Quick Answer

Budget travelers manage on 70 to 90 euros per day including a hostel bed or budget guesthouse, pizza al taglio and trattoria meals, and regional trains or local buses. Mid-range travelers should plan for 150 to 220 euros per day, and comfort or luxury trips run 300 euros a day and up, before international flights.

Read the full guide: Italy Travel Budget: What It Costs Per Day (2026)

Is Italy expensive to visit?

It depends heavily on where and how. Espresso, pizza al taglio and trattoria lunch menus are cheap, and regional trains and city buses cost only a few euros. The costs that add up are international flights, hotels in Venice and Milan, high-speed trains booked last-minute, and paid museum tickets — control those and Italy is very manageable. Booking those high-speed trains early instead of last-minute is the single biggest lever — see our trains booking guide — and it’s worth checking whether a rail pass is worth it in Italy before assuming it saves money.

How much is food per day in Italy?

Expect 18 to 30 euros a day on a budget trip — pizza al taglio, market lunches and one trattoria meal — and 35 to 60 euros a day mid-range with a trattoria lunch and dinner most days. A standing espresso runs 1.20 to 1.50 euros, and a full trattoria dinner with two courses is 20 to 30 euros. If Venice is on the itinerary, Venice’s access fee is one more cost to plan for — overnight guests are exempt, but day-trippers on certain dates aren’t. Our answers guide has more of these quick Italy cost breakdowns.