Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Time
Italy and Switzerland are one hour ahead of GMT. Daylight-saving time, when clocks are moved forward one hour,
starts on the last Sunday in March. Clocks are put back an hour on the last Sunday in October. Italy operates on a
24-hour clock.
Toilets
Here and there you'll find public toilets in city centres, but more often than not you'll probably want to duck into a cafe
or bar. The polite thing to do is order something at the bar, although more often than not no one will say anything if you
don't, especially if things are busy. Most service stations have toilets.
Tourist Information
The lakes area takes in four Italian regions and the Swiss canton of Ticino.
Italy
In Italy, three tiers of tourist office exist: regional, provincial and local. They have different names, but roughly offer the
same services, with the exception of regional offices, which are generally concerned with promotion, planning and
budgeting.
Generally, provincial tourist offices are known as Azienda di Promozione Turistica (APT). These have information on
the town you are in and the surrounding province. Informazione e Assistenza ai Turisti (IAT) offices generally have in-
formation only on the town they are in.
At the website of the
Italian National Tourist Office
(
www.enit.it
)
you can find details of provincial and local tourist
offices across the country. Otherwise, try the
Lombardy
(
www.turismo.regione.lombardia.it
)
or
Piedmont
(
www.regione.piemonte.it/turismo
)
tourism websites.
Switzerland
In Ticino, you'll find useful local offices in
Lugano
( 058 866 66 00;
www.lugano-tourism.ch
; Municipio Bldg,
Riva Giocondo Albertolli; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, 10am-6pm Sun & holidays Apr-Oct, shorter hrs rest of
year),
Locarno
( 091 791 00 91;
www.maggiore.ch
;
Largo Zorzi 1; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & holi-
days, 10am-1.30pm & 2.30-5pm Sun mid-Mar-Oct, 9.30am-noon & 1.30-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-noon & 1.30-5pm Sat
Nov-mid-Mar) and
Bellinzona
( 091 825 21 31;
www.bellinzonaturismo.ch
; Piazza Nosetto; 9am-6.30pm Mon-
Fri, 9am-noon Sat Apr-Oct, 9am-noon & 1.30-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat Nov-Mar). Otherwise, check out the re-
gional
Ticino tourism
(
www.ticino.ch
) website.
