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Good Things From Italy - Le Cose Buone d’Italia
If you’ve been reading along with me for a while, you know that I am not quite a budget traveler, but I’m not a luxury traveler either. I am willing to spend a little more on a truly great local meal, a comfortable living space, or a stunning view. But I’m also willing to spend some time bargain hunting and getting creative with my travel.
You probably also know that I often try and track expenses and share them here on the blog so that you can get a sense of what it costs to spend a few weeks in Germany or a month in the Italian countryside.
Without further ado, then, here’s my cost breakdown for a month in Umbria (Tuscany’s lesser-visited-but-still-gorgeous neighbor). Please note that this is a solidly mid-range budget and I’ve made lots of notes and given more detail below the breakdown.
Amounts are in American dollars.
Cozy one-bedroom apartment with a view $1047Trains – Milano airport to Perugia $96.49Wine $45.22Breakfast/warm drinks $31.32Groceries $217.30Eating out $60.71Bus and train fares (day-to-day) $73.15Gifts $71.28Books and supplies $74.34Luna food and supplies $34.58New winter coat $106.27ATM & exchange fees $25.00
Total: $1882.–
At the time of this trip, $1 US dollar was equal to 0.74 euro.
Notes on my spending in Perugia: I splurged a bit on my sweet apartment overlooking the hills (totally worth it, by the way), but otherwise kept costs quite low. One of the things I love most about Italy is that the food here is seasonal, simple, and incredibly packed with taste. And I don’t just mean the restaurant food. I can be perfectly happy with some locally made olive oil, fresh bread from the bakery, and a little pasta with tomatos that I whipped up myself, which is why I ate in quite a lot and my eating out budget came in super low.
My wine and buying-a-cute-new-winter-coat budgets were a little higher.
So, with all that in mind, please note that if you are a budget traveler, you could easily do Umbria for half of what I spent (by couchsurfing, camping, hosteling, or just finding one of the local university students with a room to rent, and by not splurging on the “special” – read: expensive – wine or buying things like new winter coats). And if you have a little more to spend, you could easily spend it eating out every night or taking frequent day trips around the countryside.
As for me, I was content to peruse Perugia, take a couple day trips to Rome and Assisi, and sit at the window, enjoying my view with a glass of rich local wine and a plate of pasta a la arrabata (pasta with angry sauce).
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