Italy on $5 a day
 

Hi, Kind of curious to see if anyone ever calculated what their trip cost on a per day basis/ per person.
Thought this would be an interesting topic. You always see those books that claim Europe on $5-25/ day. Now lets separate fiction from facts.
How inexpensive can one get away with traveling in the high season in Italy?

regards

tc

I never travel in high season...too hot, crowded and expensive. I travel in shoulder season either in May or September/October and usually spend CAD $150 per person for hotel, transportation and spending money. We stay in 2-3 star hotels or B&B and each in family run Trattoria.

We need to define - what does you figure include? to get accurate answers and compare apples to apples.

Do we count the round-trip airfare to get to Europe, divided up per number of days of the trip? Transportation between cities? Rail pass? Lodging? Admissions? Food? Miscellaneous spending money?

By the way there are no guidebooks titled "Europe on $5 a Day" published in 2006.

Wasn't that Arthur Frommer's book: Europe on $5 a Day? That was decades ago!

I used to fill up my gas tank (8 cylinder) for $5 a week - yeh back in 1960.

Dunno about the fiction, but here are some facts:

Arthur Frommer wrote Europe on $5 a day, but that was over forty years ago.

The latest edition is Europe on $85 a day (Italy is $90.)

The current books are "Europe From $85 a day" and "Italy From $90 a Day", and the amount only includes hotel and meals.

And even so, it may not necessarily mean both lodging and meal for $90/day! Sometimes it's just 90/day for the lodgving, and here's some suggestions for meals that ranges anywhere between $15 to $90 per meal. So you just have to take it with a grain of salt and use is for pearls of wisdom.

Airfare, car rental and travel insurance was not included in my $150 per person per day.

I did a couple weeks last year hotel,travel,sites and food for 87e a day which was about 108.00 so say 110 per day.

Obviously it differs depending on where you are going. And I don't think any of books - 40 years ago or now - included airfare in their price. Also, staying in hostels, is less than hotels,etc. But just as an example, in March I went to Paris with two other people, we shared an apartment that was 95€ a night - so only 32€ each person, I spent about 20-25€ a day on food, about 10€ on transportation/admissions - so only about 65€ a day.That worked out to $79 at the exchange rate in March, less than the current book's claim of $85 a day. So it can be done. But it would have been way more if I'd been alone, or even as half of a double, and it would have been more in say, London or Rome which I find to be much more expensive than Paris. But, yes, it can be done - and without staying in flea infested slums or eating bread crusts and water.

Europe on $5 per day was in 1960 - and even then was a pension with no elevator and shared baths.

What planet are you from? Do you have any idea of the rate of inflation since 1960? Never mind the precipitous fall in the value of the dollar! Gas is $4 per gallon HERE and you think you'll get a whole day in Europe for $5?

(I remember buying a cute pair of sandals in Bloomies - on sale - the year I graduated - 1977 - and they were $24.95. Got a catalog today and similar - on sale - were going for $159.)

So on that basis - roughly figuring the difference between 1977 and 1960 - a GOOD deal in europe is $150 to $200 per day per person.

<<You always see those books that claim Europe on $5-25/ day.>>

You do? Where? I haven't seen them since the '60s and '70s?

Can you do the USA on $5-$25 a day?

$5 a day...? HA! I couldn't buy a bottle of water for 5 Euros on a hot July day last time I was in Rome. Actually I think I paid 7 Euros for one rather small bottle of water, and that was a few years ago!

Seriously, I am hard pressed to think of ONE meal, drink, or tour you could get anywhere in Italy for $5, let alone for the day. Italy is an expensive country. Maybe if you don't eat, drink, or go anywhere you could do it. You still need money to pay for the public toilets though. (Wait, is that just France...?)

Guide books are probably one kind of book one shouldn't buy in used book stores! :-) While the Coloseum will still be in the same location, and the forum hasn't changed much since $5/day days, prices are very different!

>You always see those books that claim Europe on $5-25/ day.<

Ummmmmmm, the last time I saw "Europe on $5 a Day" was in the early '70s.

The current edition is $85/day.

((I))

FYI: The Frommer's formula is based on TWO people traveling together, sharing the cost of a hotel room, and the daily budget includes 3 meals. The daily budget doesn't include transportation or admission charges or shopping.

But based on that, I think it's quite do-able to visit much of Europe with a $90 to $100 a day budget if you are modest in your spending. But you might be hard-pressed to do it in some expensive places, though I could do it even in Paris and perhaps Rome (though probably not London), though certainly not if traveling alone.

tc- I'm still wondering where you saw those books. Obviously no one claims to be able to travel that cheaply in this day and age.

Depends on your style of travel. If you're seriously curious about shoestring travel, and the absolutely cheapest a trip could be accomplished you might like to read on The Thorn Tree at the Lonely Planet website. As it has more of its population who backpack around, staying in hostels or camping they will come in with a much lower daily figure than the typical Fodor's forum participant will.

I think the point above about a solo traveler or two people together is excellent and especially staying in a normal hotel situation needs to be taken into account.

Also whether you are visiting cities or the countryside, is another major factor effecting daily budget.

tcmazz1 asks a valid question: "How inexpensive can one get away with, traveling in the high season in Italy?" Let's not go off on the $5- $25 piece of it, which he/she was only referencing to "separate fiction from fact".

Fodor's editor says they estimate $90- $100.

Assuming one is traveling with a partner, so paying half of a double room, how much do you spend per day for three meals and lodging? Maybe put incidental purchases and sightseeing entrance fees in a separate column.

I don't keep track of my budget that way, so I'll have to do some math to get my per diem number.

Thanks

MaureenB, You did what I couldn't do. Thanks Maureen

The Topic really is

How inexpensive can one get away with, traveling in the high season in Italy?" Let's not go off on the $5- $25 piece of it

regards tc

Not pertinent to your question but $5 today in Italy would get one nice cappuccino or latte and with the change you could use a public toilet to let it out!