💰 Trip to Italy Cost: My Budget Breakdown (2024)

💰 Trip Cost	Expensive
💵 Typical Budget	$75-$150/day
🍀 My Budget	$131/day
✈️ Trip Total	$2,087
🗓️ Trip Length	16 days

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Is Italy Affordable To Travel To?

Italy is an expensive destination worldwide but semi-affordable compared to some popular European destinations. It’s less budget-friendly than Portugal and Spain but generally more affordable than the UK and Iceland.

• Travel costs, such as housing, food, and attractions, vary significantly between regions. Major cities, like Rome, Milan, and Venice, are pricey.
• The country offers fresh food for cheap and reasonable train ticket prices.
• It has a wide range of accommodation options for different budgets.

For comparison, here’s my daily budget for destinations in Europe:

Country	My Budget
🇮🇸 Iceland	$307
🇪🇸 Spain	$155
🇮🇹 Italy	$131
🇵🇹 Portugal	$116

See all my daily budgets.

About My Trip

To give context to the expenses below, here’s what you need to know about my trip:

• I spent a little over two weeks in Italy, visiting Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Modena, and Parma.
• My trip was in May, during the start of the high season, when things were more expensive.
• I traveled with two other people, which allowed us to split costs like housing.
• I’m a mid-range budget traveler. I don’t aim to travel on a budget, but I’m intentional about my spending.
• I finance my trips and don’t receive sponsorship.
• All expenses are per person and in US dollars, converted from the euro.

The exchange rate was $1 USD = €0.92 at the time of writing.

Planning a trip? Here’s what to know about Italy.

Total Cost

• $2,651
• $2,087
• $131

A mid-range budget traveler can expect to spend about $150 per day in Italy. This budget generally means:

• Staying at accommodations that cost about $90 per night
• Eating at $ to $$ restaurants that cost about $25 per day
• Taking advantage of Italy’s convenient public transportation
• Booking group tours for top attractions

Budget Breakdown

Here’s a breakdown of my expenses by travel category:

Country	Cost	% of Total	Daily Budget
✈️ Flights	$564	21%	–
🏠 Accommodation	$868	33%	$54
🍝 Food	$556	21%	$35
🚇 Transportation	$255	10%	$16
⭐ Entertainment	$408	15%	$26
Total	$2,651	100%	$131

Flight Cost

• $564 (from the east coast of the US to Italy’s Milan Malpensa Airport)

A round-trip flight between the US and Italy costing under $400 is considered cheap, as international flights typically cost over $500.

Accommodation Cost

• $868
• $54

The accommodations I stayed at:

Accommodation	Total Cost	Cost/Night
Florence hotel & Airbnb	$273	$55
Milan hostel	$159	$80
Rome hotel	$157	$79
Venice Airbnb	$103	$52
Cinque Terre Airbnb	$89	$44
Modena Airbnb	$87	$44

My accommodation budgeting tips:

• The cheapest options are about $35 a night – Forgo staying in a private room and instead stay at dorm-style hostels for about $35 per night in cities like Rome and Florence.
• Low and high seasons have nontrivial price differences – A mid-range hotel room in tourist areas in Italy starts at around $70 per night. You’ll have to pay closer to $100 per night during the high season.
• Stay in non-central areas – For cheaper accommodations in popular cities like Rome, Milan, and Florence, stay further away from the city center. For example, staying in Venice’s less popular Cannaregio district will be significantly cheaper than staying in the San Polo or San Marco districts.

Food Cost

• $556
• $35

My most affordable meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Pizza slice	Pizza restaurant (Rome)	$2
Rice bowl with protein	Sig.Riso Restaurant (Florence)	$7
Fried seafood and gelato	Food stalls (Cinque Terre)	$8

My most expensive meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Pasta and prosciutto	Ristorante Cocchi (Parma)	$34
Seafood meal	Ristorante La Posada (Cinque Terre)	$30
Pasta and dessert	Uva D’Oro (Modena)	$28

My food budgeting tips:

• Expect to spend about $40 a day – A mid-range budget traveler can expect to spend about $40 per day on food in Italy. This includes getting coffee, eating a snack, and eating at $ to $$ restaurants.
• Avoid touristy restaurants – You can end up with expensive, mediocre pasta in tourist restaurants if you don’t do some research and make reservations. Go on highly-rated food tours, especially in big, overwhelming cities like Rome, if you want to prioritize convenience.
• Groceries can save you $100 a week – Buying food at a grocery store and eating simple meals (like pizza) can save you more than $100 a week compared to dining out for every meal in Italy.

Transportation Cost

• $255
• $16

The transportation I used:

Transportation	Total Cost
Train	$233
Ferry (Lake Como)	$10
Bus and metro (Rome, Milan)	$12

My transportation budgeting tips:

• The best way to get around is by train – Italy has a well-maintained train system primarily operated by Trenitalia that will conveniently get you to many places around the country at reasonable prices. An average ticket will cost between $10 and $40, depending on the distance traveled and whether you’re taking a high-speed train.
• Italy generally has two types of trains – The country has several train operators and tracks, which can get confusing. At a high level, you need to be aware of two types of trains:
  • High-speed trains serve major cities throughout Italy and run on their own train tracks. I took several of these trains and typically paid between $30 and $50.
  • Regional trains are much slower but can reach almost any part of the country. A ticket on a regional train starts at $10.

Entertainment Cost 

• $408
• $26

The activities/attractions I did:

Experience	Location	Cost
⛰️ Cinque Terre Hike	Liguria	$12
💧 Lake Como Day Trip	Lombardy	$5
🎨 Sistine Chapel / Vatican City	Rome	$96
🍷 Tuscany Wine Tour	Florence	$86
🌊 Trevi Fountain	Rome	Free
🚣‍♂️ Gondola Ride	Venice	$45
🖼️ Uffizi Gallery	Florence	$27
🏟️ Colosseum	Rome	$66
☀️ Michelangelo Plaza	Florence	Free
🏰 St. Mark’s Square	Venice	Free
🌹 Rose Garden	Florence	Free
🍝 Pasta Making Class	Florence	$45
🏃‍♀️ Spanish Steps	Rome	Free
🌉 Rialto Bridge	Venice	Free
🌳 Boboli Gardens	Florence	$11
🏰 Duomo di Milano	Milan	$6

My entertainment budgeting tips:

• Buy the most basic ticket – Many of Italy’s top attractions charge tiered tickets. For example, the Colosseum’s basic ticket requires waiting in the security line and doesn’t allow access to all parts of the amphitheater, but it’s the cheapest.
• Skip expensive attractions – Riding a gondola in Venice or taking an all-day wine tour will increase your budget by at least $50 to $80.
• See attractions from the outside – Take advantage of free walking tours in major cities to see top attractions from the outside.

See my ratings for Italy’s experiences.

Cost Breakdown by Destination

Below are my trip expense breakdowns for the places I visited during my trip.

Rome

• 2 days
• $428
• $214

Rome is one of Italy’s top three most visited cities. It has many of the most famous attractions, like the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City and the Colosseum, that will increase your budget. Some top attractions, like Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, are free.

Florence

• 5 days
• $608
• $122

Florence is a very walkable city, so you likely won’t spend much on transportation. It’s known for day tours and trips outside the city, so you might spend a lot on entertainment when visiting.

Venice

• 2 days
• $255
• $127

Venice is known as Italy’s most expensive city to visit. The Floating City, known for its canals, has high tourism demand and limited space. Venice’s iconic gondola rides start at €90 for a 30-minute ride if you’re not splitting with others (the government regulates the price, so you won’t be able to negotiate).

Cinque Terre

• 2 days
• $420
• $120

Cinque Terre is a budget-friendly version of Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. I visited Cinque Terre mainly to hike through the stunning villages, which doesn’t cost much.

Milan

• 2 days
• $285
• $143

Expect to spend a lot on accommodation and shopping in Milan if you’re interested in buying clothes from the world’s fashion capital.

Lake Como

• 1 day
• $62
• $62

When traveling to Lake Como, make sure to account for the roughly $5 one-way ferry rides between each town and the $14 round-trip train tickets to and from Milan.

Modena & Parma

• 2 days
• $209
• $105

Modena and Parma are known to have some of the best restaurants in the world, so I traveled there primarily for the food and to experience a slightly less tourist area of Italy. Here’s my Parma day trip guide.

Do You Need Cash?

• Like many European cities, Italy has a good credit card infrastructure, but many places still rely on cash transactions, so make sure to bring some cash.

My tips on using cash:

• USD is not widely accepted, so withdraw cash in euros.
• Carry about $15 to $20 worth of cash per day. I spent about $118 ($7 per day) in cash during my trip to tip tour guides, pay for food at stalls and cafes, and cover the housing city tax.
• Tipping is not customary in Italy, but it’s appreciated and generally only done for exceptional service.

Avoid Euronet ATMs when withdrawing cash in Italy. Throughout Europe, Euronet ATMs consistently have high fees and use terrible exchange rates, so unless you’re in desperate need of cash, I would avoid them.

Italy Trip Planner 2024

To make your travel preparation easier, download the trip planner below. It has destination-specific travel information, itinerary, map, and packing list.

My trip planners are built on Notion, which I use for all my travel planning. I genuinely love this tool and creating an account is free.

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment below.