Whether you are heading to Italy to enjoy the fabulous food, to enjoy its varied history, or to make the most of the beautiful surroundings, there are plenty of things to do and to savor in the country.
However, Italy isn’t the cheapest country to explore, and the costs can quickly mount up unless you keep a close eye on what you are spending and plan your trip to avoid excessive spending.
Here are a few spending categories you can focus on to travel through Italy on a budget and have an amazing time!
Plus, don’t miss my 10 Tips for Your First Trip to Italy before you go!
Transportation in Italy
If you’re flying to Italy, being flexible in terms of the time you travel and the route that you take can make a big difference to the cost of flights. If you are traveling to Italy from other European destinations, check budget airlines along with train and bus routes to find the cheapest option.
Getting around Italy is significantly easier than other European countries because of their extensive and state-of-the-art train network. High-speed trains will be more expensive, around 40-70 EUR, but can get you to the other side of the country in just a few hours.
For cheaper options, Italy’s regional trains are a great alternative and get you where you need to go!
Getting around larger cities like Rome can be done by Metro or bus, although the Metro only has 2 lines so it’s not my suggested mode of transportation if you’re trying to fit a bunch of sightseeing in a day. For cities like Florence and Venice, walking is easy and my preferred mode of transportation!
Read More: Traveling Italy in a Week by Train
Accommodation in Italy
There are some great budget accommodation options to be found around Italy, but even at the low end, you are usually looking at around 25 EUR a night for a bed in a hostel dorm room and up to 90 EUR for your own room.
With the costs usually a fair bit higher in the big cities like Rome, Milan, and Venice, the option of booking accommodation in the suburbs of a town with good railway links to the city can often be cheaper than getting accommodation in the city center.
Helpful Tip: Airbnb is a great option for budget travelers, as it tends to be cheaper than a lot of hotels and accommodations throughout Italy.
Eating and Drinking
The amazing cuisine is one of the main reasons that many people will visit Italy, but a restaurant meal with a glass of wine costing 15 EUR or more, is not an option every night if you are on a strict budget.
Many restaurants charge a “coperto” fee or tax for sitting down in a restaurant that starts around 3 EUR, so it is always important to read the menu before sitting down to see what the charge will be.
Many restaurants will try to draw people in during their lunchtime service with set menus, and if you can eat your main meal during lunch and then snack later in the day, this will undoubtedly help you to reduce your costs.
There is always the option for quick meals or pizza by the slice, which makes a delicious dinner, and will only set you back about 3-5 EUR.
Helpful Tip: Ask for tap water with your meals, or you will end up getting charged for bottled water. Some restaurants also charge for bread, so it is quite alright to pass on it to save yourself from being charged at the end of the meal.
Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Like a Local in Italy
Budget Activities
When you are exploring cities, there are plenty of activities to do, with areas such as the Spanish Steps in Rome drawing local street performers and musicians, while many museums have days where the admission fees are waived. Here are some budget activities you can enjoy:
- Walking tours are a great way to get your bearings when you arrive in a new city and give you an idea of the main sights you want to go back to. Most hostels in big cities offer walking tours daily that are usually free with a recommended tip for your guide at the end.
- Plan your trip to fall during a festival like the Venice Carnival in February or the Rome Christmas market.
- Check out which museums in a city interest you, and check to see if they have a specific day of the week or period where they offer free admission.
- Renting a bike can typically cost around 15 EUR a day but allows you to see more of the city or outdoor area than you could be walking!
- If you are going to be exploring coastal regions, like Cinque Terre, hiking is an excellent way to see the beautiful scenery and not spend a dime.
- Sit and relax in the Villa Borghese Park in Rome or the Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence (the best overlook of the city), and bring a picnic if you like!
- Visit churches and basilicas to experience the long history and culture of the Italian people. Most have free entrance, like St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and are just breathtaking.
Read More: The Ultimate Italy Travel Guide
Do you have any budget travel tips for Italy? Let me know in the comments below!
Love your Italy stories , as I have just turned my passion for the Italian lifestyle into a promotion via wine and food traveller. would love to hear your comments on my website.
I explore the out of the way destinations within Italy, where its far more affordable, and there are sooooo many undiscovered wining and dining gems.
here is one of my stories
The Truth about truffles
1 Truffles are a type of mushroom or fungi that grow under the surface of the soil, usually close to tree roots.
2 There are around 30 different types of truffles in Italy but only a handful are edible.
3 Truffles will only grow in woods where there are certain specific species of trees including oak and poplars. The truffles form a symbiotic relationship with the trees and would not grow without them.
4 The white truffle season runs from September to December but other types of truffle can be hunted at different times of the year.
5 Truffle prices can vary greatly from year depending on weather conditions, rainfall, summer temperatures and hunt success.
6 A truffle’s flavour depends on its moistness and freshness. Truffles lose their flavour after just a few days as they dry out so always buy fresh to get the best quality and flavour.
7.Truffles grow in harmony with a host tree, enabling the tree to take in phosphorus while in return the truffle receives sugars enabling it to grow.
The ancient Greeks thought truffles were made when lightning hit damp soil
Truffles are mushrooms which are believed to have started growing underground to beat forest fires, drought and severe cold
Italians consider the white truffle (tuber magnatum) to be superior in taste to the black truffle (tuber melonosporum)
Pigs, trained dogs and goats are used to sniff out truffles which produce a chemical almost identical to a sex pheromone found in male pig’s saliva. Men secrete the same chemical in their underarm sweat
The truffle has been described variously as a diamond of cookery, fairy apple, black queen, gem of poor lands, fragrant nugget and the black pearl.
The truffle farmers of Italy guard their properties during the height of the season with armed security, so precious is the truffle
A rare Italian white truffle sold for £28,000 at a charity auction in 2004
A fabled aphrodisiac, the black truffle’s penetrating aroma led the Epicureans to liken the scent to that of the tousled sheets of a brothel bed. In the Middle Ages, monks were prohibited from eating truffles for fear they would forget their calling.
Hi Bruce, Thanks so much for sharing all this information on truffles!! You are correct- Italy is full of undiscovered gems 🙂
I am in the midst of planning a two week train trip around Italy this fall, and I already got the budget airline and cheap accommodation, now it’s the food I’m worrying about.. Eating a big lunch seems like a good strategy though! Can’t wait for non stop Italian food ?
Have an amazing trip! xx