How much does a trip to Italy cost?

Lodging is the only line that really counts. It creates the gap between a €70 day and a €130 day. A three-star room runs from €49 in Naples to €170 in Venice, at comparable comfort. Over seven nights, that single difference is €850.

The flight is negligible, which is rare. Venice at €16, Milan at €18, Naples at €22, Rome at €23, Florence at €41: connections from London are so numerous that competition crushes the fares. No point twisting your dates to save twenty euros on airfare when one badly chosen hotel night costs a hundred.

Food is easy to steer. A plate of pasta at a neighborhood trattoria runs €10 to €14, a Neapolitan pizza €6 to €9, against double that on a tourist square. This is a line where the gap between sensible and absurd is a few streets wide.

Sights are the most underestimated line. The Colosseum, the Uffizi, the Doge's Palace need booking ahead and cost money. Three major sites in a week is €60 to €80 per person, to budget from the start.

April-May and September-October are the window to aim for. Temperatures sit around 17 to 21°C in the Centre, sites are workable all day, and hotel rates come down a notch from summer.

July and August are best avoided if you can. Rome averages over 25°C, with far higher peaks on shadeless sites like the Forum or Pompeii. It is also when Italians take their holidays: cities empty of residents and fill with visitors, giving the worst comfort-to-price ratio of the year.

Winter is the real bargain, November to March, outside the year-end holidays. Rome stays at 7 or 8°C, which is mild, queues vanish and rates collapse. Venice in January costs a fraction of its summer price. The trade-off is rain, November being the wettest month.

On airfare, seasonality changes little: flights range from €16 to €41 year-round. Do not set your dates by the flight, set them by the hotel.

Eating. The rule is geographic: the further from a monument, the less you pay. A pizza in Naples costs €6 to €9, a plate of pasta at a trattoria €10 to €14, double that on a tourist square. Two traps worth knowing: the coperto, a per-person cover charge added at many places, and the menu posted in four languages, a reliable sign to walk on. An espresso at the counter costs about €1.20, but two to three times more if you sit outside: same coffee, different pricing.

Getting around. Trains are excellent and cheap when booked early: Rome to Florence drops below €20 several weeks ahead, against €50 and up on the day. Within cities, the historic centre is always walkable. Venice has no cars, and the vaporetto is expensive: walk, the city crosses in forty minutes.

Sightseeing. This is where you must plan ahead. Major sites require timed booking and fill weeks in advance in season. Budget €18 to €25 per major museum. Against that, a huge share of Italian heritage is free: churches, many holding major works, squares, fountains and the listed historic centres.

Currency. The euro, so no exchange or conversion fee for a eurozone traveler. Contactless cards work everywhere, but keep some coins: small shops, neighborhood cafés and markets still lean on cash.

Language. Italian. English is common in hotels and at tourist sites, rarer in neighborhood trattorias, which are precisely the best addresses. A few words noticeably change the welcome.

Booking. This is the point not to neglect. Major museums run on timed slots and sell out weeks ahead from April to October. Booking at the last minute often means giving up the site or paying a middleman.

Rhythm. Lunch is around 1pm, dinner rarely before 8pm, and many kitchens close between services. In the South, several shops shut for the early afternoon.