Budget travel in Italy is not the challenge you think it is. Though it must be said. To drift through the canal on a gondola or visit the Colosseum without stressing your pockets, not just packing, you’ve got some planning to do, especially when each city in Italy can have their own tourist regulations and taxes.

Italy is diverse, and there are just so many things to see and do. It’s not just about narrowing them down to fit your budget. You also have to think about getting from point A to point B. And hey, that pizza and cold cuts you grab along the way should also be factored in. 

However, with that being said, this shouldn’t take the joy out of your trip to The Boot if you have a clear guide on what exactly to plan for. Scroll down below to see how to travel Italy on a budget, hassle-free, or just get a clear picture of how much things should cost!

Italy is full of architectural marvels. Photo by ecstk22 on Adobe Stock.

Cost Breakdown For 1 Day In Italy

The best way to budget your Italy trip is to break down costs and see how much things total up. Even if you’re planninin g to travel Italy on a budget, you can still squeeze in a few upscale things.

Note that in crowed places like Rome or Milan, expect to spend around €200 per day (excluding Accomodation). 

€100 per day is totally doable, but only when you travel to less crowded destinations such as Puglia.

How Much Will A 7 Day Trip To Italy Cost?

For a budget traveller, €85 - €150/day. If you count in the tourist tax (Tassa di Soggiorno), it’s €90 - €155 per day. For a week, €630 - €1,085. That adds up to €885 - €1535, for 10 days.

This can cover hostels, regionale train rides, intracity buses, street food, low-cost osterias, and cheap (sometimes free!) attractions. 

Can you spend less? Yes.

One of the few “hacks” you can try is to cut down on the tourist taxes by staying far away from the hot cities like Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence.

Another way to keep track of your budget is to ask upfront whether taxes are included in the rate or charged separately.

On a longer stay for more than 7 nights, taxes are not counted on the eighth. 

Cost for Transportation

To get around Italy, you can travel by bus, train, or plane. Nothing beats public transportation in terms of price.

Travelling within one city, tickets go as low as €1.50. Passes are for 1 day (€8), 2 days (€15), 3 days (€22) or a week (€29). Unless you plan on sitting all day on public transport or staying in Italy for more than 7 days, our advice is to skip the passes. Go for individual tickets.

While there’s no national public bus system in Italy, you can get from, for example, Rome to Venice with a private bus company, like Flixbus.

Tickets might run a bit more expensive compared to a public bus, yet buses are the cheapest way to get around Italy. A one-way trip from Rome to Venice with Flixbus starts from €16. 

The downside is that they are generally very slow. Trains are faster and can still be considered affordable.

There are two types of trains: regionale and high-speed. Regionale is easy, frequent, quick, and no-frills. Tickets start from €5. High-speed comes with reserved seating, longer routes, but a stricter cancellation policy. Tickets start from €30.

Unless you want to skip the scenic rides and beautiful hidden-gem stops along the way, domestic flights are worth considering. You can score tickets for as low as €19–€40, but airports are usually not close to the city centre, so you might have to spend a bit more. Also, baggage!

The winner is: trains. Trains are the cheapest way to travel in Italy. They are not dirt cheap, but they are not that expensive either. You get the speed as well as flexibility.

Cost for Accommodation

The colourful homes are icons of many of Italy’s coastal towns. Photo by dudlajzov Om on Adobe Stock.

The cost for accommodation in Italy depends on the area and the type of comfort you want. 

Hostels in big touristy cities like Milan and Venice are about €25 - €40/person, whereas in Florence or Bologna it’s €20 - €35.

If you want more privacy, but still affordable, opt for a guesthouse or bed-n-breakfast. You get more choices in room types. They usually start from €50/night in smaller towns and €60/night in popular destinations.

Hotels are classic. They are generally more expensive (about €80+/night) than hostels and guesthouses, but they come with more amenities and such.

Spots like the Amalfi Coast are expensive in terms of everything, even hostels.

Here’s a summary of accommodation pros and cons and their price range:

CabinZero’s note: Many cities in Italy have tourist taxes (Tassa di Soggiorno) for one overnight stay for one person. Rome and Florence charge this. So, if you’re staying in Rome for 1 night and leave the next, expect to pay around €10/person/night. Tassa di Soggiorno differs from city to city. Accommodations collect this when you check out.

Cost for Food

Dining can be budget-friendly if you skip the tourist traps. Photo by Jenifoto on Adobe Stock.

Foods on your Italy trip cost as low as €15/day. It can also go as high as…whatever the restaurant charges you, depending on how fancy it is (€1000 per meal is no joke). 

Italian cuisine doesn’t really need an introduction. If you’re thinking about pizzas and creamy pastas only, they are just the tourist menu. More like a stereotype. Italian cuisine is actually very diverse and rich. Each region has its own spin. 

You can enjoy authentic Italian dishes not only in a ristorante, but also street vendors, trattorias (small local eatery) and osteria (small local eatery that focuses on local specialities).

A slice of pizza or panini or a porchetta wrap from a street food place is about €3 to €10. You time it with three to get the cost of breakfast, lunch, and dinner and add a small drink like a cup of espresso and some water. The total is about €15 to €30/day. 

Midrange options like trattorias are €12 – €25/dish (usually 1 serving). A whole day of eating in trattorias can cost around €40 - €60/day for 1 person. Compared to a street food place, a trattoria has seating and full meals instead of bites.

A supermarket is another good way to travelin Italy on a budget. You can find fresh pastry, cheese, salad, curled meat, and yogurt to make your own meals. The cons is that you can rarely find hot meals, unless your accommodation allows cooking.

A good practice is to shop at market and cook them at your Airbnb with the leftover from the restaurant. For example, buy some vegetables and pasta and cook them with leftover steak, you can whipped up a nice meal.

That said, the food is the highlight of any Italian trip. So try to spend a little bit here and there for the experience.

CabinZero’s note: While there’s no tip required, most of the time you will see “coperto” written on the receipt. Coperto is the fee for your dining experience. For example: the cutlery or the maintenance of the decor and set-up.

How do you know which place charges a coperto? It is required by law to be written on the menu where coperto is charged. In Lazio (Rome included), coperto is banned.

How Much Should I Budget A Day For Food In Italy?

Here’s a typical, budget to midrange meal plan for 1 person in 1 day in Italy (without coperto). You can expect to pay €1 - €3 per person for coperto.

Breakfast

A true Italian breakfast is light and simple. You can start the day with a cup of espresso or cappuccino and a cornetto (croissant with fillings) or fette biscottate (rusk) with jam.

The total can be just under €10.

Lunch

Panino is a popular lunchtime food. This stuffed sandwich dish ranges from €4 - €6. 

Pasta or risotto is also popular, but it can be a bit more filling, which is not a good idea if you have a lot of walking planned right after. In a trattoria, a serving of pasta or risotto is about €8 - €12.

Dinner

Trattoria, osteria, and ristorantes outside of tourist areas are cheaper. A starter + main dish + dessert + beverage combo may start from €30. Since you’re dining out in an Italian restaurant, adding a glass of house wine is a must. It can cost as low as €3 - €5. 

Cost for Miscellaneous

The Colosseum is one of Italy’s most recognisable landmarks. Photo by SCStock on Adobe Stock.

When planning to budget travel Italy, even if you save a lot of money on food and transportation, activities can still hurt your wallet.

Admission to the Colosseum cost around €18 - €25/person. 

Similarly, for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, tickets go from €10 to €43/person, depending on which and how many collections you plan to see.

The Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, range from €17 - €22/person. 

Activities add up fast. So, if you have a must-visit list, it’s sometimes better to buy a bundle on sites like Expedia for the top attractions.

There are plenty of other free things to do in Italy you can wedge in-between these attractions to lighten the costs. Here’s a list of them to add into your itinerary:

• Walk historic streets like Trastevere, Piazza Navona, and Piazza di Spagna

• Visit St. Peter's Basilica and Trevi Fountain (free if you don’t toss your coins)

• Visit Villa Doria Pamphilj Park

• Explore Arco degli Acetari’s hidden square

• Visit museums and galleries on the first Sunday of a month. Most public museums and galleries are free on this date, including the Colosseum and Uffizi Gallery. 

• Italy is also home to stunning hikes, some are completely free. For example: the Cinque Terre trails (except for the coastal section) and Sentiero degli Dei (Paths of the Gods) in Amalfi.

Speaking of miscellaneous, besides activities, souvenirs or just shopping in general can be quite expensive if you shop close to a landmark. Travel to nearby neighbourhoods and you can find the same item at a much cheaper price.

CabinZero’s note: bring extra €10 - €20/person/day for stuff like ATM fees, SIM card, and public toilets.

Italy Budget Travel Tips

Everyone needs a good budget tip in Italy. No matter what your budget is. These Italy budget travel tips can help you avoid tourist traps and pack right.

But before we get to that, one thing. For Italy, bring cash. You don’t have to cash out all your spending, but most times, establishments will ask you to pay for tourist taxes in cash.

Travel in Shoulder Seasons

The best time to visit Italy is from May to September. These are the shoulder seasons, meaning that the weather is nice and prices tend to drop compared to the peak summer months.

Another period is from January to February. This is considered low season. While the weather might not be as super duper nice compared to late Summer-early Autumn, the hotel and flight prices and fewer crowds make up for it. Prices tend to drop even more in the colder regions. If you’re a fan of the cold, take advantage of these months.

Cheapest Places To Travel In Italy

It’s no secret that Rome, Milan, or Florence would cost you a hefty amount. According to budgetyourtrip, a budget one-week trip to Rome costs around €553 for one person (accommodation, food, local transportation, and sightseeing). If you go to the Southern parts, such as Naples or Bari, the costs would be around €100 or even €200 cheaper.

Pack Wisely

Packing smart with the right backpack.

If you fly to Italy, checked baggage is where you can save your money.

What you need is a good all-rounder backpack that can carry up to 1-week worth of clothes with ease and still meet the measurements of a carry-on bag. This way, you can save a good amount of money on checking your bags.

Also, pack light and carry minimally. Bring only the essentials and skip the unnecessary stuff. The more stuff you bring, the harder it is to keep track of everything. Italy is known for pickpocketing in touristy areas.

How To Save Money Eating Out In Italy?

Eating at cheap places is just generally not good advice. Really. If anything, it might take the joy away from your experiencing the culinary delights of Italy.

So, to save money while eating out in Italy, here are some hacks:

• Look for fixed-price lunch menus (menù del giorno). It’s kind of like a combo during happy hours. You can sample authentic dishes but at a better price. It may be a bit hard if you don’t know Italian, though.

• Eateries right by attractions charge more for the same food. Instead, walk some streets or hop on a bus to a nearby neighbourhood. 

• If you’re not too concerned with the whole authentic dining experience, try enjoying food on the go to cut down on coperto.

• Bring empty water bottles. Take advantage of tap water, which is safe for drinking in Italy. You will be surprised by how much it saves your budget.

• Switch dine-in dinner for lunch. Lunch menus can be cheaper at some places. If you want to dress up and have a meal in a nice ristorante, pick lunch time. Then dinner can be a few quick bites here and there.

Download Your FREE Italy Budget Template

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Budget Travel Italy With CabinZero

To budget travel Italy successfully, it takes lots of planning. The tricky part is to navigate through the “hidden costs” that differ between cities. 

Italy’s beauty has no need for words, and it can make all this planning worth it in the end. Hopefully with CabinZero, you can travel Italy for less with ease.

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Nguyen Tran Gia Khanh