Grateful

My first time of travelling alone and I have spent hours on the computer trying to put this together and last night i came across this site. It has been so much help and i have learnt so much. I go to Tuscany for 21 days in October. Fly into and out of pisa airport. My 1st ever OE last year at 55 and I loved it. 6 wks. 12 day tour called European magic and then with friend in Sth of France in Avignon and Aix-en-Provence and also wlkd Cinque Terre. However this time I am alone and for me my budget is 100 euro a day for sleep, eat and public transport. Is this possible. I plan to do 6 days Florence, 5 days Venice 6 days Cinque area again this time seeing Portovenere end /Poets Gulf and other way towards Portofino. I am a Taurus and love a natural holiday not a generic hotel room. Small places with charm and character. I like art,learning,beauty,being by the water,music,culture, small villages, walking and homely rustic food. Any suggestions I would be grateful. I read B&B Petersons Florence in one mssge. From down under NZ.

worldinabag

Hi

Yes if you stay in a dorm room in a hostel and do alot of your own cooking.

logos999

>100 euro a day for sleep, eat and public transport
I NEVER! spend that munch and always find nice rooms, sometimes with breakfast. It's just the entrance fees that eat up a lot of money nowadays. Transport needs to be planned properly. 100€ are a lot of money! Make it visible that you're not american, and you won't be ripped off. ;-).

kleeblatt

Logos: Willst du wieder einen Baeren aufbinden? Die arme Amis!

Logos, whose humour and opinions actually represents quite a piece of the German pie, adores Americans and loves to tease them. The above American statement can be filed under: 50% fact / 50% leg pulling

ira

Hi G,

In Florence, I can highly recommend www.bedinflorence.it

That will be about 45E.

Bkfst will be about 3
Lunch about 6
dinner about 20

Accomodations in Venice will be more expensive. You might want to stay in Mestre and take the train into Venice.

logos999

>50% fact / 50% leg pulling
In fact it's 60% fact / 40% leg pulling ;-). Grateful is from NZ, the NZ$ has lost more than 10% in the last two days anyway.

chimani

Possibly, even probably, if you cut your cloth accordingly and are willing to put in the effort looking for cost savings. I don't mean you have to pre-book everything in advance; just that you should do tons of research into how the transport pricing system works, etc. etc.

"Small places with charm and character" tend to be seriously expensive in places like Florence and Venice. Sad but true. I did stay in a brilliant B&B in Florence that would fit the criteria and budget - it was under 30euros for a single room, shared bath, inc breakfast, and I found it by accepting a card from a bloke at the railway station (Asia style!!!).

But it was five years ago, and it was January. If you are interested I will see if I can find the details.

Venice though - hey, that's another thing altogether.

A hostel might be your best bet there - though probably in a dorm.

I take it you've found some of the most useful budget traveller websites like hostelworld, hostelbookers, yha, lonely planet?

Timing is in your favour. Should be some good discounts available in October.

Have a great time.

Sarvowinner

The AUD ain't doing too well either

DAX

No they've got it wrong, you should always ask if they have a special discount for poor Americans whose dollars don't go far these days.

logos999

>The AUD ain't doing too well either
It's back to what it was before the big carry trading started in spring. Let's see what happens on further bad news... It's still to early to stock up on AUD, I believe.

logos999

Oops, looking at the market in the last 10min anything can happen, it's up at the same crazy speed it went down during the last days. Traders coming back into AUD (leaving Yen and USD).

suze

I think Venice may be your biggest challenge to find an inexpensive hotel room.

kybourbon

Apartments might be a cheaper way to go. Some must be rented by the week, but many rent for as little as 3 nights. It might even be cheaper to rent for a week and leave a day early.

Betsy

Check out convents. They're inexpensive, safe, and you can meet fellow solo travelers there if you want. It's a little late in the game as they book early, so if you're interested, contact them immediately.

Here are reviews that I copied and pasted from a 2005 post. I have stayed three times at the convent in Florence and can recommend it.

VENICE: Casa Caburlotto (April 8-10, 2005; 3 nights)
Santa Croce n. 316 – Fondamenta Rizzi
30135 Venezia
Tel. 041 710877 – Fax 041 710875
[email protected]

I wholeheartedly recommend Casa Caburlotto for your stay in Venice.

I stayed there for three nights. I paid 47 Euro for a single room, ensuite. I got the room (no. 304) at the back, which made it pretty quiet. The room is quite clean. The shower facilities are great. Two towels are provided per stay. There is no elevator.

It takes about 15 min to reach here (with luggage) from Venice’s Santa Lucia train station. There are three bridges to cross. The convent is a little bit hard to find. It is located on a peaceful canal street (well-lit at night). There are a grocery store and several inexpensive canal-side restaurants nearby. The nearest vaporetto stop is ‘Piazzale Roma’, about 5-7 min away on foot.

Sisters are very kind and caring-minded. They don’t smile but we would know they care for us. They speak Italian (of course) and one of them speaks French. They prepare breakfast (roll, jam, butter, coffee and tea) by themselves. Breakfast is served 7.30-8.30 am.

All people in Venice I’ve met are nice, helpful and friendly. Only few of them can speak English.


FLORENCE: Instituto Oblate dell'Assunzione (April 11-13, 2005; 3 nights)
Borgo Pinti, 15, Florence
Phone: 055.248.0582; Fax: 055.234.6291

I stayed there for three nights. My single room (number 211), with unattached bathroom directly opposite the door, costs 38 Euro. The room is spacious and quite clean. Shower facilities are acceptable. The sisters provide you with two towels per stay. There is an elevator.

Getting from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station takes about 25 minutes (with luggage). The convent is really easy to find. Just take Duomo as the landmark and follow the map. The location is convenient; I walked to everywhere, from Accademia to Palazzo Pitti and all. There’re cute takeaways, internet cafes, groceries, and restaurants in the neighborhood.

The convent is not at the car-free section of the Borgo Pinti street. And it has thin walls. In the early evening, noises from vespas and from other travelers in other rooms can be annoying.

The sisters are kind and have friendly faces. Italian, French, and some English are spoken. There’s a wide selection of breakfast (many types of bread and jam, etc.). Breakfast is served during 7.30-8.30 am.

I also find people in Florence nice, helpful, and friendly.

Consider the location, I’ll still choose this convent for my future stay, but will ask for an ensuite and a quieter room.

Here's the URL for the entire thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34605575

Grateful

Hi all
I do not know what I am more amazed at at the mo. My trip or the fact that last night at midnight i typed this info into this site and today I sit hear and read this fab advice already!!!! Fantastic it saves the new traveller so much time guessing the unknown. Try our dollar at the moment. 2wks ago we were 0.91 american against Nz dollar. Today we are 0.77! For every dollar I have I get 0.51 euro now. As this global money crisis unfolds it makes my trip dearer and dearer. The NZ dollar is spiralling down as japanese exit from the NZ dollar. they say we could go as low as a 5 in front against the american dollar. I guess we are all in the same boat though. Thanx so much for the ideas I have tried one convent in Venice so far and they are booked but will act on all suggestions that are coming in. You know I believe I can see and experience all I want to without needing to spend 1000's of dollars. It can be done. It is just the power of a lot of minds that helps bring unknown info to me that then makes it all possible. From Florence I can go to Lucca Sienna Montecatini, Collodi by train or bus for under 5-10 euro ea day visit. Then there is Volterra, San Gimignano, etc. So the choice is huge and it is the accommodation and the right spot to be each time to get the most out of the surrounding area. that is thre key I think.
Thanks all so much for brain storming. I do feel to book my stay in the three main places before I leave as I want to have information of my where abouts and contact numbers for my husband. Any great finds in the Cinque terre area. I like a room i am no good at sleeping in dorms.

isabel

I think you can definitly do it on 100€ a day. I did a similar trip 3 years ago for less than that. Prices have gone up some since then, and time of year makes a difference. I was there in July, which in Florence and Venice at least is not the highest priced season. In Florence the Hotel Desiree was 45€ for a single including breakfast, a perfectly nice hotel a few blocks from the train station and 10 minutes walk to the Duomo, etc. In Venice the Hotel Violino D'Oro was 60€ incuding breakfast, a really nice hotel 5 minutes from Saint Marks. It can be a lot more expensive depending on the time of year (I know May and June and September are high, not sure about October). For the Cinque Terre I stayed in Camogli, a train ride north of the 5 actual "Cinque Terre" towns but it was a really nice town itself, with frequent train connections and there were more hotels, and some were less expensive.

The main way to save money is on food. I am always happy to eat mostly picnic meals rather than sit down restaurant meals and this saves alot. In Florence there is a fabulous market with not just fruits and veggies but all kinds of food. Venice is harder, and more expensive but I found several cafeteria style places that were not too bad. There's one near the train station, at the start of the main "street" leading toward the Rialto, another right near the Rialto Bridge itself. There are also a couple of markets in Venice.

starbuck1105

Hi Grateful,

I'll be in Italy for the month of October as well (28 days). And like you, I'll be doing it on a tight budget. If you're interested in meeting up while we're both over there, let me know. Alternatively, if you'd like me to show you my itinerary, provide an email address and I'll gladly send it to you. Ciao!

dgassa

We did it last year for around $150 for two of us. We stayed in B&B's and ate our main meal at lunch. With airfare and car lease it came to a little over $200 a day. You can read about it here:

http://tinyurl.com/24vmde

suze

i'm suggesting my favorite hotel in Venice www.lacalcina.com. I have stayed there twice. It's a lovely place and single rooms are in your price range. A really nice breakfast is included. It is not so "hidden" but it is a gem!

suze

like Isabel mentions, traveling solo, I never spend much money on food. Street food, grocery stores, bakeries, etc. serve me well. I would not want to be eating in fancy restaurants by myself anyways. A sandwich to-go, a glass of wine at a stand up counter, a few snacks to take back to my hotel room. Cheap!