We don’t have unlimited funds, so we’ve designed our business and our itinerary service around finding ways to experience luxurious travel experiences without the cost of luxury travel.

Note: This article is an update from our article from 2017, in which we outline the typical cost for a Little Roads-style trip to Europe. In five years, naturally, costs of things are expected to rise; and especially in the age of the pandemic, lodgings and restaurant prices have risen somewhat.

Here are a few tips on what you can expect to spend, and how to budget so that you have a trip that is immersive, authentic, and affordable - and you won't even notice the “budget” aspect of it.

Last weekend we took an overnight trip to Piancastagnaio, to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in the world, Ristorante Anna. We have driven here straight from the airport many times over the years, just to eat their signature (always on the menu) chestnut porcini soup.

One of our errands today was to stop in a bakery in Viterbo and order some “Pansucchio” for Christmas, for ourselves and as gifts for friends. Pansucchio is a panettone-like cake, made only at this bakery, using their 70-year-old mother yeast. It is filled with chestnuts, dark chocolate, and then doused in rum. it is BOOZY and really, really delicious. Half an hour before eating, you are supposed to turn it upside down, to let the rum soak through.

We sometimes think that we won some sort of lottery to find a place with vicini (neighbors) as wonderful as ours in this little town. They have made us feel so welcome and cared for since the moment we moved into our tiny place in 2019.