Hi,

My husband and I are planning a two week vacation in Italy for our honeymoon. We have already signed up for a culinary/wine tour during the first week in Cinque Terre (Sunday to Saturday morning). We will be touring the 5 towns, taking cooking classes, drinking lots of wine and, basically, relaxing doing what we love to do best--eating and drinking!

We are extending our time in Italy until the following Saturday evening (so we can fly back to NYC and be back to work Monday morning), but there is so much we would like to do, we have no clue where to start.

We have not reserved our flights yet, so we can fly in and out of whatever city we need to (however, it's probably easier, and cheaper, to fly in and out of the same city and Milan is the closest to our starting point—Genoa is harder to find direct flights). Plus, spending a day in Milan at the end of our trip would be nice.

So, we have from Sunday mid-morning until whatever time we fly out on Saturday. Any suggestions? I was thinking Florence and Venice, but, if possible, we would love to visit Rome. We are completely up for renting a car or traveling by train. We are also open to hiring a tour guide, etc.

Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. We really want this trip to be special.

Thanks!

Hi G,

When are you going?

The two middle weeks in September.

Oh, and I should mention that neither my husband nor I has ever been to Italy (except one day that I spent in Milan on a layover--a Monday during spring where everything was closed).

Look at the new Delta flight into and out from Pisa from JFK--which is your closest airport. It is not everyday so you may need to adjust dates.

I would get a car in La Spezia as you end the CT week and stay in rural Tuscany--probably near San Gimignano for your itinerary. The option is to train to Lucca as your base and day trip to Pisa and Florence from there.

Thanks bobthenavigator,

So, are you saying to stay in rural Tuscany for the entire second week and just take day trips by train/car? Will that still allow for time to visit Venice?

Hmmm ! Venice would change it all. It would demand 3 of those days, and a flight home from there.

Since you specifically mentioned an interest in Florence, Venice, and Rome--I would pick 2 of those three and look into an "open jaw" ticket--they are not necessarily more expensive. You could go to CT and then by train go to Florence and then Venice (fly out). Or CT, Florence and Rome (fly out).