How much does a trip to Italy cost?

Italy trip cost at a glance (12 days, per person)

The totals assume a 12-day first trip of Rome, Florence and Venice, or a northern loop like our Venice, Verona and Bologna itinerary with Florence added.

• Budget: about $660 to $960 on the ground, plus the flight. Hostel beds or simple B&B rooms, bar breakfasts, pizza al taglio and supermarket lunches, regional trains and advance high-speed fares.

• Mid-range: about $1,380 to $2,400 on the ground, plus the flight. Three-star hotels in the centres, restaurant dinners with wine, timed museum tickets and a guided visit or two.

• Comfort: start above about $200 a day. Venice and Florence hotels on the Grand Canal or the Arno, and summer on the Amalfi Coast, go far beyond that.

Season moves the room line more than anything else. July and August rooms in Venice and on the coasts can cost far more than the same room in November; see best time to visit Italy and best time to visit Venice.

To price your own dates, group size and style, try the Italy trip cost calculator.

Flights

• From the US: FareCompare puts the average New York to Rome return at about $630 and Boston to Rome at about $720, with low-cost transatlantic fares from around $390 to $440 on its listings. West Coast fares are much higher: an Alaska Airlines page showed Seattle to Rome from about $1,050. FareCompare also names October as typically the cheapest month to fly to Rome.

• From the UK: Italy is a short-haul flight, and budget carriers serve most Italian airports; the flight is usually a small share of the total, but price the bag fee before comparing.

• From Australia: this is a long-haul ticket via the Gulf or Asia, and it will usually be the largest line in the trip.

An open-jaw ticket, into Venice and out of Rome, often costs about the same as a return and saves a backtrack by train. Timing advice is in how far in advance to book international flights.

Accommodation and the tourist tax

Rooms are the biggest daily cost. Bologna is the cheaper base for Emilia-Romagna and an hour or less from Florence by high-speed train, and Venice can be visited from cheaper Mestre; see where to stay in Venice and how many days in Bologna.

Almost every Italian city adds a tourist tax per person per night, paid at the hotel and often in cash. 2026 guides put Rome at about €7.50 (≈ $8.4) a night in a four-star hotel and €10 (≈ $11.1) in a five-star, and Florence at €6 to €8 (≈ $6.7–8.9) for three- to five-star hotels with a seven-night cap. Over 12 nights for two people that is a real line; the full list is in Italy's tourist tax by city.

Venice adds a separate day-tripper access fee on designated days for visitors not staying overnight: €5 (≈ $5.6) if paid at least four days ahead, €10 (≈ $11.1) later. Hotel guests are exempt from it but pay the city tax instead; see the Venice entry fee.

Transport: trains are cheap if you book early

Italy's high-speed trains use dynamic pricing. Seat61 reports Rome to Florence Frecciarossa fares from about €19.90 (≈ $22) booked ahead, against a flexible Base fare around €55 (≈ $61) on the day. Italo competes on the same lines. Booking the main legs a few weeks out is the single biggest transport saving.

Regional trains have fixed, lower fares and need no advance booking, which suits short hops like Venice to Verona or Bologna to Parma; we went on from Verona to Bologna for 4 days, then Venice for 3. Venice itself runs on vaporetto water buses, and a multi-day pass beats single tickets if you ride more than a few times; see how many days in Venice and day trips from Venice.

A rental car only makes sense for Tuscany's countryside, Puglia or the Dolomites, and city centres have ZTL restricted zones that fine drivers automatically: read driving in Italy and the ZTL before you rent.

Food, sights and extras

An espresso at the bar, pizza al taglio, and supermarket picnics keep a budget day low; see Italian grocery stores. Sit-down restaurants often add a per-person coperto, so read the menu first: coperto explained. Bologna is one of the best-value food cities in the north: what to eat in Bologna and what to eat in Venice.

Big-ticket sights: the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine combined ticket is about €18 (≈ $20) on the official site, and the Vatican Museums about €20 (≈ $22) plus an online booking fee; confirm on the official sites before paying. Many churches are free, though dress codes apply: see what to wear in Italy. Around Easter, Rome fills up and tickets sell out; see Easter 2027 in Rome.

EU visitors roam freely; others should compare options in the Italy eSIM guide. Add travel insurance. ETIAS, the EU's planned travel authorisation, had still not launched as of October 2026, so there is no entry fee to budget yet; check whether you need a visa for Italy.

How to bring the total down

• Go in shoulder season. April to May and late September to October avoid August prices and heat.

• Base in cheaper cities: Bologna over Florence, Mestre over central Venice, and Verona as a cheaper northern stop.

• Book high-speed trains early, use regional trains for short hops.

• Make lunch the restaurant meal and picnic or eat street food at night.

For more countries at a similar price, compare cheapest places to travel in Europe in 2027.

Frequently asked questions