Italian Honeymoon - But How!?!?

Old Feb 24th, 2017, 08:53 AM
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Italian Honeymoon - But How!?!?

Hi everyone, thanks for taking a minute to help me and my beautiful fiance answer some questions. I will be sure to share with you all the progress of our planning and the trip itself.

Parameters:
We are traveling Mid July through early August, we have about 2-3 weeks.
We have between $6000 - $8000 we can spend
We can fly into just about anywhere for the same price - so starting location is not imperative.
We want to/must see (in this order): Venice, Amalfi, Tuscany, and Rome - all other locations we are open to hearing about.
We are foodies, we want to experience local Italian food and regionally specific culinary differences.

My fiance really thinks that she wants us to take a guided tour - something for 10-14 days - covering about 4 cities.Starting in Sorrento and heading to Venice. The cost of these trips vary from $1500 - $4000 a person. I have heard that you essentially get what you pay for in price variance.

I see a downside here as traveling with a large group in packed buses. But on the other hand they handle the accommodations and transport....

I think that it would be more rewarding to plan the trip ourselves, making sure we get to see the things we want to see plus we can venture off of the beaten path. I would be interested in getting a local Italian view of the country and experience Italy like a local, country or city.

I see the downside to this being the cost of booking hotels and travel? Is it comparable in cost, can it be cheaper booking yourself while keeping nice accommodations? Car or bus? will I be able to navigate it on my own without speaking Italian?

Can any of you please give me your opinions on traveling in these different ways? Do you think we could book and plan our own vacation in comparable dollar amounts? Do you think we could see more with a tour or self guided? What would you recommend what have you done in the past? What about those of you that have gone both ways?

Will it be hard to find accommodations in these towns at a reasonable price?

Is it worth it to get outside of the cities to experience life outside of the tourism? Are there any booking sites or experiences that you can offer us to point us in the proper direction?

Do you have any locations that we MUST see that we might miss in the big guidebooks?


As you can see, we are super early in the planning stages... but I think that leaves us open to any advice you could all offer us. Thanks again for taking the time to read this or any advice you can give us.

Brendan and Bess
Discobedience is offline  
Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:23 AM
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Do not do a tour for your honeymoon, just no.
There are many people from all walks of life here on this forum who are well traveled now but had to start somewhere. If we did it, you can do, and people are more than willing to help you along. Traveling to Italy is not a daunting prospect, it just requires some basic research. People go to Italy knowing not a lick of Italian and get around just fine, though of course you should learn basic polite phrases and numbers.
So, just read through a guide book together and get started!
Does your budget include airfare? Sort that out first--but only after you have determined if it will be 2 or 3 weeks. Train travel will not break the bank.
You can pay about 100 euros per night and have lovely accommodations. I use booking.com mostly.
Once you get the timeline down, you can work on the itinerary. My one caution is that it will be very hot and crowded in summer. I would probably avoid the Amalfi coast for that reason, and you may not have time if you stick with the other major cities. Enjoy the planning!
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:30 AM
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I'm not Italy expert so won't even get into that issue.

BUt the basic question on price and should you do it yourself or a tour. For young people without any problems getting around and some idea of what you want to do, I really do not think you should book a tour.

YOu are going to have to be wiling to do some work, though, reading guidebooks, and booking your own hotels and figuring out transportation. If you absolutely will not do that, then maybe she has a point. Of course you can hire a travel agent who will do that for you, but they won't be free and you are concerned about cost. Some of those tours do get some deals on hotels, etc., but nothing extraordinary and you have more options and choices if you book them yourself. You can do things just as cheaply, of course, and you'll be able to choose hotels that would not appear in a typical tour (smaller ones, usually).

So you can certainly do as well ans probably a lot better if you handle things yourself. Part of the tour cost is administrative, after all, and the tour guides/handlers, not just the hotels. Booking hotels is super easy nowadays via the internet and many hotel portals, if you wish to go that way (ie, booking.com, venere.com or Expedia). You'll have to read up about how to handle Italian trains, etc.

For beginners, I do think the Rick Steves guidebooks give a lot of basic practical information on exactly how to do some of these things (trains, etc), and are good for travel beginners. I'm not crazy about some of his guidebooks for other reasons (but I don't know his Italy one), but I do think he's good on that basic info. Get one at the library or wherever and start reading, you probably will get some enthusiasm for doing it yourself and more confidence in that.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:31 AM
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Do not do a tour for your honeymoon, just no.

Excellent advice. We did on our honeymoon and the trip was great but we xwanted to kill half the travelers - honeymoon is best with some privacy.

'You can pay about 100 euros per night and have lovely accommodations. I use booking.com mostly.'
I do the same.

Really, no sweat organizing a trip to Italy !
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:40 AM
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You are very right that it will be more rewarding to plan it yourselves. And very easy. Besides this forum you need two sites: booking.com and http://www.trenitalia.com/

On booking.com you can choose between prepaying/non refundable or able to cancel. The reviews are very accurate (only people who have booked through the site and actually stayed in the hotel can post a review so no fake reviews). You can use the map feature to pick specific locations within towns. The price is the same you'll pay as if you went to the hotel's own website. Of course, within any hotel there will be rooms that cost different depending on if you want 'superior' etc. It will almost certainly be less expensive than through a group tour.

You should be able to find hotels at all prices, I don't know what you consider reasonable. But the best value (eg the nicest hotels at the lowest prices) do sell out so it's not at all too early to book hotels now.


Travel between the areas you are interested in is very simple by train. On the trenitalia site you can book deeply discounted rates if you book in advance - but then you loose flexibility. In mid summer I probably wouldn't just walk up and buy a ticket as trains on those popular routes sell out. But you'd certainly have NO flexibility on a group tour.

Venice, Amalfi Coast and Rome are super easy to do on your own without a car (you don't want a car in any of those places). For Tuscany it depends on what you mean. Florence is in Tuscany and you don't want a car for that for sure (easy train connections between Flornce and both Venice and Rome). If you mean a rural Tuscan hill town then you might consider either renting a car for a few days or - and I think this would be better in your case - base yourself in Florence and do some organized day trips to hill towns, vineyards, etc. Siena, Lucca and Pisa are also all in Tuscany and all easily done by public transportation from Florence.

Once you get a basic plan people here will be very helpful with details.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:42 AM
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Well I wouldn't go to Rome or Venice for great food, not that yoiu cannot find it, but you have to work so much harder than say walking down the street in Bologna or even in Tuscany. An important part of visiting Italy is discovering there is no cush thing as Italian food. There is food of the regions and they are worth eating.

If you do a tour are you going to access the very best of food? Nah.

So, if I was coming for food I'd look at Bologna, Turin/Alba and Sicily or Puglia.

By the way, congatulations. I got married in Italy and find it a fascinating country, if a little frustrating.

Certainly visiting Rome, Venice is easy by train, Tuscany you'll need a car and CT can be visited by train and in August will be as packed as Oxford Street in London. Not where I'd go for a honeymoon

Can I suggest
1) a villa in Tuscany, or agriturismo (google options) with a car to visit Siena, Pienza, Montepulciano with a pool and you'll have a great week

2) A few days in Venice then

3) either go down onto the Po valley like Palma (where the ham comes from) or Bologna or Modena or
3b) go into the Dolemites, the place is in low season so rooms will be cheap, the facilities great, the views fine and the food ok.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 09:51 AM
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A tour is NOT the best way to experience Italian cooking; tours usually go to mediocre restaurants, for unadventurous eaters. And I would think a lack of private time and all those early morning departures would cramp a honeymoon.

Looking at your list, I'd fly into Venice, take a train to Florence and another to Rome. Getting to the Amalfi coast is a bit difficult, unless you opt for taxi from Naples train station. If you do go there, fly home out of Naples. Otherwise out of Rome. Flying into Venice and out of Rome/Naples on an open jaw/multi-city ticket should cost about the same as round trip. And save you the time and cost of backtracking.

One favorite sojourn is some time in the beautiful Tuscan countryside with a car. But driving in a foreign country might be a step too far for you in your first visit.

You're choosing to go in high season, so there will be crowds, especially in Venice, Florence and on the Amalfi coast. If you can, push this trip back to the fall. If not start, planning and booking right now. Get your plane tickets first, then hotels. Look at seat61.com for details about traveling by train in Italy. If you buy your train tickets 3 months or so ahead of time, you can save a lot of money.

You can get lots of help on this forum, but do some research first -- starting right now. Get some guidebooks from the library, search the Internet starting with Fodor's Destinations up at the top of this page.

Good luck!
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 10:05 AM
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Agree with Yorkshire on tour v do it yourself. We have take two group tours (although the group was people we know) and then started to "do it ourselves." Italy is a very easy "do it yourself" place, and on my honeymoon, I would not want to be on a tour!

I can't imagine a better place to spend at least part of a honeymoon than Venice!

One thing you might want to do is to use the tour itinerary as your starting point for planning. we often do that as tours will cover the "must see" things.

Suggest you fly into Naples and out of Venice, so that you maximize your time in beautiful Italy.

You should be able to find better lodging options if you do it yourself, using Tripadvisor to find them and booking.com to book them. Also, get a good guidebook or three and check lodging in them. We usually get a Fodor's (high end) and a Lonely Planet(more reasonable accommodations).

Although the Amalfi Coast will be hot and crowded (as will all of Italy at that time of year), it is your second most important destination, so go there.

You certainly will not want or need a car in Rome or in Venice--let alone drive in Naples, but if you are a courageous driver, you might want to rent one in or around Sorrento and drive down the Amalfi Coast--about the most beautiful place we've ever been and a very exciting place to drive. And you could rent one to drive around in Tuscany, particularly if you want to get a vacation rental in the country.

I my opinion the heart of Europe is outside the big cities, so plan to spend some time in the country. However, almost every place in Italy is a tourist destination, so don't plan this with the idea that you are going to find an "undiscovered gem."

One other thing--you are not early at all in your planning. You need to start making reservations very soon!

Best wishes on your marriage, and buon viaggio!
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 10:33 AM
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I'm no expert on traveling Italy (though I've been to Venice a couple time, don't miss it!)... just say NO to an organized tour group for a *honeymoon*. You want to be together, to do romantic things, and see wonderful places not herded around with a group of strangers.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 10:34 AM
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(Oh, if you want a city tour, a museum tour, whatever, that's different, just sign up for ones in the various places that last a few hours or no more than half a day.)
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 10:38 AM
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>I see the downside to this being the cost of booking hotels and travel? Is it comparable in cost, can it be cheaper booking yourself while keeping nice accommodations?<

We travel much less expensively when booking ourselves. Plus we get more central accommodations than are available on less expensive tours. Many of those use less central hotels. On your own, you have the option of B&Bs and rentals.



> Car or bus? will I be able to navigate it on my own without speaking Italian?<

Mostly, neither. You will want trains between cities, where cars are useless. A rental car can be helpful in rural locations (Tuscany hill towns). An occasional bus will be a good option, but only in some cases.

>Can any of you please give me your opinions on traveling in these different ways?<


Frankly, there is hardly anything we like to do more.

> Do you think we could book and plan our own vacation in comparable dollar amounts?<

In my experience, you can save money and have a more rewarding and complete experience by doing this on your own, but it requires research. People here will help, even with small details. Rush off to the library and bookstore and get some good guide books.



>Do you think we could see more with a tour or self guided?<



In my experience you can see even more moving at a pace set by you rather one set by a tour group.

>What would you recommend what have you done in the past?< >What about those of you that have gone both ways?<

I have made many independent trips to Italy and done planning for dozens of others.

I was on one guided bus tour as a chaperon, and it was OK but had too many drawbacks (group dynamics and poor food, mostly).

>Will it be hard to find accommodations in these towns at a reasonable price?<

Not if you plan ahead and take advice here. State your budget per night in Euros, and try to list your requirements. You will get great recommendations. Don't be vague and don't use words like "cheap" or "moderate" or "nice." Again, amounts are important.

>Is it worth it to get outside of the cities to experience life outside of the tourism?<

Italy is a heavily toured country. Unless you pick places that are uninteresting or unattractive, it's almost impossible to avoid all tourism. That said, there are entertaining and delightful side destinations outside every place you mention.

> Are there any booking sites or experiences that you can offer us to point us in the proper direction?<

Cooking classes, wine tastings, local tours, walking tours, cycling, fishing, skiiing, art, photography, golf, ballooning, historic tours, you name it. Be specific about the kind of experiences you'd like and you will get recommendations here.

For hotel bookings you can start with hotels.com, booking.com, venere.com and others, but first narrow down your choices by neighborhoods, prices, etc.

For local tours, name your interests and again you'll get good recommendations. Also name your prices.

>Do you have any locations that we MUST see that we might miss in the big guidebooks<

For a first trip to many people's favorite country to visit, I personally would not worry about it. If I tell you how much I loved my ancestral town, would you really want to go there?

A specific WWII memorial moved me, but I don't think you want to take a special trip there. Unless you do.

Or St Francis's monastery in the woods, La Verna, is amazing, but unless you love St Francis, I don't think it's a good choice for your honeymoon.

I hope you understand what I'm saying and don't think I'm being rude or dismissive. There is just so much to see and do on Italy's beaten path, that it doesn't seem worthwhile to send you other places without knowing your interests.

Trust Italy and serendipity.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 10:57 AM
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I will agree with everyone above. No tour. My husband and I are in our late 20s and did two weeks in Italy this past summer. At first, I was thinking a tour due to ease, but I realized I could beat the price and it would be MY trip.

For our trip we did Florence, Sorrento, and Rome for our 3 bases (so for 3 weeks you should easily be able to add in Venice (we had been there before). I will warn you. It will take ALOT of research. I do not mind emailing you all my planning work but here is a gist of what we did. Note: We did not rent a car. Did it all by train.

Florence- Flew into Florence. 4 nights. We loved Florence. Stayed at a very small B&B called Residenza Giotto. This place was a gem that overlooked the Duomo (it was insane....these ginormous doors right in the hustle bustle led up a few flights to a quiet b&b....super affordable like 120 euros a night). We took the train to Pisa and Lucca one day and road bikes around the walls of Lucca (amazing). We took a winery tour from a wine school that took us into Tuscany to hit a bunch of wineries. We took a very long day tour to Cinque Terre where we hiked, train road, and took a boat to all 5 towns (amazing day). We also explored Florence. Loved Florence as a base for all this and I used Viator to research these day tours. The highlight was the hotel patio. We would hit the grocery store everyday for wine and cheese and chill a bit before going out in the evening.

Sorrento- We stayed with an amazing guy we found on Air BnB. His place was up a mountain (it was a climb) that overlooked Sorrento. We did a day tour of Amalfi. In retrospect, I wish we would have just got a car and drove it cause i felt sick in the bus. We went to Capri one day (pass on that one...too crowded). Coming over to Sorrento we took a ferry from Naples. We spent all of 3 hours in Naples (half of it was eating pizza). Personally, I hated the place but to each your own.

Rome- We didn't do any day trips from Rome cause we needed all the time we had to explore. We did everything by foot. We stayed in the Monti area (near the Coliseum) at a small B&B that was well priced called Nicolas Inn. I thought I would hate Rome due to the crowds but I found that not overbooking our day (ie. we did one thing a day) and relaxing for wine and gelato alot made the place. I ended up loving Rome so much. We ended up walking to the Vatican and back one day which took so long but it was a highlight cause we took our time and stopped along and saw so much of the area. I booked skip ahead tickets through Walks of Italy. Flew out of Rome.

Not sure if this will help some but I cannot even begin to tell you how many hours I spent planning and researching. The trip was absolutely amazing because of it. The only thing we regret was going to Pisa

Happy planning!
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 11:26 AM
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disco and LizDMac: a car on the Amalfi Coast sickens me as much as the bus. For those with motion sickness, such as myself, I find the boats work best. Various routes from Naples, Sorrento, Salerno, Capri, Amalfi Town and Capri.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 12:02 PM
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If you take the tour you will not eat good food.
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Old Feb 24th, 2017, 12:14 PM
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I am sorry but I read someone writes that every place in Italy is a tourist destination. If you go to Venice, Amalfi and Rome, and the famous vineyards of Tuscany these are tourist destinations. But most tourists never see all the beautiful parts of Italy. Maybe tourists know 20 marvelous places to go, but there are 200. 2000 is not a lie. There are 20 regions in Italy and there are 100 good places to go in each. More. Italy is a very beautiful country and it is not possible, even if you are Italian, to visit every beautiful place, with nice food, nice views, nice people, a major history.

If you come to Italy for a honeymoon and want to see Venice, Amalfi and Tuscany it is a beautiful honeymoon. If you want to go for a day or two days to places where most tourists don't know about, it is very easy to do, only a few miles distance. You will think: "This is beautiful! Why do the toruists go there and not come here?"
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