Southern Italy & Malta on €31/Day: Rome, Naples, Sicily

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

11 nights sleeping in rental cars, 12 nights in hostels:

ITEM	COST (2P)	NOTES
Rome	€369.40	5 days. Hostel.
Naples	€421.80	6 days. Hostels. Train and bus day trips in Campania.
Sicily	€296.84	7 days. Sleeping in rental car. ~1,200km loop from Catania.
Malta	€238.92	5 days. Sleeping in rental car. Malta and Gozo.
Buses, Flights	€82.38	Per person: Rome–Naples €5 (Itabus) Naples–Catania €20 (Itabus) Sicily–Malta €16.19 (Ryanair)
TOTAL	€1,409.34	23 days at €30.64/day per person

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The Route

Rome → Naples (Itabus, €5/person) → Catania, Sicily (Itabus overnight, €20/person) → Sicily loop (sleeping rental car) → Malta (Ryanair, €16/person) → Malta loop (sleeping in rental car).

The trip splits naturally into two halves:

• Rome and Naples: hostels, public transit, paid sights.
• Sicily and Malta: rental cars, sleeping in them, mostly free sights.

The daily rates gap: €37 and €35 in the cities, €21 and €24 on the road.

Rome – €37/Day

5 days. The three main paid sights cost €48 per person – Colosseum (€18, Roman Forum included), Pantheon (€5), Vatican Museums (€25). Everything else was free or nearly free.

We attended a Sunday Papal Mass at St. Peter’s Square – free, no ticket needed. One of Pope Francis’s last public appearances before he passed away in April 2025.

Full report: Rome on €37/Day: Colosseum, Vatican and Pantheon.

Naples – €35/Day

6 days. The best value destination on the trip, almost entirely because of the Campania Artecard 365 Lite – €26 for entry to 30+ sites. We used it across seven sites with a combined regular price of €109. It saved us €83 each.

Day trips: Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Royal Palace of Caserta, Paestum, Amalfi Coast, and Sorrento – all reachable by train or regional bus from Naples.

Full report: Naples on €35/Day: Pompeii, Amalfi Coast & €26 Artecard.

Sicily – €21/Day

7 days. The cheapest rental we’d ever booked – €3.12/day in Catania. We did a ~1,200km loop covering Mount Etna (hike to an active lava flow at 3am), Valley of the Temples, Syracuse, Ragusa Ibla, Marsala, Trapani, Palermo, Cefalù, and Taormina.

Slept in the car every night. No accommodation costs.

The one mistake: we booked a Ford Tourneo thinking more space meant more comfort. The seats didn’t fold flat.

Full report: Sicily on €21/Day: Sleeping in a €3 Rental Car.

Malta – €24/Day

5 days. Malta and Gozo. Toyota Aygo X, €14.87/day – small, but one of the better sleeping cars of the trip. Seats folded completely flat.

Highlights: Ħaġar Qim megalithic temples (5,000 years old), Valletta, Mdina, Gozo. The Three Cities area around Senglea felt very authentic.

One regret: we didn’t book the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in time. Book at least 1–2 months out in low season, 3–4 months in high season.

Full report: Malta and Gozo on €24/Day: Sleeping in a Rental Car.

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Season

Our trip took place in February. It was perfect timing.

Rome and Naples: lowest season is mid-January to February. Cheaper accommodation, fewer crowds, no heat.

Sicily and Malta: February is ideal for car sleeping – nights around 10°C, mostly sunny, no crowds at major sites, cheapest rental prices.

Avoid June–August everywhere in Italy and Malta. Heat, bigger crowds, and high rental prices.

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Practical

Currency

Euro across both Italy and Malta. Cards accepted almost everywhere. Revolut works well for foreign currency payments if you’re coming from outside the Eurozone – note the 1% weekend markup on currency exchange.

SIM

Italy and Malta are both EU members. EU Roam Like at Home applies – no roaming charges if you have an EU-based SIM.

If you don’t have one, check eSIMDB, filter by data needed, trip length, and sort by cheapest price.

Language

Italian throughout Italy (with local dialects in Naples and Sicily). English is official in Malta alongside Maltese and is spoken widely across the whole route.

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Tips Summary

• Artecard: Buy the Campania Artecard 365 Lite for €26 in Naples. Covers Pompeii, Herculaneum, Caserta, Paestum, the Archaeological Museum and more. Regular entry totals €109 – saves €83.
• Buses Between Cities: Itabus and FlixBus compete aggressively on Italian routes. Compare on Omio, book directly to save €1–€2. Search Google for promo codes – 10–20% discounts are common.
• Car Rental: DiscoverCars (my review) for Sicily and Malta. They are some of the cheapest airports in Europe for rentals off-season: European Car Rental Price Comparison. Cover excess with Cover4Rentals annual policy – decline all desk upsells. €3/Day Rental Car Guide.
• Sleeping in a Car: No national prohibition in Italy or Malta. Generally tolerated. Full guide: Sleeping in Rental Cars.
• Car for Sleeping: Avoid large vehicles. Smaller cars with fully flat-folding seats are more comfortable. Toyota Aygo X worked well. Ford Tourneo did not. Best Rental Cars to Sleep In.
• Fuel in Italy: Use self-service pumps. Attendant-assisted pumps charge a higher rate.
• Mount Etna Lava: If active, check local Facebook groups for current trail conditions before heading up.
• Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum: Book well ahead – 1–2 months in low season, 3–4 months high season. €35.
• Season: February for the whole route. Cheapest rentals, no crowds, perfect car sleeping temperatures. Avoid June–August.
• Free Sights – First Sunday: Italian state sights (Colosseum, Pantheon, Valley of the Temples) are free on the first Sunday of each month. No booking, queue only.

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