Help! Italy honeymoon on a budget?

Knottie1431980242

Hi everyone! I'm getting married next May and we would love to visit Italy for our honeymoon. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to visit Italy on a budget? Or general guidelines of what price range we can expect to stay within? We're open to pretty much anywhere in Italy but have been looking into Florence and Rome. We'll fly out Sunday and will have to head back to the states on Saturday so we don't have a ton of time. Thanks in advance!

CMGragain

What kind of budget?  How much money are you able to spend?

Knottie1431980242

We're hoping to keep it in the $3,000-$3,500 range. And we'll be flying from Houston.

TheCheeseWench

With that time frame you are better off picking just one city so you don't waste a day traveling and you can see it at a more leisurely pace. Also we found that we could get am entire flat for 50-60€ per night on Airbnb vs 160-280€ for a hotel.

CMGragain

I don't see any way to do this within your budget.  Airfare is going to eat up most of that.  Food is expensive in Italy, and there is train transportation, too.  Reasonable hotels are around $200 a day with taxes.  Museums are not free in Italy like they are here.
Honestly, I think $5000 is more like it.

JoanE2012

Assuming you get into Italy the following day (Monday mid-late morning), you really only have 4.5 days - I'd focus on just one city.  I do think you're going to push that budget though - we're going to Paris in a couple weeks for 3.5 days and our total for airfare and a moderate hotel is almost $3,500.  You'd probably want to look into the airbnb that a PP mentioned to save some money.

Jeannine12

I also recommend reading some articles and forums on Rick Steves.  His books have helped big time in planning our trip to Spain in November.  Tells you the best areas to stay and places to eat and keeps it very responsible priced.

thisismynickname2

My tips-- take public transportation (trains and buses) or at least bring good walking shoes. 

Don't go to restaurants that are in the immediate vicinity of tourist destinations / landmarks. Get off that beaten path. If you're a wine drinker, order the house wine by the half/full carafe rather than other types of wine. Eat a lot of pizza ;-)  If you are going to see certain tourist destinations, buy your tickets in advance and online. Order your espresso and drink it at the bar because sitting down at a table to order your caffeinated beverage will cost you an extra Euro. 

I actually don't find Italy to be that expensive, especially compared with France, Switzerland, and England. The Euro to Dollar rate is more favorable right now than it has been in the past. 

climbingsingle

We did 10 days in Florence last year for our HM. We rented an apartment through Airbnb. For 10 days, it was just under $1,000. We had a full kitchen, so we were able to cook meals there. That saved us some money. Taking the bus was pretty cheap too. I'm not sure where you're flying from but $3000 might be hard to swing for a total budget. 

alhaley88

You can also look at Groupon/Living Social. They may or may not have trips at the time of year you want to go, but I see trips to Italy on there quite a bit.

Edit: https://www.groupon.com/deals/ga-go-today-italy-8