Italy tour ..we don't have enough cash?

[LaDolceVitafor200]

Afternoon!

I have been reading alot of holiday threads here recently which has prompted my own dilemma

Me and friend booked a very cheap Italy tour for 9 days 8 nights leaving next week. It's staying in 4 different Italian cities in basic B and B accommodation, local taxes and breakfast not included. B and B are all outside main towns we are visiting so an hour's travel.

We also have to pay for transport from airport each way , tour is self guided and just includes flights, coach transfers between 4 different cities and B and B

My friend is taking 200 euros and says she won't spend more, I'm getting worried this won't be enough, we also have to pay B and B local taxes etc

AIBU to tell her we both will need more cash , or has anyone been to Italy and found it cheap?!

“The suburbs” is not an hour out of town. There will be buses, metro and trains so using taxis would be wasteful. Which cities are you going to?

£200 is not enough, but if you’re happy to grab a pastry for breakfast, a sandwich or pizza slice to takeaway for lunch, then you’ve only got dinner and drinks to think about. I anticipate she’ll run out of money on day 4 of living frugally though, not ideal.

Ah yes i should have mentioned in my post just above buffet breakfast was included in the accommodation (which I excluded in the budget), so we definitely filled up generously on it as it was really nice, and we did slip quite an also generous amount of cheese jam butter fresh bread little rolls etc into our bags during breakfast to be honest so lunch and snacks were sorted (waiting staff didn’t seem to mind really)

I just don’t understand why people book this type of holiday if they can’t afford it. It’s just madness. It’s not doable in any way that will be enjoyable.

You need far far more. You’re going to have to sit her down and explain the basic costs per day and add them up and then make a plan for how you are BOTH going to cover these costs including eating and basic refreshments.

Sadly, Italy is no longer the cheap option for a holiday. You can do it more cheaply or not, but it is never cheap!

OK, I think she needs to see in black and white what she's in for:

1. Use the Rome2Rio website to put in the location of your B&Bs in each place and the main town/city/attraction you want to visit. It will give you all the travel options with costs and you can link through to the public transport options for that area.
2. Where are you getting the one hour suburb bit from? Could it be that there is a more direct walking route that isn't so far away?
3. Go to tripadvisor for each area and search for cafes/restaurants at the lowest price point. Check out their menus. That will give you a reasonable guid to what to expect.
4. Are any of the B&Bs equipped with shared kitchen or food prep areas? You can pick up reasonably cheap food at markets and local bakeries/supermarkets so could factor that in, but they aren't as cheap as you might expect.
5. If you have a big breakfast then you don't need lunch. Pick up some fruit from the market to keep you going.
6. Pizza tends to be the cheapest dinner, but also depends on where in the country you are. In the South you can get a simple margherita at a restaurant for around 5-6 euros. But you have to usually pay a table tax and for water.
7. Buying a simple slice of pizza will be a lot cheaper from a hole-in-the-wall place but even decent size sandwiches will be 5 euros plus.
8. Ice cream/gelato is super cheap and really good. But probably not cheap enough or good enough for 3 meals a day...
9. Can you list the actual areas you are visiting so people can help with inside knowledge if they have it?

I think she will need 750 euros and even then will need to watch it

You will also have to pay the tourist tax on departure which is €100 I think

You might pay City tax but not departure tax.
It's usually something like a euro per star per person per day

Surely you’d look at the map before you booked the b&b.! Just cancel them and rebook city b&b. It will save a lot of time and money.

I would take 1000 euros each for the week, Italy is very expensive.

No it's definitely not enough. However taxes aren't alot and bus and train travel is cheap too. Bare minimum would be 400.

I’m still stubbornly stuck on the fact that the “bed and breakfast” accommodation does not provide…breakfast

Italy is not a cheap country, some popular cities in the North and Amalfi coast can be eye watering.

We were in the South of France in a cheaper area (eg not the Cote d'Azur!) this summer and a typical day of expenditure (for one) would be:

6 euros for breakfast (pasrty, orange juice and a coffee)

8 euros for lunch (a meal deal in a bakery - so a cold drink, a filled baguette and a desert)

8 euros for entry to an attraction (museum/historic site etc..)

40 euros for dinner (inc wine)

25 euros for pre/post dinner drinks

Some days we went on excursions you would add 10/15 euros or so for public transport.

So pretty much 100 euros a day. We would spend extra some days for say a nicer restaurant or more attractions.

You could cut that down a bit by not drinking or going to cheaper evening restaurants, but 200 euros for over a week is insane. Most Western European countries are a similar in cost to the UK. Would your friend think that was enough for a holiday in the UK?

You can usually find cheaper back street places to eat...where the locals go. What cities are you visiting?

shes got this very wrong. Tourist tax will depend on where you’re staying, you can Google that. Then obviously work out your transport costs. If you can get trains it will be better, taxis are like London and extortionate.

then food. Max she will have ten euros a day left, if she’s very lucky and you use trains a lot. And that ten euros will need to do 3 meals and drinks. Water as well. I doubt she can afford even a glass of wine.

personally I’d now be doing my research, transport, and tax, work out what’s left daily and then present it to her. As she will be lucky if she can buy a sandwich for each meal.

Me and friend booked a very cheap Italy tour for 9 days 8 nights leaving next week. It's staying in 4 different Italian cities in basic B and B accommodation, local taxes and breakfast not included. B and B are all outside main towns we are visiting so an hour's travel.

It's not a very cheap holiday. It seemed very cheap because, if you had read the small print and thought about it, they've not included all the basics that you would expect to be included in a package. What does a similar tour that includes local taxes, transfers, breakfast etc cost? That's the sort of money you need to add to cover the basics.

On top of that you need money to enjoy yourself. Do you want to do anything while you're there or are you happy just to walk everywhere and not go into the Forum (16 euros) or the Colosseum (16 euros) in Rome or not eat out in any of the cities you visit? Are you happy to live on bread and cheese every day and fill up your water bottles at public fountains? If so 200 euros might be enough to survive.

That’s not enough spending money at all. It also can be done on a budget, its. Not as expense as many make out, Rome is London prices at the moment. She’ll struggle on that budget unless you can find a Lidl and eat in, walk everywhere and visit free attractions. I mean, I could do that and enjoy it but realistically you’re not going to be able to ‘live a little’ at all on that budget.

Exactly.

You can do it, you just have to travel on a shoestring budget. Public transportation, minimal siteseeing that costs money, cheap supermarket meals. If you have a 'poor backpacker' mentality, you can swing it but it will be tight and you might be doing a lot of hikes, beaches and parks! If you want a step up from that, you will need to put out more cash.

It's insane. I would have taken more than that on a cheap weekend city break 20 years ago when I used to go with friends and we would walk everywhere and load up on bread and cheese at the hotel buffet!

I would research costs - airport to town and vice versa, cost to get into attractions and city tax costs.

We were in Florence are recently and Uffizi gallery was something like 35 euros per person to visit. There's little point in going if she can't afford to see the attractions that you had planned.

I'd budget 200 a day, rather than 200 for a whole week. You should tell her that she should at least have a back up access to euros as you are not in the position to subsidise her.

Thing is it will impact your holiday. You can only do free attraction stuff, going for drinks, coffee or an ice cream will be out of the question, never mind a meal out. You will have to visit local supermarkets and buy cheap food to eat, Ie so you can make sandwiches it’s highly unlikely you can go to the major towns daily , even on a train, so will have time in your local areas, wandering eound

is this the first time she’s traveled anywhere. I don’t understand how she’s so little understanding of costs. Does she not live independently as an adult?

I agree with this.

There will absolutely be city B&Bs within a similar price range to what you have currently booked.

Whilst it will save you money (and time) on travel, €200 is still nowhere near enough.

The Uffizi Gallery (Florence) is €26 admittance, and you would be around €50 for lunch and a drink.

It might be worth posting where you are visiting though, because prices do vary.

Even for an all inclusive I'd take more than 200

Exactly. Me too.

It’s just senseless. No problem if you can’t afford a holiday in Italy. But it’s a problem if you book one and then can’t afford to actually cover yourself when there. It affects both her and the other person she’s travelling with.

Book an all inclusive or forgo the holiday and save more for when you can.