What Is the Legal Drinking Age in Italy? The Law Explained for Travelers

Last reviewed: October 3, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Italian laws are amended from time to time, so check the current text on Normattiva, Italy's official legislation database, before relying on it.

Wine with lunch, a spritz at sunset: drinking is part of everyday life in Italy, and many American visitors wonder whether 18, 19 and 20-year-olds can join in. Here is what Italian law actually says.

Short answer: in Italy, it is illegal to sell or serve alcohol to anyone under 18. Sellers must ask for ID unless the buyer is obviously an adult, and selling or serving alcohol to under-16s can be a criminal offence. If you're 18 or over, you can legally buy a drink in Italy, but Italy is much stricter than many US states about drinking and driving.

Who the law targets

Like many European alcohol laws, Italy's rules mainly target the seller or server, not the young person drinking. There are two layers:

• Under 18: the administrative fines in article 14-ter of Law 125/2001 apply to anyone who sells or serves alcohol to someone under eighteen.
• Under 16: article 689 of the Italian Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence, punishable by arrest of up to one year, for the operator of a bar, restaurant or other public outlet for food or drink to serve alcohol in a public place to a minor under sixteen. The same penalty applies to vending machines that can't check the buyer's age from an ID document, and the penalty increases if the minor becomes drunk.

Because the risk falls on the business, bars, shops and restaurants may ask for ID, and some refuse anyone who looks young.

What this means if you're traveling from the US

• If you're 18 to 20: you can legally buy and be served alcohol in Italy. Your tour group, school program or cruise line may still have its own stricter rules, and breaking them can have consequences even if it isn't illegal.
• If you're traveling with teenagers under 18: bars and restaurants should not serve them alcohol, even if you're there and you consent.
• Carry photo ID. A passport or a copy of it can save an awkward conversation.
• Back home, the age is 21. Federal law (23 U.S.C. § 158) withholds part of a state's highway funding if it allows anyone under 21 to buy or publicly possess alcohol.

Drinking and driving in Italy

If you plan to rent a car, Italy's drink-driving rules may be stricter than you're used to.

• General limit: article 186 of the Highway Code (Codice della strada) sets penalty bands for blood alcohol above 0.5 g/l, above 0.8 g/l and above 1.5 g/l, with penalties rising at each level.
• Zero tolerance: under article 186-bis, drivers under 21, drivers in their first three years after getting a category B licence, and professional drivers of passengers or goods must not drive after drinking at all.

Penalties rise with the alcohol level, and the Highway Code is amended from time to time, so check the current article before you travel. The simplest rule is not to drink at all if you're driving.

If you're interested in quirky Italian rules, see our piece on what color gondolas in Venice must be by law.

Sources

• Law no. 125 of 30 March 2001, article 14-ter: Normattiva
• Italian Criminal Code, article 689: Brocardi.it
• Highway Code, article 186: ACI
• Highway Code, article 186-bis: ACI
• National Minimum Drinking Age, 23 U.S.C. § 158: Cornell LII