Trip to Italy: Budget question

Don't know exact numbers because it's been a while, but you'll spend more than you think you will.

I kinda penciled in $10k

r/travel

We took a bargain trip in 2013 to Italy because i caught a great deal on airfare. This was literally just a few weeks before our honeymoon (Thailand) so we had to do Italy somewhat on the cheap.

Hilton points paid for 2 nights in Milan.
Airbnb - much better bang for your buck and you can get great locations. I think we stayed 7 nights in airbnb properties (4 in Rome, 3 in Florence) and paid around $100/night for 1 bedroom apartments.
Train pass - I think we ended up paying around $100 each for our train travel from Milan>Rome>Florence>Milan.
Food - I think you could eat on most budgets, but expect at least $10/person minimum. We ended up getting groceries for at least one meal per day to save money. But at restaurants, I felt like prices were pretty similar to NYC. I could get a nice steak in the main square in Florence for less than $30.
Attractions - I think the Firenze Card and the Roma Pass are both worth the money simply for the convenience. We also did a tuscany tour that was totally worth the price tag.

edit: All together, I think we spent around $4K for our 10 days. Our flights were incredibly cheap (On sale for something like $639/each r/t JFK to Milan and I had $600 in AA credit).

7-10k

I went to Rome this past year and the prices were a little high in terms of what was on the menu but then you have to realize that that is in Euros which at the time was around 1.33 dollars per euro.

So, at least in the major tourist city of Rome, things were already sort of high priced before you converted, which made it 33% more.

7K. Especially with the strength of the dollar.

italysource.com

Here's one thing that I would love to do but scares the shite out of me: my boss (ot baller^10) travels all over. Last year he and his wife did Greece. They basically went with backpacks and no plans and hung out in seaside towns and really got into the culture. I really like off the beaten path type stuff like that. I would love to do something like that but I would get "Taken"'d in the first 10 min.

I didn't have to pay for my flights so you'll have that to consider as well. Wife and I spent a day in Bologna, a day in Venice, a day in Florence and 2 days in Rome. Unless you have a credit card that eats international fees, get money from the ATM and use cash wherever you can. On average, without drinks, you will probably spend 30 Euros on a meal for 2 people unless you go super fancy. If you are going to hit trains up for travel between cities, book online in advance and put up the extra bones for the bullet train. I think overall we spent around $3000 without the flights and we got to see mostly everything we wanted to see.

ETA: This was when the euro was like $1.40.