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?!

I go self catering and cook when we go to Italy and that wouldn't be enough for me!!!

Does your friend have form for being a bit of a CF?

I'm only asking because €200 was never going to cover half the trip and if she knows you've got the means to top her up, is there a chance she's hoping that you'll sub her?

I'm happy to buy a few dinners but not everything and I don't want to be eating a slice of pizza every night and making my own lunch from a supermarket

I wouldn't even do this. The more you sub her the more she will expect it. If you want to go somwhere that has a paid entry fee she will expect you to pay, as she could just walk round or do XYZ for free. If you want to eat out she will expect you to pay, as she could have eaten pizza from a hole in the wall. Unless she agrees to drastically increase her budget, which is unlikely as you travel next week. I would just cancel the holiday. It's not going to be the trip you want, and if she goes with a tiny budget then you will end up paying an extortionate amount in order to do and see the things you want.

I’m not sure how recent this is but check out the cost on this website
https://www.budgetyourtrip.com/italy#:~:text=While%20meal%20prices%20in%20Italy,cheaper%20than%20lunch%20or%20dinner.

I go to Italy a lot. I’d say that if you want to eat out once a day plus a snack, an ice cream, a couple of coffees, public transport and a museum/ gallery entrance, and the hotel tax, choosing fairly modestly each time, you’d expect to be paying about 50 euros a day. Hard to do it on less.

DD went to Rome last year with her fiance and it was eye wateringly expensive. They spent around 1500 euros in a week and she said that wasn't anything extravagant - they had breakfast included at the hotel.

Even if she takes 250 that's still not enough. You are going to have a miserable time because you will be eating out whilst she sits on a bench with a sandwich.

Be sensible. Between you it's going to cost about 1000 (roughly 50 a day each minimum).

Are you happy with the 25/75 split your friend is proposing?

Is your venice hotel actually on the island or on the mainland?
Public transport is decent in Rome. Verona is walkable.

You need to think in terms of 100 euro a day. About 2/3 of that for eating and drinking, the rest for getting into museums or whatever, and getting about.

Venice is very expensive and many of the cafes etc in the main tourist area are know for hidden extras

Tell her she needs to do some research, that you are bringing the same amount as her so will not be able to give her any money when you get there.

I mean your teavel company could have got good group rates but if the trip was £399 for flight, transfers and 8 nights accomodation, I would worry about the quality/location of the accomodation.

We were in a cheaper area of Southern France this summer - down near the Spanish border - (not cheap full stop but significantly cheaper than Milan or Venice) and we paid £750 alone for 10 nights in two different hotels - they were 2 star hotels - so essentially a double room, TV and a basic bathroom (toilet, shower over the bath, basin) clean but fairly basic - perfectly fine for our needs as we preferenced location (both were central in the towns were in) and we were out and about for most of the day and evening.

But my point was approx 80 euros per night got us something clean and central but basic in a cheaper area of Europe.

For the price you have paid I would be expecting a hostel or very deep in the suburbs

It's been a while since I went to Italy but from my recollection we have been to Venice and Verona and just spent time wandering around and enjoying the atmosphere rather than paying entry fee into places - would you be happy doing this OP ? Admittedly we spent a fair amount of time in cafes, but I also recall sitting in a park in Verona with a very cheap carton of wine with a straw!

Oh, I see, four destinations, I misunderstood. Anyway, I agree the budget is a joke. I'd be budgeting 25 euros pp for a cheap but decent dinner each day, which would use up the entire fund.

There's a small site you might have heard called TripAdvisor. You would easily be able to find out the approx prices for meals and transfers etc. from follow travellers.
I can't understand why to would want to travel for 9 days on such a tight shoestring budget. Why not go for a shorter time so you have money to visit attractions and enjoy the food culture and atmosphere.
€200 won't get you 4days into the trip, you're dreamers!

If you're spending two days in each city my compromise would be in each place one day we eat out but cheaply wander round soaking up the atmosphere, the other day you spend on admission fees but eat take out. Then you save and splurge on each day balancing it out and still getting a good experience.
She's still going to need more money though
Probably still at least 50-75 a day.

@IcedPurple (and others who have responded to me) yes - I realise she will need more than €200 all in but I would think that she could do it for less than €200 per day, which is what many posters are saying . I thought the point here was to look at the least amount of money possible rather than what posters with a lot more money spent on their lunch .

Yes some posters seem to have ridiculous budgets. I'd bring crackers and peanut butter for breakfast, eat the meal of the day for lunch say 15-20 euros and get a drink at a bar and eat apertivo snacks for dinner at possibly around 15 euros each.

We’ve just come back from the Amalfi coast. £2k spends on four adults. Self catering.

Villa all paid up front, car hire all paid up front. This was purely for supermarket shops, Prosecco and beer (quite a lot tbf, but that wasn’t expensive) and one meal out a day, either lunch or dinner plus entry to Pompeii only. Includes tourist tax at the villa which I think was 3 euro per person, per night, plus a full tax of fuel to refill hire car at around €60.

So, €500 pp with no real transport costs. I could have done it on €200 only without any meals out, no alcohol, no travel, no entry to any museums.

but you may as well stay at home in that case.

Could she do it for less than €200 a day? Sure.

Could she do 9 days on €200? No.

200 for 9 days! Thats ridiculous. Even in self catering where you could get a supermarket shop in youd be really stretching it. But in bed and breakfast.. how is she going to eat?

That was only 7 days BTW not nine!

That's already broken her budget.

Plus, she has to pay hotel tax and local transport.

I would recommend taking a few provisions in your suitcase - you could take a mini travel jug or one of those things that heat water in a mug plus plastic mug (in case of no kettle), a pack of coffee sachets with milk included and a pack of individually wrapped brioche /croissants and eat breakfast in your room . (Or your mate can while you sit in the nice cafe!)

Could she do 9 days on €200? No.

TBF @IcedPurple I never suggested that she could !