students and faculty traveling to Venice, Florence, & Rome in May

How much doubling up can you do on rooms and beds? There are some significant potential cost savings there. As for airfare, start looking now. I just saw an open jaws airfare from Seattle to Milan, then Venice to Seattle for $1000 for late May. The next price up on other airlines was $1400. I don't know how much it will be from RDU, but I was surprised to find such a low price now. You'll want to do open jaws/multiple cities as well. I would suggest flying into Rome and departing from Venice. Almost all airfare websites have a choice called something like "Multiple cities". Choose that one. If you don't have the RS Italy book yet, get it. It lays out lots of budget lodging options in those cities. Happy travels.

Dear Michael,
Thanks for the information. We will need 5 sleeping rooms but could share main living quarters.

Try vrbo.com if you want to find apartments, but there's not a lot of choice for 5 bedroom apartments, as you can imagine. Still, it's definitely worth looking. For example, here's a 5BR/3BA in Rome that looks promising: http://www.vrbo.com/349383 It looks to be near Basilica di San Clemente which is an amazing three layered church. And here's a promising one in Venice: http://www.vrbo.com/123440

Another option might be hostels that have some private room accommodations. It may work out even cheaper regarding airfare if you fly in and out of Milan - fast train to/from Venice and to/from Rome/Florence.

If you consider the Milan round trip option, be sure to factor in the cost of the high speed trains AND the likely need to find lodging in Milan your final night. I doubt it will be worth the trouble, and think you'll find the Multiple Cities option to be better. Happy travels.

Thanks, Michael, for all of your great ideas. I will check into vrbo, which I've used in the states. I especially appreciate your advice to weigh a round-trip to Milan vs. a multi-city flight without the train fare back to Milan.

Patricia. Two apartments close to one another would also work. We used www.sleepinitaly.com for Rome apartments and www.homeaway.com for Venice. They were both wonderful. I'm sure they could assist you in finding two apartments (one two bdrm and one three bdrm) near one another. With apartments, you can save a lot on food and drinks. The cost of just beverages alone is prohibitive. A small glass of soda in a restaurant is around 3 euro ($4.50)! If you choose to rent apartments, just make sure you know where the nearest grocery store is, so you can stock the fridge the first day.

I'd also research monastery and convent guesthouses in each locale. Would definitely cut down on the accommodation price in each of the cities.

Thanks! I'll look into the apartment websites you've suggested.

I never would have thought of monastery and convent options. But after recently seeing the movie The Way, I'm intrigued to follow up on your recommendation.