AIRPORT TAX Nearly always included in the price of your ticket.

BARGAINING Not really on in shops and restaurants, though you'll find you can get a "special price" for some rooms and cheap hotels if you're staying a few days or off season, and that things like boat or bike rental and guided tours (especially out of season) are negotiable. In markets, you can in theory haggle for everything except food.

BEACHES Most beaches are clearly signposted spiaggia but you'll have to pay for access to the best parts of the better ones (referred to as lidos), plus a few thousand lire to rent a sun bed and shade and use the showers all day. Although technically the few metres immediately by the water cannot be sectioned off, it's debatable whether it's worth the hassle of trying to enforce your rights. During winter most beaches look like rubbish dumps: it's not worth anyone's while to clean them until the season starts at Easter. Some beaches, particularly along the north coast of Sicily are prone to invasions of jellyfish ( meduse ) from time to time. These are not dangerous, but can cause quite a sting, so take local advice and believe, if you will, the Italian train of thought that they are a sign of unpolluted water.

CAMPING GAZ Easy enough to buy for the small, portable, camping stoves, either from a hardware store ( ferramenta ) or camping/sports shops; remember you can't carry canisters on aeroplanes.

CHILDREN Children are adored in Italy and will be made a fuss of in the street, and welcomed and catered for in bars and restaurants (though be warned that there's no such thing as a smoke-free environment, with chain-smoking the norm). Hotels normally charge around thirty percent extra to put a bed or cot in your room, though kids pay less on trains . The only hazards when travelling with children in summer are the heat and sun. Very high factor suncreams are quite difficult to find although chemists usually sell sunblock. Bonnets or straw hats are plentiful in local markets. Take advantage of the less intense periods - mornings and evenings - for travelling, and use the quiet of siesta-time to recover flagging energy. The rhythms of the southern climate soon modify established patterns, and you'll find it more natural carrying on later into the night, past normal bedtimes. In summer, it's not unusual to see Italian children out at midnight, and not looking any the worse for it.

CIGARETTES The state monopoly brand - MS, jokingly referred to as Morte Sicura ("certain death") or Merda Secca ("dried shit") - are the most widely smoked cigarettes, strong and aromatic and selling for around A?4200/a?¬2.17 for a pack of twenty. Younger people tend to smoke imported brands these days - all of which are slightly more expensive, at around A?4500-5500/a?¬2.32-2.84 per pack. You buy cigarettes from tabacchi , recognizable by a sign displaying a white "T" on a black or blue background, but not from bars. After hours you'll have to use automatic, hole-in-the-wall vending machines; these are hardly more expensive than tabacchi , accept notes and are found on practically every street corner in major cities.

CONTRACEPTION Condoms ( preservativi, profilA ttici ) are available over the counter from all pharmacies (some also have vending machines after hours) and some supermarkets; the pill ( la pA­llola ) is available from pharmacies by prescription only.

DEPARTMENT STORES There are two main nationwide chains, Upim and Standa. Neither is particularly posh, and they're good places to stock up on toiletries and other basic supplies; branches of both stores sometimes have a food hall attached.

ELECTRICITY The supply is 220V, though anything requiring 240V will work. Most plugs are three round pins though you'll find the older 2-pin plug in some places: a travel plug adapter is useful.

GAY AND LESBIAN LIFE Homosexuality is legal in Italy, and the age of consent is 14. The Gay "World Pride" march took place in Rome in July 2000, and although condemned, predictably enough, by the pope, the size of the turn-out (over a quarter of a million) and the largely sympathetic press coverage have been read as signs that homosexuality is becoming more widely accepted in Italy. Attitudes are most tolerant in the northern cities: Bologna is generally regarded as the gay capital, and Milan, Turin and to a lesser extent Rome all have well-developed gay scenes; there are also a few spiagge gay (gay beaches) dotted along the coast, and the more popular gay resorts include Taormina and Rimini. Away from the big cities and resorts, though, activity is more covert. You'll notice, in the South especially, that overt displays of affection between (all) men - linking arms during the passeggiata, kissing in greeting, etc - are common. The line determining what's acceptable, however, is finely drawn. The national gay organization, ARCI-Gay, Piazza di Porta Saragozza 2, PO Box 691, 40100 Bologna (tel 051.644.7054, arcigl@iperbole.it ), and at Via dei Mille 23, Rome (tel 06.446.5839), affiliated to the youth section of the ex-Communist Party, has branches in most big towns; Babilonia ( www.babilonia.net ) is the national gay magazine, published monthly.The Italian lesbian organization, Collegamento tra Lesbiche Italiane, is based at Via San Francesco di Sales 1a, Rome (tel 06.686.4201), but is mainly a campaigning force; ARCI-Lesbica, Via dei Monti di Petralata 16, (tel 06.418.0369, www.women.it/~arciles/roma ) is a more general organization and the Web site has lots of useful links.

LAUNDRIES Coin-operated laundromats, sometimes known as tintorie , are rare outside large cities, and even there numbers are sparse. More common is a lavanderia , a service-wash laundry, but this will be more expensive. Although you can usually get away with it, washing clothes in your hotel room can cause an international incident - simply because the room's plumbing often can't cope with all the water. It's better to ask if there's somewhere you can wash your clothes.

PUBLIC TOILETS Almost unheard of outside train and bus stations, and usually the only alternative is to dive discreetly into a bar or restaurant. In stations and some smarter establishments, there might be an attendant who guards the facilities, dispenses paper ( carta ) - and expects a tip of a few hundred lire. Standards have improved over the last few years and you'll find most places to be very clean, though it's advisable not to be without your own toilet roll.

TAKE HOME Top of the list of many Italian goodies worth taking home is a caffeteria - the many-sided coffee-makers that are surprisingly cheap in Italy; Upim and Standa usually have a good selection, as do markets. Obviously clothes and shoes make tempting souvenirs, too, but don't expect any bargains; in Milan, especially, prices are sky-high, though if you're in the market for designer threads, this is as cheap a place as any.

TIME Italy is always one hour ahead of Britain, seven hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time and ten hours ahead of Pacific Time.

VACCINATIONS None required.

WAR CEMETERIES Anzio and Cassino are just the best known of a number of fiercely contested battles on Italian soil during World War II. Information and a list of Allied cemeteries are available from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 2 Marlow Rd, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX (tel 01628/634 221).

WATER Safe everywhere, including drinking fountains, although people often prefer the taste of bottled water.