Planning budget for Italy Vacation in Sept 07
 

Here is what I am thinking so far and this is planning for my husband and I (15 days):

-$2000 for plane tickets (Open Jaw)
-$500 (375 Euros) for 4 nights in Rome (probably a Bed & Breakfast)
-$600 (450 Euros) for 4 nights in Tuscany Bed & Breakfast
-$300 (225 Euros) for 2 nights in San Gimignano
-$250 (190 Euros) for 2 nights in Florence
-$600 (450 Euros) for 3 nights in Venice

So a total of about $2250 (1,700 Euros) for lodging.

This would leave about $1750 (1325 Euros) for trains, food, and tours and 7 day car rental

Do you think that is enough or should we budget more or try to budget less for lodging?

Hi aloveindy,

I'm not sure I understand your intitial budgeting. Why are you allowing more $$ per night in SG than in Rome? Maybe you have already selected a place in SG?Sept is high season in Rome, one of the world's highest hotel cost cities.

In Sept 05, I paid 90E/night (remember, not including taxes)just for a single room in a 2*. I think you might want to check out venere.com where you can sort hotels by price, location, starts, etc. and see what the situation is. Also, for your initial budget price, consider convents.

Yes, you definitely need to budget more. Car rental will probably be around 400E - if you can drive a stick. If not you will pay much more! Musuem tickets really add up too. Check museum web sites for costs. And don't leave out the gelatti costs, very important!

Buon viaggio!

Depending on the time of year, you might be able to spend less than your budget in Tuscany.

However, cities can be quite expensive, so finding a B&B for under 100 euros per night in Rome might be difficult depending, of course, on what time of year you will travel. You might want to consider an apartment which sometimes can be more cost effective, and that's if the apartment is available for less than one week.

Start doing a little research on hotels, B&B's and agriturismos in the towns you want to visit. That will give you a more realistic picture of what you will need to spend.

To help with your research, try some of these sights for prices:

Car Rental: Autoeurope and Kemwel

Hotels: tuscany.net, ahotelinitaly.com, knowitaly.com, romeby.com

Museum Prices: http://selectitaly.com/museums.php

Train Prices: trenitalia.com

This should give you the information you need to decide on your budget.

Have fun planning!

I have done a little bit of research and that is how I tried to base my prices. I found a fews B&B in Rome for 86 to 100 Euros a night. I hadn't really found much in San G so I just took a guess based on the other prices. Are B&Bs a good way to go or is the aparment a better option?

In Florence I was looking at Hotel Fienze, anyone have an opinion on that particular hotel?

Thank you for your help, I am an Italy virgin so this is all very new in trying to figure out.

Oh and we are going to plan to travel September 15th through the 29th.

I agree that your budget for Rome accomodations is low.

In Florence, Ira always speaks highly of B&B Peterson and they offer very good rates.

I think your 1325 E budget for car, food and tours. Cars and fuel are expensive.

Since San Gimignano is in Tuscany, as is Florence, is it necessary to move around so much? Perhaps an apartment rental with day trips for one week will be more economical plus allow you to keep snacks and beverages in your room.

If you budget less for lodging, you may be compromising too much.

JMO.

If you have found rooms in all those locations with the prices you listed, then you did great.

Just be sure to double-check that the rooms are all you expect, so as to avoid unpleasant surprises, i.e., location, prices include taxes, bathroom in room, shower, air conditioning, etc.

Also do a search on this site for the names of the hotels you have chosen for good recommendations. Tripadvisor.com is also a good place for reviews.

If the hotel in Florence is Albergo Firenze, here are Fodor's reviews: http://fodors.com/miniguides/mgresul...perty_id=66296

Also do a search for Albergo Firenze and you will find more comments.

I have a complete budget for 3 levels of travel at slowtrav.com if you are interested.

bobthenavigator, I would totally be interested how do I find this on the site?

Here is the link !

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/planning/budget.htm