Cinque Terre or Lakes Region
 

My future husband and I are traveling to Italy for our honeymoon in May.

We are flying into Milan and out of Rome. In addition to seeing Milan and Venice briefly, and spending a longer time in Rome (a city I love), we would like to visit either the Cinque Terre region or the lakes region around Milan (as we don't have enough time for both). Any suggestions as to which might make more sense? Or make for a better trip/honeymoon?

Any advice is very much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

hynnym, I personally would chose the lake regions. But sure others will advise you to go to Cinque Terre. I love Rome too! It sounds like you will have a beautiful honeymoon.
The lake region is rather between Milan and Venice, just another thought.

I agree with LoveItaly and recommend the lakes region. Lago Maggiore is so beautiful and would be a really romantic place for part of your honeymoon. Although I must admit, I have not been to Cinque Terre.

Baveno and Stresa are both nice towns on the lake and there is ferry service to the islands and other towns along the lake.

Good luck, Italy is a wonderful choice.

LoveItaly and Suesnothome - thanks so much for your replies. After getting your advice and checking out our other info, we think we are going to head to the Lakes. Seems to make sense - and sounds great!

Does anyone have any idea as to whether we can get to one of the lake towns from Milan without renting a car? (We find driving in foreign countries to be stressful and want to avoid stress!)

Hunny - You can reach any of the main Lake Como resorts easily by public transport.

Varenna is convenient by train. From there you can reach Menaggio or Bellagio by ferry. Any of those 3 make attractive bases for Lake Como.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I was at CT 4 weeks ago and was so very disappointed by the owverwhelming number of American tourists with Rick Steeves book in hand. We lasted less than an hour and took the train north.

I much preferred my 2002 trip to the Lake Region. We stayed in Lugano and had a lovely time.

Thanks, Steve and kfusto, that really helps! Looks like it's going to be a go!

Another question - probably should be a different post - is anything mentioned by Rick Steves pretty much something to be avoided? Are his suggestions followed by so many people as to turn particular places into tourist traps? I'm getting that feeling...

Many people swear by him and I am not saying he does not have good recommendations. But, personally, I like to do my own research and there are lots of sites like this with good info from individuals, which I prefer. I would guess that anything he hypes is pretty much like my experience last month.

Good to know. Thank you for the insight.

we honeymooned in Italy last summer. Amazing! I highly recommend heading up to the lakes as soon as you arrive in Milan: www.varenna.net. Totally wonderful. And Cinque Terre was amzing but packed. I'd save it for a late Spt trip to Tuscany some day (tuscany was our fave part of the whole trip). Congrats!

Others may have had a different experience, but my time spent in the Mediterranean aboard ship seems to remind me that we had bad windstorms off the Ligurian Coast -- and the Cinque Terre -- in April/May. The weather settled late in the month and was spectacular (altho hot) until September when sandstorms dumped grit on us, blown all the way up from the Sahara.

My point: go for the lakes.

Bellaggio, need I say more? One of the most romantic Italian towns (besides Positano), we've been to. We were there mid-April, it was a little chilly/rainy, but did not dampen our spirits. We splurged and stayed at the most expensive hotel on the lake, it was lovely with views of the alps in the distance. Congratualtions and have a great time.