Winning tip: Fusina, Venice

For the design-conscious on a budget, Campeggio Fusina, created in 1959 by the modernist Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, offers inexpensive camping with a view across the lagoon to Venice (prices from €8.50 for a tent to €92 for a static caravan). The channel just offshore treats you to a close-up of passing ships en route to Porto Marghera, Venice's industrial secret.
+ 39 041 5470055, camping-fusina.com
kessel

Amalfi Coast

Positano
Rifugio Degli Dei is a family-run farmhouse that you'll only find after walking up 100 or so very steep steps – the view, the warm welcome, the beautiful apartments and the spectacular food (freshly made by mamma from produce grown on site) is worth the exhausting climb.
+39 339 839 0809, rifugiodeglidei.it. Rooms from €40 B&B per person
prateekbuch

Liguria

Bussana Vecchia
This is a sun-drenched hilltop village that was devastated by an earthquake in 1887 and brought back to life by a colony of artists who settled here in the 1960s. It has a unique hippy charm, stunning architecture and artist ateliers. Go there now, and you may be able to check out – for free, however donations are appreciated – one of the largest model railways in Italy, with hundreds of metres of tracks winding through tiny stations and mountains. To find it ask locals for the plastico ferroviario, or follow the signs if you are lucky enough to find them. There are also a couple of B&Bs in town, with rooms starting from €70. Drive down the hill and you will find some of the best beaches in the area, some of them with free access.
robbielondon

Abruzzo

Serramonacesca
Try self-catering with a difference in the beautiful, unspoilt Abruzzo. Bring your own tent or rent one of the gorgeous resident canvas bell tents, sleep in "Rosemary", the retired VW camper van, or select one of the in-house self-catering options. Climb, walk, bike, swim or chill amid the spectacular foothills of the Apennines, with the Adriatic's undiscovered beaches less than 40 minutes away. Serramonesca is two hours from Rome and easily accessible by rail.
+39 333 4636075, kokopellicamping.co.uk, camping from €20 a night for two
jillap

Piedmont

Cuneo
La Randoulina is a great slow-food restaurant in the Valle Staura, west of Cuneo. There is no menu, or prices, but they ask your preference of fish or meat, or if you're vegetarian; then they start bringing food to your table. Delicious local food: boar paté, steak tartar, aubergine tart, fish vol au vent just for your starters. The menu changes according to the season. The bill came to €40 for one including a great bottle of Nebbiolo d'Alba. Not dirt cheap, but very good value for seven or eight courses.
larandoulina.com
relator

Venice

Al Bocon di Vino and Bacareto da Lele
These must be the cheapest drinks in Venice. Wine sells for 80¢ a glass at the Bacareto, and you can have a glass of prosecco for €2 at the Bocon. You buy at the bar and there is limited seating at the Bocon, while at the Bacareto you simply sit on the stepped area at the edge of the canal. Bacareto is in Campo dei Tolentini in Santa Croce near the Piazzale Roma bus station, and Bocon is in Campo Santa Margharita, Dorsoduro.
albocondivino.it
logie88

Villaggio Europa, Grado
Grado is a sunny, sandy peninsula between Venice and Trieste. The best campsite is Villaggio Europa, which has its own stretch of beach, a water park, and chalets sleeping six from €62 a night.

+39 0431 80877, villaggioeuropa.com
lizbou

Youth hostels

I travelled the length of Italy on my Honda motorbike. Because I was on my own and wanted company in the evenings, each night I stayed in a youth hostel. This turned out to be a great idea and, besides having a wide variety of different people to chat with, I stayed in splendid buildings and ate authentic food (although not at all hostels, I should say). And of course, they're incredibly cheap. that Some can be tricky to find: I had no satnav so spent a lot of time asking for directions.
hihostels.com
johnboy47