Six Secrets to Budget Travel in Italy

A vacation to Italy is a dream for many Americans. Despite a weak U.S. dollar against the euro, Italy continues to be a popular destination for U.S. travelers. I'm sharing six secrets to budget travel learned during my November 2007 vacation in Italy in hopes your trip won't be as expensive.

Secret #1 to Budget Travel in Italy: Gate 1 Travel Vacation Packages
A friend and I decided to travel to Italy over Thanksgiving. My friend selected the cities to visit, Florence, Rome and Venice. I was tasked at securing travel arrangements and activities. Being a traveler and not a sightseer, I looked for a travel package with little structure.

After researching, I chose Gate 1 Travel because they offered the best price. I secured the $700 per person land package called "8 Day Venice, Florence & Rome by Rail." The Italy vacation package included two nights in each city in single accommodations and rail transportation from Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome.

Flights were booked through Gate 1 Travel. My flight into Venice and out of Rome cost $966.

Gate 1 Travel is a decent travel company to book budget travel to Italy, especially for the first-time traveler to Europe. Their customer service leading up to and during my trip was outstanding.

Secret #2 to Budget Travel in Italy: Where We Saved Money
Purchasing Rick Steves' 2008 Italy Guidebook was the best money spent. The book offered helpful budget travel tips on where to eat, what to do and what to see.

We ate primarily from bars and pizza shops and always took our meal away. Sitting down at a table can almost double the meal's cost. Included in the hotel stay was complimentary breakfast so we only had to purchase lunch, dinner and snacks.

Public transportation is easily accessible in Italy. We primarily used public buses, vaporetti (public water buses), trains and underground rail. For as little as two euros we were able to get from point A to point B. I highly recommend the vaporetto three-day travel card for 22 euros in Venice. It's a fabulous way to get around and see the city.

I'm fortunate to have a global network of friends. A gentleman I met on my trip to Afghanistan in March 2006 lives near Rome. He picked up my friend and me from the Rome train station, took us to our hotel followed by lunch and sightseeing. Not only was it terrific saving on our travel budget and receiving a tour by a local, it was wonderful seeing a friend in his native country.

I'm a traveler and not a sightseer. I'm all about the journey and not necessarily the sights. During the vacation in Italy, we walked daily taking in the Italian way of life. By far, this is the best (and cheapest) way to sightsee.

Minimum was spent seeing the tourist sights but we did see a lot on organized tours and wandering into museums and attractions on our own.

Secret #3 to Budget Travel in Italy: Souvenirs I Collected
It was tempting to purchase a pair of leather driving gloves as my souvenir. Minding my budget, I ended up spending about $300 in Italian souvenirs for myself and others. Cheap souvenirs included rosaries from the Vatican, a bottle of limoncello (lemon liqueur) and sweet Italian candy.

Secret #4 to Budget Travel in Italy: Where We Splurged
I'm a budget traveler but when it comes to traveling on a train, I want the best I can afford. On my vacation in Italy I decided I could afford the $38 upgrade to first class.

I made it a mission to eat yummy Italian gelato daily. I even admit to eating it twice on Thanksgiving. I have no shame. Prices ranged between two and three euros.

Secret #5 to Budget Travel in Italy: Mistakes Made
I hate calling these mistakes and would rather call them "detours" but either way these incidents cost time or money.

We should have paid the full amount for the Italy trip rather than just paying a deposit. Since the trip was not paid in full when the airlines implemented a fuel surcharge, we were each hit with an additional $20 fee.

I didn't research enough prior to the trip. While we saw and did so many things in the eight days, I feel we missed a great deal.

A spontaneous trip to Pisa was longer than necessary. When jumping on the bus in Florence, we didn't pay attention to the bus number. Although it was heading towards the Florence train station, it was going the opposite direction and we spent an unnecessary 90 minutes on the bus. Understanding the bus schedule would have prevented this.

Secret #6 to Budget Travel in Italy: Bragging Rights
Budget travelers make sacrifices and many were made on this trip but, the best part about budget travel is creating experiences no one else will ever have. Bragging rights are priceless.

May these budget travel secrets for Italy help you plan an affordable, yet memorable experience of a lifetime.

Author's Note: During my visit to Italy, the U.S. dollar was at an all-time low against the Euro. The exchange rate was 1 Euro = 1.50 U.S. dollar.