3 Weeks in Italy With Kids for Under $10K: Our Family Budget & Itinerary

Have you ever dreamed of taking your family to Italy but thought it was out of reach?
If you’ve Googled “how much does a trip to Italy cost,” you’ve probably seen daily per-person estimates that are, frankly, outrageous. Sure, you could spend that much. But do you have to? Absolutely not.

Our family of five spent three incredible weeks in Italy visiting Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Cinque Terre, and San Vincenzo for under $10,000 CAD (excluding airfare) and I want to share our budget-friendly Italy itinerary with you!

And yes, it took planning, research, and flexibility but it was absolutely worth it. Below I’m sharing where we went, our full budget breakdown, and the ways we saved money while still having an amazing time.

Our 3-Week Budget-Friendly Italy Itinerary

Travellers: 2 adults + 3 kids (ages 14, 11, and 7)
Total trip length: 21 days

Destinations:

• Rome – 5 nights
• Venice – 3 nights
• Tuscany – 7 nights
• San Vincenzo – 3 nights
• Cinque Terre – 3 nights

Our Total Italy Trip Budget (in CAD)

Category	Cost (CAD)
Accommodation	$4,040
Transportation (trains, buses, car rental for 1 week incl. gas, tolls, parking)	$1,919
Food, Drinks & Alcohol	$2,711
Tours & Tickets (Colosseum, Vatican, Ferrari Museum, Uffizi, private tours)	$997
Miscellaneous (licenses, luggage storage, bike rentals)	$185
Total (3 weeks, 5 people)	$9,852 CAD

Budget like a pro
I made a Free Travel Budget Worksheet to help you estimate flights, hotels, food and activities so you stay on track.
Get it here ➜ Travel Budget Worksheet

Our Family Travel Philosophy

We’re under-spenders by nature and pretty flexible when it comes to accommodation. As long as it’s clean, safe, and fits all five of us, we’re happy.

We also prioritize experiences over luxury. Exploring local markets, walking everywhere, and finding little moments that don’t cost a thing.

How We Got to Italy

We flew direct from Calgary to Rome on WestJet, which made the long travel day so much easier with kids. For all five of us, we paid $3,399 CAD round trip, a huge savings thanks to a mix of WestJet Dollars and two companion vouchers (my husband and I both have the WestJet World Elite Mastercard).

Tip: If you’re a family in Western Canada, WestJet’s direct flights to Rome from Calgary can be a game changer especially if you pair them with companion passes. Keep an eye out for seat sales and try to book early for summer travel.

How We Saved Money in Italy

Accommodation

Airbnbs were by far the best value, especially for a family of five.

• Rome: Our Airbnb host made us breakfast every morning, included! Rome Airbnb **Update – It looks like our Rome Airbnb isn’t listed anymore. Here is an alternative in the same area we stayed in that will sleep five people, is good for the budget and has many good reviews – Rome Apartment

• Venice: We stayed in Mestre (10 minutes by bus to the island) for a fraction of the price. Our host stocked the fridge with yogurt, milk, eggs, coffee, and pastries. Venice Airbnb

• Tuscany: This was the only non-AirBnb – we stayed at an agriturismo (farmstay) Montalpruno

• San Vincenzo: We stayed at Parc Albatros, a Eurocamp-style resort that was fun, affordable, and perfect for kids. Eurocamp

• Monterosso (Cinque Terre): A small but perfect apartment steps from the beach. Monterosso

Transportation

Trains
We relied on trains for most of our trip and honestly… it was amazing. Fast, comfortable, budget-friendly, and zero stress compared to driving in big Italian cities. We took the train:

• Rome → Venice
• Venice → Florence
• Florence → Monterosso (Cinque Terre)
• Monterosso → San Vincenzo
• San Vincenzo → Rome

I booked all of our tickets through Omio because the app is super easy to use and shows the fastest and cheapest options for each route. It also keeps all your tickets in one place so you’re not digging through emails while juggling luggage and kids.

Tip: Prices are much cheaper when you book ahead, especially high-speed trains like Frecciarossa.
Tip: Arrive 15–20 minutes early.

If you’re planning a trip, here’s €10 off your first train booking on Omio using my referral:
➡️ OMIO REFERRAL
(A perfect savings for gelato money.)

Car Rental
We rented a small manual Fiat Panda for one week through Sicily By Car for our time in Tuscany. Yes, our luggage sat on the kids’ laps for one short drive but it worked!

Warning: Renting a car in Italy takes much longer than we’re used to in Canada. Both times we’ve rented, it took hours to get our vehicle. Don’t plan any activities close to your pickup time just in case. And if you can avoid picking up your car at the Rome airport… do!

Walking
We walked almost everywhere. Walking saved hundreds of Euros and let us really see each city. Little alleyways, hidden shops, and all the best food spots.

Food and Drinks

This is where we saved the most.
We shopped at grocery stores, bought drinks and snacks locally, and shared meals. If there was a ‘must try’ food somewhere, we would get ONE and then everyone gets a bite. If it’s so delicious you want your own then we would go ahead and get individuals but sometimes you just want a taste! Most days we did a big lunch and simple dinners at home. Our guideline was one nice restaurant meal in each city we visited. So we still get the experience of having a beautiful dinner but we don’t need to eat an expensive dinner out for every meal.

Some of our favorite “budget meals”:

• Aperitivo at our Airbnb. Beers for us, juice boxes for the kids, cookies or pretzels from the local shop. This was our rest time too. We’d head back to the Airbnb late afternoon, snack and chill.
• Sharing one dish at multiple restaurants to create our own food tour.
• Refilling water bottles at public fountains in Rome.
• Using grocery-store finds to make snacks on the go (is there anything more fun that a grocery store in a foreign country? I just love exploring them!)

One thing that helped us so much in Italy was doing a bit of food planning ahead of time.

Before we even left, I used Google Maps to save restaurants and food spots that were well reviewed and felt affordable. Anytime I saw a recommendation from another family, a local blog, or even a random comment saying “this place is good and not crazy expensive,” I’d save it to an Italy list.

And I didn’t just save sit-down restaurants. I saved:

• casual trattorias
• pizza by the slice spots
• bakeries and sandwich shops
• street food stalls
• basically anywhere someone mentioned as good value

Having all of those saved ahead of time made a huge difference once we were actually there. When we were hungry, tired, or wandering around a new area, we could open Google Maps and immediately see nearby places we already felt good about. That meant we weren’t defaulting to the closest tourist restaurant or ending up somewhere expensive just because we didn’t know what else was around.

It didn’t make our days feel rigid or overplanned either. We still ate very spontaneously, but we were choosing from options that fit our budget and had solid reviews. For us, that was the sweet spot, flexible, low-stress, and much easier on the travel budget.

We aimed for $100CAD/day total for food and averaged about $130CAD/day. Still incredibly reasonable for Italy.

Tours & Attractions

This is where you can go nuts – please don’t. I promise you, if you do not a single tour you will still have an amazing time. Choose your activities wisely and if it’s $1000CAD for your family, I’m going to say that’s WAY too much! Private tours can add up so we chose just a few and made them count.

ROME

With Locals Highlights of Rome Tour (we paid $165CAD for five of us). These tour prices have increased so much since we went in 2022. The same tour would be $865CAD! Absolutely not worth that much.

Vatican Museum 20 euro for adults and 10 euro for kids between the ages of 7-18. I would HIGHLY recommend getting the kids audio guide. They’re 5 euros each, they come with an mp3 player and an illustrated map. You’ll have fun doing a treasure hunt through the museum, I thoroughly enjoyed this as well and it’s recommended for ages 5-12.

Colosseum 18 euro each. There are a lot of different options for visiting the Colosseum. We opted for the most basic entrance. Prior to the trip we had read lots of books and watched movies and documentaries about the Colosseum so the kids had a good understanding of the history.

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VENICE

With Locals food tour in Venice ($190 CAD) included five tastings, amazing value. (Again, the price has increased exponentially since 2022. It would now be $896 CAD!) Imagine how much you could eat for that amount.

If I was going now I would create my own little food tour for our family. We also did this on our second day in Venice and of course the kids loved it!

If you want the gondola experience without the gondola price, try a traghetto! It’s a local way to cross the Grand Canal, quick, cheap, and fun for the kids. Some people stand, but on our ride we were able to sit, which made it even easier with children. It’s only a couple of minutes long and costs just €2 per person… compared to around €80 for a private gondola ride! Look for the green traghetto signs near spots like the Rialto Market. Just remember, this isn’t the classic private gondola tour. It’s simply a practical (but very fun!) little ferry ride that also makes for a great photo op.

If you’re doing your sightseeing and the kids need a break from the crowds (or you do!) sneak away to one of the several playgrounds in Venice. I found them to be a breath of fresh air – literally! – and some calm amongst the busyness of the island.

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FLORENCE

We actually didn’t do any tours in Florence but we did love it! Our favourite activities in Florence with kids included:

Mercato Centrale – so good we went twice! A huge, beautiful indoor market filled with food stalls. I describe it as the most beautiful food court you’ve ever been to! Each person in your family can get what they want, including a glass of wine or beer, and there’s lots of seating. On the main floor, watch artisans make pasta, browse the seafood, bread. It’s an activity in itself.

Leonardo da Vinci Museum – EXCELLENT museum for kids. My kids really enjoyed this museum. My son had just studied all of da Vinci’s inventions in school so he was extra interested in invested and taught us a lot! It’s interactive so you’re able to play with and try the inventions (recreations of course!).

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TUSCANY AGRITURISMO

Our farmhouse was located in a small town called Poggibonsi, right in the heart of Tuscany between Florence and Siena. It’s the perfect base if you want to explore this region at a relaxed pace. This was our downtime week, and if you can work in a stay at an agriturismo (farm stay) in Italy, I highly recommend it.

We stayed on a working vineyard with views of rolling hills for days. Our routine quickly became our favourite part of the entire trip, slow mornings, a little day trip, then back to the farmhouse to snack, swim, drink wine, and wander through the vines. It was amazing.

From here, we visited some of Tuscany’s most beautiful villages:

• Siena – Stunning cathedral & historic Piazza del Campo
• San Gimignano – Tower-filled skyline & incredible gelato
• Volterra – Ancient walls & fewer crowds
• Castellina in Chianti – Hilltop charm & wine tastings

You absolutely need a rental car if you stay here. Nothing is walkable and public transport won’t get you to tiny vineyard roads. But that’s part of the charm when you’re in real countryside.

We did do one big day trip during this week: the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena and the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. The museums are only about 30 minutes apart, and if you have a car lover or F1 fan in the family, this is a must-do. Our kids were thrilled.

Some of my favourite memories weren’t in museums or famous landmarks at all, but sitting on our patio with a glass of local Chianti, watching the kids swim, listening to cicadas, and seeing the sunset dip behind the vineyard. Pure magic.

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MONTEROSSO – CINQUE TERRE

Monterosso is the flattest and most family-friendly of the five Cinque Terre towns. It has the longest stretch of beach in the region and is split into two areas, Old Town and New Town, connected by a short tunnel. We stayed in New Town which meant the beach was only a few minutes’ walk from our Airbnb.

We thought about doing a pesto making tour ($761 CAD, ouch!) and maybe renting the fun paddle boats that have a slide off of them but in the end we spent 3 nights here swimming, eating, swimming and eating. Oh, and a bit of hiking!

There’s a free beach in Monterosso that we loved. Many beaches you have to pay for a beach chair (often 20 euro for the day) but since we are all in the water 95% of the time, a beach chair seemed like a waste of money. The water is warm, the scenery is idyllic. The beach is a very short walk from the Airbnb we stayed at – see above.

Italy in the summer is hot, especially with kids. A few simple items helped keep everyone more comfortable while we were walking and sightseeing.
👉 I’ve linked the ones we used in my Amazon travel finds here. Amazon Canada Amazon US

You can take the train between the five towns of Cinque Terre, but you can also hike the famous Blue Trail if you’re up for it. You’ll need a Trekking Card to hike during the day (15 euro for adults / 4.50 euro for kids in peak season). After 6 pm the trail is free, which worked perfectly for us. Not only did we save a bit of money, it was much cooler and made the hike far more enjoyable.

One of my favourite memories is hanging out in Vernazza in the evening after hiking there from Monterosso and having dinner and the kids then taking up a soccer game on the beach with the local kids. One of those experiences you can’t plan for but is etched in my memory.

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San Vincenzo – Eurocamp Beach Break

After busy days in Rome, Venice, and Florence, we wanted a slower, beachy stretch of our trip. We chose San Vincenzo, a laid-back seaside town on the Etruscan Coast in Tuscany (about halfway between Pisa and Grosseto). It’s not a place most tourists think of which is exactly why we loved it.

We stayed at Park Albatros Village, a Eurocamp-style holiday resort surrounded by tall pine forests and a 10–15 minute walk from a gorgeous sandy beach. It’s perfect for families who want a vacation from the vacation!

We spent our three nights swimming, relaxing, and enjoying all the kid-friendly amenities on site:

✔ Multiple swimming pools
✔ Playground + bike-friendly paths
✔ Restaurants, snack bars, and gelato
✔ A little supermarket for groceries
✔ Evening entertainment for kids

It felt like an Italian summer camp vibe, very relaxed and super easy.

If you’re looking for sightseeing or big cultural activities, this isn’t the stop. But if your kids need downtime and you just want to sit by the pool and decompress, this is the place.

It was a nice little reset before heading back to Rome.

Planning a family trip to Italy?
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Final Thoughts: You Can Do Italy on a Family Budget

If you’ve dreamed of Italy but thought it was too expensive, I hope this gives you confidence that it’s possible with a budget-friendly Italy itinerary.
We didn’t sacrifice joy or experiences. We just spent intentionally and made it about connection, not consumption.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to book or purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only ever share places, tools, and resources we’ve genuinely used and found helpful for our own family travels.