christrmpt04

Thanks to everyone again for the past advice for our itinerary for our honeymoon in October. Here's what we have now...

Arrive in Milan in the morning.
3 nights in Venice at Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo
2 nights in Florence at Hotel Bavaria
2 or 3 nights in Siena at Agriturismo Marciano
4 or 5 nights in Rome at Palazzo Olivia or Residenza Canali ai Coronari
Depart from Rome late morning

Here are the last couple of issues we are ironing out. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

Tickets were $200-$300 cheaper per person to fly into Milan than to fly into Venice so we chose Milan. While we are there, we were considering seeing a couple of quick sites before continuing on to Venice. To do this we would have to store our luggage somewhere. Does anyone know if the Central station in Milan offers storage lockers? If we cannot store the bags we will just proceed straight from Milan to Venice.

We are trying to decide if we should spend 2 nights in Siena and 5 in Rome or 3 in Siena and 4 in Rome. I like the idea of spending an additional night at the relaxing agriturismo, but would we be cutting our time in Rome short? I know we cannot possibly see everything in Rome, which makes me think that 3.5-4 days (4 nights) in Rome is not enough. To clarify, when we are Siena we only plan to spend 1 of the days in the city with the rest of the time devoted to exploring the surrounding areas.

In Rome I am still trying to decide if we should rent an apartment (P. Olivia) or hotel (R. Canali). Both have benefits and drawbacks. Hotel is fancier and more "romantic", apartment is more affordable and provides a kitchen. I will probably continue to change my mind on this issue, but if anyone has helpful advice or personal experience with either location, please let me know.

OK I know that was long but thanks for reading and I look forward to the responses!

christrmpt04

I just confirmed on the trenitalia site that Milan Central station does have a baggage check service. 3.80 for 5 hours should provide plenty of time for a quick sight-seeing stop and a bite to eat. If anyone has suggestions on how to spend a few hours in Milan, feel free to chime in.

Mimar

I hope you will have a car for Siena, because that agriturismo is at some distance from the historic center of Siena. But if you plan to explore from there, you will need a car anyway.

I'd be more inclined to subtract a day from Florence than from Rome. Or even skip Florence and do it as a daytrip by bus from Siena. But I'm not a big fan of Renaissance art and architecture, and hence not a big fan of Florence. However, it shouldn't be so crowded or hot in October.

Re: Milan. Milan is a spread out city. One little hub of touristic interest is around the cathedral/La Scala/Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Not too far from this hub is the Via Montenapoleone, Milan's main high fashion shopping street.

The other big sight in Milan is the Last Supper, for which you much reserve well ahead of time. It's close to the Milan Cadorna train station. The transportation options from Malpensa have changed in recent months so maybe somebody more up-to-date can help you.

christrmpt04

Thanks Mimar. I'm still deciding whether or not to rent a car in Siena. We may just suck it up and walk or maybe borrow bikes from the agriturismo. Google Earth claims that it is a 50 min walk to the city center. Have stayed at Agriturismo Marciano before? If so, what did you do when you were there?

k9korps

I generally prefer apartments, but one plus for a hotel is that it's better if you're a first-time visitor to a city. Generally, hotel staff can give you helpful advice and assistance about where to go, eat, etc. With an apt., you'll have to handle that kind of stuff on your own.

I must be getting old, because the idea of taking an overnight flight, then a whirlwind look at Milan, and then a train to Venice makes me tired just thinking about it. Me, I'd go directly to Venice. But to each his own. Have a great trip.

christrmpt04

Haha yeah we may end up scratching the Milan tour idea, k9korps. We like the idea of it, but if we are too tired when we land, we'll just head straight to Venice. Always good to have options!

Thanks also for the advice on the apartments too. The good thing about Palazzo Olivia is the owner said in an email that she lives in the building and is available to help with bookings/reservations/advice during the day. This has also been confirmed in reviews I've read on tripadvisor. It seems like an apartment building that's run like a hotel almost.

clayman

Fear not arriving with an adventure in mind for Milan. Don't eat on the plane, drink plenty of water, sleep as much as possible, get off and burn the day till 10 PM or so and crash in Venice. You'll awake without jetlag! (BTW..this is from a 60 year old)

You've made some good choices for length of stays, but I rather agree regarding taking your time from Rome for a longer stay at the Agriturismo Marciano. Pick up a car just outside of Florence and drive the S-2 to the agriturismo, maybe see San Gimignano or take the back road to Radda and then down to Siena. You'll love the drive and stops along the way. You'll have quicker access to Siena as well.

Drop your car off at Siena on the third day or drive the S-2 to San Quirco ,(SS-46)then to Chuisi, (about an hour with out stopping and fantastic Tuscan scenery, Pienza etc) turn the car in and catch the train to Rome. Definitely choose the apartment for your stay in Rome.

annhig

congrats!

my suggestion would be to take Florence [except perhaps as a day trip from Siena] out of the equation altogether, and go straight from Venice to the agritourismo. especially if you are going to see some galleries/art works in Milan as well ,by the time you get to Florence,you will be hard pressed to remember what you saw where.

give your brains a proper rest, and then you'll be ready for Rome. I too would go for the apartment, as this will be quite a change from the hotel and the agritourismo. We stayed in one last year, and I never cooked at all - we only used the very well equipped kitchen to make our tea in the mornings, and squeeze oranges for spremuta, which is very expensive if you order it in a cafe. but if you have a bakery near-by, you can nip out for cornetti [the italian for croissants] and have your breakfast in bed.

Perfetto!

christrmpt04

So now I have a new dilemma ...

I had made up my mind to stay in Siena for 3 nights and Rome for 4 nights, but when I went to book the rooms, the agriturismo was already booked for the 3rd night. That settled the question for how many nights to spend in Rome once and for all (5 nights). However, it was available the night before we were planning on arriving in Siena.

Do you think that it would be worth it to stay in Florence for 1 night and leave for Siena a day early, giving us 3 nights at the agriturismo? I don't want to eliminate Florence entirely because I want to experience at least one night walking around the city. I have been there once before and really enjoyed the night we spent walking around. Plus we would not be sacrificing a lot of time in Florence because we could spend most of the day in the city before taking a late bus to Siena.

A small amount of my opinions listed above is based on personal experience. If any of you with more travel experience see an error in my thinking or have suggestions on how to decide what to do, please chime in!

It seems like every time I finally arrive at a decision, I am presented with a new choice! But then again, there are far worse problems in life than deciding how to spend time in Italy with your wife. Thanks again to everyone for your help!

christrmpt04

thoughts anyone?

klucy

I am also going to Italy in October on my honeymoon. I am also booking the Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo while in Venice. We are departing Venice after a couple days for a cruise, then when we get back to Venice, we head to Naples and take a second cruise from there. Afterwards we are staying in Naples for a couple days, then to Rome for a few days. I am going to check out the place you mentioned for Rome. When are you going? We are going from Oct 20-Nov 12.

annhig

Do you think that it would be worth it to stay in Florence for 1 night and leave for Siena a day early, giving us 3 nights at the agriturismo?>>

why not? better than a day trip for giving you a feel for the place, and you still get your agriturismo for 3 nights.

sometimes a bit of flexibility pays off!

Meggan_Spitzer

Thank you so much for this great info!!!! My fiance and I are planning a very similar trip at the end of Sept/ beginning of Oct and this was very helpful! Congrats and have a great trip!