This may seem like a silly question, but: Is sunscreen sold regularly in most negozi? I realize in most touristy spots of course they would sell it, but in smaller towns?

I was just thinking, considering how insanely Irish I am. Would it better to bring my own?

I don't know what a negozi is. I don't have my dictionary handy. I bought sunscreen at the pharmacies with the green crosses on them.

Assuming you also have Irish fair skin, you should bring your own - probably cheaper and of a higher protection factor than what is commonly available in Italy.

Negozio (pl negozi) = a shop

I too am a redhead with very fair skin.
I've never had any trouble at all buying good quality sunscreen in any area in Italy - including tiny villages. Most supermarkets and pharmacies have a good choice.

Coming from an Aussie who thinks any sunscreen LESS THAN 30+ is useless, I found good sunscreen in Italy very hard to find... and when I did it cost an arm and a leg.

Most of the sunscreens sold in Italy had very low protection factors (rarely over 12) and the ones that did charged around 7E for 200mL bottle. The highest SPF sunscreen I could find was 15.

btw this was after looking for good sunscreen in PAM, UPIM and about three pharmacies in Verona.

If you are fussy about having the best protection available, and you can get 30+ sunscreen at home for cheaper, then take it from home. Also - don't forget your hat and shirt with sleeves and a collar.

Buon viaggio, Claire.

Things are changing here. The government has really attacked the problem of increasing skin cancer and what is available is much broader than it once was.

I buy a high factor sunblock formulated for bambini. It stays on better. I don't use it on my face, but use instead a hyper-allergenic and more expensive one formulated for faces.

Can buy up to 50 spf at the COOP. Most are the same brands I found in the US.

I easily find high spf sunscreen in pharmacies - expensive and very high quality French brands are much cheaper than they are in the USA and that's what I use.

Thanks for all the useful info.

I think i'll bring a bottle or two to get me started, and then look around when I need some. I'm spending a week on Topsail Island in N.C. before leaving for Italy (poor me, eh? ), so hopefully my fair skin will be broken in a bit before heading for the bel paese.

Sunshine and the body's need for Vitamin D:

http://tinyurl.com/2wbkay

Peter

Sunnscreens over a factor of 12 are useless, unless to albino people. Essentially you get a better protection using a lower protection factor and applying the cream more often than using a high factor and applying the cream only once. Sunscreens are efficient only for a limite amount of time, after which they need to be applied again . This amount of time changes slightly according to the skin type but not according to the protection factor. The factor indicates the factor by which to multiply the time your skin can be exposed to the sun without suffering damages. If your skin would stand a certain amount of sun radiation for 30 minutes and start getting burned after that, a factor 4 screen will make your skin safe for 2 hours. A factor 30 would make it safe for 15 hours. But since the cream is to be considered totally absorbed and inefficinet after a couple of hours you will still have to apply the cream again in a couple of hours, so why not using protector factor 4 or 6 instead of 30?