Budgeting for Viva Italia Tour 2012

[Sueil33]

My husband and I are considering the Viva Italia Adults only tour for 2012. As we are exploring options I am trying to get a handle on budgeting. Does anyone have any insights into the out of pocket costs that we should anticipate beyond the tour fixed costs. As they say "this is a trip of a lifetime" so we want to make sure that we are budgeted to truly enjoy and take advantage of all we can.

 

[At World's End]

I'm not familiar with this tour, but I've been to Italy twice on my own. Make sure your food budget includes about $10/day each for gelato. We eat it twice a day, every day. You will not find anything in the States that compares. Splurge on tartuffo if you see it on the menu. It's an incredible ice cream treat. If the tour includes Florence and Venice, be prepared for some serious shopping. They have amazing leather goods in Florence, and Venice is a shoppers paradise. Have a great trip, but don't count on it being a "once in a lifetime" trip. That's what we said the first time, and we'd go back in a heartbeat if we could!

 

[corky441]

My husband and I are doing the trip this September and I can't begin to budget this trip out.
One big thing that is not included is the airfare
Get ready for some sticker shock
Right now, I'm thinking of allocating $100/day for food, drink and misc - EACH
As far as big time shopping goes... That is where the budget goes to h.ll

 

[Sueil33]

My husband and I are doing the trip this September and I can't begin to budget this trip out.
One big thing that is not included is the airfare
Get ready for some sticker shock
Right now, I'm thinking of allocating $100/day for food, drink and misc - EACH
As far as big time shopping goes... That is where the budget goes to h.ll

We are on the same page - I was thinking at least 200 a day for the two of us. I haven't looked at airfares yet - that's the next step. Hope you can post a trip report when you get back. It looks fabulous and it is so hard to top a Disney organized event.

 

[lb4747694]

I'm a big believer in budgeting a little bigger on trips, so I don't have to worry about what I'm spending during trips. First of all, you need to budget in Euros. The USD (if that's your home currency) conversion to the Euro has really been fluctuating over the past couple of years ($1.30 - $1.50). That'll have a huge impact on what you end up actually spending.

Now I haven't been on this tour, but I have been to these cities, and they're pretty expensive. Europe tends to be a lot more expensive to what we're used to in the US. VAT, higher labor costs, costs of shipping everything into Venice, etc are built into the prices of everything. Also, Rome/Florence/Venice are hugely popular destinations and the locals know they can pretty much charge what they want. I remember on my first trip to Rome paying $20 euros for 2 slices of pizza and a coke, near a tourist sight. I've since gotten wiser

Budgeting will really depend on 1) how many meals on your own you have to pay for, 2) what do you want to eat (i.e. pizzerias vs sit down restaurants), 3) how willing you are to go out of your way for a restaurant (out of the way places are much cheaper) and 4) how much shopping do you want to do.

To me, 100-200 euros a day for 2 people is realistic (but perhaps a little low-depending on your shopping "needs"). You could do $100 per day for 2 people, but you're going to eat pizza and do very little shopping.

 

[cmanuel]

Is the US dollar really that low? I always thought the US had more value abroad...

 

[lb4747694]

Is the US dollar really that low? I always thought the US had more value abroad...

The USD isn't strong against any currency, except the Korean Won. It's been that way for the past few years.

 

[Danibelle]

If you really want to eat well, have gelato twice a day, and maybe drink some wine, I would budget 150-200 dollars per person, as a minimum. Italy is not cheap!

 

[corky441]

the Euro took a bit of a plunge a few weeks ago, but now it's right back up there ...

I've been watching Xe and Forex daily. I hope it takes a nice drop before we go

I think I'll plan on $200 each per day-praying that equates to at least 150 Euros

 

[GAN]

Right now the exchange is $1.36 - 1 versus about 1.25/1.30 when we were there in May. We live in New England(60 miles from Boston) so maybe our views are biased, but we honestly didn't think anything was more expensive than here at home -even with the negative exchange rate. In fact, most restaurants we visited were so affordable that we tipped even when it was clearly not required. We found a sandwich shop near the apartment we rented in Florence that offered a 6" sandwich, any combination of meats/veg for E2.50 -basically $3. I'd suggest avoid any place located on a main piazza -sure the views are great, but you pay for location like anywhere else. In Florence, go to Mercato Centrale and eat at Nerbone -all dishes are less than E7, and you'll be eating with plenty of locals. My best advice is do your homework before leaving, learn to speak basic phrases(even in Rome where they speak too much English!) -the people will respect your effort and help you. Have a great trip!