Consigli per viaggiare in Italia spendendo poco

What does “bassa stagione” mean in Italian?

Bassa stagione is the Italian for low or off-season, the budget traveller’s key phrase. It pairs with alta stagione (high season) and media stagione (shoulder season): prices for hotels, trains, and flights “salgono” (go up) when everyone is on holiday and drop when they are not. The single most expensive window in Italy is mid-August, so “viaggiare in bassa stagione” is the first money-saving move locals recommend.

The clip also teaches “ferie” — paid time off / holidays from work — and the very Italian habit of taking them all at once: “le persone prendono le ferie... di solito ad agosto.” Other useful contrasts: treni regionali (cheaper, slower local trains) versus the Frecciarossa high-speed trains, and getting around a “centro storico” (historic centre) on foot to skip transit fares.