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UPDATE (6-28-18):

Part 2: Wandering through the Vatican is now done! Check it out!

UPDATE (6-29-18):

Part 3: Weekend in Florence!

UPDATE (7-2-18):

Part 4: Hiking in the Cinque Terre

Enjoy

Final Budget-to-actual

Our original budget for the trip was $2,591.60 and we ended up landing at $2,652.46. I will note, however, that this amount is our best approximation of what we actually spent and is not 100% accurate. One thing that made it difficult is that quite often, we would get to a restaurant and one of us would pay for the group with cash, then for the next meal the other couple paid for us on the card to make up for it. This pattern continued the whole trip, so it was pretty difficult to track what the exact dollar amount was for food between all the cash and the cards. So keep that in mind as I continue.

Looking at results above, one of the biggest reasons we came in at about $61 over budget was due to a tourist tax we had kind of heard about before the trip, but did not take into account completely while budgeting. That was a rookie mistake on our part, but for future travelers to Rome, keep in mind that AirBnB’s will charge you a tourist tax that the city imposes on travelers for accommodations.  That was kind of a bummer, but luckily it didn’t set us back much.

Another reason was due to us being a little to optimistic about the cost of the AirBnB in Rome and the hotel in Newark. We could’ve gone cheaper if we wanted, but we would’ve sacrificed some benefits that ended up being more convenient and time-freeing than other options. Which we’re OK with, considering time and convenience are worth a lot on vacation.

Glancing at the rest of the bugdet-to-actual, a lot of the budget surpluses and deficits cancelled each other out. These items were things that generally occurred due to changes to our plans while in Italy (e.g. not paying to visit certain Duomo sites because they were fully booked and we couldn’t do it; or not needing a sim card after all because we found other ways of making it work, etc.)

Judge us how you will, but overall I’m pretty happy about where we landed. Sure, we spent more than we budgeted, but considering some of the things that came up and our overly-optimistic views of some expenses, the final result of a $61 deficit is something we can live with. But stopping there would not be a great budget review. Whenever my wife and I budget, we like to not only see what we did well on and what we could improve, but we also like to talk about what we learned that we can apply going forward. So let’s talk about the lessons we learned!

Lesson 1: Build flexibility into the budget

Anyone who has ever budgeted knows that it is pretty difficult to always be 100% accurate and on-target with a budget. This trip was no exception. It’s hard to know and plan for every little expense that comes up. You never know how much you will use public transportation while you are traveling, or how much the food will actually cost. In our case, we rarely used public transportation in Florence like expected cause the city was much more walkable than we expected. Also, most restaurants had a cover charge that we didn’t really know about ahead of time. Little things like that can throw your budget off really quick, and assuredly will.

This trip was just another testament that it is important to build in some kind of flexibility into your budget. You can do this by either over-estimating on expenses or creating a “flex account” for your budget. My wife and I try and do this for our personal budget so that way unplanned or unforeseen expenses don’t throw us off in any way.

Lesson 2: Be willing to pay for extra time and convenience

When we first planned for the trip, we were all about cutting costs and finding the cheapest available options. After some planning and especially after the trip, we realized that sometimes it’s worth it to pay more if it means freeing up time on your trip. When you only have a week or two on vacation, you want to be able to use every second you can doing the things you actually want to do. This means that you might want to pay a few extra bucks to get a train that goes from Rome to Florence without stopping instead of a cheaper option that has multiple stops. Or it might mean paying more for one AirBnB/hotel because it is closer to public transportation or the sites you want to see. Flights can be included in this conversation as well, but for us, we are trying to find a balance between traveling cheap and traveling conveniently. One day, we hope the cost won’t be an issue and we can spend more on flights. But until then, we are all about traveling on a budget!

Lesson 3: Budget first, then forget about it

This lesson applies more to vacations than it does for regular budgeting, but it is super important to budget before you leave on your trip, then once you arrive at your destination, FORGET ABOUT IT AND ENJOY YOUR TRIP! Now, I’m not saying to throw your plans out the window and go crazy with your spending, but don’t just sit there and worry about your budget. You are supposed to be on vacation after all! If you make a solid plan ahead of time, then you’ll know what things you should and shouldn’t do with your money on your trip. Flexibility, as already mentioned, is also important on the trip. For example, we had some nights when we splurged on dinner, and others when we found cheaper options. In the end, we knew it would all average out and it did, and we were pretty close to our estimate. If you have a plan, it is easier to know when to make concessions with your spending, and when to be more frugal without having to think about it too much.

Going forward, I think these 3 lessons will help us in our future budgets, particularly with our vacation splurges. We are so excited to start planning for the next trip! Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to save money while still making the most of our trips! We would love to hear from our readers about any ways you are able to strike a balance between being frugal and enjoying your trips. Comment below and share any ideas, thoughts, and experiences you have had! We are all learning together

What surprised You Most About Italy?

Casey: How friendly everyone was. Seriously, everyone was so nice! Another big thing was how big everything was. The buildings were way bigger than I had anticipated and the pictures didn’t do them justice.

Tara: Everything was SO BIG! I’ve seen pictures of the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, statue of David and many of the other sites we visited, but actually being there and seeing them in person was amazing! I think I was also surprised with how easy it was to get around. We did a bit of planning beforehand, which was helpful, but taking the bus, trains and other public transit made getting around so much easier (and lessened our 7+ miles of walking per day a little).

Jacob: A lot of the sites that I had seen pictures/videos of a thousand times definitely did not disappoint and some even were way cooler in person. I had this slight fear that I was watching too many travel videos about Italy to the extent that actually going there would be very underwhelming. Luckily, it was even better than I expected! Like Casey mentioned, everything was just so huge and fascinating. Also, Italians love babies! Everywhere we went people were smiling and playing with the kids.

Carlee: Everyone loved our babies! And the babies got us to the front of a lot of lines After living in Germany for 18 months, I expected Italy to be similar, but Italy was very different.

What were some of your favorite sites in each of the Areas?

Rome

Casey: The Vatican City. The museum was amazing with so many cool things to see. The best part was Saint Peter’s basilica. I couldn’t believe how big that church was. I think I could have spent the entire day just in there.

Tara: I loved the Trevi Fountain (maybe inspired by my love of The Lizzie McGuire Movie? haha) and loved the Colosseum! The tour that we took inside the Colosseum was really cool, but I was blown away by walking around it as the sun went down and the lights illuminated the outside. It was one of those “I can’t believe I’m actually here” moments I’ll never forget.

Jacob: Seeing the Colosseum at dusk when it was all lit up was incredible. The Pantheon and Vatican City were also some of my favorite parts. It was just incredible to walk into the Pantheon and stare up at this ridiculously high dome and wonder how in the world people made this almost 2000 years ago. Similarly, St. Peter’s Basilica was unfathomably big on the inside.

Carlee: I can’t pick just one. I would say the Colosseum, Palentine Hill and Roman Forum.

Florence

Casey: The Duomo for sure. Just an incredible building.

Tara: I really enjoyed walking along the Arno river and the view of the Ponte Vecchio at sunset.

Jacob: Hands down the Duomo. The inside wasn’t quite as cool as you would expect, but considering how incredible the outside is, I suppose I can live with that. The view from Piazzale Michelangelo is also a must-see.

Carlee: The Duomo was amazing! Pictures do not do it justice! You can’t get the whole thing in one picture, and if you do it’s not close enough to see the incredible detail!

Cinque Terre

Casey: I really liked Monterroso al mare the most. That might have been partially due to the fact that it didn’t seem as crowded at the time. Plus, it was the only town with a somewhat sandy beach.

Tara: There is something magical about being on the water, so everything about the Cinque Terre was wonderful! I loved getting to go down to the beach and stick our feet in the ocean, especially after our long hike. It was so beautiful and I loved each of the towns we visited!

Jacob: How can I choose just one spot? Honestly, it was all so beautiful and amazing. I loved the crystal clear water and seeing the different towns. Each had its own unique feel to it. I really enjoyed hiking between Vernazza and Monterroso as well. The views were incredible.

Carlee: I think Vernazza was my favorite, but it’s so hard to choose! I loved hiking between two towns and getting away from the big cities and enjoying the fresh air!

What sites did you find Over/Underrated?

Casey: Underrated would probably be the Pantheon. I probably didn’t look into it as much as a should have, but the size of the building was incredible. Overrated was probably the Pitti Palace. It was cool, but not as interesting as I thought it would be.

Tara: I feel kind of bad for saying this, but I feel like the statue of David really didn’t live up to the hype, at least for me! I’m glad we went just for the fact of being able to say we did, but it was not my favorite.

Jacob:  (Underrated) The Theatre of Marcellus (Teatro di Marcello) was really awesome! It kind of had some architecture that reminded me of the Colosseum and ruins around it that were interesting. Also, the Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla) was worth going to and exploring. It had some really cool remains of ancient mosaics and it was fascinating to imagine that place in its glory days.  An overrated site for me would maybe be the Trevi Fountain. I mean, it was cool, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t blow me away. Maybe that was due to the crowds, I don’t know.

Carlee: The David was cool and I’m glad we went, but it was really hyped up. People told me they cried when they saw it. I didn’t feel the same…

How much time would you recommend for each area?

Note: We spent 3.5 days in Rome, 1.5 in Florence, and 1.25 in the Cinque Terre.

Casey: I felt that we could have spent a lot more time in each area. We kept saying to each other that a month would have been nice. A full 2 weeks may have been the most ideal.   

Tara: Ten days sounded like a long trip, but I easily could have spent double the time! I think it depends on what your priorities are, such as nature, historical sites, etc,  and then putting more of your time there. I would have loved to have had a day or two more in the Cinque Terre to enjoy the ocean and scenery, and would have also loved an addition day or two in Rome to see more without being in such a rush!

Jacob: I would’ve loved another day in Rome, maybe even two. That being said, you can see quite a bit with 3 days, so it depends on what you want to do. I would’ve loved at least one more day in Florence and the Cinque Terre to be able to enjoy the areas a bit more.

Carlee: I feel like we could have easily spent more time in each area. With that said, I really like the percentage of time we spent in each place. I liked starting the trip in Rome, it was a lot more fast-paced and more to see and we each area we slowly took it easier.

What were your favorite gelato shops and flavors?

Casey: My favorite place was La Gelateria Romana in Rome. We discovered this place the last night and Iwish we had discovered it sooner. Nobody spoke English, so that’s how you know it’s good

Tara:  My favorite was also Gelateria Valentino in Rome, and I got an Oreo gelato that was so much more than just “cookies and cream.” It had little cookie pieces and fudge throughout it- my mouth is watering just thinking about it! I spent the rest of the trip trying to find something similar and never did, I would go back to Rome just for that gelato (;

Jacob: Near the Trevi Fountain, there was a place called Gelateria Valentino, and that place was spectacular. I got mint and strawberry, and both were mouthwatering good!

Carlee: I agree with Casey. It was soooo good! I asked the server for her favorite flavors. I got a cone with white chocolate on the inside and three flavors: chocolate/ coconut/ toasted almond (kind of like AlmondJoy), raspberry/ pineapple and cream on top. My go to flavors are strawberry, lemon, mint or coconut.

Favorite dish?

Casey: I had a really good mozzarella and prosciutto calzone at a place called That’s Amore in Rome. We found this on our second day and I couldn’t find anything similar.

Tara: I am totally with Jacob and Carlee in saying that the carbonara was my favorite! It was my go-to dinner on this trip and never disappointed! I also really enjoyed the pizza!

Jacob: Hmm, that’s tough. I would probably have to go with carbonara. I mean, I ordered it like 10 times, so I must’ve liked it, right? There was this restaurant a few blocks away from the Vatican (Borghiciana Pastificio Artigianale) that had homemade pasta and their carbonara was delicious!

Carlee: It’s a toss up between ravioli at Borghiciana Pastificio Artigianale and carbonara at a restaurant by the train station in Florence.

What are some good things to know before traveling to italy?

Casey: I think it’s good to know that you can get around in the big cities with public transportation pretty easily and for cheap.

Tara: I think it is smart to have somewhat of a plan, or at least know the places you want to visit so you make sure to fit them in! There is so much to see and do and the days just go so fast. Also know that multiple gelato stops a day is a MUST.

Jacob: A lot of people say this, and it is true: buy your tickets ahead of time for the big sites (e.g. Colosseum, Vatican City). We got the Rome Pass for the Colosseum and other sites and it was super nice to be able to go in a separate entrance and avoid any lines. Likewise, with the Vatican Museums we bought skip-the-line tickets on their website ahead of time and got to walk right past the long line of people waiting to get in (although a guide there mentioned we could’ve skipped the line with our babies alone… oh well).

Carlee: I wish I had learned a little more Italian before we left. Having a baby on me most of the time made people especially friendly and I wish I could have responded more than just smiling.

What is the biggest thing you learned about traveling with kids?

Casey: It’s not as bad as you would think. We braced ourselves for the worst and it really wasn’t bad at all.

Tara: It was not as stressful or hard as people had made it sound like it would be. A lot of people were shocked that we would even consider traveling internationally with a baby, but really it just made the trip so much more special! Our son also seemed to love being on the go, watching the world around him and spending time all together as a family and friends! That’s not to say he didn’t have his moments, but he is a baby and has “his moments” at home too. I think you just need to know your child and cater to them and what they can handle.

Jacob: Bringing kids changes the dynamic of the trip. Generally, you have to go a bit slower due to kids needing to nurse, be changed, etc. That being said, I enjoyed traveling with our daughter! It’s fun making memories as a family and it’s worth sacrificing the ability to travel at a faster pace.

Carlee: I loved spending so much time together as a whole family. I’m always with my baby, but I loved that Adelyn and I got to enjoy Jake being with us. Traveling with a baby is very doable.

What tips do you have to help prepare kids for long travel?

Casey: Get them used to having their schedule messed with beforehand. There were lots of times where we had to catch a flight or bus during normal “nap” time.

Tara: Practice practice practice! We carried Rhett on us the whole time, so before we left we made sure he spent a good amount of time in the carrier each day so it wasn’t a huge change.

Jacob: One thing Carlee and I did was to go on a lot of hikes with our daughter in some kind of carrier. This got us physically ready to carry her around and helped her get used to being on us for long periods of time.

Carlee: We tried to have a solid routine with a flexible schedule especially with bedtime. I also started putting our baby to bed an hour earlier each week for the last 4 weeks leading up to the trip.

What were the roughest moments with the kids?

Casey: Flying home was probably the worst for me. I was sick and Rhett started to get sick too. It was miserable.

Tara: This seems to be everyone’s answer, but the flights really were the hardest part. Something about being confined and sitting down after such a long day just set him off! Once we were actually in Italy and he would start to get tired or fussy, it was much easier to calm him. This is the biggest reason I would recommend getting as direct of flights as possible.

Jacob: Adelyn didn’t really sleep much on our first two flights. Finally, by the time we got on our final flight to Rome, she had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, the stewardess made us put a buckle around her and that jostled her awake. The next 30 minutes or so were h*ck. She was just screaming and would not relax. Fortunately, people around us didn’t seem bothered and we were also lucky enough to have an empty seat next to us that we laid her in. She ended up following asleep for the remainder of the flight, thank heavens!

Carlee: Ugh the flight from CA the NY was rough! Our baby just would not relax and sleep in our arms, but she did get used to that about halfway through the trip. The flights home were a lot better. It was also frustrating every time we sat down to eat, Adelyn would get frustrated. I would usually order my food first and then try to nurse her while we waited for our meal to come. This helped, but it was still tricky trying to eat and not let throw everything off the table.

In hindsight, what would you have done differently with the trip?

Casey: Extended our vacation by at least a couple of days. It would have been nice to take it easy a couple of days with the kids and to see more, especially in Rome

Tara: I would have flown more direct, saved us time and layovers. The long travel days were difficult on the babies and it would have been nice to not feel so dragged out.

Jacob:  Although 10 days was a lot, it didn’t feel long enough by the end of it, but that may just be the nature of traveling. I would also try and minimize the number of layovers we had both to and from Italy. I suppose that’s the price you sometimes have to pay when you try to travel as cheaply as possible, though.

Carlee: The long travel days were difficult. Having more direct flights would have saved us time (instead of money). However, I was so tired by the time we finally went to bed that I adjusted to the time change quickly.

Wrap-up

Hope you enjoyed our round table discussion about what our trip was like! Traveling to Italy really was such a blast, and bringing kids was awesome! If you are debating whether to go on a big trip like this with your child, JUST GO!! It was so worth it to make that memory with our little families.

Do you have any other questions about the trip or what it was like traveling with kids? Comment below!

Flights

It took us 3 plane rides to get into Italy, which was far from ideal. It made for a long day and a half of travel that ended with an 8 hour flight into Fiumicino from Newark. We would have preferred to fly direct, but it was the cheapest option.

How we got around

We used public transportation the entire trip. Rome has a pass called the Roma pass that allows you to use the metro and buses for 48 to 72 hours (we did the 72 hour pass) and also allows you to get into two attractions for free. We used our two free attractions on going inside the Colosseum and the Castel Sant Angelo.

Rome

We started our trip in Rome and spent 3.5 days there. We got into Rome about 1 pm and into our apartment around 4 pm local time. Luckily, we weren’t jet lagged and were able to spend the evening around the Colosseum.

The Colosseum at dusk is beautiful! We walked around in awe of how massive and pretty this structure was. The best part about going to the Colosseum at dusk is that it isn’t as crowded as it normally is.

Our next day in Rome we went to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We planned on spending this day in the middle of the city and because of that, we saw and did a lot. The common theme we had between seeing all of these buildings was that everything seemed so much bigger in person. We just couldn’t believe how big everything was. Pictures don’t do justice to the size of these massive buildings.

Day 3 in Rome was spent almost entirely in the Vatican city. We had bought skip-the-line passes to see the Vatican Museum that included the Sistine Chapel. The amount of art and sculpture in these museums is incredible. There were countless times where all we could say was: ‘wow’.

The Sistine Chapel, unfortunately, wasn’t as enjoyable as the other parts of the museum. We felt rushed to get in and out by the staff and it was so jam packed full of people, we were constantly having to try to stay close to each other. Don’t get me wrong, the art was incredible and is a must-see. Hopefully our experience was just bad and others don’t feel the same way we do.

The next day in Rome was our last full day. We spent the morning going inside the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The afternoon we went inside the Castel Sant Angelo and tried to make it in time to see the Basilica San Giovanni, but weren’t able to make inside. We also made another night trip to the Trevi Fountain in hope that there would be less crowd (we were wrong).

Rome Recap

Rome is an incredible city with so much to see. We felt we did a pretty good job of trying to squeeze everything we could into the 3.5 days we had there, but there was still plenty we didn’t see. We felt that we could have spent the entire trip in Rome and still had plenty to do and see at the end of it.

Florence

Shortly after checking out of our airbnb in Rome, we caught a bullet train to Florence. We checked into our airbnb after a stressful bus ride with all of our luggage on a very small bus, and headed to the Galleria dell’Accademia. We had bought skip the line passes beforehand, but the line didn’t look very long without it. This was a smaller museum that featured the Statue of David.

Once again, we were amazed at how big this statue was. Pictures certainly don’t do it justice. That same evening we went to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower (also the Duomo) and walked around the outside of this massive church.

Getting around in Florence was usually easy because everything was pretty close to each other. Our airbnb was somewhat out of the way, but we could still walk to most everything with 15 minutes. Because of that we were able to see most everything that we had wanted to see that first night, including the Condotta and the outside of the Uffizi gallery.

The next day was our last full day in Florence. We started it off by hiking up close by where our airbnb was to a lookout point. This was probably one of my favorite parts of Florence just because it was such a great view of the city. We found a cute church nearby this lookout point and spent some time exploring in there before heading back down. Back in the city, we went inside the Duomo, which wasn’t quite as impressive as the outside, but still very pretty. We also walked over the Ponte Vecchio, which had a bunch of high end jewelry shops.

Every first Sunday of the month, Florence allows people to enter into museums for free. We took advantage of this by going into the Pitti Palace, which also included the Galleria Palantina.

Florence Recap

Florence is a very pretty city with some amazing things to see. We all felt that we didn’t know what else we would have done in Florence and felt that the almost 2 days we spent there were more than enough.

La Spezia and the Cinque Terre

We took another train through Italy to a town called La Spezia. La Spezia is a port town on the west Coast of Italy. We didn’t spend much time in La Spezia, but the time we did spend there we really enjoyed it. We basically used La Spezia as a springboard to go to the five towns in the national park called the Cinque Terre. The first night there, we went to a town called Riomaggiore and spent most of the time just staring at the sunset and the ocean.

The next few days we spent hoping in between the 5 towns and even hiking from one town to the other along the coastline which is more cliff than actual coast. The scenery is beautiful there and the ocean makes it even better. We found that some of the towns were more crowded than others. For example, when we were in Riomaggiore and Vernazza, the crowds were almost too much, but in Monterosso al mare and Manarola we felt much less claustrophobic.

We were able to spend a little time on the beach and in the ocean. The beach in Monterosso al mare is probably the closest thing to sand, but still is very rocky and can hurt your feet. The water was pretty cold, but was enjoyable after getting used to it.

Cinque Terre Recap

It was really nice that we were able to spend our last days in the Cinque Terre. It was definitely a change of pace from Rome and Florence, but in a good way. We loved being able to see the ocean and the beautiful scenery that the Cinque Terre had to offer!

On the way home

We had another 3 flights to get home, but this time we had a large gap in between our flight from Rome to New York, so we decided to spend the night there and the morning exploring the 9/11 memorial before we headed out. I got sick on the way back and so it was really miserable for me. Being sick on a flight is probably one of the worst places to be.

Final Thoughts

We had an incredible trip! We definitely felt that we could have used more time, but felt happy with what we had and what we were able to do with it. Italy is such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly. Everything about our trip made me really want to go back to Italy soon.

If you would like to hear more about certain things about our trip, let us know!