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Italy

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	AEOLIAN ISLANDS
	AMALFI COAST
	BOLOGNA
	BREUIL-CERVINIA
	CALCATA
	CAPRI
	CILENTO COAST
	CINQUE TERRE
	COSTA SMERALDA
	FERRARA
	FLORENCE

	GENOA
	ITALIAN LAKES
	LAKE LUGANO
	LUCCA
	MANTUA
	MILAN
	NAPLES
	PALERMO
	PORTOFINO
	POSITANO
	PUGLIA

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THE FACTS ABOUT ITALY

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CAPITAL	Rome

AREA	301 250 sq km

POPULATION	58.1 million

LANGUAGE	Italian

CURRENCY	Euro

TIME	GMT +1 hour

TELEPHONE CODES	00 39

ELECTRICITY	220V, 50 Hz



Positano

Visas: Italy (along with Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) forms part of the border-free travel zone known as the Schengen Area. US, Australian, Canadian, Japanese, and New Zealand citizens are among those who may enter Italy as tourists without a visa and stay up to 90 days. EU passport holders can come and go as they please.

Public holidays: New Year's Day; Epiphany (6 Jan); Easter Monday; Liberation Day (25 Apr); Labour Day; Mid-August Holiday (14-15 Aug); All Saints' Day; Immaculate Conception (8 Dec); Christmas Day; Boxing Day.

Good buys: Visit the designer warehouses of houses like Prada and Gucci for some excellent bargains. Also stock up on leather goods, olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Local dishes: Pasta and pizza are Italy's staple foods. Also try gnocchi and polenta dishes.

Good reading: There have been a mountain of books written about Italy. Classic travelogues include Vincent Cronin's Concise History of Italy and HV Morton's A Traveller in Italy. For a historical account, pick up Jerome Carcopino's Daily Life in Ancient Rome or Bernard Berenson's Painters of the Renaissance. Other classics include Dante's The Divine Comedy and E M Forster's Room with a View.