Realistic food budget for Venice?
 

Is a 125 - 150 euro budget for two in Venice realistic for lunch, supper and a few drinks?

I wasn't worried about my food budget for Venice until I started reading posts on here about the costs of some meals.

For a point of reference, when my husband and I eat out in the States, our normal bill for two is never over $50. Ambiance of a place is not as important to us as is good food.

Do you mean 125- 150 EUR per day, for lunch, dinner and a few drinks? If so, I think that will work fine for you.

For instance, here are my notes from our meals for two in Venice, from May 2006:

"... . eating brunch at La Piscina was a real treat. The service was impeccable, the atmosphere amazing, and we had a beautiful blue-sky day to enjoy the view. Our meal included wine, bottled water, a primi, a “snack”, and a secondi, for 46.50EUR, minus 5.50 EUR for our discount.

. . .Our first night, we ate at Trattoria Alla Rivetta, recommended by the hotel for its fish menu. It’s at Ponte S. Provolo 4625. It was nice, with a lot of locals and others lining up to eat there. Our meal was 58.24EUR, for two fish entrees, and a half-liter of house wine.

The second night, we ate at Osteria Alla Botte, San Marco 5482. It was a very friendly and busy little place, with reasonable prices. Our meal was 46 EUR, also for two fish dishes and a half-liter of house wine."

Yes, it is a per day budget.

Where was your review when I was seeing the 200 EUR meals? LOL

Well, you can spend 200 EUR if you want! LOL

My daughter and I were eating at nice, but not extravagant, places. You could get by on less than we did, if you want to splurge a night or two and then cut back a night or two.

Hi CIB,

>Is a 125 - 150 euro budget for two in Venice realistic for lunch, supper and a few drinks?

Yes.

Limit the drinks to wine and beer. Spirits are very expensive.

((I))

Also if you wander away from the high tourist areas you will probably find the prices cheaper.

That's plenty. I think people who have 200 euro meals perhaps are more likely to post about them.

In Venice I most enjoyed the casual sidewalk cafes. Places with great homemade sandwiches in glass cases on display. Also pizza places with outdoor seating. We made a few impromptu picnics from the grocery store deli.

Just because some people like to (or don't mind) spending a lot on meals, certainly does not mean you have to!

Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.

I would rather eat good cheap food and spend my money on neat stuff to take home!

We just came back from Italy yesterday...we never spent more than 150 euro a day to eat...of course, we were so busy looking around that we usually only ate one "sit down" meal a day, the rest of the time, we ate snacks (pizza, gelatto, etc.) We also ordered too much food most of the time! By the end of our trip, we'd finally learned to order a first(primo)course (usually pasta or risotto) for each of us, with only one second course (meat or fish) OR one antipasti to share.

FYI, I just bought a great book called "Great Eats in Venice, Rome & Florence for my upcoming trip in Sept. It mentions many restaurants that are very reasonable. Also, as much as I love Fodors, check out "Chowhound" and search for Venice restaurants. There are lots of resources for finding more reasonable prices.

Susan

If you want to splurge on the vistas, then I'd say try to have lunch on the grand canal rather than dinner. We ate in two places that Rick Steves recommended and found both to be great. We also asked our hotel concierge for 'places that are nice but not TOO nice" - he got the idea and gave us great ideas. You can easily grab a panini for lunch from any take out shop and it will be very reasonable as we did on dosoduro twice

The few drinks could be your downfall. Wine can be relatively inexpensive - but any sort of mixed drink will be a lot - probably at least $15 or more each - and could through your budget completely off.

As for the overall budget - if you stick to simple places you can do it. We figure more - but we do at least one splurge meal in each city - and don't like to have to watch the pennies for other dinners - although we do casuale lunches.

Thanks everyone! I feel we can stick to this budget with maybe a splurge or two.

Thanks SuzG for another website to occupy my time at work. lol

CIB

Thanks for posting this question. I am heading to Venice for the first time this fall and I was also curious about what to budget for meals in Venice given the information I have read on how expensive it is.

If you enjoy drinking lots of wine get a bottle for your hotel room from a wine shop or grocery store. Or drink by the glass, standing up at the espresso stands along the sidewalks. Less expensive than in regular restaurants.

We just returned from Italy a few days ago, and actually found Venice to be the most affordable eating of the trip- We are not "foodies", and did not really plan our meals, but generally, we never spent more than 150 euros a day, including gelato 2-3 times per day, and that was for 2 adults, 1 teen and a 9 year old. Our best meals were at those local wine bars and cafe's, and once, all four of us ate lunch for 14 euros, including 2 glasses of very good house wine, plus a euro tip for the two guys who played the violin and accordion in the piazza! Heaven!