Every place has its own customs and traditions. When you go somewhere new, expect things to be done differently and adapt accordingly.
Italy's extreme regional diversity — in dialect, food, law, and custom — made this proverb particularly meaningful to Italians long before the peninsula was unified as a single state in 1861. A merchant traveling from Venice to Naples in the sixteenth century would encounter radically different greeting rituals, table manners, religious practices, and legal codes. The proverb, recorded in Renaissance-era collections, functioned both as practical advice for travelers and as a philosophical acknowledgment that no single way of doing things is universal. It belongs to a family of similar proverbs across Romance languages, including the Spanish 'A donde fueres, haz lo que vieres.' After Italian unification the saying took on new relevance as millions of internal migrants moved from south to north looking for factory work, finding themselves foreigners in their own country. Today it is also used internationally, advising travelers to respect local culture rather than imposing their own habits. It is the Italian equivalent of 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' — itself, fittingly, a phrase that originated in Italy.
Reflects Italy's pre-unification regional fragmentation; parallel proverbs exist in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
Traveling abroad
In Giappone si tolgono le scarpe prima di entrare. Paese che vai, usanza che trovi.
In Japan you take off your shoes before entering. Different places, different customs.
A new city
A Milano si cena alle sette, al sud alle nove. Paese che vai, usanza che trovi.
In Milan people eat dinner at seven, in the south at nine. Different places, different customs.
An office culture
Qui si dà del tu al capo fin dal primo giorno. Paese che vai, usanza che trovi.
Here you address the boss informally from day one. Different places, different customs.
A wedding tradition
Da loro si lancia il riso, da noi i confetti. Paese che vai, usanza che trovi.
In their tradition they throw rice, in ours we throw confetti. Different places, different customs.