Apologies for the multiple spelling/grammar errors in my previous post! It's almost bedtime...

topping

Far too much. Cut off at least either Venice or Tuscany: you cn't possibly see all of Florence in 4 days, I do not know how you hope to see all of Tuscany and Venice in 4 days!

Sounds pretty ambitious to me. Lots of moving around, packing and unpacking. If you like that sort of thing I guess it is okay but for a honeymoon, I would like to just park it in a couple of places and do day trips. Agree that you cannot to to Tuscany and Venice in 4 days and really see anything. You will just be going thru it and not really seeing or appreciating anything and there is a lot to see and appreciate in those 2 areas alone. Definitely doable with your budget if you don't stay in 4 star hotels. Driving has its advantages or flying everywhere in that you can stop and see what you want at our own pace. We have discovered so many grat places by just reading our guide books and stopping.Good luck in your decisions. Shar

Wanted to clarify our above ambitions:

I should have written Venice OR Tuscany- we're deciding which to do-
If we do choose Tuscany, we may or may not spend a day in Florence. I've already been there twice, but my fiance has never been, so he may want to see the city!

We're now thinking of driving from St Paul de Vence down to Tuscany, keeping the car for the four days there, and dropping it in Naples before taking the boat out to Capri or Positano (any opinions about those two? I've heard both are wonderful!)

Thanks again!!

It still slounds somewhat ambitious. I Will stick to the Italian Part, because of France I have only seen Paris and Lyon. I would basically switch the balance of days toward Tuscany. Get yourself an accomodation in some agritourism and stay at least 6 days there. I suggest staying at "Fonte di Sopra" in Belforte (near Radicondoli, which is near Sa Gimignano). Just stay in bed till late and make love, than go somewhere (you can even get to Florence, id you want) and take your time., Have a great dinner at Fonte di Sopra (Giovanna, the owner, is a wonderful cook) and go back to bed. After a few days you may wanto to go somewhere else. Yet, I would also suggest a different destination: Langhe. It is a wine-producing area of rolling hills somehwat similar to Chianti, not as famous yet but at lest as beautiful. It is far closer to southern France than Tuscany and really lovely and non touristy. From this area you may reach either Venice or Florence for a more touristy couple of days.
http://www.piemonte-emozioni.it/emozioni/percorsi/eng/11/
www.langhe.net

I like the advice from ALice. Enjoy your time together in beautiful Italy by staying put so you can truly get involved with the area instead of just looking and passing thru. Even if you have been to Florence before go again. Who could get tired of Florence and if you really love your fiance introduce him to Florence and the surrounding area of Tuscany. Our last trip we rented a house for a week and truly felt like we belonged, shopping in the local markets and visiting out of the way towns. Loved it! Shar

Thanks for the wonderful advice! Any thoughts on whether to do Capri or Positano?

Stephanie, we just returned from Italy and I would highly recommend Ravello and the Hotel Villa Maria over Positano and Capri. Ravello 1st choice, Capri 2nd and them Positano,
which is a lovely town but IMO highly overrated but good for a day visit. If you decide on Positano check out Casa Teresa.com we stayed there for a couple of nights and loved Teresa which runs a B&B thats quite nice and afforable,$100 a night. Whichever itinerary you decide on don't over-schedule, just relax and have a great honeymoon.

The first thing I would do is book this honeymoon in May or September -- summer is a horribly hot and crowded time to be hitting some of those sights. Your trip to Venice would be undoubtably ruined by heat and crowds. If moving the time is not possible, stay away from Venice and the Amalfi coast, which will be swarming with people. Concentrate instead on Rome and the Tuscan countryside (and, for less crowds, Umbria and even Lazio). All these places you mention are wonderful, but lose their charm when packed like Disneyland.

Also, if you're stuck in July, you may want to consider the Lake country, which is cooler.

R.G.

We have been to the Nice/Cannes area several times but only in off-season-I have heard the traffic there is horrendous in the summer-for a honeymoon I would go with above suggestions to narrow it down.

Stephenie. I would dump Nice and put another day in Florence - I want to live there and try and get to Assisi. Last summer my wife and I stayed on Capri for 4 days. Absolutly wonderful.

While you are in St. Paul my friend Franc might be help you at Provence Riveria Tours. Here is his web site:
http://www.provencerivieratours.com/

Okay, so I think we've decided no Nice/St. Paul, and just to stick to Italy. The question is, if we begin in the Lake Country (?) is this a place where we can TOTALLY relax, refresh, and sit by a pool/lake? I'm unfamiliar with that area. I'm definitely up for renting a villa in Tuscany somewhere and exploring, possibly heading to Florence for some sightseeing. It would be fun to have a nice home base for several days in an area where we can explore the town for a low key day or take a trip for a more adventurous mood. I'm hesitant to give up Positano unless you're all really sure we'll be miserable with crowds- we really wanted to spoil ourselves before returning to the real world!

(I'm not crazy about Rome)

Unfortunately, my fiance's busiest time is Sept, so postponing is not an option. Perhaps we should have considered that when picking a wedding date!

Thanks again for all the advice- it is very helpful!

So many good options--hmmm!
Given 14 days--and on a honeymoon---I would try to do 4 destinations max. The best of Italy would include these 4. The Lakes[ probabbly Como], Venice, Tuscany, Amalfi coast. If you want more leisure time then drop one of these. I would do 3 nites each except for Tuscany where I would do 4 or 5 nites. However, you may need to spend the last nite near the Rome airport Good luck--it is hard to go wrong in Italy.

Thanks Bob! That plan sounds great. Any suggestions about nicer hotels in Lake Como and Amalfi Coast and less expensive, more quaint places to stay in Venice/Tuscany? So your opinion is that we can survive the mobs in Venice and the Amalfi Coast in July?

On the lakes, I would just stay off the main lakes (Lake Maggiore, Garda and Como) and rather at either Iseo or Orta lakes. Both are very nice, as scenic as the three main lakes, but just not as crowded. Both have small islands (Montisola in the Iseo lake, Isola di San Giulio in Orta lake) that are worth exploring.
If you ares taying in Orta lake, you may rent a car as you move off the lake and spend a few of days in the Langhe area, which is just close by.
In Tuscany do not rent a villa, wich will force you to stay in the same place (at least for sleeping) for a whole week. Most agritourisms rent rooms with no week conditions, you can stay there one night or more. Besides, many agritourisms also offer dinner and lunch, and unless one of you is some kind of foodie (well, I think that cooking can be sexy, at least as long as my fiancè does not disturb me trying to help ;-P) you will not want to spend time cooking while on honeymoon. Also, this way, if the place has bored you, you will be able to move away and find another place where to sleep with little problems., COntact agritourisms directly browsing them through the site I suggested you in a previous post, this is the best way to find accomodations in Tuscany!

Well, hard to argue with Alice on Lago Orta--one of my special places. But, Como is more of a honeymoon destination.
Here are some hotels options:
Como--Hotel Belvedere--G.H. Tremezzo
Venice--Locanda Barbarigo--Hotel Flora--Pensione Accademia--Hotel Ala
Positano--Casa Alberina--Palazzo Murat
Tuscany--too numerous--pick location first, critical for Tuscany.
Hope this helps.

Rex:

Muc depends on what you mean with "hoeymoon". To me (not tht I hyav any idea of getting married!) it means a quiet place where to stay, some things to see but not too many so that you do not feel sorry if you spend too much time between the covers.

My perfect honeymoon would begin somewhere that would "wow" us, but we could explore and relax at a leisurely place. Then off to somewhere where we can be a bit more adventurous and active, then ending up somewhere where we could really relax before heading home. I agree about the beginning being somewhere where we would not be too upset about staying in bed for a bit...We do tend to get adventurous though, so I know we'd get restless. That's why I thought Florence/Tuscany would be a great middle section! Any suggestions as to where a good home base there would be? Would you stay in Florence and take day trips out?

Alice, I'm going to check out that website. I also have a a travel agent working on this all (although quite frankly, I'm getting better advice here!) so she will do most of the reserving...

Stephanie

Lago d'Orta is a place that will make you say "WOWOWOWOW!", although if you are an active traveller you may really get in some depth in two or thrree days, while on the major lakes you woudl need at least one week just to see the few things all tourists see.
Personally I would not stay in Florence. The city can be great, but it is almost as much a tourist trap as Venice. More and more Italians are leaving the city, which has become too pricey and too crowded with tourists, and moving to further away houses. That is what's happened to Venice too, with the italians moving to Mestre and leaving Venice to tourists. My advice is to make one or two daytrips to Florence (since you have already been there, just show a few basics to our husband) and stay deep in the hills and visit some other place. If you are staying west of Florence, do not forget Pistoia ^_^

Alice, Please do not call me Rex!!
I have sent dozens of people to Lago Orta and have been there 3 times myself.
I agree--a special place.

Bob: sorry.

whatever you do, it will be great! by comparison, our honeymoon was a disaster. passport delayed, trip shortened, lousy hotel in Rome, accident outside of Rome, etc. etc.

nonetheless, it was fantastic, memorable, amazing! we loved it! wherever you are, whatever you do will be loads of fun. i mean, you'll be in Europe!!!!

i do highly recommend Tuscany. beautiful, romantic, enchanting.