Certain things are essential and non-negotiable during the tour. For me, those things would include a private hotel room, not a hostel, and preferably a private bathroom. In my college days, I did a backpacking tour with my best friend. At that time, we were somehow able to survive on US $ 30 a day to sleep, eat, and play. My friend, to my great amazement, was able to do this without sacrificing her need for at least three cans of coke (between $ 2 and $ 3 each, depending on how close the vendors parked their trucks to the Eiffel tower, Big Ben , you get my point) per day.
While our $ 30-a-day budget would be impossible today (has it really been 15 years?), My lifestyle is clearly no longer that of a backpacker, so I’ll just write about what it would take now to maintain a city girl like me took refuge, fed and entertained for a day in Rome.
Since accommodation in Rome can really skew the daily budget, I’ll leave it out of the daily count. Suffice it to say that a bed in a shared dorm sells for around 23 euros in high season, and a double room at the five-star Hotel Hassler costs no less than 600 euros per night. Somewhere within that range, there is a bed, a cot, or a rug somewhere in Rome waiting to take you to sleep.
A realistic budget for Rome would require a minimum of 50 euros to spend money per person per day (shopping budget not included). Keep in mind that you are likely to spend around 10 euros a day for entrance fees to museums or monuments, which will leave you with around 40 euros a day for food, drink, public transport or taxis, etc. Like accommodation, tours in Rome can be as cheap as 15 euros or as expensive as 500, so we better leave them out of the basic equation as well.
Here are some tips for putting our target budget into action. Most hotels, hostels and B & Bs offer breakfast with one night’s accommodation. Do not be shy! Eat, fill your bag with some bananas from the buffet and grab them later for a mid-morning snack! You can save money at lunch by eating a “pizza a taglio” (pizza by the slice). If that doesn’t stop you until dinner, at just 1.50 euros you’ll get a heavenly cup or cone of creamy Italian ice cream that should keep your stomachs pleasantly full for a few hours. Save the real food, not to mention your precious euros and your appetite, for a nice dinner. A full dinner in a typical Roman restaurant should cost between 20 and 30 euros per person, wine included.