How Much We Spent Traveling in Rome
Rome was the last stop on our trip this summer. Since it’s such a big city with so many things to do, we booked nine nights, and really, that wasn’t even enough. We did several tours, wandered around to do our own sightseeing, and made sure to fit in lots of relaxation time. We actually considered staying for another night or two, but the apartment we were in was not available. Here’s how much we spent traveling in Rome for nine days.
Total Rome Spending
595€ / $779.45 – accommodation
56€ / $73.36 – trains
45€ / $58.95 – other transportation
415.05€ / $543.72 – food and alcohol
2.75€ / $3.60 – miscellaneous
1,113.80€ / $1,459.08 – total
444€ / $581.64 – what we would’ve spent on the Walks of Italy tours
Cost of Lodging in Rome – 595€
Once again we rented an apartment from Airbnb, this time for nine nights. It turned out to be a little farther from the center of town that we had hoped (one reason of many to do more research before booking an apartment) but it was the best apartment we had overall on our trip. It had just about everything we needed to cook, the apartment itself was cozy and decorated with things from the owner’s travels, and the bathroom had a one way window in the shower so we could look out at the neighborhood. For nine nights, this averaged out to 66.11€ per night or about 33.06€ per person per night.
Train spending – 56€
This was for each of our train tickets from Salerno to Rome. Our train tickets from Rome back home to Freiburg were purchased at the last minute and cost 337.50€ but I didn’t think that was relevant for most people’s budget planning.
Other transportation spending in Rome – 45€
This includes all bus and metro tickets we used in Rome. Day tickets cost 6€ per person, though we only used them once. Mostly we just purchased singles, which cost 1.50€ per person for one journey. The day ticket was worth it on the day we went to see the gorgeous views of Rome because we knew we were going to be taking several trips within the city, but most days we were only taking one trip into the center and one trip back home at the end of the day.
Food and alcohol costs in Rome – 415.05€
As with most of our trip, we could’ve done better with how much we spent on food in Rome. We ate several dinners and lunches out and went to a bar for drinks a couple nights. We bought a bottle of chocolate chilli liquor to bring home with us. And how could we resist eating lots of gelato! But we did buy groceries and eat in often too. This averages out to about 46.12€ per day or 23.06€ per person per day.
>>Before your trip, learn more about Italy’s wine regions.
Activities in Rome
We didn’t go to any museums or any sights that had entrance fees except for the places we visited on our tours. I included the total price of the Walks of Italy tours above so you can work it into your budget in case you decide to book them on your trip to Rome. We were able to get three tours from Walks of Italy in exchange for writing about them on our blogs, but we would’ve paid for them otherwise.
The three tours were: the Roman Forum and Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican, and a food tour with pizza making. (We loved the pizza making tour so much, we paid to take it again a year later with my parents.) Other sights such as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are free.
Miscellaneous spending – 2.75€
This was just for a handful of postcards. Certainly add more to your Rome travel budget if you like to buy souvenirs.
Rome is one of the most popular cities to visit in Italy, and with good reason. There is so much history and so many things to do and see. Unfortunately it means it can get expensive if you’re not careful. Renting an apartment can definitely help reduce costs. I doubt we could’ve found a decent hotel room for 595€ for nine nights. Plus having the apartment meant we were able to eat breakfast at home every day and make several other meals ourselves instead of eating out all the time.
Our overall spending for traveling in Rome for nine days averages out to 123.74€ per day or 61.88€ per person per day. If you add in the cost of the tours, our average would’ve been 173.09€ per day or 86.54€ per person per day. Not a cheap destination, but well worth it.
You might also enjoy:
- Unconventional Italy Guidebook: 100 Locals Tell You Where to Go, What to Eat, and How to Fit In
- Which Food Tour in Rome Should You Take?
- How Much We Spent Traveling on the Amalfi Coast
- How Much I Spent Traveling in Cinque Terre
- Or check out more posts about real travel budgets


November 7, 2013 @ 10:17 AM
Great post, Ali. It’s always good to know in advance what costs you are likely to be up for when you get to a destination, so your info above is really useful.
I agree that staying in apartments is a good way to save money on meals and by doing so, when you do treat yourself to a meal out, it can be extra special!
Thanks for the helpful post.
November 7, 2013 @ 6:09 PM
Thanks Carolyn, I’m glad it was helpful!
November 7, 2013 @ 2:31 PM
I wouldn’t be too worried about the food and beverage spending while in Rome. You were in Italy after all. If I was in Rome I would go nuts on food, eating lasagna like Garfield and pigging out on pizza and gelato when I wasn’t eating lasagna.
Maybe you could have done better on the accommodation side of things but there are so many variables that go into the pricing of apartments and hotel rooms that you might as well look at the silver lining and chalk this up as a learning experience. It’s not as if you got taken to the cleaners while in Rome. And to be honest with you I’ve rented a hotel room once in the suburbs of Sydney when I went there for new year’s eve about ten years ago. It wasn’t flash but it was cheap and available at a moment’s notice. But I would avoid it if I could just for convenience sake in future.
November 7, 2013 @ 6:14 PM
Nah, I’m not so worried about it. Mostly just pointing out where we theoretically could have cut down our expenses a little. I almost never think “we shouldn’t have eaten out that time” but I do often think “drinking out was too expensive, should’ve skipped that.” The apartment was WONDERFUL just a little too far from the center of town. There was a bus stop minutes from the apartment, but the bus schedule was hard to pin down so normally we just walked 25 minutes to the metro instead of taking the bus there. So it added time to our morning, and while 25 minutes doesn’t sound like a big deal, we then had to sit on the metro for another 10-25 minutes depending on where we were going. It meant leaving a little after 6am to make our 7:20am meeting time for the Vatican tour which was painful.
November 8, 2013 @ 8:46 AM
I’ll definitely look into an Air Bnb apartment for Rome! Sounds like you scored a great deal. I love these posts.
Happy travels 🙂
November 10, 2013 @ 4:53 PM
Thanks Lauren! We love Airbnb, and we’ve had good luck with several other sites like it. Definitely a great way to experience a city, save a little money and have a little more space and comfort when you travel.
November 8, 2013 @ 4:02 PM
That doesn’t seem too bad at all. I think the easiest way to lose money is like you said: the food. If you make all your food and snacks at home, you can save a lot. But, then again, Rome might also be pricey when it comes to basic living expenditures, like grocery stores.
November 10, 2013 @ 4:54 PM
I’m not sure I’ll ever want to cook EVERY meal when we travel because I think we’d miss a lot of the culture by not eating the food. I doubt we realistically could’ve cut these costs too much, maybe if we had just skipped a couple nights of drinking and picked slightly cheaper restaurants a few times.
November 10, 2013 @ 2:01 AM
Woohoo! You HAVE to spend up on food in Italy. If not, where else? (And if not, why visit Italy at all?!)
We stayed in budget hotels/lodges in central Rome for about 40/45 euros a night – not great but did the job.
November 10, 2013 @ 7:56 PM
I totally agree, must eat the food in Italy! I guess I was mostly pointing out areas where one theoretically could cut back on costs a little. We probably could’ve cut out a couple nights when we went out drinking and been just fine. I’m so glad you were able to find a decent cheap place to stay in Rome! We might be getting a little old because the places that are sort of bare bones feel a bit challenging to us now. So sad because I used to be able to do it!
November 11, 2013 @ 4:50 PM
Such an amazing city – I really hope to get back there someday. Great money-saving tips!
November 13, 2013 @ 10:47 AM
Thanks Andrea!
November 12, 2013 @ 3:14 PM
Some great tips there for the perspective travellers. Rome is right up there on my bucket list, fingers crossed I hope to cross it off soon!
November 13, 2013 @ 10:54 AM
Thanks Arti! I hope you make it to Rome someday soon too, it’s an amazing city!
November 18, 2013 @ 2:30 AM
We are thinking of going to Rome & Italy at some point in the near future and will definitely have to look into airbnb.com to book a place…it would be awesome to stay at an apartment instead of a hotel!
November 18, 2013 @ 6:06 PM
Italy is so wonderful, you’ll love it! Airbnb, and many of the other apartment rental sites, are really great for when you plan on staying somewhere for more than a couple of nights. It’s so nice to have a little extra space, and I love that we can eat in, even if it’s just buying a box of cereal for breakfast.
November 18, 2013 @ 9:50 PM
that’s not bad at all!
November 20, 2013 @ 12:02 PM
Thanks!
November 23, 2013 @ 10:52 AM
O gosh, I was so excited reading this, Ali. I just came back from backpacking solo in Italy for 2 weeks and wrote a similar post in my blog. This brings back soooooo… many fond memories. Agree that food is a major cultural experience. Loved Rome and it’s definitely worth it!
November 24, 2013 @ 12:16 PM
Thanks Rosemary! Rome is a wonderful city, I’m glad you had a good time there too!