What Does a Road Trip Through Italy Cost?
We absolutely love Italy! The food, the beaches, the people, the sunshine, and the atmosphere. Italy is vacation! In 2020, we went back for the second time, this time to do a road trip from north to south with Puglia as our final destination. It was quite a few kilometers, but the journey was definitely worth it.
Curious about the cost of our road trip through Italy? We have collected all the expenses and put them in an overview.
Budget for Italy
Italy is not exactly a budget destination. However, you can make it as expensive as you want. Your budget will depend on your travel style.
We usually set a daily budget of 60 euros for every trip. This includes groceries, tolls, fuel, accommodation, attractions, etc. With a camper, it’s quite a generous budget. We also eat out almost daily or at least have a drink somewhere, and we always stay at camper spots or campgrounds.
Some budget travelers have a budget of 20-30 euros, which is also doable. You will just have to wild camp more often and eat out less frequently.
Tips to save money during your road trip:
- Take your time, drive slowly, and cover short distances
- Take as many local roads as possible and avoid toll roads
- Always check where you can find the cheapest fuel, never fill up along the highway
- Eat out less often and have more picnics on the beach (or anywhere else)
- Plan your meals and do a big grocery shopping once a week. I start each week by collecting at least 4 dishes (at least half of them new dishes) that I want to cook that week. This way, you can align ingredients, only go to the supermarket once a week, and spend much less on groceries.
- Check the transaction fees with your bank beforehand. We both have a Knab account because this bank doesn’t charge extra fees for transactions in Europe.
Cost of Fuel during our road trip
The largest portion of our budget was spent on fuel: a total of €752.46. That’s an average of €19.80 per day. This doesn’t include toll roads. We had plenty of time, so we decided not to take toll roads, but if you choose the fastest route, you will need to add some extra costs for tolls.
Dining Expenses
In Italy, good food is a must. Our second biggest expense was dining out. Sorry, but not sorry! Because holy moly, the food in Italy is delicious and also incredibly affordable. We decided to enjoy a meal out very often. In total, during our road trip through Italy, we spent €711.16 on dining out, averaging €17.81 per day.
Could it have been less? Absolutely! Do we regret it? Definitely not!
Camping & Camper Spots Expenses
Camping in Italy is fortunately not very expensive. In the low season, you can expect to pay an average of €15-25 per night for a spot with electricity and facilities. Prices are naturally higher in the high season. We often choose small camper spots or stay at campgrounds where you can use an ACSI discount card.
In total, we spent €592.34 on camper spots and campgrounds in Italy, averaging €15.59 per night.
Grocery Expenses during the Italy Road Trip
Lidl is also your best friend in Italy. We found grocery costs in Italy to be very reasonable. We often do a big grocery shopping once a week and try to buy from small local shops or markets regularly. Additionally, we don’t eat meat, which significantly reduces costs.
On average, we spent €13.52 per day on groceries. The total cost of groceries during this road trip was €513.78.
Other expenses
Then we have other expenses. These are costs we incurred for Buddha, attractions, laundry, parking fees, etc. In total, we spent about €150 on other expenses, which averages about €3.95 per day.
Road tripping through Italy, what did it cost?
In total, we took a 38-day road trip through Italy and covered approximately 5200 kilometers. Our road trip through Italy cost €2,719.74 in total. That’s a daily budget of about €71.
- The road trip through Italy cost a total of €2719
- On average, we spent €71 per day
- On average, a road trip through Italy costs €2159 per month
Overview of costs for the Italy road trip
| Total | Per day | |
| Gasoline | €752.46 | €19.80 |
| Groceries | €513.78 | €13.52 |
| Camping | €592.34 | €15.59 |
| Other | €150 | €3.95 |
| Dining out | €711.16 | €18.71 |
| €2,719.74 | €71.57 |
Did we stick to the budget or not?
Unfortunately, we didn’t stick to our daily budget of €60 in Italy. But €71 per day for Italy is certainly not bad.
It could have been cheaper for sure. But 2020 was a strange travel year, which led us to travel differently than usual. We had less time than planned, had to change routes frequently due to COVID, and after months of staying indoors, it was difficult not to eat out every day.
