Also, you're going to have much better luck in November through about March. I realize the weather will not be the best, but lodging should be considerably lower in the late fall and winter. For example, by q quick search found an apartment for two right outside Florence for 30 days at $66.00/day current exchange rate.

OK -- you want to have a car, and stay out of the city centers. But your budget is only $50 day. This makes absolutely NO sense to me at all.

You'll have expensive car rental (easily $30 -$50 per day), VERY expensive petrol (close to $9 a gallon) , and the daily cost for trains into the cities, or very expensive parking.

So why not ditch the car idea, up your nightly budget 100% to $100 and stay in the middle of cities.

You spend a LOT less.

You aren't going to find anyplace to sleep for $50/€35 a night double. Even hostels and convents will cost twice that.

Per your other thread you are only 'contemplating' buying a European delivery car and a lease buy-back or rental are also options.

I don't mean this to be harsh - but IMO -- someone who can only afford €35 a night for accommodations shouldn't even think in terms of buying/leasing/renting a car. That isn't even a backpackers budget.

I assumed they were going to buy a car and pick it up, then travel as long as possible using their car, and that their budget was probably limited because they knew they would be spending a good amount on the car. When we considered a 3 month stay, we discovered the lease/buy back arrangements are only good for one month, so that option was out. Buying a used car and selling it was really too cumbersome to deal with (one would want to have insurance, too). So we contemplated staying at one or two base locations where we could set out via train and rent cars as needed (possibly for a 2 week stretch of road tripping between base locations.

Clearly, you will want to figure out transportation issues along with accommodations. If it doesn't look like your original dream is going to work out, you can rescale your expectations to a good month-long exploration in Italy next Spring, than another in France in 2016 or even 2017, being able to put everything you learned on your first road-trip to use when you plan that.

BTW -- we never went for 3 months. After spending one month in SW France, my husband really felt not being able to speak or understand French very well was an issue for him. (My French gets better every time we go, but I am no where near fluent. I think we would do just fine, but it really did bother him. Possibly one good reason to go for a month the first time, to see how you BOTH do.) So, between the car issues and the language issues, we decided it just wasn't going to work for 3 months.

The next year we did the month in Italy. Neither of us speak Italian very well, but we got on splendidly. A month turns out to be just about right for us, no matter where we go.

uhoh_busted: Putting together bits and pieces from both threads I <i>think</i> they are going for 6 weeks, haven't decided about transport, it looks like they assume driving and staying outside the city centers is best, want to visit Germany and Italy, and they want to spend almost nothing on accommodations.

But the two threads are a bit confusing so maybe we need some clarifications . . .

>>>$50/ night double occupancy<<<

That is only 38€. Very low even for hostels, convents or way out in the middle of nowhere. I think even a camping spot would run that much.

>>>3. We prefer not to drive in the metropolitan areas. So we prefer to stay outside on a bus or train route.
4. We may find that staying in the metro is cheaper if we can find someplace to park the car.<<<

It's already been pointed out that you are not allowed to drive in the center of many Italian cities (including Florence,Rome, CT towns, Venice and many hill towns). There are cameras than monitor if you cross into those zones. The tickets are not cheap. Parking is not cheap.

You need to cut back on the length of your trip so you can up your lodging budget.

Agree this is VERY confusing. But frankly even $100 per night is a very tight budget - unless you are willing to go for pensions with shared baths and stairs versus elevators. This will - just - cover a room in a convent or a couple of beds in a hostel.

Not sure what is going on with the car - but frankly I would not be buying a brand new european car if all I could afford for lodging was $50 per night - essentially a flop house.

I do find this thread confusing but, of course, the OP may just be trying to weigh all the options.

I, too, would recommend a shorter trip so you can up your lodging budget. It is fun and more convenient to stay centrally located in cities in Europe so you can possibly walk to sites, have short rests, change clothes, regroup to head out for an evening stroll, and feel like you are briefly a resident of a wonderful place. It is tempting to want to see a great deal of Europe once you are there, but a first trip of three or four weeks would give you a good deal of time to do quite a bit. You can then start planning the next trip, and the next...

Is this $50, US or one of the other 20 odd counties who use $ currency?

It's more useful to use the currency of your destination than origin.

(USD 10 equivalent )
Australian Dollar: $10.88
Bahamian Dollar: $10.00
Barbadian Dollar: $20.00
Belize Dollar: $20.00
Bermudan Dollar: $10.00
Brunei Dollar: $12.68
Canadian Dollar: $10.52
Eastern Caribbean Dollar: $27.00
Fijian Dollar: $18.74
Guyana Dollar: $2,000.50
Hong Kong Dollar: $77.55
Jamaican Dollar: $1,007.00
Liberian Dollar: $745.00
Namibian Dollar: $99.00
New Zealand Dollar: $12.82
Singapore Dollar: $12.67
Solomon Islands Dollar: $71.40
Surinamese Dollar: $32.75
Taiwanese Dollar: $300.12
Trinidad and Tobago Dollar: $62.51
Zimbabwe Dollar: $3,748.00

Oh, I hope it's Zimbabwe... That would be an interesting trip.

Imagine paying cash in ZWD!

The OP is talking US$. IF you read their only other thread, they refers to "stateside" and European Overseas Delivery" program, which is for US citizens.

I think inexperienced posters/travelers often forget that not everyone is American nor clairvoyant.

DebitNM - don't tell me your crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, again?? LOL

Ball? Don't need no stinkin' ball! [in my best impersonation voice]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinking_badges

Love all those stinkin' badges!

hahahah

We were in a bind looking for accommodations in Cinque Terre last year and ended up at this place. http://www.iltimonedimonterosso.it not only was it the cheapest option I could find, it was probably the nicest hotel I have stayed in throughout my extensive travels the last 2 years. It is on the main street in Montorosso. Although this town isn't as picturesque as the other Cinque Terre towns, not having to haul your luggage up hills and stairs was a blessing. Especially for my parents. The owners were awesome. It is more like an apartment than a hotel. Highly recommend it.

For Florence, I stayed at the B&B Residenza le Fonticine. It was a hostel style place, but very clean and updated. I booked a room with an ensuite. I really liked the location, walking distance from the train station and right near the San Lorenzo markets. I was only there one night while in transit. Not sure about parking your car, though.

The hostels almost certainly have room, but have not opened up booking. You can email them if you like, or telephone (many have Skype options on their sites too).

Another option you may want to consider is convents. For example, here is where I stayed in Florence:
http://www.fmmfirenze.it/