Does anyone know the law and or sites you might send me on traveling outside the US to Italy. We hope to go on a cruise and go around the boot. How do I pack my Drone and batteries? Is this legal? What are the restrictions is Italy?
Any websites or directions I might find information is apprciated. Is the risk worth the reward?
You should do search of the forums. Most all information has been well explained. Italy follows all the EU UAV restrictions, and has added a few of their own.
For a quick primer, always hand carry your batteries onboard planes. No exceptions.
Never try to fly shipboard, during your cruise. Do not fly over tourist centers without approval. In rural areas, it is best to ask for permission from the land owner. If the farmer raises chickens or cows, stay far away from their livestock.
Italy celebrates red tape & bureaucracy. It is worsening, due to IT’s economy drop (and tax evasion is a pro sport). The tax authorities have gotten wise.
Italian landowners mainly worry that the Guardia di Finanzia assumes they were paid so you could make your video, and the owner will be be penalized for not reporting the income.
It will take days or weeks to obtain official approval, so impossible to do a “day flight” landside, during a 1 day cruise docking.
Because of the prohibitive bureaucracy, I have always just flown where I wanted with no Italian approval, and have never had a problem. I was asked to stop flying in Tuscany, and hit RTH immediately. The farmer was pissed that other droners had scared his livestock.
I grew up in Rome, Italy (gli anni di piombo) and speak Italian fluently...I am extremely careful & conservative when flying overseas. Speaking Italian helps, I guess, but I’ve never had to talk my way out of an incident.
I assume you’ll start your cruise from Ostia, after landing at Fiumicino.
Enjoy your trip!! Don’t scare the animals
Disfrute la esperienza! Buon viaggio!