Is Italy v expensive - much more than France or Spain?

[another20]

Any tips to doing it in the cheap?

Italy is a big place - whereabouts are you thinking?

Just back from Bologna. Eating out was quite pricey but there were loads of places you could get pizza cheaply and if you have a drink in a bar early evening they provide snacks as well. Or there was a great food market where you could eat local delicacies cheaply. Italians regard the pasta course as a precursor to main, but we found the portions to be large so just had the pasta.

Rather sadly and Britishly I brought my own cereal and coffee with me, but local supermarket didn't seem too pricey.

Shockingly I haven’t spent any time in Italy at all - but would like to start discovering it. Have to go in school holidays this summer but hate crowds and busy beaches... so need to choose “a corner” find a quiet place but do 2 or 3 day trips to places of interest.

The south is generally cheaper than the north.

Good luck finding a beach that isn't busy though! In July & August Italians flock to the beach.

If you want a quiet corner you're better off finding an agriturismo (working farm with accommodation) with a pool and beaches / cities nearby.

Sicily is amazing and I've had very good value holidays there. Puglia is amazing too. In general in the South you'll need a car as the better value places will be a slight pain to get to.

Oh and if you get somewhere self-catering take advantage of the amazing fresh food to do it on the cheap. Eat like the italians and make lunch your main meal - a plate of pasta generally shouldn't cost more than about 8 euros, if it does you're in a tourist trap or a posh restaurant (and it doesn't need to be posh to be good). For dinner have mozzarella and tomato salad or prosicutto and melon from the market. The produce out there is so good, it's delicious! Take away pizzas range from 3-8 euros each.

Well France is a great deal more expensive than Spain in my experience though the Costa Brava can be pricey. Italy more in line with France I would say. Just back from Croatia, perhaps surprisingly that was more expensive than Spain too, especially in the south.

Watching with interest as I’m thinking of taking my Mum to Sorrento this year. Can anyone comment on prices there?

I find it cheaper to get there flight-wise, and after having spent a week in the south of France, and then a week in Italy immediately after, I found Italy cheaper in terms of groceries/eating out etc.

That’s a great idea to eat a cheap lunch (didn’t appreciate it could be so cheap either) and have light evening snacks - if it is similar cost to France then I can work with that - don’t know where I thought it was extortionate.

I find food in touristy places more expensive in Italy, but also so much better very generally speaking.

You can get some amazing agritourismo (sp?) places with pools that aren't that expensive (just double check they have air conditioning).

We go every year. This year we are going to our usual Villa near Montevachii and then to a hotel called Don Totu in Puglis which is beautiful and not expensive, they do cooking lessons for the whole family and yoga classes and have a lovely little spa and hire out Vespas to whizz around the countryside.

The beaches are a bit shit as they become super crowded and a bit like what I'd expect Bognor to be like.

The supermarkets are amazing, the food isn't expensive and is soo cheap. A lot of places will cook for you and provide wine which they produce which makes it really good value.

We go to an amazing villa which sleeps 12 of us and they charge 30€ per head for a four course dinner with all you can drink of their Prosecco and wines and the kids eat free. The food is unbelievable and there is always enough left over for the next day.

Tuscany is nicer than Marche, and you can get trains to Rome and Florence (the trains are cheap and air conditioned) and drive to Sienna and Assisi for the day.

Wow that sounds amazing - I am not bothered about beaches but pool / lake / river would be perfect - unless anyone knows some coastal areas that are not crowded? Love the idea of hoping on a train for day trips. Does anyone know if it is quieter at the very end of August / beginning of September? Don’t know how Italian school system works?

Italy is a big place and very regional. It also pays off to think about what you want and to do a bit of research.

As with everywhere, if you go somewhere massively touristy and popular, you are going to get ripped off. If you have pizza on the Piazza Navona in Rome, you will have an amazing view while you eat your pizza, but the pizza will be terrible and you will pay through the nose for it.

It's also worth thinking about what the local food actually is where you are - if you eat pizza in Venice it will be dreadful because pizza doesn't come from Venice for example so it's just horrible mass-produced stuff for the tourists. The local food will be cheaper and better. Avoid anything saying tourist menu at all costs.

Similarly Sorrento is expensive, Tuscany is lovely but more expensive than Umbria which is next door but not as well known so cheaper, and La Marche is cheaper still.

Beaches - make sure you aren't going to an Italian resort as they will be lined up like sardines!

All the nicest places we have stayed have been agriturismos. We tend to have a plate of ham/cheese at lunch time when out and about and then main meal in evening - if your agriturismo does food it will likely be amazing.

It depends on where you are going - this also applies to France and Spain. Venice or Rome will be much more expensive than Puglia or Sicily. Outside the man tourist areas you will always be able to eat cheaply and well. You can buy pizza by the slice and lots of small food stores will make you a sandwich or salad for lunch. A coffee and pastry for breakfast costs very little and travelling by train is much cheaper than the UK. If you want to do Tuscany on the cheap try Umbria. Just as beautiful but without the tourists.

Fully catered agriturismos tend to have great food included in the price. Try Puglia/Sicily or anywhere towards the South for more reasonable prices. Avoid the Lakes/ Milan/ Venice/ Tuscany as these are quite expensive areas.

If you want a lake try Lake Trasimeno. This is where Italians go for their holidays.

Most Italians take their holidays the last 2 weeks of August, try not to travel the last weekend of August as that's when everyone will be driving home.

We've recommended this place to a mumsnetter before, actually was sitting eating and a lady started talking to me and I had recommended it to her!

It's lovely and drive able from Pisa, Bologna and Fiore. The people that run it are so friendly and the food they serve is wonderful. Mind you I thin it is now more rooms than apartments but it's even better value because of this and you don't spend any time in your rooms because the pool and surroundings are so lovely.

Verona is lovely, we stayed in a very decent air bnb there. You can get a train into Venice then and spend your day wondering why on God's earth you bothered!

Wow that looks stunning, great tips - just need to decide which corner of Italy to go for for our first trip. Will have 4 teens with us.....holidays in the past are always v active - trekking, mountain biking, white water rafting etc - we have not done a slow, cultural summer break - but we need some quiet down time this year.

@MohairMenace we stayed near Sorrento for 2 weeks last August.
It was incredibly expensive and we really did shop around to find bargains. As soon as we left our tranquil hotel it was horribly busy too.

I've been all over Italy, I'd go back to Tuscany in an instant but I plan to never going to go back to the Amalfi coast. Ever.

In that case I would highly recommend Lake Trasimeno. You could do some activities on the lake or go walking if it's not too hot. There is culture in Assisi or Perugia. Also lots of lovely little hill towns to explore such as Spello or Spoleto. Umbria is just as beautiful as Tuscany but there are far fewer tourists for some reason.

SuckingDiesel I'd completely agree. We stayed near Spello one year and it was gorgeous.

Stopped over into Tuscany on one day and felt it was heaving with Brits, far more expensive so didn't do it again.

Spoleto, Montefalco, Assisi, Perugia, so many small towns all gorgeous.

Verona can be very expensive in opera season but there is a lot to see and the opera is fun even if you don't normally go as the arena is stunning. Just pray you don't get rained off.

Farm stays are brilliant we’ve stayed in lots and always been such great holidays. This one was good for location - hire car from Pisa to get there. It was easy train to Florence etc from the local town. The little town had lots of wonderful v low cost restaurants. The farm had loads of things to do & themed evenings and BBQ’s. Horse riding, tennis, cookery class, wine tasting etc - all super cheap too!
Cooked some evenings and sat on our patio, some very atmospheric rain and thunder storms. Wonderful week.

Di Castiglionchio www.booking.com/Share-Bn3WqC

Florence, Siena and other tourist sites in Tuscany will be heaving at this time of year and very hot too. Not a fun experience at all.

My idea of hell is heaving tourist areas - and appreciate that this is unavoidable when we have to travel.....but OH has just said can we go to Pompei ... any recommendations as to area to stay that would allow you to visit there at some point ?

For Pompeii you would fly into Naples. Some people gate Naples others love it. You can get a train to Pompeii.

Pompei is incredibly hot in summer and there is no shelter. Also bear in mind Naples has a rubbish problem to do with Mafia-controlled private contractors. I wouldn't want to experience that in summer. If you're not sold on Umbria, think about Sicily. Terrific food, cheaper that other parts of Italy, the coastline is stunning and there are lots of historical sites to explore. It can get unpleasantly hot in August though and I would think carefully if that's when you want to go. The BBC4 series Montalbano will give you a flavour of it. Piedmonte is similar to Umbria, lots of culture and stunning scenery if you want to go walking. Emilia Romagna has more culture than you can shake a stick at, though it might not have so many outdoor pursuits. The food there is meant to be the best in Italy and the locals are friendly.