Anyone know roughly what i should expect to pay for the food basics when i go to Italy?
Im assuming there will be a Spar supermarket or something like it and just wondered how much food such as bread, milk, tinned tomatoes, eggs, wine, beer, potatoes, vegatables are?
Everyone i speak to says it is really expensive. Im going to Maiori on the Amalfi coast soon. Any help much appreciated

We just got back from our first trip to Italy after many trips to England and France. To our surprise we found basic food supplies less expensive than France and much less expensive then England - and excellent quality.

Sean,

For the most part, foods, in comparison to US prices, are pretty equal and in some cases, lower.

Water is really CHEAP (bottled) and so is coffee, like Illy (in fact next time I go, I'm bringing back a case). Certain sundries, like shampoo, aspirin and the like might be more pricey but those are few.

As I said, you won't find much of a difference here to there but just remember to calculate in your head Euro to Dollar....

The Esselunga web supermarket will give you a rough idea. Remeber that weighst are in grams and kilos.

Also, while most Italians are enamored with bottled water, tap water is perfectly safe and drinkable throughout Italy, cheaper than bottled and it does not need to be lugged to the apartment.

Just an observation: the OP's mention of Spar and "tinned" (not "canned") tomatoes leads me to believe he's British, not American.

Sean--Beato te! You're going to one of the very loveliest places in the world. I count the 2 weeks I stayed in Sorrento a few years ago as one of my best life experiences. Anyway, I have rented many apartments and villas in all areas of Italy, and I find the price of food to be overall about equal to here--some things a bit more, but others (like wonderful olive oil, wine, fresh eggs, cheese, produce) very much less expensive for higher quality. Actually shopping at supermarkets and small neighborhood stores is a great part of the travel experience, IMO. Be sure and go to the local markets held weekly (I believe the Sorrento market is on Tuesdays) for high quality fruits and vegetables and probably other surprises.

As you may know, the price of food in restaurants is generally higher than in the U.S., which makes breakfast and perhaps some dinners at home much more attractive. (My husband and I generally have our big meal out at lunch and often have a simple cooked dinner at home when we're ready to relax) It's all relative though--a recent trip to France had me longing for an inexpensive pizzeria.

Buon viaggio

Thanks to all who replied. Im really looking forward to the trip. I'm aiming to mix it up and cook in the apartment one evening then go out for a meal the next. Some days take a picnic for walks, other days sit outside the pizzarias for lunch. I want to experience as much as possible in the space of two weeks.
Hopefully i can mix up the shopping too and visit the smaller local shops/market stalls as well the main supermarkets so as to get a fuller experience.

This is a gross generalization, and I mean really rough and ready approximation. But, our experience in Italy, France, England and of course here at home in the States over the last few years is that the average shopping basket, pub or bistro lunch, and nice meal out is numerically the same everywhere.

That is, a bottle of fizzy water is "1" in the local currency. A burger is "6" or "8" in the local currency. A pretty good bottle of wine in the store is "8" or "10" in the local currency. Etc etc.

Now, please don't everyone argue about the exact numerical amounts. I understand bargains might be had, and that the definition of "a pretty good bottle" can differ widely. What I'm saying is that, in terms of the local range of choices--best burger to worst burger in the area--numerical amounts are amazingly consistent over different currencies. And certainly numerical amounts have a consistent variation from similar area to similar area in every country: what's expensive in the big city in the States is similarly expensive in the big city in England, Italy or France.

By now, Loie has an amazingly accurate idea of how much American money we're going to spend in an average week. So we merely multiply that by the exchange rate for dollars and she has our budget for our trip. I guess that shows how much we're creatures of habit! But the principal could be worked out in detail by new travelers: work out how much you'd spend at home doing the x y z's you imagine you'll be doing on your trip. Multiply by the exchange rate for your and the foreign currency.

I bet, assuming you're honest and realistic about your activities, you'll be within ten percent of your actual expenses abroad.

In this area and in others we have two German chains: one is LIDL and one is PENNY. They are mega discounters, and you can lower the cost of your grocery bill significantly by stopping in and visiting one of these two chain stores if you see them.

quote:

Originally posted by JM:
(My husband and I generally have our big meal out at lunch and often have a simple cooked dinner at home when we're ready to relax)

A couple of things to remeber.

First, if you are traveling in summer, the heat makes it rather hard to eat larger amounts of food at noon and stay awake. It's usually e better strategy to eat a lighter meal (a salad, prosciutto e melone, etc.) for lunch: something that's easy to digest and assimilate, will give you energy while also replenishing your body fluids and will not make you dozy. A larger meal will slow you down and cause you the need to drink much more that you would have otherwise, thus also producing the need for more "hygienical" stops. Also, a large meal with hot cooked food will make you even hotter and sweaty at noon. People who live in moderately hot weathers, like Italy, in summer prefer to have a larger meal late in the evening, or even early at night, when the heat has subsided and one can afford to eat more relaxedly, and limit the day meal to a ligher snack like above described at 1-2 pm, when the heat is stronger, one has more ned to sit in the shadow and refresh and everything is closed anyway. You can add a couple of (also light) snacks mid morning and mid afternoon to keep you going: again, a fruit is perfect, but you may stop for a "brioche" with a fruit juie or another non alchoolic drink at a bar (or also a cappuccino or a caffè shekerato: ice-cold coffee!) or get a small slice of pizza from a bakery.

Second, the reason why lunches are cheaper is usually that the foods offered with the lunch menu are aimed at a different type of customer. Many of the people who stop at restaurants for lunch, even in touristy areas, are workers on their lunch break. These require lighter, that will not burden them down while working, and cheaper meals. More sophisticated meals are prepared only for dinner, when people eating out are mostly people who chose to do so and expect to pay more for it. So, if your goal is eating good food, once again you would be better off with eating your dinners at restaurants, instead of your lunches. This does not mean that lunches are junk, just that the choice will be more limited and essentially simpler, lacking the most appreciated recipes.

quote:

In this area and in others we have two German chains: one is LIDL and one is PENNY.

yes, that might be true, but this means missing out on one of the most important experiences in Italy: eating real Italian food.

Even if one cannot afford to buy in the nice gourmet shops, one can still buy some pretty decent food at reasonable prices in the normal supermarkets (Coop, Conad).

Sometimes I see tourists eating cheap vacuum Kraft cheese and ham and packaged long lasting bread when for virtually the same price they could get a slice of prosciutto and a fresh loaf!

We shopped in a lovely coop outside Florence (heaven- several different kinds of artichokes! Just remember not to handle the produce- there are often slip on gloves available if you have to poke something, but people really don't like it.) Then we stopped at markets and local specialty shops. You just have to get past the idea that you're going to eat the same things you eat at home. Once I discovered cippolini, and my friend found a good place for prosciutto, we were set!

I do not mean, though that people shoud use Penny and Lidl for FOOD shopping. Of course, I use the markets for my grocery food shopping.

But I use Lidl for toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, and for some things where either the price is definitely lower that the other stores (for the same brand) or where brand does not matter (like salt).

I would never, EVER suggest using these supermarkets for the purchase of fresh food. I buy just about everything at small grocers in town or at one of our two weekly markets.

Penny has the best Müsli which I have found in Italy so far. I buy it in bulk there because I simply cannot find it anywhere else.

I think that by using the cheaper chains for the bulk, generic stuff, I save quite a bit and the4 quality is actually as good or higher than the larger grocery stores.