Italy budget--please help!

[aem741]

I am less than 2 months away from my trip to Italy! I have all of my money budgeted for my hotels, but I'm having trouble budgeting some other parts. I can't figure out how to determine how much to reserve for transportation between cities and within cities. We will be visiting the following cities in this order: fly into Naples, stay in torrent (visit Pompeii), Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice. If this were your trip, how much would you budget for transportation alone?

How much would you expect to pay for food, entrance fees, entertainment, etc? I understand that a lot of this is based on personal preference, but I'm just wondering if anyone would be able to throw out some general numbers as I'm having a hard to determining what is actually realistic since I have never been to Italy before. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[WillTravel]

By my recollection, it's not at all difficult to spend 20-30 Euros per day per person on entrance fees in Italy. If you add any guided tours, then of course each one is more.

For entertainment, what are you thinking about? I remember some church concerts that were 15 Euros for admission. Opera would be very expensive.

For train fares, take a look at www.trenitalia.com . For what you say, going from one to the next, I'd estimate 90 Euros or so per person for the trains in total. Although prices may vary, I'd estimate 5 Euros per day for public transport. At some point you may want a taxi, but I don't know what to estimate for that. Also, you may find the bus to be the best option between Siena and Florence, and between Siena and Rome.

For food, most cheap accommodations have terrible breakfasts, so I wouldn't count on much there. So I'd estimate about 15 Euros per food and drinks before dinner per person if you do not have any sitdown lunches. Then for dinner you'd probably need 25-30 Euros per person for a sitdown dinner with a glass of wine, although you will be able to find some cheaper places, like pizzerias.

I'd say it's best to budget too much and have money left over. I love Italy, but the fact is that it's expensive in those major cities that you are visiting.

[aem741]

Thanks for the response. It was very helpful!

Cheers!

[Eagle]

aem741, I just returned from Italy yesterday, but haven't compiled my expense costs yet. I'll try and provide some current information in a few days.

As WT mentioned, many Hotels and other accommodations provide a "continental breakfast" (which varies somewhat by country). In Italy these are usually fairly "basic" with just a Croissant / Bread, perhaps juice and coffee. These are not really a complete breakfast, but good enough to get the day started.

It's late so I'll try to add some more specific information tomorrow.

Cheers!

[aem741]

Eagle, i hope your trip was fabulous! Thanks for helping me out. I look forward to hearing your expense list. Whenever you get around to it, I'll be waiting

Thanks so much!