February 2026. Genoa to Monaco.
Four nights in Genoa, never enough, with a final Capricossa from Bacia la Mano.
45 seconds from oven to our room on the second floor of the B & B Hotel at Principe Station.
That pizza oven is a design classic, similar to the Pavoni espresso machine we brought back from Lucca 30 years ago.
Espresso is as important to Italians as cricket football, pineapple on pizza only after 3pm, and deep lyrics in pop songs,
and I was fascinated to see how inflation had affected the price of the iconic “caffè, por favor thanks“. In the smart Mentelocale Bistrot at the station each morning we’d have an espresso, cappuccino and a couple of croissants for about six quid,
even cheaper from Bar L’isola in the middle of the giant roundabout.
Americans seem shaken by these prices, arguing on Reddit that Italian coffee is rubbish, the locals live in squalor and they don’t pay taxes. This is the best reasoned discussion point for the 1,30 euro coffee (capuccico typically only 30 cents more);
Very little beats a quick espresso drunk at the bar with a glass of water, but there was no extra charge in Genoa or Turin for sitting at a clean table, and they all seem to operate with card these days.
And as for quality, I’ve no idea about bean choice but I guess, like hops in beer, the beans are a tiny element of the cost of a cup.
On the train to Monaco, you can see the Lavazza beans producing your 1 euro espresso.
Talking of Monaco, this is the French train that will take us to a rare new European tick (for me, Mrs RM did it years ago).
If what I read is true, a coffee in Mointe Carlo will cost over a fiver. We shall see.
retiredmartin 
I thought that bars in Italy had to give receipts which was to prevent tax evasion but perhaps it isn’t properly enforced.
I remember being astonished at the high price of a coffee in St Marks Square in Venice but that’s probably not somewhere that would be cheap
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That’s spot on, Jon, I got a receipt for every purchases, whether 1 euro or 20. And card was even more common than in the UK, although I got rid of a lot of coins just buying an espresso. I find the view expressed by Americans on a certain Instagram account that Italian coffee is cheaper than Starbucks because they’re dodging tax and living peasant lifestyles really offensive. I actually quite like Starbucks coffee in fairness, though their outlets are increasingly a disgrace. You don’t see uncollected cups and unwiped surfaces in Italian cafes.
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Yes I remember this from a travel guide because the police could ask to see the receipt and there would be trouble if the tourist or customer couldn’t produce it.
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I think I’ve seen Lavazza somewhere but not with proper beans.
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Quite possibly in the Titanic bod places, Paul, it’s a common coffee brand in the UK.
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