| Passport
& Visa |
 |
Any person of foreign nationality who wishes to
enter Sicily and stay there for a period not exceeding three
months must have proper documents (passport, travel or identity
document) required for entry into Italian territory. |
|
| Language |
|
Italian is the official language. However, English is widely
understood. |
|
| Time
Zone |
|
Sicily is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard
Time. |
|
| Credit
Cards |
|
All major credit cards are accepted. |
|
| Currency |
|
The Euro is Italy's official currency. It is based on the
decimal system. There are one hundred cents to each Euro. Euro
notes come in denominations of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10.
Coins come in denominations of 1 and 2 Euro, 50, 10, 5, 2, 1
cents. The Euro sign is €. |
|
| Money
Exchange |
|
You can change money at the hotel or at the nearest banks.
Bank hours are 9:00AM to 1:30PM and 3:00PM to 4:00PM. Banks
are closed on weekends and national holidays. |
|
| Traveler's
Checks |
|
Traveler’s checks in $USD should be exchanged at banks
or exchange offices, as very few businesses will accept them. |
|
| Voltage |
|
The electric current in the hotels is
220 volts, 50 cycles (in the US it is 110 volts, 50 cycles).
A transformer is necessary to convert local power to U.S. standard.
An adapter is needed for plugs, as European plugs are different
from the ones in the U.S. |
|
| Shopping |
|
Shopping hours are from 9:00AM to 1:00PM and from 5:00PM to
8:00PM from Monday through Saturday. Businesses are closed on
Monday mornings and Sundays. |
|
| Telephone |
|
When calling home, all major long-distance phone carriers
make it easy to phone using their calling card codes from any
pay phone or hotel. The country code for Italy is +39. |
|
| VAT
Refund |
|
To benefit from a VAT (Valued Added Tax) refund, the total
purchase price inclusive of tax from any single store must be
at least 154,94€. At the time of purchase, the salesman
can either refund VAT immediately or collect the tax directly
and wait for the reception of the stamped “export sales
invoice” from Customs to be refunded at the departure
airport. In both cases, an “export sales invoice”
(“Bordereau de Vente” in French) will be given to
you. Look for shops with duty free stickers in their windows.
For more information, please visit the official web site of Agenzia
delle Dogane. |
|
| Postal Information |
|
Post offices have a full range of services, including telephones,
telegrams, fax and calling cards, and are open Monday through
Saturday from 8:00AM to 1:30PM. Only a few post offices are
open in the afternoon until 6:00PM.
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