Hi everyone! My fiancee and I will be headed to Italy for 10 days on our honeymoon. Most likely, we will be headed out of SFO on British Airways at the end of September through early October, as we see these are desirable travel times for Italy. We will be flying into Rome, and will spend a few days there. We definitely want to see Venice, but other than that, we have no clue how to narrow down the country. We're trying to stay in the mid to north part of the country, as it will be impossible to hit the entire country. We've heard great things about Lake Como, Tuscany hillside towns, Florence, Cinque Terre, Parma, but all of these cannot be done in 10 days.

We both definitely love to eat and see nature; I believe that the Tuscany region will be able to facilitate both needs. So if this is the case, how does an itinerary like this look:

Rome - 2 days
Florence - 4 days (day trips to hillside towns and Cinque Terre)
Venice - 3 days
Depart from Rome

I have been to Venice once, but my fiancee has never been to Italy. So for beginners, what are some suggested 'must visit' locations around these regions, given the fact that we like a little bit of nature/hiking/walking, and great Italian foods?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I honestly think the Cinque Terre is too far for a day trip from Florence. I also think that nature is going to be hard to spot from Florence.

Walking, you don't have to worry about. Nature and hiking are going to be harder to come by. Maybe instead of Florence, pick a town in the countryside.

In Venice, you can see a bit of the less busy parts of the lagoon, which I find fascinating and calming. No hiking, but some really good walks on Torcello and Burano, especially off the beaten path on Burano.

A great day trip from Rome would be Ostia Antica. The walking is extensive, there is a lot of nature combined with ruins, and it is really just local transportation.

The problem with Florence is that you can't easily access nature, but you can get to some towns with a lot of up hill walking, without too much trouble.

Consider Vinci, Colle Val d'Elsa, Volterra, San Gimignano. Or head down the 222 to see the towns and great scenery. It is a heck of a good hike, by my standards, from Greve up to Montefioralle.

For trips like those above, I would recommend a one day car rental from Florence. Be sure to book on the outskirts of town. And it is worth a taxi or brief train ride to get a car on the outskirts, rather than risk the endless possibilities for fines (that get you by camera) on Florence's very restricted traffic patterns.

You could cut your time in Florence to 3 days, and do 3, 3, and 3.

Another great hike in Florence is to head south of the Arno and go uphill through some gorgeous scenery. There is plenty, and San Miniato al Monte makes a good destination.

Venice will provide you with the least opportunity to just bump into great Italian food, but there are certainly enough posts on here, and on other sites, that can direct you to good food while you are there.

With your current itinerary, I would suggest NOT booking a round trip ticket via Rome. You want an open jaw or multi-city ticket which will allow you to fly into Rome and out of Venice (or vice versa). No reason to backtrack all the way from Venice to fly out of Rome!

Cinque Terre is absolutely beautiful. We stayed there 5 nights and LOVED it! When looking for places to stay be aware so many people carry the Rick Steve's Travel books and the places he suggests are ususally booked. We found great places in Monterosa that we enjoyed. One, right on the ocean (pricy but sleeping and waking to the surf crashing is incredible). Then, back into the town through the train underpass - great little places. Eat at Sid's (if he's still alive) for great food and laughing the entire time. Pesto Pancakes are yummy! Walk the trail from town to town through the olive groves (not for the faint of heart and some places clifside walks a little scary if you're scared of heights - me!). I would go there and stay as long as possible! The train goes to all 5 cliffside villages and is easy to catch.

But MomP, you stayed for 5 days. I was replying to the OP's suggested itinerary, which included a day trip from Florence to the CT. This is a long journey, requiring changes of trains. From Florence to La Spezia, the drop off point for CT trains.

The very least amount of time it will take is a good 2 hours and 30 minutes each way. Sure it's beautiful and fun, but it ain't a day trip from Florence.

g0m0: if you have boundless energy you could fly to Rome or Venice, stay two nights, go to Florence for two nights, go to the CT for two nights, and then Rome for two nights. It will be hell on wheels, and you won't see much other than train stations, bus stations, airports, and roads, but it is there.

<<be aware so many people carry the Rick Steve's Travel books>>

So true in the CT and I really wished I had visited before it was "discovered". While beautiful, I would not return as there were far more Steeve's carrying tourists than locals. The CT was a huge disappointment!

In the fall, Tuscany is lovely and it is IMO the most wonderful season for food.

With only 9 nights, I would stick with two areas not three. For me, that would be Rome and Tuscany. Whether you stay in Florence or in the countryside is dependent on the experience you are looking for.

Why are you beginning your itinerary in Rome and then heading back? Definitely look into an open jaw.

I am not a fan of Venice but if that is where you would like to go, fly into Venice and out of Rome. Too much backtracking with that plan.

And I always save Rome for last!

Thanks for everyone's responses, and the open jaw recommendations. However, we seem to be saving $1000 on British Air by doing a to/from Rome...unless I am not doing the open jaw searching properly? (I'm looking for 2 1 way tickets)

tuscanlifeedit - we will definitely relax. so many of our trips have been 'hell on wheels'...this time, we're going to enjoy, and take in the scenery and really relish it.

You don't need to book two one-way tickets. You just need to buy one multi-city ticket. On the BA website, you'll see a drop-down for "country of departure." To the right of that is a link that says "book multi-city." Click on that link and it will take you to a page where you can book an open jaw flight.

Open Jaw = Multi-City = Multiple Destinations

Any reason why you're picking BA off the bat? I would compare prices using a search engine like Expedia, Kayak, or Bing.

The multi-city airfare should cost about the same or slightly more. However, you will save money and time by not having to return to Rome. In the end it will cost about the same and not waste valuable vacation time backtracking to Rome.

I just came back from a 10 day trip to Italy, and flying round trip from Rome rather than open-jaw also was the cheapest option we found (on AerLingus)

We were initially planning to do Rome, Florence/Tuscany, and Venice, but soon realized that 10 days really isn't enough for all of those! So I would second kfusto and recommend seeing Rome and Tuscany. To escape from the city, we took a day trip to Tivoli (an hour from Rome). If you have any q's about specifics in those two areas, let me know

MomP, thank you for your posts. I, too, am planning a honeymoon to Italy (and Switzerland). Where did you stay in Monterosa that was on the ocean? Your description sounds wonderful!

My husband and I did a 9 day honeymoon to Italy a couple years ago. We did Rome and Florence (split evenly) with a day trip to Capri (despite people on these boards telling me it was too much--which, by the way, they were right!).

Now, maybe I don't have as much energy as I should, but we were EXHAUSTED! Pure adrenaline kept us going in Rome for the first half, but by the time we got to Florence, we barely did a thing! Everything was truly beautiful--we loved our trip, but honestly, after the stress/excitement of the wedding and all those pre-wedding festivities, we were spent.

When planning for your trip, keep in mind just how much will be going on in your lives pre-honeymoon and plan accordingly!