First time to Italy on our own

What and/or where are you most interested in? Traveling by train should be the most economical. Many people try to go into one city and out of another to save time and avoid backtracking.

Have you looked at flight prices yet?
I suspect your budget is too low for flights and everything else.

When I travel to Europe for two weeks I set aside $5,000 for myself. Your budget will pay for the plane and train tickets but nothing more.

Thank You.
I guess I got spoilt by S. America.
Just got back from Macchu Picchu with 2.5 K
Do let me know about a reasonable budget , please.

If you search well you can get pretty decent 3 star hotels or apartments for about $100 a night.

Driving is expensive and not ideal if you’re focusing on larger cities. Trains are cheap and convenient

2 weeks is fine, but resist the urge to “do it all”. Maybe focus on 3-4 places. Maybe mix in a lower key city

B&Bs & Pensions are great. In smaller towns you’ll find lots of $50 rooms, but Venice is crazy expensive, Florence is a bit better, Rome l’m not sure.

$2500 is a tight but doable budget.

get on a Tour or to do it by ourselves. staying in Bed n Breakfast and driving rental car is a viable option. $2500 including air tickets is my Budget

How many is 'ourselves'?

Is $2500 per person or total for everyone?

May is a very popular time to go to Italy, because much of the country is often miserably hot in the summertime.

I suggest looking at booking.com to see what you can find in the way of lodgings in cities you're considering. That's just for research. When you find likely-looking places, you may be able to get a slightly better rate by reserving a room on the hotel or B&B's own website.

Venice, Florence and Rome are very popular, and it's tough to find bargains in those cities if you want a room with a private bath rather than having to walk down the hall. Milan and Bologna are business cities and are also not cheap. Less-expensive places do exist. Some examples are Padua, Ravenna and Naples.

Don't over-value breakfast in an inexpensive Italian hotel. You're paying for it as part of the room rate, and it's likely to be not much more than a hot beverage, some form of bread and jam. You can replicate that breakfast inexpensively at a bar/cafe (cheaper if you consume the breakfast standing up).

If you are lucky maybe you can find a flight from JFK or EWR to Rome FCO for under $600 r/t per person.
In popular cities like Florence, Rome and Venice expect to pay at least $100/room in a hotel in May.
Train from Rome to Florence is about $70 but you can save at least 30% if you buy ahead of time. From Florence to Venice prices are similar (Florence is about half way between Rome and Florence).
A meal at a regular average priced sit down restaurant ranges from $30 to $45 per person in those cities, but there are ways to save if you rely in cheap eateries and deli places. Renting a car will set you back $100 a day just for the rental, even without counting gasoline, which costs almost $8 a gallon at the moment. If $2500 budget is per person, it is doable (assuming two people traveling together and sharing a room)

jayantachaudhuri, on google flights right now they have Norse airlines in May nonstop JFK - Rome round trip for $482 and on Omio they have round trip train tickets in May from Rome to Florence for $36. If you do a 10 night trip between Rome and Florence with this airfare and these train tickets and budget $100 a night for hotels and $80 per day spending money that's $2,836. It's only 10 nights vs 14 nights and it's about $300 more than your budget but it's doable.

We love Italy and when younger, we did it mainly on our own. Now, in late 70s we book tours. Everything is taken care of including admission to key sites.

Years ago, you didn't have to pre-book going to key museums or the Coliseum, but now you need to do that well in advance of your trip. With a tour, all that is taken care of by the tour company.

If you can afford a tour, check out our favorite, Gate 1 Travel, which provided great tours in four or five star hotels for affordable prices.

If you go on your own, be sure to plan ahead for all lodging, touring key sites and transport between.

Is there a region you are interested in? With two weeks maybe two different areas/bases? May might be a bit busy too. Would certainly recommend train over car, but have never been a big fan of driving in other countries. Tour vs on your own is always the big question and comes down to how you feel about being in a group with a guide and the logistics handled, or wanting to create the trip and be by yourselves. I have been on guided trips in Latin America but not Europe.

MaryPat hit the nail on the head $5k for 2 weeks, nothing fancy, not skimping on experiences and all public transport. Book a few walking tours.

I just made "dummy" booking on Auto Europe. Mid May 5 days Florence airport , economy manual $145. Automatic $195.
Brad

$2500, including air, is unrealistic for two weeks.

As a benchmark, my wife and I travel for about $300 a day, or $2000 a week. That breaks down to about $100 for lodging, $100 for food and drink, and another $100 for everything else (Transport within Europe, entries, shopping, etc.) each day.

You can do it for less, but lodging does not get much cheaper, it would be a sin to cut out food in Italy, but you can cut back the "other" category, but maybe only in half. If there are couples out there traveling in Italy for less then $200 a day, I would be interested in knowing how.

For what it is worth, when budgeting for a trip, I usually do not include airfare. Since tickets are bought, and paid for, long ahead of the trip, the cost is not really a concern once I hit the ground. I am worried about cash on hand for the trip.

What Paul said.

Many years ago, Rick Steves suggested that $150-$180 per day, per person, was a good budget for everything not counting airfare. That's an average for a middle of the road trip, neither really cheap nor really expensive. Some days may be less and some more.

When my husband was traveling with me we came out exactly in that price range. It often included car rentals. Now that I travel solo my per person cost is a bit higher because lodging costs are rarely much less for one person than for two.

Note that car rental may not be the best option for your trip due to the many issues of driving in Europe, especially in Italy. The Italian rail system is cheap and great. I particularly love the fast Freccia trains.

There's a wealth of information on this Rick Steves website on general travel in Europe under Travel Tips and on Italy under Explore Europe. Beyond that, I recommend the following.

For train travel The Man in Seat 61, Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in Italy: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm.

For renting a car (and driving in Europe), Gemut.com, particularly the free download, What You Need to Know About Renting & Driving a Car in Europe: https://www.gemut.com/latest-travel-news/what-you-should-know-about-renting-a-car-in-europe.html.

Warning about renting a car in Italy, especially if you haven't driven in Italy before.

I drove in Italy when we lived in Germany in the late 80s. Even then, auto traffic was blocked in some cities and towns.

It is easy to get an expensive ticket, due to speed cameras or driving in a bus lane or going into a restricted area.

I recommend taking the train, there is a great high speed train from Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome.

Please advice

Imagine what you would spend going on vacation in the US for 2 weeks, and then add airfare