mw2006

We are spending 2 weeks in Italy for our Honeymoon in September/October and would love any tips or suggestions for anything must see, eat, drink, do, etc. in the locations we are visiting. We are intersted in a little bit of everything, but especially the wine, food, culture, history, and architecture.

Here is the basic Itinerary:

<b>September 22-24: Venice</b>
-Arrive mid-morning on 22nd
-Wander the city, no particular plans
-Maybe visit Burano and/or Murano on second day
-Hotel: Locanda Orseolo www.locandaorseolo.com


<b>September 24-28: Tuscany (San Giovanni d'Asso near Siena) </b>
-Picking up rental car in Florence in AM on 24th and driving south with a stop in San Gimignano before arriving at base.
-Staying at Lucignanello Bandini http://www.piccolomini.it/en/index.html
-Plan to visit Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza and Siena on the following 3 days (with a focus on wine).

<b>September 28-30: Florence</b>
- Arrive AM of 28th
- Visit as many of the top sites as we can (have reservations at Uffizi and Accademia)
-Hotel: Relais Grand Tour B&amp;B
http://www.florencegrandtour.com


<b>September 30-October 4: Positano</b>
-Arrive Positano afternoon of September 30
-Visit Capri, Pompeii, Ravello
-Hotel: Villa Rosa
http://www.villarosapositano.it/entrance.htm


<b>October 4-7: Rome</b>
-Arrive early afternoon on the 4th, so we have 2.5 days
-Haven't come up with a solid must-see list yet
-Hotel: St. Regis
http://stregisgrand.hotelinroma.com/main_en.htm?source=
-Depart AM on the 7th

Thank you in advance for any advice!!

Hana

Sounds like a wonderful honeymoon. I would likely forgo Burano/Murano given the short time you are in Venice. I am assuming you are flying from NA and thus, may succumb to jet lag those first two days. In Venice, I love just wandering the neighbourhoods and getting lost, the evening music in the main square, and early mornings to wander the streets when the city is waking up.

Not sure why you're backtracking between Florence and your stay near Siena. You'll love all the hill towns listed. Tuscany is a great place to slow down and savour the food, wine and beautiful countryside.

Your Florence plan sounds lovely. Stop into the covered marketplace for lunch with the locals, check out the Museo del Duomo and consider going to Piazzale michaelangelo for an unforgettable view of Florence. ZaZa's and Yellow Bar are two of our favourite places to eat in Florence.

We honeymooned at Villa Rosa - loved it!! Be sure to eat at their restaurant - Cafe Positano.

Rome is a bustling city. The colosseum and forum are two musts in my mind. Add to that the Vatican museum and St Peter's.

Have a great honeymoon!

ira

Hi MW,

The 22 and 24 are only 1/2 days in Venice.
I suggest taking 2 days from Florence and adding it Venice.

You can see Florence as part of your visit to Tuscany.

&gt;-Arrive Positano afternoon of September 30
-Visit Capri, Pompeii, Ravello&lt;

That's a very busy schedule. If Pompeii and Capri are important to you, I suggest staying in Sorrento and visiting Positano on the way to Ravello.

I think that this is more packing and unpacking than I would want to do on a honeymoon.

Have you considered flying home from Naples and saving Rome for another visit? It would make your time on the AC more enjoyable, and you could stay in Positano.

bobthenavigator

What a terrific honeymoon !
I love your hotel choices and the overall plan with one exception. I see no reason to backtrack to Florence--add that time to both Venice and Rome. You just have one too many destinations.

sk2214

Sounds wonderful! While in Venice, I highly reccomend the Peggy Gugenheim Museum...modern/fun art in a gorgeous setting. A great initimate museum to start the trip

FlyingMaltese

It sounds like you love art. While in Venice, check out the evening music in St. Mark's Square. It is less crowded in the evenings and more charming then.
I personally loved Burano, but I do not think that there is enough time if you are going to see the Doge's Palace. Try to book the Secret Itinerary Tour of the Doge's Palace. For us, that was one of the highlights of our trip.
Here is the link:
http://www.tickitaly.com/tickets/iti...es-tickets.php

Also, I noticed that you are leaving on Sunday, Sept 24. If you are departing in the afternoon, maybe you could attend mass at St. Mark's Cathedral. The mass is spoken in Italian, but the interior will definitely be lit so you could appreciate the interior mosaics. (They never light the interior for the tourists.)

We also adored the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. This is Tintoretto's Masterpiece and was not crowded with tourists when we visited. www.sanrocco.it

As for Venetian restaurants, our splurge restaurant was Cip's at the Cipriani. The food was very good and the view of Piazza San Marco was romantic. You can take their private boat from their private launce, which is located next to the San Zaccharia vaporetto stop. If you are truly a gourmet, Da Fiore is the best restaurant in town, and they require reservations.

We did not go to Tuscany last time we were in Italy, but we went to Florence for one night. We ate at Enoteca Pinchiorri. It was expensive, but was very good. Also, while in Tuscany, ship home some super Tuscan reds, as the price here is 10x to 20x the price there.

Your itinerary for the Amalfi coast sounds very you. If you are going to visit Pompeii, you might wish to combine that with the Archeological Museum of Naples. All of the really great treasures excavated from Pompeii are in the Archeological Museum. Try to get to this museum by 3:00 pm, as closing times vary according to the whim of the museum employees.

Our best meal in Positano was at the Palazzo Murat, which is ranked 3rd in Positano by Michelin after the Sirenuse and San Pietro. Also, try to spend some time just walking in Positano.

As for your Rome plans, I have stayed at the St. Regis. It is my favorite hotel in Rome. I had e-mailed the front desk that we would be on our honeymoon, and they upgraded us to a butlered floor on check in. Try their bellinis. They were the best that we had in Italy.

I am sure that you are probably going to visit the Sistine Chapel while in Rome. The Vatican Museums offers excellent tours in English provided by the museum docents. Reservations must be made from one month but no later than one week in advance of visit by facsimile. Here is the link:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...zi_Visite.html

It takes a full day to explore the Vatican Museums and St. Peters.

You will probably spend your other full day exploring ancient Rome. From past experience, I have always found the Roman Forum visits to be more gratifying with a well-informed tour guide. I visited the forum with ContextRome and was very impressed the guide. He was one of two people permitted to do excavation in the Roman Forum.

You probably have time for maybe one small museum in Rome. I loved the Borghese Gallery. You have to reserve tickets in advance, and you are only permitted to visit for two hours. But the Bernini statues in that collection are magnificent, and worth the effort.

If you have further questions, please ask. My last trip to Italy was my tenth trip.

nessundorma

Firenze (Florence) was just named the number one city destination in the world by Conde Nast.

Venezia has many cheerleaders on Fodor's, and Firenze has dogged detractors -- and vice versa. Many people do not care for Venezia at all. Many people consider Firenze the high point of their Italian stay.

Before changing your plans, you should consult some guidebooks, with pictuers, to see if there are artworks in either place you particularly want to see.

Going to Burano is more time consuming that you might imagine. If you are interested in the treasures of Venezia, you might prefer to spend all your time in Venezia proper.

You should also know that in recent years many travelers to Roma report back that the Vatican Museum is so jam-packed it is extremely unpleasant to be there. You might nonetheless want to go. Or you might want to visit other places in Roma. Some of my personal favorites: The Pantheon, the Colosseo and Forum, the Portico d'Ottavia, the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Have a good trip!

bobthenavigator

I have to ask---are you staying in Casa Maria in Tuscany?

mw2006

This site is great - thank you everyone!

I have to admit that I haven't spent much time at all looking into Venice and what to do while there. I figured we would just wander around and soak it in (and recover from jet lag a little). But now I think maybe I'd better look into the Doge's Palace.

I know lots of people will think us nuts, but we really just want a taste of Venice on this trip. It was so hard to narrow down where to go - Italy has way too much to offer! Anyway, that's why our time in Venice is so short.

For Tuscany, I guess it might have made more sense to do day trips into Florence, but there is so much to see that we wanted to give it a little more time and we wanted to be there at night. It probably isn't the best plan to stay in the countryside and Florence, but hopefully it will work for us. Our main focus in Tuscany is the wine and the countryside which is why we didn't want to just daytrip it.

I am sure we'll be a little exhausted, but that's where Positano comes in. We don't feel like we have to see Pompeii or Capri but will if we are up to it. Mostly we are there to just relax and soak it in.

Thank you so much for all the recommendations! This is all very very helpful.

mw2006

Bobthenavigator - we tried to get Casa Maria, but it was already booked. We're in Casa Clementina instead.

Oh, and someone asked where we are coming from - NYC. (so lots of jet lag)

nessundorma

I think it's a lovely plan to stay in Flrenze and also in the countryside.

gard

Hi

My wife and I have been to Italy twice on vacation. We went to Rome last summer and I have posted a trip report with some pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there. We also went to Venice a couple of years back and here is the trip report: http://gardkarlsen.com/italy_venice.htm . Have a great honeymoon and don't hestitate to get in touch if you have any questions

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

mw2006

Gard - thank you very much. I actually already read you report and found it very helpful! So nice of you to spend the time to write it all out like that for everyone.