3 days for 3 cities. Is it even possible? And I spent only 62,3 Euros for transport across these cities and accommodation. I bet you’re even more doubtful now. But find out how I made it, and realise that you don’t always need to break your piggy-bank to travel.

Firstly, I would clearly state here that this is not a luxury trip. If you’re looking for vacations where you get to lounge in the hotel pool, enjoy a breakfast buffet and dine every night in a restaurant- then this isn’t the article for you.

I wasn’t in a state where I have been saving money exclusively for this travel, nor did I win a lottery, or took a part-time job for a month. For that, you must know that I desperately cut costs here and there to make this happen. My main purpose was to see new places and find new stories;

and here’s ¹how I made it happen, ²the breakdown of costs and my opinion on ³whether it’s worth it:

This is about my 3 days budget-travel across Milan, Venice and Verona. Click on the links to see more about how I ventured each city in this trip.

 HOW I TRAVEL CHEAP

1) I planned this trip two months ahead. This detail could make all the difference. Spontaneous trips are very rarely pocket-friendly. Booking way before your departure would ensure that tickets (bus, train, plane) and hotels are way, way cheaper. 3 Weeks after I booked my tickets, I found out that fares have gone up twice-even thrice the original amount.

More than that, you should also plan where you’re going to go. Booking museum tickets or other entrance tickets online would let you skip the line, save time, and sometimes, they even cost cheaper than on the spot fares. I also use TripAdvisor a lot to book cheap, fun tours or to simply book skip-the-line tickets. Here’s an example of a complete tour of Milan.

2) I travel across cities via night bus. This decision has won me 2 advantages. Firstly, I don’t waste time on the road, and I get to explore the cities more, since I have the entire day to do so. Secondly, travelling with a night bus would mean that you spend the night on the road instead of having to book a hotel. It saves a lot of money. Not to mention, I used the Flixbus. They’re most known across Europe and based on my experience, they always have the cheapest price. It starts at 5 Euros! If you ever travel across Europe, from cities to cities, or even across countries, definitely use Flixbus. I am car-sick very easily, so travelling via bus was once a no no no for me. Until I tried Flixbus, and it’s cheap, clean, quick and comfortable. It has adequate toilets and they serve the most extensive network in Europe. Book your journey now!

TIP: travel in pairs, or always in evens. Seats in bus are always in pairs, and travelling in pairs would mean that you can avoid having to sit next to strangers. In my experiences, I often get 2 seats for myself (especially in night-bus) or sit next to a nice stranger. However, sitting next to someone you don’t know might make you uncomfortable, and remembering that you need to sleep, it would be best to play it safe.

3) I skipped the fancy restaurants. No worries, folks, I did have my pizzas and pastas. Of course I did, it’s Italy! But– I stick to the rule of having a ‘luxury’ meal once a day, and they cost always less than 10 Euros. Good food doesn’t mean expensive food. Always check in Trip advisor to avoid getting scammed or ending up with bad dishes. They especially have the “Cheap Eats” category, which will allow you to munch on Italian foods while limiting expenses.

4) Buy snacks in supermarkets. This is such a simple, small, tiny, little detail– and yet very effective! Buy your water and bread/snacks in supermarkets before you set off in all your tourist destinations. Avoid buying them in restaurants or tourist sites. You might be surprise how much you end up saving by this simple tip! There are lots of them, you just need to type “supermarket” in your google map and voila. 

5) Plan your itinerary- walk, walk walk! Here’s another profit from planning ahead. You can group the tourist sites near to each other, and venture through them by foot instead of taking a metro to every next destination. Especially in Verona, you can explore the entire city by foot if you plan it right! By following a path of sites near to each other, you’d just keep enjoying every single one of them, and without realising it, you’ve walked the entire city! This is also good exercise, and you might spontaneously find something interesting along the way!

6) Pick the hostel. Hostel doesn’t mean shady rooms in a dark alley with bed that creak. That was ages ago. Nowadays, hostels are the top choice for budget travelling. It you’re too concerned sleeping in a bunk bed with 7 other people in the room, you can actually have a room for two in a hostel (perks of travelling with a friend!). The only thing is that you’ll get an outdoor bathroom. In Venice, I booked a room for two via booking.com for 80 euros (all fees, including tourist fee included). The entire place was actually very clean and comfortable, check in was easy too. Tip: with booking.com you can also see the location and compare prices quite easily. Pick a location near to the center (you can easily do this by seeing the map)

The bunk bed option is actually not that bad. I once slept in a room for 8 people, and I actually made some friends. If you’re travelling alone, this might be an interesting offer for you. Most hostels also have female only dorms. They also let you store your belongings in a storage, so don’t worry about missing your valuables! You should, however, bring you own locks for baggages. Some hostels provide you lockers but not locks. Before you book a hostel, read the reviews! Booking.com offers more than enough reviews provided by other travellers.

Milan

7) No souvenirs, yes keepsakes. I’m quite the sentimental person. I love to keep memoirs of places I’ve been. Nevertheless, we all know souvenirs would add a pressure to our budget. How to avoid this? Instead of buying those keychains and magnets, save things like entrance tickets! I find them actually more meaningful, and that way you don’t have to spend money on souvenirs.

 HOW MUCH DID I SPEND

Firstly, my day in Milan began with the must-go place: the Duomo. Entrance to the church and the Duomo museum cost 3 Euros only. I bought the Entrance ticket A, nonetheless, because I wanted to go to the terrace. It cost 16 Euros, and I got to go up with lift. For more infos on admissions to Duomo, check their official website.

The rest of the day I ventured through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Teatro alla Scala, and more- all by foot. I didn’t enter any more sites with an entrance fee. At night I took the metro from Duomo to the Bus station Lampugnano: 1,5 Euros.

The bus from Milan departed at 23:50 and arrived in Venice at 5:00, Flixbus ticket was 13,9 Euros per person. In Venice, I bought the day ticket for Vaporettos (water bus) for 20 Euros (single ticket cost 7,5 Euros). With this ticket, I even travelled to a nearby island, Murano. It’s full of colourful houses, definitely not something you should skip.

I spent the night in a hostel in Venice. A room for two cost 80 Euros, so I paid 40 Euros for a night there. (This hostel was very central, 7 walking minutes away from Piazza san Marco. I booked with booking.com, which prevented me from booking a 150 Euro hostel, thankfully. It’s always booking.com from now on.).

The next day, I travelled again with Flixbus and took the 8:15 bus from Venice to Verona. It was a two-hours journey and costed an unbelievable 7,9 Euros. Through out the entire day in Verona, I walk from one site to another, except when heading to the bus station after finishing my ventures. The bus fare in Verona is 2 Euros when you buy tickets on board, and 1,3 Euros when you buy them on ticket offices.

All in all, I spent around 130 Euros in this trip, including the museum entrances, meals, bus tickets and everything.

WAS IT WORTH IT

Yes. My purpose was to see Venice, Milan and Verona. I got to visit all the places I planned to visit, enjoy their cuisine, and all under budget. The trip was cheap but still comfortable and very much enjoyable.

Tell me if you have more tips on how to travel in a budget, or ask me anything about this trip! In the next posts I will explain more about the details of my day in each city- itineraries, where I ate, places I visit, pictures… don’t miss it!

PIN IT!