amartin102888

My significant other and I would like to finalize our itinerary for our 4 week trip within the next couple months. We will be traveling September 2017. Flying into Venice and out of Barcelona. The cruise is being gifted to us for our upcoming wedding so we are unable to change anything about that. We are in our 20's and travel quite a bit. We will be using Airbnb for lodging. I've never been to Europe and my fiance was briefly in Spain on a work trip.

We would love input on our suggested itinerary for the first three weeks of our trip.
Also, how much do you suggest budgeting for a couple, per day for food?

>>>>>Flight - DC to Venice
Venice 4 nights
>>>>>Train to Rome
Rome 5 nights
>>>>>Train to Naples and ferry to Sorrento
Sorrento 3 nights (Mt. v and Pompeii day trip)
>>>>>Ferry to Amalfi
Amalfi 3 nights
>>>>>Ferry to Capri
Capri 4 nights
>>>>>Ferry to Naples flight to Barcelona
Barcelona 5 nights
Cruise 7 nights


Rome:
Pantheon, Spanish steps, Trervi fountain, and catacomb tour
Morning cooking class (5 hours) go to Key hole overlook Villa Del Prioato dei
Coliseum, forum, palatine hill tour, spa visit at night

Amalfi:
sunset cruise
Hike of gods 4.5 hours plus stop by Positano

Capri:
Private 7 hour boat tour
Chair lift and Scala Fenica Phoenician steps
Pizzolungo hike (5 hours) and Gardens of Augustus



Thanks!

Sassafrass

It is good you are giving another couple of months to planning the itinerary before firming it up. Nice to see someone taking more than a drive by in Venice. The Amalfi Coast part is lengthy and perhaps that is exactly what you want and need for a honeymoon. It is so personal. I might take a night from Sorrento and one from Capri and add them to Venice or Rome, or Florence. Do you have any interest in the Art of Florence? Whatever you do will be a wonderful trip, especially since you are not rushing things.

You might want to swap things around on the Amalfi Coast though. Do Capri first and Sorrento last because you do not want to depend on a ferry from Capri to Naples on the same day you will be flying to Barcelona. Take the train from Sorrento to Naples or hire a private driver from Sorrento to the airport.

kja

Should be wonderful!

I agree with Sassafrass about the timing of your stop in Capri, and also about potentially taking some time from Capri (4 nights is a lot of that charming little island!) and adding it elsewhere.

FWIW, my favorite things on Capri were the Villa San Michele and Mt. Solaro.

HappyTrvlr

A 7 hour boat trip in Capri sounds way too long. You can't count on a set day to sail as seas are often choppy. I agree with changing the order of Capri and Sorrento too.. It doesn't look like you have at least one night at least in Naples, two would be even better.

Sassafrass

What is your cruise itinerary? It might make a difference in suggestions or advice.

TDudette

Agree with Sassafrass. Congrats!

amartin102888

Great advice! Gives us somethings to think about! We are thinking of saving florence for another trip.

The cruise itinerary:
EMBARK Barcelona (Spain); Naples (Italy); Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy); Florence/Pisa (Livorno) (Italy); Cannes (France); Palma, Majorca (Spain); DISEMBARK Barcelona (Spain)

We will spend time only in Pisa on 4th day. We plan to take a bus/train into Naples for the 2nd day.

Thabks again!

RonZ

In Palma, by all means have lunch at Il Paradiso.

http://www.ilparadiso.es/english.html

Sassafrass

The docks in Naples are practically in the city. You could easily see Herculaneum that day, and/or the archeological museum in Naples, or tour the underground city of Naples. Herculaneum is quite beautiful, only about 15 minutes by train from Naples and very different from Pompeii. It is much smaller too, easily done in a couple of hours. Nice restaurants in the village as you walk from the train.

A whole day might be a bit much in Pisa. Consider instead some kind of tour in Tuscany or spending the day in Lucca. Join cruisecritic.com, find the roll call for your ship and you might find a small group to join on a tour.

Agree with HappyTrvlr. You will already see the beautiful coasts from the ferry trips. No need for a 7 hour boat trip.

I am usually the last person in the world to suggest adding to a trip, but in your case, I might. Even after the production of a wedding, by time you get to the AC, you should be rested. I would consider taking at least a day and night each from Capri, Sorrento and Barcelona and visiting either San Sebastián or Granada or Madrid before Barcelona. Why these possible choices?

You are doing a long cooking class in Rome, so figure food is important to you and San Sebastián is known for beaches and fine food and not too difficult to get to Barcelona.

Madrid because it is so very different from your other places, has Toldeo and Segovia (known for food) as great day trips and is only two hours by fast train to Barcelona.

Granada because it is a world heritage site that requires extra time and travel, even paired with Andalusia, needs at least two nights, and has short easy flights to Barcelona?

Even if I did not add another place, I would still take a day from the coast and add it to Venice at the beginning of the trip, and plan on seeing one or two of the islands (Burano and Torcello) or nearby towns.

ssander

FYI: We used AirBnB in Venice--our first time with it overseas--and were thrilled by the place we stayed for four nights this past May:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/341252

Fantastic location and beautiful apartment. (It had two bedrooms and two baths, even though we didn't need them both.)

I would also suggest an extra night in Venice to give you time to spend one day in the outer islands: Torcello, Burano and Murano.

ssander

kja

While I agree that adding a destination might make sense, I will disagree with Sassafrass (something I do only rarely!) to suggest that you might want to wait to visit San Sebastian, Madrid, Granada (etc.) until you have more time in Spain. Instead, you might consider Naples (a stunning city, if a bit too "gritty" for some people's tastes -- I love its vibrant energy) or something near Barcelona (Girona, a bit of the Costa Brava...).

No bad choices here, just difficult ones.

cheska15

We stayed 4 nights in Capri and although we loved the island I agree with others who are suggesting taking a day off the total and adding it to one of your other destinations.