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How much should we expect to spend?

We are trying to determine how much we will need to spend on our honeymoon for 11 nights in Italy. We can spend, at most, $1900 for the trip for food and drinks and sighsteeing, but we would prefer to spend less. (this does not include travel and hotels)
We are staying 3 nights in the Cinque Terre where we would like to have one nice meal and one casual meal and one night we can just have a picnic or eat in our room.
Then we are on to Tuscany where our tours, all breakfasts, one lunch and two dinners are included. I imagine one of the nights we are free for dinner we would want to have a nice meal in Florence and the other just a casual meal.
Then we are going to Venice for 3 nights, where again we would want one "splurge" meal and the other nights could be casual or we could have cichetti as our dinner.
We don't plan to shop too much, most our our tours are included, I think our biggest expense will be food and lots of wine.

Will $1900 be enough for 11 nights? Is it too much? About how much is a good rule of thumb amount to budget per day for the areas we are traveling to?

thanks!

Posted by
203 posts

I can't see where $1900 should be a problem if transportation and hotels are included. Just figure about $150/day and keep track of your money. Don't plan on eating in your room in Italy! We didn't stay in first class hotels, and our rooms were way too small to eat in. Unless you're really young and active, there are limits to how much you can eat. However, you should not miss Gambero Rosso in Vernazza--maybe the best meal of my life!

Posted by
151 posts

Congratulations on the Italian honeymoon. It will be wonderful. Your budget seems realistic. Be careful of the restaurants in Venice. My husband ordered the fish of the day at a touristy place near San Marco and 88 Euros later he had a mediocre piece of fish. Expect you will make some mistakes and budget for a few oops situations. I took out money from an ATM in Vernazza and was charged about 20% service fee. I felt awful but the experience taught us a lesson. Best wishes.

Posted by
2704 posts

The good news: wine is cheap! Sometimes cheaper than water depending on where you are eating. The RS guidebooks have great suggestions and are pretty much on the mark as far as prices go. Grocery store picnics are just fine, but I agree, don't eat in your room (unless it has an ocean view in Cinque Terre). Your budget is fine - just keep track and don't beat yourself up if you spend a little more than you anticipated - after all, it's your honeymoon, it's Italy, and la dolce vita is the rule, not the exception!

Posted by
705 posts

Watch Venice. I was there in March and couldn't believe how expensive things were. A really ordinary bowl of pasta which tasted microwaved was 13Euro entree size. After Venice eating in Rome seemed like a real bargain. If you avoid the really touristy areas in Venice and look for little restaurants off the main areas you will probably be OK. Virtually all restaurants have menus displayed outside so you have some idea before go in.

Posted by
11 posts

Darby, You say you learned a lesson from the 20% charge from the ATM in Vernazza. Please explain. I thought Rick said that ATMs were the cheapest way to go because they didn't charge a fee. Now I am worried because I plan to use ATMs on my trip.

Posted by
466 posts

I've used the ATM's many times in Italy and have never and I said NEVER had a problem. It is absolutely the best way just like rick steves says. I even had my card eaten at one of the machines (my falt though) and went to the bank the next day and got it back no problem!