Italy Honeymoon - HELP!

Jen02784

My fiance and I are planning to go to Italy for our 2 week honeymoon September-October. We want to do some sight seeing and we are very active but we also want a portion of the trip to be relaxing. I'm thinking of starting in northern Italy for the first half (including Rome, Florence, Tuscany) and staying somewhere along the coast for the second half (thinking Amalfi coast?) We want to see a lot of the countryside and culture but don't want to be rushing from place to place and I'm not sure what is feasible for driving or train. I'm also considering a self-guided package if there are any reasonable packages anyone knows of. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance :-)

MrsGandthebeag

I love Italy.  When I think northern though, I think Venice.  Are you including that in your trip?  Rome, etc is more central.  The Amalfi coast is beautiful.  If I were you, and you want to go to Rome, Tuscany, and Florence I think that's doable as they're relatively close and accessible by train.  You could also go to Pescara which is the opposite coast of Rome, but almost directly across (not too far).  That would be your beach portion of the trip.  

dazyabbey

I used this website to book our honeymoon to London and Paris and it was great. It included Airfare/Trains between cities and we were going to add on Rome but decided to nix it and add a couple more days in each London and Paris.
http://www.europeandestinations.com/Country/Self_Drive/Italy_Vacations.aspx

I would play around with it and see which cities are within your budget and use Trip Advisor too. I think you have a great idea and know exactly what you want so that will help a lot.

hoffse

Rome is incredible.  I spent a month there in college to study art, and we still didn't see everything even with professor-led tours.

If it were me, I would probably start in Venice and see that for a couple days (skip Pisa  - not worth it) and then go down to Florence for a day and a half, then Rome for 5-7 days or so and then finish the rest of it on the coast.  See Pompeii and Naples on your way down.  You must must must see Pompeii.  Best 11 euros I ever spent and way more worthwhile than the Colosseum (which was also 11 euros while I was there).

Italy's train system is very good.  Only thing about it is to remember that your ticket always states the farthest destination that train will go.  So to get to Florence from Rome I had a train ticket that said "Milan" on it.  To get to Pompeii, you take the "circovesuvio" regional train from the Naples station (which just makes a big circle around vesuvius).  It's convenient because the inter-city and circovesuvio lines all stop at the same station.  We took just a day trip to Pompeii so I did not see Naples itself, though while I was there the trash protests were happening so it wasn't a city I was keen on visiting at the time.  If I were to go back now, I would spend a day at Pompeii & Herculaneum and a day in Naples.  Pompeii is a bit far-flung.

Italy's bus system is also good, though be wary of pickpockets.  While I was on a bus there I felt a guy's hand on my butt and realized he was trying to pick my pocket on a very cramped bus.  I looked him in the eye and he got off on the next stop.  Other than that slight issue, transportation is very good and safe, and making sure you just hold your purse in front of you while in crowds prevents theft.

One thing to keep in mind about Rome is that the metro is basically north-south and east-west.  That's it. The Vatican is a bit off the grid.  While I was there they were building another line to bring you closer to the vatican but it's a veeeeery slow process.  Every time they hit ruins they have to be properly excavated.  That said, the city is entirely walkable, particularly if you use the metro to get near the more far-flung destinations.  To that point, I would look for hotels near the Piazza Barberini because there is a metro stop right there that is well-situated, and the area has nice hotels within a block of the stop.  You will be a bit away from the Piazza Navona and the Vatican, but you will be close to the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain, and getting to those other destinations is just a short metro ride.  I have actually walked the entire length of the city (multiple directions), and it's doable.  Having a metro get you closer certainly helps though, particularly on days when you are sight-seeing.

Also?  Don't take a sight-seeing tour.  Buy a good guidebook, read it, and pick what you actually want to see.  Something about Italy that most people either don't know or forget is that most of the very famous art is still placed in churches.  Rome's churches are largely baroque so it is worth poking your head into them as you walk by - gorgeous architecture, beautiful ceillings, and some of the most famous artwork around.  Seeing a few museums while you are there is totally worthwhile (Vatican obviously, Capitoline museum, and Borghese palace all have fantastic collections), but go into the churches.  I visited dozens and was completely blown away.  A tour-guide will not have you do this because it takes time and you have the religious thing going on.  But a guidebook will tell you all the must-see churches along the way, and they will have far fewer tourists.  When I saw the ecstacy of St. Teresa, I was the only person there.  And the entire world recognizes that piece when they see it.

 

SlothGoals

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_italy-honeymoon-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2538b0b7-f906-462c-8c56-19b06f015b65Post:5b193ed6-e1c5-4d37-af19-5d415674e41c">Re: Italy Honeymoon - HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]I love Italy.  When I think northern though, I think Venice.  Are you including that in your trip?  Rome, etc is more central.  The Amalfi coast is beautiful.  If I were you, and you want to go to Rome, Tuscany, and Florence I think that's doable as they're relatively close and accessible by train.  You could also go to Pescara which is the opposite coast of Rome, but almost directly across (not too far).  That would be your beach portion of the trip.  
Posted by MrsGandthebeag[/QUOTE]

<div>Pescara is beautiful! It's where my family is from. There are lots of nice beach areas in the surrounding towns as well (Chieti, Francavilla). OP if you're traveling in September/October it will be fall there so you may not get the warm laying-on-the-beach weather you want.</div>

tlc35

Thanks hoffse for all the great information. We are planning on including Italy in our HM as well

Lechillura

Great info!

We just booked for Rome, Florence and Venice.

We were going to go thru European Destinations but my fiance saved us about $500 by doing independent bookings FYI.

We used ED as a jump off with hotels they recommended and they searched on our own.  What saved us was watching airfare daily.  We tracked it for two weeks and then pulled the trigger.

But just wanted to reiterate about popping into every Church.  I have been to Rome and Sicily (where my family is from) and this can't be stressed enough.  The churches are amazing!!

We just booked Rome 4 nights, Florence 3 nights and Venice 3 nights for Mid/later April.  I can't wait! 

Jen02784

Thanks for the info! That website looks really helpful for at least figuring out what our itinerary should look like and the prices seem pretty reasonable!

alithebride

i'd stick to rome and florence (which is IN tuscany) for the longest stays of the trip. start in florence, stay a few nights, then to a town in tuscany (siena is fabulous but i stayed in radda in chinanti and it was amazing) for a few nights to explore neighboring towns, then down to rome for a few nights then to amalfi for a few nights.

MrsGandthebeag

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_italy-honeymoon-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2538b0b7-f906-462c-8c56-19b06f015b65Post:2fbe0a2d-8d5b-45da-9258-828944ae2c2b">Re: Italy Honeymoon - HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Italy Honeymoon - HELP! : Pescara is beautiful! It's where my family is from. There are lots of nice beach areas in the surrounding towns as well (Chieti, Francavilla). OP if you're traveling in September/October it will be fall there so you may not get the warm laying-on-the-beach weather you want.
Posted by kristbot[/QUOTE]

<div>That's so cool your family is from Pescara.  I went there with my parents in 2007  a few months before my dad passed away.  My mom is from a little town north of Venice so we go there a lot.  </div>

akr1287

I actually lived in Florence for 6 months while I was going to school there.  I was renting an apartment with my fiance in San Spirito across the street from Palazzo Pitti.  They have lots of local markets and such.  Over the bridge a little I worked at Palazzo Vechio, which is still the City Hall as well as a museum, where I gave the secret passage tours in English. This is where the David sculpture was originally before it was moved, now a replica stands in its place.  There are also some night clubs that will be just opening up for the season when you get there such as Club Space, Club 21, Full Up Club.  If you have a couple of drinks and this is in general in Italy be careful b/c they pour them strong, make sure to stay with your husband.  The best advice I could give would be get familiar with the train station it is a great way to travel through Italy.

Other areas I went include Venice and we took a ride on a gondala, Cinque de Terre which is really beautiful and peacful great hiking, great wine and great photos, the Almafi Coast including Sorrento, Capri, and Positano.  The most amazing beaches ever.  Capri can get expensive but it was great as a day trip, well worth it!  We also went to Rome and Pompeii.  Pompeii should be a must.   Its just really incredible.  We also made it all the way down to Naples which is where Pizza was invented.  From Naples you can take a boat to get Siciliy and other surrounding islands.  

girlinchicago

We did an Italy anniversary trip in July. Our itinerary was 2 night Venice, 3 Florence, 4 Montepulciano (Tuscan hill town), 4 Positano, and 3 Rome. For us, those numbers were great because we wanted a good balance of activity and relaxation. We booked on our own and it was really straightforward. Trains are easy. We rented a car for the drive to and around Montepulciano. We looooooved our hotels in Montepulciano and Positano - Villa Cicolina and the Marincanto. Have a great time!