Discount Travel in Europe: Touring Italy's Finest Cities, Including Venice, Florence and Rome

The Trip - I had been spoiled by my past travel experiences, not spoiled in terms of luxury, but spoiled in terms of expense. I had lived and traveled in South America when the cost of living was dirt cheap. Now, for my fortieth birthday, my husband and I were going to visit Europe, in particular, Italy for the first time. After 10 years of virtual house arrest, in the form of 9 year old twin boys and a 6 year old boys, we had finally found someone crazy enough, oops... I mean KIND enough to take care of our boys for a week. Before she came to her senses, I hoped to quickly plan a trip but experienced a bit of sticker shock. After a decade with very little “me” time, I was ready to splurge but still couldn’t bring myself to pay some of the rates, $300 a night for a Best Western in Venice???? Was it possible to plan a discount trip in Italy, with a weak dollar and still have a great time?