budget for my trip

Hi Dennis,

140 euros a day depends on a number of things. First off, are your going on a prepaid tour which includes your hotel accomodations and some of your meals? Is the 140 euros a day just spending money? I guess what I'm trying to say is if mostly everything is prepaid you should be okay, if not you're going to need a lot more.

Greg

and also: you didn't say WHEN..or HOW..i went "thru the backdoor", only booked hostels..140.00 Eu a day? it all depends how u wanna go...5 star hotels? high end dinners? if u do it like i did...more like 100.00/day, ave. [somedays 40.00, others 120.00, etc.]

also: what ever u do budget: add another 400.00 "just in case" stuff.

Thats a good budget if you don't include your hotel stay. I prepaid for my hotel and some transportation tickets ect and didn't count that in. I managed to only spend about 50 euros a day including food and some shopping. And I budgeted for 100 euros a day. I even came back with money go figure. It just all depents on how fancy of a meal you get and where you get it. If you eat near touristy places it will cost you. Go several block over and you will find a nice local place much cheaper. Also the sandwich stands are great only 4-6 euros for a huge sandwich. For example I paid 4 euros for a bottle of water on the main street. Next day I walked a few streets over and found a mom/pop store that had them for .70 euro huge difference.

I've always been able to survive on 120 euro and under a day...however with the current exchange rate 140 will probably be more comfortable.

I don't spend a ton of money on eating out. I go to markets and buy fresh produce and cheese. This is especially easy in Italy. I also stay at very basic hotels. No need to spend extra money on a room that I will only be sleeping in.

Twelve months ago for 2 adults and 2 teenagers I budgeted 100E each/day. Our flights over and eurail pass plus any reservations were prepaid and not part of the budget. We also had a couple of splurges/special things which blew out the budget, but I had the reserves to cover them.

We were in some of the places you want to go to but were there in December. In Italy almost all of our accommodations were based on RS recommendations. Because we tried for places that had quad/family rooms I think at times we were limited by which hotels we chose - perhaps more expensive? We didn't buy much in the way of souvenirs. We also walked a lot rather than take public transport and didn't do a lot of places with paid admission.

I also believe in budgeting in the currency you are going to, rather than in your own. By the way I realise the $ is in strife, but my conversion when we went was $1 Aus = 1.70 Euro, and 2.50 GBP so am well aware of the effect of the exchange rate. cont

We did the Basilica San Marco (?whether admission charge), Campanille and Uffizzi, Vatican Museum, Pompeii with private guide. We just chose what we wanted to spend our "sightseeing" money on. We had a wonderful time, and didn't feel we necessarily missed out on anything because of the budget, but more because of time constraints and also not going mad and doing it all.

I also stopped converting too much in Venice because we would never have eaten! I spent more for lunch there one day - fairly ordinary meal than I think we have ever done here except for once when we went out for Christmas lunch.

As Jim said some days can be less and some more.If you want more information - particularly about places we stayed I'm happy to provide it.

hopefully you are sharing a room to split costs. And that it does not cover your transportation costs. If those items are true and you are careful on where you eat out and incl deli meals instead of restaurants mostly I would say it is doable.
hope this helps. I used to be able to do it on $80 perday ala Rick Steves style just a few yrs ago. no longer poss. No I go to France and Germany where lodging is so much less.

I travel to Florence every year, and there are many lovely hotels that are affordable. So long as you are prepared to share a bathroom. Plus lots of great restaurants where we usually spend 20 to 25 euros each for dinner, with wine. And there are many cheaper options. The food in Italy is so good and so affordable, I strongly would not recommend eating a picnic in your room, as a previous person suggested.

I agree with Leslie that scrimping on meals (by doing picnics) might make occasional sense but you'll be cutting back on one of the reasons to go to Italy - THE FOOD!!

:-)

Ask the locals where they go to eat, and you'll avoid the higher priced places.

Mahalo for your help. There is a website called cross-pollinate.com where I have found a room in a private residence which rents 2 rooms for 75 euros in Venice, and cheaper for Rome and Florence. If anyone has booked through them before, please post a review.

Kent - you paid $6 for a bottle of water? OK maybe for the first one - bring an empty bottle and refil as needed. At least in Greece, public fountains are all over the place, and from what I've read, this applies to Italy too.

Leslie and Michael ( and anyone else with input),
As for good food and wine at reasonable prices, where would you recommend in Florence for dinner?

When I travel in Europe I separate food/lodging funds from travel/internet/newspaper, etc funds. I have kept food/lodging to about $100 a day over the past several years (single rooms). Given the choice, I will spend more on lodging over food. My room is just more important to me than what I eat. I find that my grazing style of eating can be quite inexpensive. Having said that, depending on what you include in the 140E per person per day, it should be enough to cover the basics.