European Honeymoon itinerary help
 

Cruising from London to Rome with just short of 17 days to spend after. Looking to visit Germany and explore as much of Italy as we can while incorporating at 1 if not another country into the adventure.


looking for advice on good itinerary options. We are lovers of history and food if that helps lol

I am confused. Do you mean that you are on a cruise from London to Rome and than have about 18 nights afterwards to tour Italy, Germany and another country? If so what places does your cruise visit on the way to Rome?

4 days in Rome, 3 in Florence, 3 in Venice. all by train.
Train to Munich 3 nights Munich. train to Nuremberg 3 nights ( daytrip to Rothenburg odT , Bamberg ) Train to Frankfurt for night before flight home.if from US. If from England, stay the last night in Nuremberg and fly from there

When is your trip? Recommendations may be quite different for different times. Are you sure your cruise starts in London? Most start in Dover, but perhaps they count London if you are arriving there.

These are all just personal ideas (based on your two stated interests, which are awfully broad), may or may not appeal to you, depending on your interest in any particular period of history?

You are starting in England. I really, really hope you are spending a few days there pre-cruise because, of course, history in England is fascinating. If that is not already your plan, I highly suggest you change it to include five or six days there. Great history museums in London and Visit Bath for history connected with Roman times as well as history of England and the Americas.

Since you are departing the cruise in Rome (port is Civitavecchia) I would focus on Italy. It meets both your interests of history and food. From my experience, I would not even try to go to another country. You need to allow a lot of days for travel.
For a big shot of history at one of the world’s most famous archeological sites, immediately head South (1/2 day of travel) to Naples to see Pompeii with perhaps a museum in Naples and also, Herculaneum. Spend some time on the Amalfi Coast. (4 nights, 3 days, minimum). More if you want to see Paestum.

Rome, if you really enjoy history, could take days, but at least give it 5 nights (4 days) (1/2 day travel from the Amalfi Coast). You will want to do a lot of research on what to see in a limited time.
Actually, it would not matter much if you did Rome first, then Naples, what works best for your schedule.

On to Florence for the ultimate in Renaissance history. This could be a couple of days or several days to include Siena and other historic Tuscan towns. The history of Siena, San Gimignano and Florence is very interesting. It is interesting to see how towns like Lucca are built atop of the ruins of ancient Roman buildings and follow the shapes of the originals.

Then, for you, a good stop in Bologna for food! Maybe take a cooking class or guided food tour or a restaurant tour. Not important to me, but even so, the best pasta I ever had anywhere was there and so memorable, I still crave it.

After that, you could go on to Venice and see more of Italy, or catch a short flight to Munich or someplace in Germany for 4-5 days, again, depends on time of year and flights, and you.

Besides history and food, do you want to be active, as in hiking, swimming, etc or have times to chill and relax by a pool or see a lot of museums, etc?
You might think you would have the cruise to relax, but they can actually be super busy, depending on your ports of call. Have you done much cruising before? Don’t want to give advice you already know.

Have you booked flights before and after cruise yet? You don’t want to waste time and money backtracking.

What time of year?

Do you want to rely mostly on trains, or do you want to explore the countryside mostly by car? IOW, all cities or some quieter small towns?

"History" is a broad interest. Is it any/all history (ancient Roman, early Germanic) or more recent (say, since 1700 or even later)?

Not to be snarky, but do you like German food as much as Italian food?