How much we spent: 3 weeks in Italy 🇮🇹

Calvin Chan
Aug 21, 2024
5 min read

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Thumbnail of our short video on How much we spent for 3 weeks in Italy — ⬆️ Click this to see what our 3 weeks looked like

🇮🇹 Italy | 📅 21 days in Apr 2024 | 🌷 Spring

This is how much we (2 people) spent during 3 weeks in Portugal, from April to May 2024 (Spring). We hit up Bergamo, Lake Como, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples and Sardinia in 21 days.

For reference, we're nature-loving, value-seeking 20-something year olds from Australia who think with their stomachs. Hopefully this helps you plan and budget your trip to Italy! Three money saving tips for Italy below!

💲How much we spent

Total spend*: 5,200 AUD | 3,484 USD | 3,120 EUR

Daily spend: 238 AUD | 159 USD | 143 EUR

* The above prices are without international travel and shopping costs (i.e. arriving in country and souvenirs)

🛏️ Accomodation: 99 AUD /day 2,074 AUD | 1,389 USD | 1,244 EUR

In Italy we took a mixed approach of hostels and private rooms to find the best trade-off of price to value. Bergamo is a great option for those who want to visit Milan without the cost of staying there, it only costs 40 AUD for a return train ticket between the two, and we found Bergamo much more charming than Milan - which can be done in a day in our opinion. For Lake Como, we recommend staying in the quieter town of Mennagio, much quieter and more beautiful than the other popular towns in our opinion. We also had a great value stay (comparatively to other towns) at bnb Bergamo. And for those going to Sardinia, STAY NEAR OLBIA. The towns up North are much nicer than staying in Cagliari, we got a whole townhouse for ourself for only 80 AUD a night at Residence Li Menduli in San Teodoro, a town 30 mins drive from Olbia.

Screenshot from our KimnCal Travel budget tracker, of our Italy Accom spend.

🍽️ Food: 65 AUD /day 1,371 AUD | 918 USD | 822 EUR

Italy was the place we were most excited for Food-wise for our 1 year+ trip and we did not hold back. We went HAM on the pizzas, pastas and especially gelatos in Italy. Across all of Italy, here are our top recommendations for each of the above. For pizza, go to Pizza AM in Milan - BEST value pizzas we had. For pastas, it's hands down, no competition - Al42 in Rome. Finally, for gelatos (what we tested the most of) - the top spot goes to Gelateria Artigianale La Sorbettiera in Florence. The "Catrame" flavour in particular is something Kimmi and I still talk about and dream of today - tar-like dark chocolate.

Screenshot from our KimnCal Travel budget tracker, of our Italy Food spend.

🚶🏻‍♂️ Activities: 18 AUD /day 382 AUD | 256 USD | 229 EUR

For activities, we took it a bit easier in Italy. We were a bit "museum'd" out and tired of booking so far ahead for attractions. Again we spent most of our time just strolling the streets, eating and mingling with locals and tourists alike. Something we cannot recommend highly enough though was the Roman forum. We didn't book the Colosseum early enough to get a ticket for our dates, but getting tickets to the Roman forum blew us away. It felt much less crowded than what the Colosseum looked like, had so much history and variety in structures in the massive 4.9 acre complex. Book your own tour over at GetYourGuide.

Screenshot from our KimnCal Travel budget tracker, of our Italy Activities spend.

🚌 Local transport: 53 AUD /day 1,106 AUD | 741 USD | 664 EUR

For getting around Italy, public transport in each city is very reliable, and even better are the inter-city trains. The prices are very reasonable and the trains are great. If you've fantasised about riding a Vespa across the Italian countryside, hit up Florence Station Rental in Florence. We hired a scooter from them and the prices were super affordable and much cheaper than getting a taxi to the Tuscan countryside and back. It might also be a good idea to hire a scooter if you're planning to visit the Amalfi, this is the one place in Italy where we found the buses to be sub-par. There are way too many tourists compared to buses, we ended up waiting for a bus with space to drive by on the Amalfi for an hour (all were full), before we split a taxi with a Russian family back to Sorento.

Screenshot from our KimnCal Travel budget tracker, of our Italy Local Transport spend.

🧺 Misc: 3 AUD /day 59 AUD | 39 USD | 35 EUR

This category encompasses anything and everything outside of the other categories, and shopping below. Typically this includes laundry, pharmaceuticals, buying replacement for things, and in this case a sponge. The place we stayed at in Sardinia had no sponge for washing dishes 😂.

Screenshot from our KimnCal Travel budget tracker, of our Italy Misc spend.

🛍️ Shopping: 0 AUD /day 0 AUD | 0 USD | 0 EUR

We did no shopping during our 21-day trip in Italy. I know, sacrilegious for one of the fashion capitals of the world, BUT we got a year trip ahead of us and only one bag each - we gotta keep light!

🧠 Tips on saving money in Italy 🇮🇹

Consider where you touch down! Some nearby airports in Italy are cheaper than others. Bergamo for example, an airport 1 hour and 15 minutes train from Milan, is usually much cheaper to fly into and stay. So if you're planning to head to a certain area, do your research and explore your options.
Drink the house wine! Italy is famous for wine and they have great tasting wine across the price spectrum. If your wallet is a little light from all the expensive Chianti wines and Tuscan food, most house wines still tastes great.
Book a place with a kitchen! Let's not kid ourselves, a huge part of travelling to Italy is food. But that doesn't just mean high-end restaurants and ritzy bars. The produce and groceries in Italy are high quality and delicious. Put your pizza and pasta making skills to the test and cook some of your Italian affair!