How much does a 2 week trip to Italy cost?

We just finished up a 2 week trip to Italy, and here's the breakdown of exactly how much it all cost. All these figures are for 2 people, and there's a lot of variability in the prices, so be sure to watch this one all the way to the end to get most accurate figure. Oh yeah, and if you want to check out our Skillshare course to save you thousands on flights, the link is here, and the first 500 to use it can get Skillshare free for a month! skl.sh/3wstHhf
We ended up taking trains from Rome to Florence to Venice to Genoa and Cinque Terre. I definitely think that taking the train around Italy is the best and most efficient way to see everything, by far. You can fly from Rome to Venice, or Rome to Genoa, but doing so would honestly take longer than just taking the train, adding up all the time to get out to the airport and back, and waiting at the airport itself. Trains are the way to go.
One of the things that surprised us the most is just how expensive hotels have gotten - it seems like just about every budget or lower-end hotel just... disappeared over the last year. That makes me super sad, to see an entire class of accomodation not be able to make it through the pandemic. Also, Airbnb's were extremely expensive - not for their nightly rates, but for all of the additional Airbnb fees + cleaning fees. It seems like Airbnb has really been cranking up their fees recently, and I can't really recommend staying at any of them in Italy, it just doesn't make financial sense here.
Also, even though it pains me so, so, so much to watch - check out the very end for a rare behind the scenes look at how we make our travel thursday song, lol :)
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The places we stayed in Italy here:
Rome - Merulana Holidays - booking.tp.st/Li7nTY9q
Florence -c-Hotels Joy - booking.tp.st/W6qwKh3v
Venice - Hotel Santa Lucia - booking.tp.st/3KSQBvKz
Genoa - Holiday Inn - booking.tp.st/r1NoYUVZ
Genoa - Hotel Agnello D'oro - booking.tp.st/OjeIr6id
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😍
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[@JourneywithJenandDrew]

Love how transparent y’all are with this whole process! It helps everyone so much on what a budget would look like for a trip like this 😊

[@LisaAndJosh]

Thank you so much for the kind words - we're really trying to share as much of this process as we can. Our secret (well not so secret anymore) goal with this whole thing is to help at least 1 person take the leap and go on a big long trip around the world :) Money's such a touchy subject, but it doesn't have to be

[@aa77655]

Yes 😢

[@cwillys240z4]

Thanks for the breakdown. You guys are doing good & staying pretty close to the plan. Keep it up!

[@LisaAndJosh]

As close as we can :) and thank you!

[@roseliayatiz491]

Out of all the videos I've seen, this is the only one that was great in explaining the budget for a 2 week trip.. keep up the good work.

[@LisaAndJosh]

Awesome, thank you!

[@flaviozanotti8352]

Love from italy ❣️ Just a little advice, Do not stay in the city for too long, turn a little in the villages, it's cheaper and more characteristic, less marked by tourists

[@Juice_7]

Great video with lots of useful info. Seems like we have a lot in common when traveling so this will definitely help me out when I visit Rome . 👍🏽 🇮🇹

[@LisaAndJosh]

Super happy to hear that it was helpful! :)

[@tammyferguson3520]

Love this ! So much useful information! 👍

[@Currentlycarly777]

Omigosh that intro was so cute lol. You guys are just so adorable!!! I love the energy and vibe you both have :) Great video!

[@LisaAndJosh]

haha, thank you :)

[@hazelandarmanmaghanoy7412]

I am planning a trip to Italy with my husband for next year and I am so happy I stumbled on your channel. You are both upfront and unpretentious and I love that! The places you went to are also in our plans and having an idea on the budget side is very helpful. I will be watching your adventures the next few months till our trip.

[@LisaAndJosh]

That’s awesome to hear! Thanks for finding us and following along. Excited for your travels!!!

[@JZeverybody]

Thank you guys very informative. I really appreciated it!

[@LisaAndJosh]

so glad it was helpful! :)

[@LissMC00]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@olgamilevskaya5619]

Good job, guys!

[@TravelAdventureswithEricB]

Travel Thursday I love it and Love Italy,thanks guys

[@LisaAndJosh]

:) thank you!

[@imeldagenovea8500]

Love your videos guys... so informative. A fan here from nyc

[@LisaAndJosh]

Thanks so much :) so happy to hear that it was useful!

[@Rj-nh1df]

Very good breakdown! GRAZIi

[@ageoflove1980]

I got to say... if you plan to visit Italy for 2 weeks... Don't do what you did, as in... way to much. If you plan your trip like this it's just following a checklist. Don't suffer from fear of missing out and know you just can't see everything and you don't have to. I'd say Rome alone is at least a week to truly experience it without having to rush things. Just take Ostia Antica for example, its a huge archaeological site of the ancient port of Rome and you can easily spend the whole day there. And you want empty days in your schedule to, just wander aimlessly though the streets and usually the best experiences happen on days like that. . Also Florence is at least a week. It's not just the city you know, its the area around it, Tuscany, that is incredibly beautiful. Ancient towns like Siena or San Gimignano can easily provide for an entire day's worth of activities. Just go on long walks through these old villages and the countryside to truly experience the local vibe. So I'd say 2 locations max in 2 weeks. You are not there for the Instagram shots of all the landmarks, you are there for yourself and its exactly the fear of missing out that causes you to miss out because you are never really fully there.

[@LisaAndJosh]

Way too much for sure. We learned later on the in the trip to slow down, and are still in that process of slowing down. Love your viewpoint on Florence and the area around it. I think we spent too little time there, and definitely realized that we need to get out of the cities. We are honestly, also, unfortunately, there a *bit* for the IG shots, being people that make KZbin videos, but that's definitely not the focus. These are all great tips - thank you!

[@ageoflove1980]

@@LisaAndJosh Sure of course and its great that you can finance at least a part of your travels through social media! But even then, you might find an audience for spots that are perhaps less known. Take Gabriel Traveler for example. Great travel KZbinr and love his unedited "wandering around" videos of just random street scenes and all that.

[@TwiinStar1224]

No matter how long you go you can never really see everything. There's people who live in Italy and don't even explore. I'd rather do the big checklist items then spend a week in the same city.

[@ageoflove1980]

@@TwiinStar1224 The problem with that is that you lose so much time with packing your stuff, checking out of the hotel, go to the airport etc etc and once you arrive do the same thing in reverse. Setting up camp in one city and explore from there is that you can really devote your time with doing what you are there for in the first place. And staying in the same city for a week doesnt mean you have to spend all your time there: Rome and Florence ae not on an island. There are many, many world-class destinations and attractions you can easily do on a day trip, like: Ostia, Villa Adriana in Tivoli and Orvieto from Rome and places like Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano from Florence. These are some of the best Roman era ruins and archeological sites, and some of the most beautiful renaissance centers of architecture, culture and art, in the world. There is really no point in moving on to different places if you havent seen these yet, right at the location where you already were in the first place.

[@fiveinitaly]

Great one. Salute 👍👍

[@DaPhenomAce]

Thanks! This helps a lot. Going to Italy at the end of May for 10 days and also flying out of DFW. Gonna try my best to stick to a budget

[@marthadeleon3029]

This one very helpful, since I am trying to decide to do an travel agency package or do it solo

[@NzePriddie]

Very resourceful information, especially about the Trainitalia option, didn’t even know they offered one, seems more economical to use trainitalia passes while in Italy 🇮🇹 and Eurail pass for most of Europe. Thanks again.

[@LisaAndJosh]

I think this is the right way to think about it now that we've gone and done it

[@NzePriddie]

@@LisaAndJosh Note: More companies are off much cheaper high speed rail travel in Europe..one started service in Spain from Barcelona too Madrid. For under €10 .

[@Jeana4life]

Found this video today and it's so funny because plan on making the same city stops except we are going to Genoa before venice and flying home from venice.

[@lyndatalamayan1426]

Thanks for sharing the details! My husband and I are planning to Italy and it’s our first time. Is it okay to share the names of your accommodation so we can benchmark? Thanks a lot. Planning to go to rome, Florence and Venice . Thanks a lot

[@alaa_sami18]

Really like your videos guys 😊

[@miky23MJ]

I love Italy! 😍 The most beautiful country in the world!

[@jillianortiz4018]

You guys are amazing !! Great videos !!!!

[@LisaAndJosh]

Thanks so much for watching!!

[@korenng5553]

So helpful...

[@aoefeable]

I’m going solo to Italy and France for a month next spring and this helps me with pre-planning!

[@LisaAndJosh]

so awesome! have a great time!!

[@aoefeable]

@@LisaAndJosh thank you!

[@luciamontilla6198]

Awesome video! Thank you! Did you buy your train tickets in advance?

[@LisaAndJosh]

That would be a really good idea to save some money - we went with the Eurail Global pass (for our overall 3 month trip to Europe), but I think buying in advance is the best way to save some $$$ on the trains.

[@eiiichoo]

Hi Josh, Where did you stay in Venice? Thanks

[@gachalife-gk4qz]

Thanks Guys that's some very helpful information. I am a budget traveller too and I have noticed how much more expensive western Europe has become now interns of accommodations. Maybe prices will go back down in 2022🤞

[@LisaAndJosh]

Right? It's been crazy high prices lately, everything just seems 20% higher.

[@mela4832]

Thank you for the helpful information and insight! Would you happen to know or remember if it costs to use restrooms there? I’ve heard mixed reviews but just curious.

[@LisaAndJosh]

Good question! We remember some toilets costing half .50 euro, but definitely not in all of them. Paris had some really nice ones along the walking paths too!

[@spark_6710]

Ooh...oops ! I thought I had already commented here as I watched as soon as you uploaded this !! Most likely I got caught up with all the Olympics things ...!! This video was another excellent one !! I am so glad that I am subbed to your channel now !!! 👍👍🐈‍⬛🐈💜💜💜💜🥁🐉🎵🎤🎶💕💞

[@LisaAndJosh]

Thank you so much! :)

[@spark_6710]

@@LisaAndJosh You're very welcome ! I love your channel !! Keep coming with all those great videos !! 👍👍🙋‍♀️💜🥁🐉🎵🎤🎶💕💞

[@fotogian]

from venice to genoa... you could go from venice to milan and then from milan to genoa. but you went to turin (porta nuova) and then to genoa, so the trip is longer (300km) and, of course, more expansive

[@LisaAndJosh]

Unfortunately we don't make the train schedules! :) we just took the fastest for that day

[@lenalindley8643]

I hit the like button the moment I saw Lisa being musical with spoon.. excellent start!!

[@LisaAndJosh]

lol, love this, thank you :)

[@aa77655]

😄

[@michaelmorrissette5691]

Great and very transparent video. What app/websites do you use to find such inexpensive hotels? Did you book super early? I am going to Italy soon (October)and hotels seem more expensive right now.

[@LisaAndJosh]

We used apps like booking and hotels, and just google hotels too. We also were traveling early last July, so it was right when things were starting to reopen.

[@Rustyjamesman]

Looking to do 2 weeks solo trip this fall! I did a week in Rome already and loved it and want to see the rest of Italy

[@leonhultman2724]

Did you do it? Which cities did you visit?

[@glendenataylor3312]

Thus video is extremely helpful....

[@Soso-ok8jz]

We choose Costco travel 10 days total.Rome, Florence and Venice. Flight, hotel and train for 5.240 for two. Im sure we could save more but is going to be our first time in Europe so we want it to make sure to be stress free.

[@southernbella8503]

How was it? My sister and I are going to Dublin with cosmos. Was it 5,240 per person or totally?

[@Soso-ok8jz]

@@southernbella8503 everything went exactly like description. The hotels went from nice to very nice and were located on good areas. I

[@BigCityCBGs]

Did you book all your Hotels before you arrived or did you do it there city by city

[@cinnamorollgaming79]

So, I found this video while watching videos of Italy and reminiscing about our family trip to Italy last year. I saw the shot of your gate board and was like holy crap that was our flight. Anyway I thought that was funny. Lol

[@LisaAndJosh]

Haha No way!! So you made it to Rome I’m guessing? :)

[@cinnamorollgaming79]

@@LisaAndJosh we did! Then to Positano then back to Rome. It was an awesome trip! Also, man I should have proof read that comment. Lol!

[@lailaaamir01]

Very nice and informative video! Unfortunately now the prices for all the hotels you mentioned have gone up to more then $200/night. Don’t know where to stay on budget now?!

[@TwiinStar1224]

Exactly I'm going next February and even in off-season prices are crazy high.

[@kauraman5620]

Which hotel did you stay at Florence ? And what was the cost?

[@Walts-Travel]

You guys are hilarious!!! So I was like getting a package deal with hotel for 7 days for like 1700 round trip. I'm thinking now just get the flight and live local and stretch it to two weeks. I have to get pass this vertigo thing that has me grounded at the moment. 😭

[@LisaAndJosh]

Haha thank you! Dude, I've been struggling with on-and-off vertigo as well for the past 4 months - it's the worst. I hope it passes soon for you, it's super debilitating and terrible.

[@Walts-Travel]

@@LisaAndJosh FOUR MONTHS!!!! Keep water out of your ears. You need a decongestant. How did you fly on the plane? It's like anything clinging or loud music or certain sounds. Hey your a rock star. It kills being a sound engineer when you can't be in the room without ear plugs. Ie you need to hear. 4 months!!!! Get better and keep your ears dry. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@missdizziest]

Muwhahahahaha, great video about Italy, but even funnier utensil song (you two and mad 😅).

[@Walts-Travel]

Travel Thursdays!!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@LisaAndJosh]

:)

[@albertkgill7116]

Nice video

[@remyrockefeller5877]

is it cheap over there then it is in the us how does the money work

[@cookingwithhua7237]

What would your estimated budget be without the reward points for flights and hotel? Thanks for the total update!

[@LisaAndJosh]

Hoooo, this is a tough one to answer accurately, and if you've been watching our videos, you know I'm all about being as accurate as I can when we publish something... spreadsheets and such. I can for sure say that it would be more, by, at a minimum, $7,500, as that's the flights / hotels that we have planned to offset with points. But, if we had no points, we would also take different and cheaper options to get from place to place. So, it's hard to get an objective answer to this. Sorry that I can't answer this directly - we will make a video summarizing up all of Europe when we're done, and I'll add a part in of "Points Savings" to hopefully answer that.

[@irfanhaider6880]

Great 💗

[@ebonyvasquez5454]

What do you book first? The rooms or the flights?

[@LisaAndJosh]

Flights first always :)

[@smilingenius76]

Two week in Italy in so many places is not a good way to enjoy a vacation. I would say stressful. The more you stay the more you enjoy ...and spend less money. Have a nice time in Switzerland!

[@LisaAndJosh]

Ha yeah - we moved too fast, for sure :) if you figure out some way to slow down time, we would really appreciate it!

[@barboncity]

fantastic videos, just what are you doing with a carton of eggs on the road?

[@LisaAndJosh]

Ha, uh, well.... I don't have a good excuse. We like to cook sometimes instead of eating out :)

[@juliachambers725]

Looks like it’s doable without buying 2000 guided tours only to see three major cities and go to three major places. Although I’m not sure where I’ll be on what day. Do you think there will be hotels rooms at all times available?

[@LisaAndJosh]

it's definitely doable, and honestly, i would never pay for a guided tour of any of these places. they're so safe, so easy to get around - no matter how much travel experience you have, it's easy to get around here. there were plenty of hotel rooms available the whole time that we were there!

[@juliachambers725]

Do you need to have all three vaccines to go to all attraction?

[@1301595]

Hi i'm actually shocked how cheap the hotel price per nights you guys got. I kept looking for hotel in Rome and most of it is over $100 dollars per night, what websites were you guys booking from/how did you find them?

[@LisaAndJosh]

we used mostly booking.com--we were also there right at the beginning of July 2021, so that might also explain the price difference

[@1301595]

@@LisaAndJosh ahhhh i see! now everything is over 100 :(((

[@albertorojas3073]

Hotel recommendation for Florence Rome Venice I am planning a trip in September 2023

[@heqi250]

How much is the Covid test there and where did you get it?

[@LisaAndJosh]

we got our COVID test in the US before we left - we did not need to get one upon arrival at the time we got there.

[@mariahsart]

Do you not use Airbnb? Or were you finding the hotels to be cheaper?

[@LisaAndJosh]

Hotels cheaper for sure. Is it just me, or have the Airbnb fees gotten crazy lately? The daily rate usually makes sense, but the cleaning and Airbnb fees make it not really a good option anymore.

[@mariahsart]

@@LisaAndJosh Yeah I think you are right! It used to be the way to go for sure.

[@aa77655]

Airbnb good for long stay

[@LifeisaPhotoOp]

@@LisaAndJosh Especially if it's only for a few nights. If you're at a place for a week or month or more, then AirBnb works. Thanks for the video!

[@christianfann9130]

Good deal

[@albertorojas3073]

What year and what month did you go

[@LisaAndJosh]

july 2021!

[@anrn5303]

@4:38, @7:14 "Terre" in Cinque "Terre" was misspelled... :)

[@ip3931]

So if someone booked a hotel and flight with a British airline ... they'd still get charged this city tax?

[@cassandrarowsell7826]

Hi, is this in US$. ?

[@aa77655]

Yep

[@LisaAndJosh]

It is :)

[@arma.7292]

people from all over the world come to Italy, we have 70% of the archaeological beauties of the whole world, a wonderful sea and you will eat the best foods in the world, our museums are full of masterpieces and our beautiful cities, and then we are a people funny and ironic. And we are cheap, you can eat a Pizza in Naples (the real one) for only 4 euros and enjoy one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Without speaking of Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, Rome our eternal city, Venice the most particular and romantic place there is. But all the regions of central Italy such as Umbria, Marche, Molise. Without speaking of the south our jewel at sea level and landscapes. You can go to the Alps, the 5 lands of Liguria. and then there are Sardinia and Sicily and the many other beautiful islands we have. As an Italian I am proud to live and be born in such a place.

[@LisaAndJosh]

It is amazing, for sure :) thanks for sharing it with us!

[@luigibacchetti6539]

la gondola costa. la gondola è solamente un giro di giostra. the gondola costs. the gondola is only a carousel ride (cit.)

[@LisaAndJosh]

But a nice one, right? :)

[@luigibacchetti6539]

@@LisaAndJosh Right = Giusto

[@aa77655]

This is problems for websites for reservations hotels didn't include all fees 😑😒

[@LisaAndJosh]

True - it's always bad surprises

[@appleblossom345]

I wish I could travel this frugal 😭 I'm way too damn extra lmao

[@LisaAndJosh]

lol - it's not for everyone, but i'm sure your way of traveling is super fun :)

[@aa77655]

Where is this 10:02

[@LisaAndJosh]

This one! goo.gl/maps/wribEfwchxQFkekg6

[@albertorojas3073]

Never mind I see the links below Thanks

[@LisaAndJosh]

glad they were useful! :)

[@aa77655]

How to count

[@LisaAndJosh]

I sometimes use both my toes and my fingers

[@bohboh8]

❤🇮🇹⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🇮🇹❤

[@LisaAndJosh]

🤙

[@planeaddiction2560]

are you talking US Funds or Euro?????

[@LisaAndJosh]

$$ USD

[@anrn5303]

@2:01 "accommodation" was misspelled :)

[@Nocturna.]

my god am i not the cheapest traveller 😂

[@stevenziko8842]

Wait…..you did all the budget prep/research to save money, but didn’t know women can’t show shoulders in the basilica?

[@barbart_]

theres so many mistakes in this video. Firenze-Venezia for 120 dollars?! it costs 57 euro...the gondola for two people costs 60 euro. what kind of budget trip is this lol

[@sadieswilliams7746]

What is euro to dollars?