Coliseum in Rome, Italy
With the euro at historic highs against the dollar, you'll find it more difficult to travel to Italy on a rock-bottom budget as an American tourist. The key to making your dollar stretch is to give up some of your American comforts and live like a local. By eating, sleeping and traveling like a native Italian, you'll be pleasantly surprised how cheaply you can travel in Italy.
Instructions
1. Travel off-season. Avoid the peak months where airlines, hotels, restaurants and attractions charge the highest rates by traveling to Italy in the months of April, May and early June, or September, October and November. Besides saving money, you'll enjoy less crowded restaurants and tourist attractions.
2. Stay at an apartment or monastery in cities and on an Agritourism family farm when traveling in the Italian the countryside.
For major cities like Rome, Venice and Florence, space is at a premium and hotels are expensive. Unless you book a luxury property, most apartments in Italy are cheaper than a comparable hotel. You'll also have more space and you'll be able to prepare meals in your apartment, saving money on going out to eat.
If you are on a rock-bottom budget, try booking a room at one of the hundreds of Italian monasteries or convents. For a fraction of the price of a hotel room, you'll stay in a historical building dating back hundreds of years in a modernized private room with a private bath. For families, monasteries are a practical and economical option since many monasteries contain rooms with up to six beds. For more information, visit the Monastery Stays website.
If you are traveling in the Italian countryside, stay at one of the over 18,000 Agritourism inns. Each inn is located on a family-farm with a maximum of 30 beds, and no more than 30 percent of the farm's income can come from tourism. You'll enjoy the natural ambiance of your surroundings and personal visits with an Italian family for a price much less than a neighboring hotel room. For more information, visit the Italian Agriturist website.
3. Ride the trains and buses in the cities. Traffic is a congested, free-for-all in most Italian cities, so save the stress and expense of driving a car by taking public transportation. Travel long distances between cities by taking a train. Train fare is cheaper than driving. When riding trains, you can schedule long trips overnight. By sleeping on a train, you can save your money on a place to stay and save time by covering long distances while you are resting.
In the rural parts of Italy, rent a car by the day to explore the nearby countryside. Rental cars, gas and tolls are expensive compared to what you are used to in the United States, so rent a car in Italy only when it is a necessity to travel to out-of-the-way locations, like the Italian Hill Country.
4. Eat in an osteria or in family-run, small restaurants. Osteria's often do not have hired help and offer cheap, authentic, home-cooked Italian meals for a reasonable price.
Tags: beds more, cheaper than, hotel room, information visit, Italian countryside, long distances