Italian Honeymoon

jamiefour

I am in the very early stages of planning my honeymoon.  I really just want to set the itinerary and get ideas.  My father is giving us miles so we will be flying in and out of Rome.  I also want to visit Venice, Tuscany, Capri and possibly Florence.  I don't want to rent a car so we will be traveling by train if possible.  I am not set on any of these locations.  If anyone has advice or if logistically this is even possible that would be great.  I am also open to any Italy suggestions.  I have never been there so I really don't know.  We plan on going for 2 weeks. TIA

sunshine_day_dreams

I'm sure others can give you better advice than I.  I've never been, but we will be there in September for our HM.  The best advice I got was to do an open jaw ticket instead of a roundtrip - so fly into Venice and out of Rome or Naples.  We will be flying into Venice, traveling south by train and flying back out of Naples and it saves a lot of time by not backtracking.

I would also advise looking on either vrbo.com or Trip Advisor for rental properties instead of hotels.  We're staying in apartments the whole way and saving a TON of money that way.  If you're going in the summer, make sure you confirm that the places have A/C because not all do and it is apparently stifling over there in the summer.

We're doing two nights in Venice, four in Tuscany, four in Rome and four in Positano (Amalfi Coast).  We'll do Capri as a day trip from Positano b/c it was pretty ridiculously expensive to stay on the island.  I think you can definitely cover everywhere you want to go in two weeks if you do the open jaw and don't mind moving around a lot.

SummerBoston10

We are also going to Italy.  Flying into Rome and out of Naples.  We are spending 4 nights in Rome, 5 in Positano and then 3 on Capri.  We planned our trip so that it starts with the most "activity" and gets more relaxing as we go.  We wanted to save the best for last. 

future mrs.riva

ditto sunshine- fly in on one end of the country and fly out of the other. the rail system is really reliable and pretty cheap if you by a rail pass (as opposed to buying individual tickets).
i'd also look into staying at bed and breakfasts and even monastaries. they can be much cheaper than hotels.
also, florence is a must- SO beautiful and so much culture.

KappaUCF20

Actually, rail passes aren't always cheaper (in my experience at least).  When we went backpacking over there, we just purchased our TrenItalia tickets individually at the train stations when we got there.  You have to compare the prices because often, rail passes are more expensive. 

I totally agree about booking a multi-city plane ticket so you don't have to backtrack and waste valuable time!!!

Your proposed itinerary might be a bit much for two weeks, but it all depends on your traveling style I guess.  Just make sure you spend enough time in each place to take in the culture.  Public transportation in Italy (and most of Europe) is excellent, and there are trains and/or buses between most of the major towns.  The only issue you might have with that is if you want to exploreTuscany.  If you want to visit some of the smaller, out of the way towns then you'll probably have to rent a car which could add more stress to the trip, I won't lie... lol.  It's expensive for tolls, gas, etc. and navigating can be tricky but if you're up for the challenge, it could be worth it.  Do NOT drive in any of the big cities though like Rome or Florence.  It's a nightmare.  I would only do it in the countryside.  I've been to Italy twice so let me know if you have any other questions!    By the way, northern Italy is my favorite region because it's absolutely gorgeous.  I would personally skip Venice and go to Lake Maggiore- Stresa in particular- or Lake Como instead or you could possibly visit the Dolomites as a day trip from Venice.   My best friend recently went to Italy, and I convinced her to visit the Dolomites.  She came back raving about how great it was! lol

ktprieto

I spent 19 days in Italy two summers ago, and relied on trains/buses the whole time! It is very manageable but PLEASE (I was told this 100 times and did not understand how serious ppl were being) **pack light** If you can carry/pull your luggage and easily load it on and off of a crowded train yourself you will be fine lol! 

We started out in Rome and traveled to Sienna in Tuscany (my absolute favorite, highly recommend!) and Florence. If you have any questions just let me know You're going to love it!

AmoroAgain

Hey Jamie, I can give you a load of advice about the trains, and some hotels possibly.  Send me a PM, if you are interested.  We lived in N. Italy for about 2.5 years.

kmjarvey

Check out Raileurope.com and eurail.com. They've both got information on train routes and prices. On Rail Europe, you can put in the cities you want to travel between to find out how much it will cost and how long it takes to get there. Eurail sells passes. Typically, trains in Italy tend to be much cheaper than German and Austrian ones so the global passes aren't worth it if you're just sticking to Italy. Try pricing out your route individually and an Italy pass to see which would be a better deal.

Have you looked into Cinque Terre at all? That was one of my favorite places in Italy. It's hard to pick between that and Venice.

LaFemmeRousse

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_italian-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:b83f904c-3574-429a-89d4-1bba4a6c69eaPost:5b58c235-b556-4434-a5c3-f778404e6d6d">Re: Italian Honeymoon</a>:
[QUOTE]Have you looked into Cinque Terre at all? That was one of my favorite places in Italy. It's hard to pick between that and Venice.
Posted by kmjarvey[/QUOTE]

I agree with this!  Cinque Terre was my favorite place I visited in Italy, although Florence was a close second.  I also agree with a PP that you might be trying to fit a lot in to two weeks, but that might just be your travel style.

We flew into Rome and out of Florence, and ditto everyone else, it's nice to have an open-jaw ticket.  We also took trains everywhere.  We did Rome for five days (including a day trip to Pompeii and a half-day at Tivolia Gardens at the Villa d'Este outside of the city, so time there was tight and we could have spent longer), Venice for two, Cinque Terre for two, and then Florence for four.  I expected to be over the moon about Venice but two days was plenty for me.  If I did the trip again, I would have skipped it entirely and spent time in the Tuscan countryside instead.

Sue-n-Kevin

Check www.europeandestinations.com. They have air & hotel arrangements, plus you can add tours. We are not getting married for over 16 months, but I've been impressed with their website and the prices.

Ginabean2011

I have done this exact itinerary in 2008 with a group of family members. We went through Gate1 travel- just google them for the website and all the Italy and other destination options. We went by air conditioned motor couch everywhere and they handled everything (it was also two weeks). We flew into Venice and out of Rome. If all the research and planning yourself for all the flights, transport, tours, what to do, where to eat, language barriers, is too much...I highly recommend Gate 1. It was the trip of a lifetime and a good value at about $4000 a person for two weeks (that included flights, all transportation, hotels, tours, and about half the meals).