Italy trip on a budget with family – need advice

Welcome to the RS forum!
First off, more information would be helpful:
What time of year? it makes a difference.

Your family's interests?
It makes no sense to go to a location just because it's cheaper if it doesn't provide things you want to do/see.

Your children's ages?

What does 'reasonable' mean to you? Approx. per-night budget? What is your country's currency?

The more you can tell us about yourselves, the better we can help you. :O)

Traveling by train can be inexpensive, depending on the number of people in your family. I use the Trenitalia app & purchase any fast trains a couple of months ahead to save even more.

Cities outside the Big 3 will be less expensive, but decide what is important for you to see. Festivals are fun to attend & tend to be very inexpensive.

Could you tell us what month you’re planning? And what specific activities are you wanting to do & see?

For accommodations I always begin planning by consulting the RS guidebooks for recommended areas, and then do a deeper investigation using Booking.com which gives lots of information on pricing (if you pick a hotel in the area in which you are interested and click "show on map" it will show the prices of all of the other hotels in your area too). As stated, second tier cities are usually cheaper than first tier cities (Padua instead of Venice for example). Although trains are very very convenient, you should compare fare prices for individuals from point to point versus a rental car (with all of their potential hassles in cities ) that will hold everyone. Budget friendliness may be in the eye of the beholder so knowing ages, interests, timing and other details may elicit better advice.

Although trains are very very convenient, you should compare fare prices for individuals from point to point versus a rental car (with all of their potential hassles in cities ) that will hold everyone.

Note that Trenitalia offers generous family discount rates, which may vary depending on the age of the children.

For lodging, if you have enough people, you should be able to book an entire dorm room in a hostel if you're really pinching pennies.

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions, I really appreciate it.

We are still in the early planning stage, so these questions are very useful.
We are looking at shoulder season travel to keep costs down, and our main focus is family-friendly areas, affordable food options, and easy transportation.

I’ll review the suggestions about second-tier cities and train travel and come back with more specific questions once we narrow things down.
Thanks again!

There is no real shoulder season in much of Italy. April and May, traditional shoulder months, bring big crowds nowadays. I would suggest traveling in January/February or March for the best pricing and fewer crowds. Depending on where you choose to travel, the weather might be lovely.

Not sure how large you family is? My wife and I prefer B &Bs which are usually cheaper than hotels and you get a free breakfast.

If you have a large family, you might wish to do an apartment. Have never done air&b because the price for an apartment is usually about the same or higher than one B&B room and apartments are usually farther from the city center. However, if you need more than one room for your family an apartment might be better.

Another savings is using more than one website to compare prices for lodging and airfare. I like Kayak.com and also use our Delta or American Airlines site. TripAdvisor.com is great for checking lodging and/or tours. It has a great feature with a map so you can select a place closer to where sites that. you wish to see.

Some people like to use a grocery store to buy food for sandwiches, etc. that would work especially well if you rent an apartment.

So I just had a quick glance at booking.com, where I was able to find a room for about $150 a night for two adults plus two kids (not knowing ages and numbers yet) even in Venice in July, with decent ratings (8/10) - with all the caveats of Venice, and not really knowing what you like.
If you stick to pizzerias, trattorias and bars (in Italy these are not for heavy drinking but mostly coffee and snacks), and avoid the super tourist traps in the center, I guess you can get by on quite a budget, and otherwise buying fresh and cooking yourself is likely to be much cheaper than say in the US.

Consider staying in monasteries.

https://www.monasterystays.com/

We have rented many Airbnbs in Italy and love being able to cook, atleast breakfast, and do laundry. Apartments can also be found on Booking.com. A second tier city to consider is Padua, near Venice.

Not that I have to be, but I am a very value-driven traveler.. Some would say cheap, but I have found in Italy--and by the way not in the US--that one can exist very well in certain parts of Italy for not a lot of outlay, and still have most if not all of the creature comforts.

First, there's the matter of airfare. Starting about 6 months out, look at Kayak or Google flights. Overall, if you can get where you want to go, there and back for under $1000/pp out the door (reference point for me from Chicago) after seat selection, baggage and all the nickel/dime crap that airlines hit you for these days, consider it a job well done. Sure, you can do a 18-hour layover in Istanbul for $550 R/T, but does your family want to do that?! Hard to get good, cheap air unless you have points, period.

Contrary to popular opinion, I would consider both Florence & Rome places you can stretch a Euro. Yes, find the best AirBnB in a central area for your family, and find out what the average rental prices are in the area, and that can change by neighborhood. Be forewarned, if an apartment seems too good to be true...it usually is. When looking, you can decide whether you need that 2nd bathroom, or 3rd bedroom. Read the reviews. Make sure there's a washer, so no trips to a lavenderia. Don't know the size of your family, but a 2 BR, 2 bath shoulder season can be gotten for around 200-250 Euro/night. But that's for all of you. And now you can set up shop. Shop at the bakeries, fruit markets, don't eat out more than once a day, if that, although the right restaurant in either Florence or Rome can be gotten for 20 Euro/pp or under. In both cities, there is such competition with so many restaurants that price-wise they have to stay in line. Also, unbelievably great sandwich shops abound--Nerbone in Florence, Forno in Rome---3 Euro per sandwich or pizza slice.

Walk everywhere--in Florence & Rome you can do that, easily. That way you save Uber or bus fares. And there are plenty of free or very cheap museums in both places. City to city, 2nd class train fares bought 3-4 months in advance will get you 60-70% discounts, so utilize that for sure.

Of course, in southern Italy you can find lodging and meals even cheaper. We've stayed in Salerno--in Campania just off the Amalfi Coast--and found a wonderful hotel right across from the train station for 100 Euro/night and pizzas for under 10 Euro. Once you get onto the A.C., prices jump 50%. But to see the main stuff--why you go to Italy--do your due diligence researching in both Florence & Rome and find good deals. It can be done.

Enjoy your planning!

Use the various search engines for flight and hotel research, but always book flights directly with the airlines. If your flights are canceled or delayed, it can be a nightmare with third-party vendors. For lodging, booking hotels directly usually involves a discount. For apartments and homes, you do need the protections of the booking companies.
Have fun planning!

Like Mary recommends, my wife and I always do a monastery/convent stay. Many have 4 bed rooms, but I don’t think there is any reduced rate for children such as most vacation rentals in Germany have.