Spending money in Italy?

Old Jul 26th, 2014, 07:12 AM
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Spending money in Italy?

Typically my husband and I are very thrifty. We will continue to do so when we travel to Italy in the fall. We share meals and are not drinkers, walk everywhere, etc. What's an average amount of cash to have for just daily life? We've set aside extra for some larger items we want to purchase, but am curious what most folks budget for food, cab fare (if any), a few museums, etc.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 08:00 AM
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>>>We share meals
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 08:15 AM
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In some cases sharing meals is not allowed. In Venice we were forced to get two pizzas, not allowed to share!
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 08:26 AM
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It really depends on where in Italy you're going. I would budget E100 per day which would include lunch, dinner, stopping in a cafe for something to drink, taxi/bus, sightseeing. This would be a very conservative amount and would mean not eating near any tourist sights.

You must have an incredibly small appetite if you plan to share a panini or a tartine!

Will you be doing any sightseeing other than museums? You can look up the exact entrance fees on line. Are you taking any walking tours?

If you're renting a car it will cost more than E100 per day because of the high price of gas and tolls.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 08:34 AM
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"We share meals and are not drinkers"

Then for goodness sakes, don't plop yourselves down at a white-cloth restaurant and expect good service. Stick to pizza joints, sandwich/pasta shops, and grocery stores. You can definitely eat on a "thrifty" budget in Italy as long as you know where to go. Please don't make a fool of yourself by ignoring cultural norms.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 08:37 AM
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>>In some cases sharing meals is not allowed. In Venice we were forced to get two pizzas, not allowed to share!
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 09:35 AM
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I never spend 150 euro a day in Europe in any country for food, museums, etc, even ones more expensive than Italy. I don't think 150 euro a day per person is a thrifty budget. But if that is meant for both of them (as well as the 100 euro), I agree that seems about right for someone who really does not eat much and doesn't drink. That includes drinking any expensive drinks in cafes, not just alcohol. Even then, you could do that some on 75 euro a day for sure, as I do.

I think there is a difference in sharing some side dish or dessert and ordering one fixed price meal (or one small pizza) and then expecting that to be it for a couple to share. I think that would be a very odd thing to do in restaurants even in the US, for a couple to sit down and order one dinner.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 09:36 AM
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My husband and I almost always share at least part of our meals in Italy (where we live). The amount of pasta served at a typical restaurant is about twice as much as what we eat at home. Sometimes I order an appetizer and he orders a pasta course, then I order a vegetable side (contorno) and he orders a meat course. We can usually both eat for €30 to €40 at a decent but modest restaurant.

We also usually eat much less in the evening, maybe each eating a large salad (insalatone) or an appetizer. At the height of the meal hour, a fancy restaurant won't be happy about this, but there are places that don't mind at all, especially if you eat a bit early.

I can see why a pizzeria wouldn't want to let two people share a pizza. Pizzas are single-serving size, and are quite cheap. They're still too much for me, but I just leave behind what I can't finish.

Many pizzerias have other things, too, and since an appetizer often costs more than a pizza, they're happy to oblige if that's all you want. There are also chains, like Insalata Ricca in Rome, which specialize in main-dish salads and other light fare.

Museums vary greatly in price; you can save a lot of money by visiting the hidden gems, which are often unjustly overlooked. For example, in Rome the Vatican Museums cost 16 euros to visit, with a 4-euro reservation fee to avoid waiting in the horribly long line. Several other "popular" museums are also rather expensive. However, there are several museums, such as the Barberini Gallery and Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, which have world-class art and cost less than 10 euros. In many places, the churches are free to visit, and they often contain world-class art. (In Rome, all churches are free to visit.) One way to save money is to choose no more than one expensive visit in each location and search out the lesser-known gems and churches.

Public transportation is relatively inexpensive in Italy, and you can save a lot of money on the high-speed trains by reserving well in advance, if you don't mind fixing your schedule well ahead of the trip.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 09:52 AM
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As others have mentioned portions are typically much smaller in Italy then in the US. Also the main course is usually just the meat or chicken or whaterver. Vegatables and salads are served and charged separately. So don;t expect to go into a restaurant and order one small chicken breast for two people plus a couple of glasses of tap water. (Learn how to order this, typically they serve bottled water in Italy.)

Also be aware that soft drinks are often more expensive than wine (3 euros for a minute can) and coffee (espresso) is served after a meal - you won't get large cups of american style coffee and there are no free refills of anything.

If you have small appetites you are certainly not required to order multiple courses at each meal - but don't expect to share a small personal size pizza or a sandwich (which are more like half sandwiches in the US).

I can;t help with budget - since that's not how we travel - but do be aware in advance of the differences from the US.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 09:54 AM
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Sorry - I hope you aren;t planning on carrying all that cash with you. You should be pulling walking around money from your checking account at local ATMS (to avoid losing so much on rate of exchange) and paying for all you can with a CC for the same reason.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 09:56 AM
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We shared most of our dishes on our recent trip to Italy. That included sharing the appetizer (or get one for each), a pasta dish, a meat dish (sometimes with a vegetable side dish, sometimes not), and the dessert. We also always had wine and water, so overall I think the restaurants were ok with us.
A few times we were charged extra for splitting the meals, but most of the times we were not.

I cannot help with the budget question, I think that depends too much on too many variables.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 10:16 AM
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In casual restaurants they typically don;t have any problem with sharing appetizers, or desserts - and veggies are ordered separately and meant to be shared. But you were ordering multiple courses and sharing - not just sharing one dish (I think you would be starving if you did that with your main meal of the day.)
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 10:18 AM
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There's no cultural norm against sharing things in Italian restaurants. There may be a few snotty restaurants that would look down their noses at that sort of thing, but you certainly don't have to eat in a sandwich shop or pizza joint to share dishes. We've even shared some plates in a Michelin star restaurant, and no one looked at us askance.

When I order an appetizer and my husband orders a first course, the waiter often brings an extra plate because he assumes we're going to share, even when we aren't.

In fact a pizza joint or sandwich shop, where things are already cheap, would be exactly the kind of place that wouldn't tolerate sharing.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 10:20 AM
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>

My estimate was for both of them, hence the caveat of "conservative".
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 12:03 PM
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Excuse me? My wife and I share meals all the time - we order several dishes, love to taste and share everything, and we always are welcomed warmly in restaurants all over Italy and expect that to remain a constant - when you're a snob, you're offensive - the only "norm" required is that of friendliness and respect! James
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 12:08 PM
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During a week day, I'd spend E14 for a three course lunch with wine and E20 for a supper with wine. (By the way wine is pretty cheap in Italy so not drinking does not save you much) assume breakfast is E6 and hotel room E40 as my share of a couple. Everything else is fun, so lets assume a couple of museums a day and something else to do, maybe E20 tops= E100 per person per night. I'd see that as a tops figure so edge below that for reality.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 12:08 PM
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Bye the way, very seldom eat Pizza, and only occasionally in Italy.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 02:10 PM
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when you're a snob, you're offensive"

LOL. I am a food snob and proud of it. But it's not like anyone would know it if they look at me, until you try to pass off canned mushrooms as fresh, or assume I'm a stupid tourist.

IMO, cheap people are offensive, the kind of people who take bread, cheese, and meat from the breakfast table to make a sandwich for lunch. You know who you are.

Two tourists who sit down in a white-cloth restaurant in Italy, especially when there may be only 12 tables and two seatings a night, and only order one or two things to share because they are "thrifty," are offensive.

Ordering dishes to share is NOT THE SAME THING as ordering a minimum of food to be "thrifty." You can take this thread off-topic as much as you want, but I read the OP's post quite clearly.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 02:37 PM
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When I say we are thrifty and share meals I'm speaking in general terms in the US. And we don't drink much more than water by choice. This was to let you know what we do typically at home. And usually it's because the serving sizes are so large. It's good to know that Italian serving sizes are smaller so we can be aware of the differences. I appreciate the great feedback and suggestions. I ignore rude comments from people who think thrifty is the same as cheap.

Also to answer some questions that were asked, we are going to Venice, Rome and Florence. With some day trips to the hill towns. We are budgeting for rental cars separately. And we are staying in apartments, not hotels. So grocery shopping and eating at home is an option too. We are budgeting E200 a day for food and site seeing so sounds like we should have no issues sticking to our budget.
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Old Jul 26th, 2014, 02:49 PM
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You'll be able to eat well on E200 a day. That's a splurge budget for me.

Do keep in mind that walking a few blocks from major sights will result in better food at a better price.
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