ralphandlaura

Hi, My fiance and I are going on our HONEYMOON in July of 2010. We are planning a two week Italian excursion and want to visit Rome, Tuscany & Capri. I am posting an open inquiry to see what if any advice anyone has for these cities? Hotel suggestions, restaurants not to be missed, places to avoid, MUST SEE tours & excursions, HOW TO TRAVEL economically and quickly between the three cities and where you think we should start and finish. We appreciate any time spent in advance, Grazie!

Zerlina

Rome is a city; Tuscany is a region with many cities, towns and villages; Capri is an island with two villages.

The best way to travel is by train. To get to Capri, you also need a ferry or hydrofoil. If you decide to stay in Florence in Tuscany, only train. For other places in Tuscany, either bus or rented car for the small hill towns.

Since Tuscany is north of Rome and Capri is south, fly into and out of Rome. Travel to your Tuscan destination on arrival; transfer to Capri; return to Rome for your stay there and to be in place to fly out.

I strongly suggest a visit to a bookstore or a library to look at a selection of guidebooks. Then buy one that suits your interests and budget best.

red_pilut

Congrats on your engagement first of all!!! my best friend is also planning a trip to rome for her upcoming honeymoon! i just wanted to maybe offer a quick piece of advice for the forums- you get better answers with the more detail you add in your questions: what's your definition of budget? what are you interested in (history? shopping? scenic photo ops?) What kind of restaurants are you interested in? Authenic italian? rome is a major city and has numerous restaurants of all nationalities. do you want a romantic hotel vs. one that's centrally located vs. one that gives you the best deal for your money... i know most people here are always glad to offer advice, we just need a bit more detail. i'd also recommend to do a search with the words "honeymoon rome" and you'll be able to pull up several entries. congrats again!!!

ira

Hi R&L,

Welcome to the board.

We help other travelers plan there journies. We are not a travel agency.

You have to do some homework and decide on a draft itinerary. We can then help you make it better.

Have you driven in Italy before?
Have you checked train and plane schedules?
What's your budget?

Look forward to helping you improve your itinerary.

zootsi

As others have mentioned, Tuscany is a fairly large area. You should do some research - do you want to be in Florence, in a rural farm inn, or in a small hilltown. Realize it's going to be hot in July, and some time in Rome may be enough city, so you may want to do Florence as a day trip from a country inn. Try and get hold of Stu Dudley's (he is a frequent contributer to Fodor's) write up on Tuscany - it's very,very helpful.

ralphandlaura

Thanks so much for everyone's replies. I have already learned some things and it has only been one day. Let me give a little bit more detail. First off, I agree with Zerlina, we will start in the Tuscany region, transfer to Capri from there and end in Rome. (Thanks for solidifying this for us!!)

Tuscany region - 5 nights/6 days. Where is the most beautiful Wine/Vineyard Inn to stay at? We would love to go wine tasting and see the beautiful countryside. We would also like to visit Florence for a day as well. Suggestions for places to stay? Should we stay on a vineyard the whole time and do a day trip to Florence or ??? We are foodies. We would love suggestions for all types of places and what is there to do at night? Any great music bars, jazz places, authentic Italian MUST see places? What wineries are worth traveling to? Do you have to have a car. We would prefer to not have to drive. Also what is the best train route via Rome we can secure in advance?

Capri - 6 nights/7 days. How do we transfer? I assume we take a train somewhere close and a fast ferry to the Island. (I have been to the Islands in Greece so maybe it is similar?) Where should we stay? Our budget is upper middle of the road. We don't need luxury but don't want a hostel either. Where are the best beach spots? What restaurants are MUST visits!! What is the nightlife like? Any great decent priced hotels anyone knows of? What excursions are there or is it best to relax and just take in the unbelievable scenery.

Rome - 3 nights/4 days. I have actually been to Rome before but it was a long time ago and a quick trip. I remember loving the Spanish steps area and Trastevere. Same questions as above, where are the must eats? Where should we stay that is romantic but moderately priced? We are going to sight see here but if anyone knows of any music bars/clubs we would love to know that as well. We are huge music people!!

I hope this is enough detail. I also don't expect anyone to take a ton of time answering but if you have been and know of anything we most appreciate it in advance!!

Best, Thanks! Laura & Ralph

Jean

Even for a honeymoon, I think that's too long on Capri. If you want to see the Amalfi Coast/Pompeii/Naples/etc. while you're there, I'd split the hotels between Capri and somewhere on the mainland. The second location would depend on what you want to see/do.

There's no "beach" on Capri that I'm aware of. It's all cliffs and rocks.

You'll want a car in Tuscany. Period. The rest can be covered by public trans.

You still need to give us your budget in number terms. "Decent priced" and "moderate" mean different things to different people.

SusanP

You will find it difficult to go to wineries in Tuscany without a car. On the other hand, you don't want to be drinking wine and driving (they are very serious about drinking & driving). Maybe stay someplace like Montalcino that has plenty of wine tasting available right in town.

The obvious excursion on Capri is the Blue Grotto. If you're planning to see a lot more of the Amalfi Coast as opposed to relaxing on Capri, then as Jean said, you might want just a couple of nights on Capri and a few in Positano or Amalfi.

Capri is gorgeous and nice for a honeymoon, but I would still take a night from there and add it to Rome. By the time you spend a good part of the day getting to Rome, you'll only have a little over two days in Rome, and there is so much to see there.

You need to give a $ amount per night to get useful suggestions for hotels.

ralphandlaura

Hi, it has been a while since I have written and since then I have done a lot of research and have a way better understanding of exactly what and where we should go. My question here is we are going to spend 3 nights in Florence and have 2 extra nights to spend in a different town in Tuscany. Most of my research points to Siena but I was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions. Any feedback is most appreciated, thanks!

bobthenavigator

Without a car then I too suggest Siena.

The bus from Florence is best since the train drops you out of the city.

enlehman76

My husband and I (both 33) went all over Italy last year for 2 weeks. We flew into Milan and visited Lake Como for 2 nights, Venice for 2 nights, Florence for 3 nights (city 1 day and drove around Tuscany for 1 day), Pompeii for 3 nights (saw Naples, Amalfi Coast, Capri), and Rome for 3 nights and then flew to USA from Rome. While our trip was VERY busy...we did get to see alot. I would not suggest doing that much on your honeymoon but can suggest beautiful places to spend your honeymoon. If my husband and I ever go back, these are the places we want to spend more time.

Lake Como (we stayed in Bellagio) was gorgeous! I would highly suggest visiting there as part of your honeymoon and staying for 3 nights. You can fly into Milan and train there in under an hour. The hotel we stayed at had an amazing view of the lake and was high up on a hill so you can imagine what we looked at every night and every morning. The hotel is called the Belvedere Hotel and we had a terrace (not a balcony) that was amazing. If you are into quaint but fun towns with gorgeous views than this is for you. The hotel is worth splurging on because of the view. You can go to markets in Bellagio and buy cheese and wine (cheaply) and eat it on your terrace before you go out for dinner...truly awesome.

The Tuscany area is great. We stayed in Florence and only drove around for a day in Tuscany. But did we get to see San Gimignano (we drove there the night before just for dinner and then back to our hotel in Florence), Siena, Montalcino, Pienza, and Montepulciano. I highly recommend renting a car in Florence---drive it to Tuscany and stay at a villa for a four days or so to soak in the beautiful drives and stop at the little villages to get amazing wine and cheese to bring back to your villa. As far as where to stay...can't help you out there as we did not stay there. We stayed in Florence and really wished we would have spent more time in the hillside towns. Siena was okay but not as pretty as the hillside towns I mentioned...would like to fit in the Chianti region and Umbria if we were to go back.

OK...Capri. We went there for a day trip and can't imagine why anyone would want to stay there. Yes, Capri has a beautiful view at the top of the chairlift and a little restaurant at the top to have snacks and wine (which we did)but other than that is a tourist trap. The prices are so much higher here for everything. Many day trippers from cruise boats also. You can see Capri in a day easily...and I mean fitting in the Grotto, funicular, chairlift and lunch with plenty of time to relax. The Almalfi Coast is so much nicer. Positano was my favorite but if you want REAL romanticism...you should stay in Ravello. It is a small town high up on a mountain on the Almalfi Coast...so the views are spectacular. The Hotel Villa Cimbrone is very pretty and nice. There are other hotels there but I am not familiar with them.

I know I am writing alot...and could write more. But I don't want you to change your plans too much. Hope this helps.

TDudette

Look online for wine tasting tours departing from Florence-there are some and then you can sample all you wish! Other Tuscany tours from Florence available or rent a car. For 2 nights, Siena is great. So is Orvieto.

You could headquarter in Naples or Sorrento and take the ferry over to Capri. That would give you much flexibility to visit Pompei, Amalfi if you wished. I'm not sure about beaches.

Congrats on the honeymoon!

lindy27

I haven't read the other replies but if you are by Tuscany I have to recommend going to the Cinque Terre. It was just a few hours north of Pisa by train. We went to Italy for our honeymoon last year and debated between the Amalfi Coast and the Cinque Terre. We went to the Cinque Terre based on price, it was much cheaper for the type of room we got, and loved it. We stayed in Vernazza, had a room on the ocean, and ate the most amazing food every evening! If you do go to the Amalfi Coast from my research I read that you shouldn't stay in Capri but in that area on the mainland.

enlehman76

We did not get to go to the Cinque Terre but it looks beautiful. I know this sounds crazy but for a honeymoon, I would skip the cities...except for Rome and spend your time in Lake Como, Cinque Terre, a Tuscany Villa, and the Almalfi Coast. Fly into Milan and out of Rome.