Critique our Italian honeymoon itinerary!
 

FI and I are planning our two-ish week Italian honeymoon for next April. Here is what we have planned so far:

Flying into Venice- 3 nights, renting a car on our last day
3 nights in Lake Garda
3 nights in Cinque Terre
3 nights in a Tuscan hill town (Siena?)
3 nights Florence (returning the rental car on the first day there)

We are still in the process of looking for hotels/AirBnB's. Our budget is around $150/night, and some of the AirBnB's look nicer than hotels in that price range.

Would love suggestions on places to stay/restaurants to try. We definitely prefer more local/off the beaten path activities to the tourist traps. Does our itinerary look doable? Are we making a good call on renting a car, or should we rely on trains? Any and all feedback very welcomed :)

Hi kbm - congrats! not just on your upcoming wedding but also on coming up with a great plan.

My only worry might be about the CT - depending on the weather lots of the trails might not be open properly. you're also quite early in the season for Lake Garda but if the weather's nice, that shouldn't matter.

Given that you already have 4 other destinations, you might want to distribute the extra days amongst the other places you are intending to stay, and perhaps do a couple more day trips.

If you want to be able to see some of the countryside, which you obviously do, that's much easier with a car.

Yes, CT could be iffy in April, plus you really don't need a car there and you'll have to arrange for parking. I'm with ann: You may want to skip CT and add days to the other stops.

For about $150/nt, you should be able to find some decent apartments. I've never used AirBnB, so can't comment on that, but there are many sources for good apartment rentals at that price. Check VRBO, for one.

I like it---quite doable.
But, I too would drop the CT in April and add that time to Venice and Tuscany.

If it was my honeymoon, that would be too much moving around and not enough time anywhere except the Cinque Terre. (Will you have jet lag on arrival in Venice?)

Also, we prefer driving the more interesting secondary roads wherever possible rather than dull highways, but that's your choice. Obviously, it would add time to your two longest drives.

You should think about the towns you want to see in Tuscany. Two full days, no matter where you stay, will only allow a brief look at a small part of a region that encompasses 9000 square miles.

FWIW, I think the northern end of Lake Garda is more scenic than the southern end.

I regret to say that I think Lago di Garda will also be too cold and iffy in April, unless you are going at the very end of April and only visiting the southernmost shores of the lake. The Italian Riviera can also be problematic, especially if you are going to be hiking, but if the sun is shining, it is unlikely to be as cold as the scenic areas of Lago di Garda.

Thank you all for the feedback so far! We live in Texas and I dislike the heat, so I don't think I would mind iffy weather in Lake Garda or CT- I love the beach in winter, for example (we would be there in the middle two weeks of April, btw). I like the idea of CT for hiking, which we love to do. Any suggestions for other areas with nice hiking or walking trails we should consider?

In Lake Garda, I was looking at the Aktivhotel, if anyone is familiar.

Driving more scenic roads would be great-I feel silly asking, but how did you nagivate? Did you bring/rent a GPS?

Driving tips [see ZTL's]:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com.au/

Also, you will need to get International Driving Permits from your local
AAA office. Route planning on viamichelin.

If you are willing to go with the flow of the weather, then you can make it work. The longer you wait into April the better, but watch out for some late April holidays and Easter (if it falls in that time period).

If it has been wet and rainy in le Cinque Terre, you can find dry stone paths around Camogli or I think around Portovenere, just ask. But as far as I'm concerned, even though this is a honeymoon, I would recommend that you only book reservations you can cancel for free last minute in both Lago di Garda and the Italian Riviera. It is one thing to not mind chill breezes or passing showers. But sometimes April can bring 3 solid days of heavier rain. Under those circumtances, you are much better off canceling a scenic destination and going to someplace like Verona or even the city of Genoa if you like stormy seas. Or maybe Pisa, Mantova, Ferrara -- Italy has loads of great options, especially if you've rented a car.

As for navigation, as much of it as you can pack helps.

Thanks for the link! Very helpful.

I just talked with my FI about some of the concerns about the weather, and he pointed out that our first date was a long walk through Prospect Park in Brooklyn during the polar vortex so we're pretty easy going about weather :)

Finding places with free cancellations is a great idea, and I will see if we can make that work. I did want to do a day trip to Verona from Garda, so perhaps it might be better to stay in Verona and travel to Garda if the weather cooperates.

Agree on CT. We cancelled our time there last year due to weather concerns and were glad we did-it rained the whole time. Went to Bologna instead and highly recommend-it was great and almost the entire city is under porticos. Tres handy in the rain!

Having been in both Prospect Park and le Cinque Terre in the rain and cold, I can tell you from experience that Prospect Park does not pose the same hazards when it comes to walking as the verticle cliffs of le Cinque Terre in the rain.

A honeymoon is a great time to spend cosy time together in a hotel room. I'm sure you'll find plenty to do if the weather doesn't favor being outdoors. But these are essentially outdoorsy destinations, and boats will not run and trails will be closed if the wet equivalent of the polar vortex descends.

Ah, good point about the cliffs- I hadn't considered that.