as if she were mentally challenged. She waved her hands in the air and up close to our faces and sang a string of jibberish in an effort to distract us from the rest of the group that was trying to rummage through my backpack. Luckily, I felt them trying to get into it and caught them before they could actually open it. When you can, we recommend using a money belt like this one. Sean wore one all of the time, and kept our passports and money in it.
    4. When visiting the colosseum, there were men that ran up to us dressed as gladiators. They ‘offer’ to take pictures with you in front of the famous building, but fair warning: if you let them, them they will expect you to pay them for their services.

In general, a good rule of thumb is that if anybody approaches you, whether it’s to offer a service or try to sell/give you something, you should walk away. More often than not, what they are trying to offer you, you will be able to purchase at a much more fair price a few feet away.

What experiences have you had with feeling scammed? Have you ever fallen for any? Share your experiences below, and let’s help more people have incredible experiences while traveling Italy (and the rest of the world!).

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