I know we all travel differently, but I'm curious what people spend per day on their (mainland) Italy trips. So exclusive of inbound and outbound airfare, what do you budget for food, lodging, tours, in-country transfers and tickets? If you buy expensive souvenirs like jewelry or expensive art, don't include that.
Thanks.
Many factors to consider. Visiting major popular destinations like Florence, Rome, Venice, Amalfi Coast, etc. or off the beaten path? Rental car or no rental car? Peak season (April to October) or low season (Nov to March)?
If you visit major destinations like Florence, Rome, etc. in high season you should expect to spend a minimum of €150 to €200 a night for a hotel in the city center. I am talking about a nice 3 star hotel or even a 4 star with breakfast included. Nothing super luxurious but nice. Less hyper popular destinations may be about 50€ less. In low season prices drop significantly.
Prices of restaurants are the same year around. In Florence, Rome, etc. you can have a nice abundant meal at a sit down restaurant for about €40 p.p., including wine. Off the beaten path prices may drop to under €30 pp. once again nothing fancy, but nice sit down restaurants.
If you stay at a hotel that offers breakfast (most do offer buffet type continental breakfast), you can easily skip lunch or just have a cheap quick snack on the go (panini, pizza, etc.) for under 10€.
If you plan on visiting sights I recommend not to go to sit down restaurants at lunch, as lunch will take 2-2.5 hours of your time at the very minimum. Restaurants in Italy have slow service as they are very understaffed by US standards, both in the kitchen and on the floor. My American relatives, some of whom waited tables in youth, told me they would quit after an hour if they had to work all the tables an average waiter works in Italy. Waiters in Italy have to serve an insane amount of tables and they can’t possibly provide fast service in those stressful work conditions (ironically as hard as they work, they don’t even get a penny as tip, at least not from Italians). Therefore leave your formal sit down restaurants for the evening dinner, when you are not in a rush to head to the next museum.
Museums are not expensive, and rarely cost more than 15€ each.
Transportation within the city is cheap if you rely on your feet and the occasional buses. Taxis are expensive, but in most cases you will need a taxi only when you arrive and depart (from/to the airport or train station).
If you rent a car, plan on $60 per day for the rental including full no deductible insurance. Gas is expensive (about 2€ per liter at self service pump), but distances will be short and cars are fuel efficient, therefore fuel won’t be more than 10-12€ per day at the most as I doubt you will log more than 100km a day on average.
If you travel by train between cities, that cost will vary, so you need to calculate the cost yourself based on your itinerary.
Shopping and souvenirs is entirely too subjective.
For us (and by no means would I assume we are typical), who travel in shoulder (close to off) season, I would reckon between €300-400/ day for the two of us. We dont often buy souvenirs anymore.
So difficult to answer because every trip and each stop in a given trip may be different. I tend to avoid the big ticket cities and high season travel, and I eat cheap breakfast and lunch but splash out for dinner—so probably a similar range as CJean.
I dont think its significantly different than budgeting for a domestic trip.
My wife and I also budget around $300-$400 per day. Regardless of where we are traveling in Europe, we seem to walk most places and take public transportation on occasion. We stay mostly in apartments which allows a lot of flexibility for dining. We almost always have breakfast in the apartment so we are not delayed in the adventure of the day. We also love to shop the local fresh markets and prepare an evening meal at home several nights. Lunch is usually when we eat in restaurants, but that us usually an affordable meal in Italy. Where I splurge a bit in Italy is on coffee, pastries and gelato. Do yourself a favor and budget plenty for those three. You can thank me later. :)
I believe Rick's current quote is about $200-$250/day per person with two people traveling together. He provides a good breakdown of where that money goes to give a good idea of budget so you can adjust accordingly. The euro has been rough against the dollar recently so take into account the conversion rate.
I find my wife and tend to spend about than this on average and I don't think we're really skimping when we do this since we essentially do what we want and are willing to sometimes spend money to avoid hassle and speed things up. But obviously what you "want to do" is crucial in determining the cost of everything.
Lodging is the biggest expense and cities cost more than small towns and touristy places, like Amalfi, cost more as well. If you have a Rome, Florence and Venice plan in season you'll spend way more on lodging than if you have a week in a small town somewhere. Fast trains in Italy can be expensive but you can book early and sacrifice flexibility for savings, but in general I don't find public transportation expensive. Things like guided tours are potentially a significant expense but can really add richness and context to sight or town.
You need to figure out what you really want to see and experience and then start to put a plan together. Airfare and lodging are be biggest part of you costs so they are pretty searchable and will be known - and probably even paid for - before you go so there shouldn't be too many large surprise expenses.
I've done expense reports in spreadsheets when we've gone and we average about $100-$110/person/day which fits into Rick estimate pretty well. I'd make a plan, check lodging prices, trains and then ballpark sites and food and that should be a pretty good estimate.
Hope that helps,
=Tod
From our 2024 TR (for the two of us) - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-italy-30-days-three-ways-to-travel
Rick Steves Tour (double occupancy), plus the two extra days in Sicily ran about $640 per day, including meals on our own plus the extra day at each end. The number of specialty guides and experiences is likely a factor.
Puglia, including the [7-night] self-guided bike tour, 4 more days in Puglia on our own, and including the airfare from Catania to Bari ran about $431 per day.
The final 6 nights on our own, including the rental car from Lecce to Naples, the ferry to/from Ischia and the private tour guide in Pompeii ran about $506 per day, including a couple of hundred dollars in clothing that we acquired in the Naples area.
LATE ADDITION - nice hotels, mostly 3 star, some 4 star. Nice meals, but not fancy and not Michelin starred. For our independent travel and the self-guided bike tour, no tour guides other than the splurge for Gaetano Manfredi for 2-1/2 or 3 hours at Pompeii.
