I am going to italy with my DD in May and planning tentatively $300 euro for food expenses for 7 days. Our total spending budget is about $1400 US dollars for the both of us for food, a treat or two for ourselves (scarves perhaps?), museum admissions and a couple of souveniers. Is $300 euro that reasonable for two for lunches, dinners and of course gelatos? I know prices vary depending on what you eat, where you eat. But we are on a tight budget so will look for bargains

you are only talking about € 21 per day each. That is doable, but no big splurges and not too many gelatos . . . .

You have $1400 US dollars - just over 1000 Euros for your budget. You have 300 Euros for food. I suspect if you have a budget focus and are only buying a few things (sounds like under 100 Euros) that you won't need 700 Euros for non-food items during your 7 days, so you can probably "steal" from that part of your budget should you want to splurge a bit more on a restaurant or two.

The AutoGrill is a good place to get pretty good food for a cheap price.

My estimate of your budget for the two of you:
100 Euros for shopping
60 Euros x 7 =420 for museums, audioguides, tours
50 Euros for transport (should you take taxis or something)
50 Euros for miscellaneous

That adds up to 620 Euros plus food.

Just my take on it, as obviously budget choices are quite personal.

Thanks janisj and WillTravel. WT your budget outline makes me feel alot better This is a dream mother/daughter vacation for us and we wish we had more spending money, but the trip is in a few weeks and we don't.

..I dont think 21 euros/day is reasonable esp in a larger city. I would much rather skimp on the shopping (for the most part most of what you can buy in Europe you can find in the US for the same or less..recently in Dublin and went to the body shop. The product that I use in NA was 30% more!). Dining out is part of the "sight seeing" IMO..a quick coffee standing at a bar at a restaurant saves $, have some fun with picnic lunches and look for small restaurants away from tourist areas..try to order the daily specialie all inclusive meal...if there is an English menu posted outside, it usually isnt a bargain!

We never find food to be a big problem in Europe. Most of the places we stay provide breakfast as part of the room charge. We eat a large breakfast and then hit the trail touring. If we get hungry during the midday we stop for a simple meal, nothing fancy. We eat simple at dinner also...where the locals eat...and sometimes splurge. Works for us!

IME, your food budget is quite low and will not allow you many options at all.

Since food and wine are such a pleasure in Italy, I could not get by with 300 E for a week for two...a gelato by ifself will be a few euro and even the fixed priced tourist meals not cheap enough for your budget.

Bargain is a relative term. Does the 1400 include only what you named? If it does, you can easily allocate more to food and gelato.

Regardless of your tastes, 21 euros per day is a stretch. Hopefully, your hotel is paying for breakfast. If not, find some sturdy plastic silverware and plan to eat from the various stores available.

Even at double that amount, one would have to eat frugally to meet that goal. You can also buy wine by the liter from the local wine shop for a reasonable price.

I've traveled a lot with a friend to Europe. He would always complain about how much we were spending until he got to the end of the trip. He would then say, "Gee, we didn't spend as much as I thought."

I'm not a "foodie" at all, but my ice cream and pastries and candy do add up each day. If you don't mind eating sandwiches from a bakery or cheaper still-a grocery store, you can manage on a few Euros. I prefer salads or junk food, so my food is never enough money to worry about.