crecita

I am planning an Italian honeymoon for April 24-May 7. I have been to Italy before, specifically Rome, Venice and Florence. This time, we want to do Rome, Venice, maybe a night or two in Siena, and finish off in the south (Capri?)

We have 12-13 nights to do this...I am planning this on my own with the help of a friend who lived in Rome and goes back every year.

Right now we are planning to land in Rome, do 3 or 4 nights there, drive to Venice, stopping in Sienna for a night (or two?), do two nights in Venice, and then fly to Naples and do maybe a night there and then the rest in Capri. Any ideas or advice? My main concerns are:

If we stay in Siena for two nights, and have a rental car, will we be able to visit vineyards nearby? or will we be very isolated?
I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I really wasn't overly thrilled with Florence and really have no desire to go back there...I admit it was beautiful but I just feel like there are other places I would rather focus my time on, which is why we're not basing ourselves there...

Should I be worried that I haven't booked my flights and hotel yet? We are planning to in the next few weeks, but have not as of yet.

Should we stay in Capri for 4 nights (this is supposed to be the highlight of our relaxation time, we want to be somewhere quiet where we can unwind and just lay around). Or should we stay in Positano or somewhere else?

Thanks!

ira

Hi crec,

If you just want to relax, 4 nights on Capri will be very relaxing.

I suggest that you do get off the Island and do one day visiting the coastal towns. You could ferry to Amalfi or Sorrento and take the bus to Positano, and the ferry back to Capri.

crecita

that sounds great..thanks! is there one particular town you highly recommend? should we maybe do a night in positano, or it that too much?

Jocelyn_P

Have you considered an open jaw flight? You could fly into Venice and work your way south, flying out of Naples. You would probably have more flight connections, but much less traveling once you're there.

Congratulations on the wedding!

ssachida

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! <<F>>
Did you consider flying into Venice? Just geographically, the following order seems more logical to me:
1.Fly into Venice (3 nights)
2.Driving down to Siena/Orvieto. (2 nights) Alternately, you could train into Florence and get a car from there to Siena. You should definitely be able to visit wineries from Siena if you have a car. Do stay atleast 2 nights in this region.
3. Drive down to Rome or better yet, drop off the car in Orvieto and train down to Rome.(3/4 nights)
4. Train to Naples and get the ferry to Capri.(4 nights)

ssachida

ignore the <<F>> , don't know how it got there. My post just re-iterates Jocelyn's, guess our posts crossed.

crecita

thanks for all of the good wishes!

Our original plan was to fly into Venice, but my friend who lived in Rome scared me out of doing it..she said it was way too much of a nightmare, although if anyone has actually done it and can tell me otherwise I would love to do it...that would definitely be the ideal.

As for flights, flying into rome and out of naples was only slightly more expensive than doing roundtrip out of rome, although flying into venice was considerably more...I will have to keep looking...

Jocelyn_P

I have flown OUT of Venice recently and it was a piece of cake. Nice new airport. When considering the cost of an open jaw flight, keep in mind how much it will cost you to fly Naples to Venice, and how much your time in Italy is worth.

bobthenavigator

You have good advice here--let me add my 2 cents:
Yes, fly into Venice--why not?--3 nites
Train to Florence--get car--drive to near Siena--3 nites
Drive to Sorrento--drop car--stay in EITHER Capri or Positano--I prefer the latter. Fly home from Naples if you can--if not, Rome

All very doable. Good luck!

mackmclusk

We just returned from our trip to Italy on Saturday and had a very similar itinerary... 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Siena, 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Praiano (town next to positano) and then 1 night in rome before we left.

We did not rent a car and were glad that we didn't. In Siena, we stayed at the Borgo Grandaie... and, if we wanted to, we could have easily taken a bus, train, or wine tour to other Tuscan towns. We went to Florence for the day and it was easy - even easier if you stay at a place right in the center of Siena (our hotel was slightly outside.) Renting a car for just 2 or 3 days costs about the same as doing it for a week.

Based on Ira's excellent recommendation, we flew from Venice to Naples on Venereweb.com and it was perfect. Thanks, Ira!

I liked Capri more than Positano. Weather permitting, there are at least 4 ferries a day going to Positano in October, which is low season, so my recommendation would be to stay on Capri instead of going through the hastle of switching hotels for only one night.

We booked a tour of Pompei through our hotel and it was well worth it! I highly recommend that you take this day trip from Capri if you are at all interested in it.

Congratulations on your engagement! The last week of our trip was our honeymoon - one year delayed -(mother and sister inlaw were with us for the first week) and I can't think of a better place to wind down after a wedding.

crecita

I have to tell you all, this is WONDERFUL advice and I am more excited than ever!!!!

I will definitely look at flying into Venice now, although I too have checked the flights from venice to naples (in case we hit rome first) and those seem to be around $40 each, WAY reasonable..Another question, is it worth it to do a day/night in Naples instead of 4 in Capri?

also, mackmclusk....so glad you said you like Capri better, I feel better about this choice now, esp if Positano is a do-able day trip. How was Siena? If we do choose to rent a car, is it a complete nightmare?

Thanks again!!!

mackmclusk

I don't think that renting a car is a complete nightmare, it just was something we didn't feel like dealing with...training is really easy. I only wished that I had purchased tickets online instead of through travel agencies while in Italy, as Rick Steve's recommends. We could have saved ourselves some fees.

As a side note, my sister in law brought a 28 inch suit case stuffed and a big carry-on... she was staying for one week and had more luggage than my husband and I had COMBINED for 2 weeks... her luggage with our luggage wouldn't have fit in the car! It made every mode of transportation we took so stressful...

Do pack as lightly as you can and still feel comfortable. It makes traveling to different cities much easier.

mackmclusk

Oh, re: Naples. Wouldn't spend a night there - I'd save it for another trip - or, you could also do it as a day trip.

I haven't traveled much and took the advice of a friend who is a world traveler who tries to stick to the rule of staying in 1 place for at least 3 nights. Checking in and out of hotels takes time away from relaxing on your vacation. When we had our 4 nights in Praiano I actually unpacked the suitcase and put things in drawers, but our toiletries in the shelves in the bathroom, etc. It made things nicer than our 3-night stays in the other locations.

Lexma90

On the renting a car question, we've always rented a car for some portion of our Italy trip with no problems at all. We both drive manual transmission, however, and are used to big-city and small-road driving. We've also driven into Sorrento, as well. The drivers were very assertive there, but just keep that in mind and forge on!

I join the suggestions to fly into Venice - what a great way to start your trip! Then train to Florence, and pick up your rental car as you leave Florence. We've done that, too. A note on Siena, a city I love. Getting in and out with a car isn't as easy as if you were staying in a smaller town, but still doable. I'd still rather be within the walls of Siena and be able to walk around at nighttime, even if I have to deal with parking. That being said, signs outside of the city to the parking lots within the city are well-marked.

dina4

We flew into Venice and it was great! Yes, we had to take a cab to Venice, and then a water taxi to our hotel, but it was quite an adventure. I recommend splurging on the water taxi, as the vaporettos may not stop near your hotel and you'll have to trudge through the narrow cobblestone streets and bridges with your luggage. The water taxi takes you right to your hotel and it's a magical way to arrive!

Re: renting a car. We have done, and really enjoyed it. It's tough getting into big cities, but driving thru the countryside and being able to stop where you desire is priceless. One piece of advice... A midsize car in the US is a lot bigger than a European midsize. Reserve bigger than you think you'll need, and you'll be able to fit your luggage. We used autoeurope, and they were great.

I think you should book your flights and hotels asap. Small hotels book up quickly, and flights get more and more expensive as you get closer to the date. I'm plannning my trip now for June 2006.

dina4

mackmclusk -- was wondering how you liked the borgo grondaie near Siena. I was thinking of booking an apt at that place. It looks nice! We want to use it as a base to visit Montalcino, St. Gim, Pienza, and of course Siena.