We will be in Italy for a couple of weeks in early October. I am reading trip reports and seeing that food prices are extremely expensive, although perhaps not all places are that bad. Can somebody give me some suggestions for meals that won't break the bank. We will be in Venice, Florence, the CT region and Tuscany hill towns.

Remember that those food prices have a great deal to do with the exchange rate.

Also remember that the prices are ttc. They include all taxes and tips.

it depends on the quality of the restaurant and when you eat

So for example you can get a lunch time lasagna with salad in Florence for Euro 8 by eating in one of the lunch time buffet places that open up for students and clerks, or you can pay euro 20 for Bolognaise sauce on spagehetti in the place next door.

Use Trip advisor and Rough Guide (it has loads of places) to find all the great places to eat.

The other thing you will spot is that vegetarian food in Italy is what the peasants used to eat because they could not afford meat. So look out for bean soups etc that are very good and very good value.

Then avoid American drink, that is bottled water and fizzy drinks, take instead wine and tap water and both your digestion and your wallet will be happier.

Finally avoid sandwiches, burgers etc, you could try to get by on Pizza but that is not good for you either. Look out for Italian rice dishes, salads, fresh fish and a little pasta. Again the prices will be lower as you area eating what the locals do and your wallet will be calm.

<i>take instead wine and tap water</i>

Fine with the wine. But unless one is fluent in Italian, it is impossible to get away with tap water, which is generally considered to be toilet water.

<<Finally avoid sandwiches, burgers etc, you could try to get by on Pizza but that is not good for you either.>>

The pizzas aren't necessarily that expensive and neither are the sandwiches. Dunno why you'd want burgers in Italy - at last check, Italians aren't known for their burgers. Eating American style fast food in Italy seems a wasted opportunity.

But every place has a price based on claimed quality and location. Get away from the Duomo and the Uffizi and you'll find lower prices in Florence. In Venice, get away from Campo San Marco (although you'll still pay more than anywhere else for comparable worth).

Careful with CT - that's the rainy season . . .

The buffet restaurant suggestion for lunch is a very good one.

It's just like here. If you want to avoid spending a lot of money on food, avoid the more expensive restaurants.

By and large restaurants in italy are not especially expensive. If you avoid the tourist trips (right near major tourist sights with menus in 14 languages or pictures of the food) and stick to the places that locals eat - we haven;t found prices substantially higher than NYC (which may well be much higher than in a small town - but you won't be in small town, but major tourist centers).

And there are many casuale places (sandwich shops, pizzerias, etc where you can get a simple lunch for $15 or $20.

What prices are you seeing that seem so very expensive?

I went to a buffet restaurant near the Vatican, and thought it was very expensive for buffet salad and lasagna! On the other hand, had the best panini of all my trips from a food truck in front of San Giovanni in Laterano. I can still taste the grilled peppers. Yum! And VERY affordable!

Linda, perhaps some days for lunch, you can hit the market and pick up some bread and salami and make your own sandwiches. We loved the Billa grocery store on the Strada Nuova in Venice. Just grabbed some bread, cheese, milk. (OK, it was the middle of the day and we wanted milk!) hahah

Additionally, I have to say that we walked so much in all those cities, and the more we walked, the less hungry we got.

And some posters will roll their eyes at this.. but as a grandmother of 6- I have no problem mentioning it. There are McDonald's in both Venice and Florence. I cannot speak for CT.

You'll have a wonderful trip. You'll find places to pinch your pennies, I promise.

Buon viaggio!

Try to find places to eat that are a couple of blocks from a major tourist sight, like the Pantheon.

Look for small mom and pop cafes. In Rome a few years ago we found a tiny pizzeria/pasta cafe on Corso Vittorio Emmanuele that looked a little worn around the edges, but had fantastic food for not a lot of money. La Mama was the cook, and her family ran the front of the place.

If you go into a coffee bar in Italy, and they serve food, like panini, remember it will cost you more to have waiter service at a table than to stand at the bar. It will also cost you 2 to 3 times to have a coffee at a table, too. (Do not carry your coffee from the bar to a table. That is cheating and they will stop you.) But there will be times when your feet tell you the expense is worth it!

The trip reports probably are telling of the special places people ate, which are often more expensive.

Remember, a ristorante (which usually has tablecloths and waiters in uniform) is more expensive than a trattoria (also with servers), which is more expensive than a cafe or buffet.

One caveat about buying deli food and having a picnic: some cities now have regulations against eating on the steps of monuments, churches, etc. They did so because so many people were doing it they were leaving terrible messes.

I would also suggest doing some sharing. There is so much fantastic food to try, you can't possibly eat it all. We (2 of us) just spent 2 weeks in Florence, CT, and Venice. Never ate the same thing twice.

Try an antipasti dish to share, perhaps each order a pasta and definitely sample from each other's plate and then share a secondi (meat entree). You will be plenty full and save a bit of money, AND get to taste a larger variety of dishes than going all solo.

As another poster stated, wine is very inexpensive as compared to bottled water or soda. We never paid more than 15 euro for a litre of Vino della Casa, and often got it for less than 10 euro. IMO there is no need to drink any other wine than the house wine. They were all delicious. Of course, my liver needed a break from time to time, so did go with soda on occasion.

In Florence, I would highly recommend:

Mastro Ciliegia
Daily 12:00 – 15:30 and 19:00 – 24:00
Via Matteo Palmieri 30/r
+39 (0)55-293372
Trattoria with simple atmosphere and interior, 200 m from Piazza di Santa Croce.
Tuscan cuisine, very delicious and reasonable priced.

It's a short walk from the Duomo, in a small piazza. Try the Ravioli Formaggio with pear...unbelievably delicious. We are still talking about and craving it after 2 months.

Additionally, many establishments have a fixed price 3 (or maybe even 4) courses, that are usually pretty reasonably priced.

Have a fantastic trip.

You don't say how long you are staying in places, or how many people, but one of the best ways to save money is to rent an apartment. Not only do you save on lodging costs, but breakfast is easy to eat in, and it's easy to pack lunches on days that it is feasible for your daily excursions. You might even choose to eat some dinners at the apartment. Not all places require a 7 night stay.

When in Tuscany we stayed at Terre di Nano for 5 nights in House Casetta. A really nice kitchen and a great private terrace with an amazing view for dining or for wine before dinner (or Limoncello after dinner!)

http://www.terredinano.com/interno.asp?id=14&lang=eng