Apartment in Italy

Hi Kacie - a lot has to do with exactly where you want to stay. I searched for apartments in rome for quite a while before I found one that fit our needs (read: budget) and that was close to where we needed. I found that the outskirts of Rome like in the rural areas were much cheaper and so if that type of location works for you I have high hopes that you can find something in that price range. Especially if there are only 2 of you.
Also although the summer is high season, don't forget that you can negotiate with the owner. Don't go by the website, always ask and you'll be surprised at the offers they may make, especially for a month-long stay. It took me 3 months of searching to find what we needed so it takes lot of effort but if you have a budget you need to stick to, then you gotta do what you gotta do. I have emails from homeowners that offered us places that may fit your budget (they were either too far or too small for us) and if you like, PM me and I can give you their emails. Happy travels!

Short answer - it can't be done. You're asking for an apartment in high season for about 25 euros a night. In theory you might find someplace, but I sure wouldn't want to stay in an apartment that couldn't command a higher rate. This reminds me of Groucho Marx's old joke: "I would never want to join a club that would have me as a member." :-) My only suggestion is to modify your budget. Or if you're really locked into that budget, have you considered some country other than Italy? Good luck.

Thanks for all of the responses, they give me hope! I know it's difficult to answer without a specific place, but we're more or less letting our budget dictate where we will stay. Smaller towns are definitely fine, as long as there is a train station! Thanks again for everyone's help, I willbe taking your advice!

I'm just concerned that you're going to end up someplace that doesn't allow you to enjoy Italy. Perhaps the same budget but a shorter stay? Anyway, if you do end up sticking with this, please do come back here and report on your experiences. Best wishes.

Hahaha @ the Groucho Marx quote. And I agree inexpensive can also = cheap and low quality.
But I don't think you can make a blanket statement like "it can't be done", especially without knowing exactly where Kacie is looking. Don't know much about Tuscany, but Lazio is large and there are places up near Fiumicino or south near Arracio that might fit your budget. Here is a website where the owner was going to offer us the property at 1000 EURO for a month, but that was for 5 people. For only 2 it should be much less (http://www.pantanoborghese.com/en/tenuta.html). I am not saying at all that it WILL happen, and until you tell us specifically where you want to be (i.e. - ow far from the city center) it's hard to know, but I think it's possible enough to try before you decide to up your budget or look into going to another country.

I lived in Florence Italy for a year a few years back. I found a great place to stay on www.sabbaticalhomes.com. Check it out!

I will make the same suggestion as Michael: find a location or area you like, and choose an apartment in that area. Shorten your stay to less than a month if you need to. That way where ever your location is, you have more to enjoy there. Quality of the location might be more a priority than quantity of time spent there.

I would also look at the sabbatical homes site. But remember that you may be renting someone's real home and not a vacation apartment. I don't know if you have tried to contact any of the owners of apartments that are appealing. I've generally been able to negotiate a much lower cost than the published per week rate. Real example: Published rate is 500 euro per week - actual cost for 5 weeks - 1100 euro (and they are including cleaning in that cost). So don't be shy about asking for a monthly rate - sometimes it's to everyone's advantage and they will discount. I've often rented for a month for about twice the published weekly rate.

I agree that you should ask for a monthly rate. You will find that some will be willing to give long term stay discounts. Also, another site you could try is airbnb.com