So you've seen the sights, you've written your overpriced postcards, and now you want to mail them! Where to get stamps?

1) If you're lucky, when you bought your postcards, they will have asked you if you wanted stamps, and you bought them at the same time.

2) go to any tabacchi. Tabacchi, or smoke shops, are signaled by a sign with a big white T on a blue background, just like in the photo.

3) go to the Post Office for a real italian experience -- details below.

Stamp prices:

for packages and heavier items, you must go to the post office to have it weighed.

A word about the Poste:

If you have the opportunity to go to the post office, you can have a truly italian experience. There is always a line up! Depending on the city and branch, there will be either a traditional line, or a take-a-number system. If the line is really long, you are guaranteed to be engaged in conversation by the elderly lady behind you in line, who will occasionally sigh and shift position to look at the person holding up the line. This is an excellent moment to sigh and smile, and if you're studying italian, you can also practise phrases like "C'e' sempre la fila qui!" (There is always a line up here!).

First you must determine which line you need. The Poste function also as a bank and a place where Italians pay their utility bills. Thanks to new management, banking services are the line coded with BLUE signs. Postal services ("Prodotti Postali") are coded with GREEN signs.

You will probably want to mail anything via "posta prioritaria", which is the fast air mail. Letters can take as little as 4-7 days from major italian cities to USA and canada. There is no reason to ever use regular mail, which seems not to have any guarantee of getting there. The only time you have to use it is if you require a signature of receipt ("avviso di ricevimento"), or if you are sending something registered mail ("raccomandata").