As Paolo will woefully attest, I am not a penny-pincher, especially when it comes to vacations. But I also don’t like to waste money. And after 15 years of living in Italy and writing about travel to Italy for a number of outlets, I understand where tourists can save money on their Italian vacation without sacrificing the quality of their travel experience. So I’ve put together these tips on how to save money on your trip to Italy.
Many of these tips are plain common sense, and others are particular to Italy. In any case, I’ve presented them here in unranked order. Note that I’ll leave discussions about saving money on airfare and using loyalty points to the experts, and talk about the things I know best — which is how to plan your stay in Italy and how to spend your money wisely once the wheels touch down.
Stay in small towns
Naturally I’m biased on this one, but Italy’s smaller towns, from the top of the boot down to the toe, are not only pockets of charm and authenticity, they’re also a lot cheaper than their bigger, better known neighbors. These are places where a room in a cute, cozy guest house will likely cost under €100 a night, and often a lot less. You won’t find the same touristic infrastructure that larger towns offer, but you will find simple, inexpensive little places to eat, and bars where a cappuccino costs €1.50 and a glass of prosecco is probably about €3.
Consider an agriturismo
Your Italian travel fantasy may be a fully serviced luxury villa in Tuscany with a private chef. But if your travel budget won’t allow it, look at an agriturismo. These farm stays can range from rustic to quite fancy, and many offer authentic experiences such as helping with farm animals or seasonal harvests. Aim for a midrange property (or consider a buy-out, if you’re a large group) and save money, and enjoy home-cooked meals and hearty breakfasts made from local products, pleasant, pastoral surroundings and a low-key rural experience.
Explore lesser known regions
I know, I know. Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, the Cinque Terre and Lake Como may all be on your bucket list. But they’re on a lot of people’s bucket lists, and that high demand translates to higher prices—often astronomically so. Choose a less-visited region, say Umbria, Abruzzo, Calabria or the Marche, and find cheaper hotels and restaurants, art-filled cities and towns, glorious countryside, local wine and culinary specialties and, depending on the region, stunning mountain ranges and beautiful beaches.
Use trains and buses
I do love hopping in a cab and having it take me to or from Rome’s airport, but it’s not a thrifty move. If you want to save money, especially for airport transfers, look to the well-established train and bus lines that run to and from Italy’s airports. For example, a cab from Rome’s FCO into the city center will cost you a minimum of €50. The train costs €14. Likewise, the national train system, Trenitalia, as well as private carrier Italo, traverses the entire peninsula. High-speed trains cost more than slower regionale or intercity trains, but by and large, the system is comprehensive, mostly on-time, cheaper than trains in much of the rest of Europe and very often cheaper than a rental car.
Look for osterias and trattorias
In the hierarchy of Italian eateries, those classed as osteria (sometimes called hosteria) or trattoria typically offer simpler, less expensive comfort foods, such as heaping plates of pasta, roasted meats or other “nonna” type specialties. Very often, there will be a real live nonna in the kitchen, or at least a family member still churning out Nonna’s time-tested recipes. These simple eateries usually have abbreviated menus, just a few tables, and sometimes even single digit prices for a basic pasta—and they may provide some of your most memorable meals in Italy.
Hit a tavola calda
At lunchtime, a tavola calda (literally, a “hot table”) is a good choice for a quick, inexpensive meal. There’s usually a fixed price (maybe around €15) for a first and second course with a side of vegetables and bottled water to drink, and you can opt to add an espresso at the end of your meal. They’re a popular choice for workers on lunch break, but even if there’s a line, it will move quickly. Lunch at a tavola calda may not be your finest meal in Italy, but they generally offer decent, filling, fast meals that are a better alternative than a dry panino.
Eat all the pizza
You should eat pizza in Italy anyway, regardless of your budget, but you should especially eat pizza if you’re trying to save some money or you’re feeding kids. At sit-down pizzerias, prices for a pizza margherita (a cheese pizza) will start at around €5 (more in big cities) and range up to €12 for more toppings. Keep in mind that unless you’re under 10 or over 80, splitting a pizza is frowned upon. A cheap daytime alternative is pizza al taglio, or pizza by the (rectangular) slice, which is served in simple take-away joints, which may or may not have a few tables and chairs. A cold drink and a piece of pizza will cost between €5-€8, and makes for a quick, tasty lunch on the go.
Plan your beach vacation for early September
Italian beaches, from coast to coast and island to island, are packed to the gills in the summertime, especially in July and August, when prices are at a premium, even for dingy hotels and rental apartments in subpar beach towns. The answer is to head to the beach in the last days of August through about the first 10 days of September. The majority of Italians conclude their summer vacations by around August 21 or so, and families have headed home to get ready for the impending school year. Prices and crowds drop precipitously, the weather is still plenty hot and the seas are still warm enough for swimming. That’s why we offer our Coastal Tuscany and Umbria Sampler Tour in September.
And your mountain trip for May or June
If you’re not heading to the Dolomites or other Italian mountain ranges to ski, you’re probably there for the hiking, biking, cooler temperatures and epic scenery. Consider that all those Italians who don’t head to the beach in July or August instead go to the mountains for those same reasons. But if you plan your mountain vacation in May or June (we prefer June, when the weather is better and the wildflowers are in full bloom), you’ll get the same scenery and clean alpine air, with fewer crowds and lower prices.
Stock your fridge and pack a picnic
When I worked on archaeological digs in Italy and was dining on a student budget, my go-to lunch was a hunk of bread and a hunk of cheese, which I’d replenish every few days from the local supermarket. Fancy, no. But cheap and good? Absolutely. If you have a fridge in your hotel or rental, fill it with some cheese, coldcuts, fruit and a bottle of wine or two from the local grocer or supermarket, and you’ll always have dinner handy when you don’t feel like paying for another restaurant. You can pack provisions in a day pack and have an impromptu picnic—just make sure you’re in an area where sitting and eating is permitted; ie, not the Spanish Steps or the Rialto Bridge.
Fill up at aperitivo time
If you know you know. Italian happy hour, or aperitivo, is a cultural institution. And unlike happy hour in the US, where you might get a dollar or two knocked off the price of a plate of jalapeno poppers, in Italy, the food at aperitivo time is free. For the cost of a drink, the free aperitivo snacks may range from a bowl of chips or peanuts to fat green olives, slices of cheese and cured meats, small pieces of pizza or other tasty bites. In Ravenna, a student friend and I used to make an evening meal out of our favorite bar’s generous aperitivo spread—and spend maybe €8 or €10 total. Bars with more ample aperitivo offerings will charge a bit more per drink, but with every round of drinks, more plates of food arrive.
Try the house wine
If you want some local wine with your restaurant meal, don’t scoff at the house wine. Yes, it may be dispensed from a 5-liter box or other large vessel, but often it’s the same wine that a winery sells in bottles at a much higher price. Will it win any awards? Probably not. But a carafe won’t cost more than your entree, either. If in doubt, ask to sample a glass before you decide to order it for the table.
