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== Eating & Sleeping ==Also, service stations and restaurants on highways are commonly referred to as ''Autogrill''.
In areas like For detailed information on speaking Italian check the [[PugliaSouthern Europe phrasebook#Italian|Italian phrasebook]] people are so friendly that you can just basically ask if you could crash at their place if you need a place to sleep. In the South, you might also be invited for meals. Table-diving is good at service stations, at least in the Northon hitchwiki.
If there's no way around it, you can simply dodge the fare on local trains. Conductors usually can't articulate anything beyond "Money" and "Ticket" in English, so just tell them "No money, no ticket" and they'll let you be -- in the worst case they'll ask you to leave at the next stop and you can resume hitchhiking or take the next train.[[trash:Italy]] [[nomad:Italy]]
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'''Italy''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]], and so are [[France]], [[Austria]], [[Switzerland]] and [[Slovenia]]. Border crossing will crossings shouldn't be no a problem , but avoid revealing yourself as a hitchhiker at allthe border, since it might still be considered as part of the highway and thus illegal. Hitchhiking is a bit less common than in France or [[Germany]], but it's very well possible and doable. Just don't expect high speeds (particularly in the north) and be prepared for a night on the road.
In Italy, you will find motorways (''autostrada'' -- ''A'') and state roads (''Strada Statale'' -- ''SS''). Hitchhiking on the ''autostrada'' is generally illegal (this includes petrol stations, check the [[Italy#Legal situation|legal section of this article]] for details); to avoid problems you can try hitchhiking on the ''strade statale''. It takes little bit more time, but you meet more local people and you can see the countryside.
Trucks do not drive on either Saturdays or Sundays, so if you prefer to drive with them, a good time to get a ride with them is early morning on a Monday.
== Roads ==
As described above, you'll find in Italy motorways "Autostrada" and state roads "Strada Statale". Motorways look pretty much like French ones : contrary to Germany, there are tollgates where drivers have to get slower.
Roads in Italy, both state roads and motorways especially in the North, are surprisingly heavily arranged : there are lots of barriers or rails on the side of the roads, and lots of (really lots of) tunnels to cross uneven landscapes and ranges. In the North, in the Alps, some roads are only succession of tunnels (like in Aosta valley), and sometimes even tiny roads leading to a small valley will have barriers one both sides. You can then sometimes get stuck because there is absolutely no place to hitchhike and stop a car, on a road between two tunnels and barriers on both sides.
More generally, roads in Italy are quite tight, although really almost all the time very well sealed, and finding a good spot to hitch is maybe a bit difficult in mountains regions. Also because roads are stirring a lot, maybe more than in others countries.
== Legal situation ==
The law is pretty clear, and while it is not at all unusual in Europe that hitchhiking right on the motorway is illegal, Italy explicitly includes service areas into the law as well. Be aware that drivers picking you up may also be fined; for hitchhikers, the fine appears to be 21 euros, for drivers up to 137 euros.
Of course it is still possible to hitch the width and length of Italy on freeways without being fined all the time. On-ramps and exits of petrol stations have big signs saying ''no autostop''; if you stay before those, you should be fine; even if police have a problem, they will mostly just ask you to move further away from the sign. The ban on hitchhiking is not generally enforced in highway gas stations, but all the more when you're in a place where it actually is potentially dangerous to stand. It can happen that they ask you to leave a gas station and continue by train (see [[https://nomadwiki.org/en/Italy#Public transportpublic_transport|public transportation sectionin NomadWiki]] for advice on how to travel for free by train). Generally it is smart to lower your thumb and try to look like a straying botanist or something whenever you see coppers approaching near the motorway.
According to [http://www.laleggepertutti.it/94376_autostop-chiedere-un-passaggio-e-illegale this legal article (Italian)], this does not apply to ''tangenziale'', bypasses, unless they are ''autostrade'' or other high-velocity roads. All in all, it's less likely that you will encounter problems if you're not Italian -- and, if you speak Italian, don't reveal this to police (or the armed forces, ''carabinieri'').
Border crossings that are on the motorways (such as the Grand Saint-Bernard at the Swiss border) might be considered by the police as part of the highway. [[User:Olche Maith|Nina]] was hitchhiking with a nice truck driver who was trying to help her get her next ride at the border, but the policeman did not allow her to continue hitchhiking (even not to stay in the truck with the same driver!) and instead drove her to the bus stop and gave her money (much more than required for the bus). Others might not be so generous though.
Edit: (TommytheCommie) We had no success trying to hitchhike from the toll bridges at the entrance to highways (autostrade). Everybody in Italy knows it's illegal to hitchhike on the highway. The police moved us back to the roundabout before the toll bridge, which was fine, but nobody was stopping in either position. So instead we hitchhiked on minor roads (named SS-9/10/etc.) and never waited longer than thirty minutes once we found a good spot. We hitchhiked down from Alessandria to Bologna on the Via Emilia (SS-9), getting short rides of 20 or 50 km at a time, but never waiting long.
== Safety ==
Take the motorway [[A23 (Italy)|A23]] (in the eastern part of Italy) to [[Austria]] (don't try to hitchhike through [[Switzerland]], it's very difficult). Follow the [[A23 (Italy)|A23]] to [[Villach]] and [[Salzburg]] to get through the Alps very easy. On that way, you will also find a lot of people heading to [[Hungary]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Slovenia]].
You can also try to hitch [[A22 (Italy)|A22]] to [[Bolzano]], [[Innsbruck]] over the [[Brennero]], but it's quite difficult to find a hitch from A4 to the A22 except when it is holiday time.
Also, don't go via [[Milano]], it's really difficult to get out of the ring because almost everybody drives into Milano and very few stop at service areas located nearby.
Another option is stay on the [[A4 (Italy)|A4]] and ask trucks on the petrol stations. Many trucks go to Austria, Slovakia, Poland and more north through Slovenia to tank diesel there because there is cheaper diesel and on the roads there aren't so many hills so it saves fuel.
Edit: (TheLoneBaker) Crossing the Alps via Switzerland from the A9 seemed to be extremely easy. Lots of traffic at the service stations. Probably not worth the effort to go a different route if already in Western Italy.
== Regions and cities in Italy ==
As in any foreign country, learning some of the language is recommended. Aside from Italian and local dialects, French is spoken in some areas of Piedmont and Aosta, as well as German in South Tyrol. A handful of words from a local dialect may make drivers loosen up. Spanish is easy for Italians to understand. English is less widely spread than in more northerly countries.
"Hitchhiking" is ''autostop'' or ''passaggio'' in Italian. Just say ''faccio autostop'' or ''cerco un passaggio'' and the name of your your destination or show your thumb, otherwise Italians might think you are asking directions as Italy gets a lot of tourists. A sign can also help to avoid misunderstandings. For detailed information on speaking Italian check the [[Southern Europe phrasebook#Italian|Italian phrasebook]] on hitchwiki.
== Public transport Nomadwiki & Trashwiki ==
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