I'm a newbie to this site...can anyone give advice on Italy in July? We want to spend our honeymoon in Positano but would like to see as much of Italy as possible in the 10 days we will be there. Any help is appreciated!!

This july? Could be rather short notice for planning.

Husband and I had a fabulous honeymoon in Italy 2 years ago in June. We spent 3 nights in rome, 2 nights on capri, 4 nights in positano and 1 night in naples. It was perfect!! Enough time to see the sights without feeling like we were running around too much. Capri was our favorite place and positano was a great base for exploring the amalfi coast and pompeii. If you have any other specific questions about these areas, i love talking about my honeymoon!!

Did you book your flight yet? If you want to visit multiple cities, an open-jaw ticket would make the most sense (fly into 1 city and out another). Positano is beautiful.

In 10 days time, you can maybe see 1 or 2 other places. Probably the most romantic mystical place in Italy is Venice, but that's a bit of a distance from Positano. You could maybe do something like fly into Rome, and go directly to Positano for 3 nights. Then go to rome for 3 nights. From Rome maybe train or even fly to Venice for 3 nights. If you have a 10th night, any of these places you can it it too. You ca neasily spend more time in any of those places, so you can easily eliminate 1 and add the days to the other 2.

If you already have your tickets, and in that case I'm assuming you're flying in and out of Rome, then maybe split time between Positano and Rome with a day trip or 2.

Is anything booked yet? Plane or hotels? Or it is totally open besides wanting to spend some time in Positano? Do you have a number of days you want to spend there in mind?

Thank you both for your input! I know there is not alot of time for planning so I figured this would be the best place to go!
Nothing is actually planned just yet - we have 10 days to spend so we want to make the most of our time there...just looking to see what advice we could get!

Is it THIS july?

If Positano is your biggest priority, then it will be harder to see other a lot of the rest of Italy. One of the reasons Positano is so beautiful is that it is remote and steep and there is only one road in and out -- which means it's hard to have a lot of development there.

So that is the tradeoff.

I think steviegene's honeymoon agenda is a very sensible. I might take one night away from positano and give Naples 2 nights so as to include Pompeii to give yourself a chance to experience something truly unique.

Venice is a very popular tourist destination but it is very far from Positano and very hot and sticky in July. And much to the disbelief of Venice fans, many people do not find it romantic or mystical, but very crowded in July. However, Positano and Capri will be filled with tons of people every day in July as well.

Finally, if seeing more of Italy is more important to you than Positano in particular, you could look into staying on the coast in Liguria or the Maremma (in Tuscany). It's not as famously beautiful as the Amalfi coast, but it's easier to rent a car or take trains to other places.

But you don't have a lot of time to think about it.

I would do an open jaw ticket into Venice, stay 3 nights, Eurostar train to Naples/Positano, stay four nights, train to Rome, stay three nights, fly home from Rome. Positano accomodations fill up very quickly for high season (July/August) so book that hotel asap.

yes - this July

You better start booking. July is high season.

You should narrow the trip down to 2 or 3 cities (or general areas). COnsider any major palce deserves at least 3 nights, and some much more. Also consider travel time (is 1 of your 10 days a travel day?), and also the travel time between cities (if you want to move around).

Your choices may be narrowed down once you start seaching for flights. You can check out open jaws for different city combos and see which gives you the best deal (unless budget is no issue).

Before you fret too much or get into details, I would book a plane ticket right away.

I would check into Rome and out of Venice or the reverse. Or a straight RT in/out of Rome. If your dates are not flexible this is a really good place to start your planning, in my opinion.

Here's what we did for our honeymoon:

Flew into Naples
3 nights Positano
3 nights Tuscany
3 nights Florence
2 nights Venice
Flew out of Venice

We had a few more nights than what you have available, but it was a nice "taste" of Italy. Since that trip we have returned twice to Venice (off season) and love it. Umbria is next in 2007.

With only 10 days, I recommend seeing as much of one area (like Amalfi Coast) as possible...rather than trying to fit in all of Italy. No reason to run yourself ragged from place to place when the rest of Italy will be there for you to explore in the future...you will be back!

In Positano, Room 210 at Albergo Miramare is fantastic -- best view in the world. However, it is likely booked at this late date (but still worth a try). You might also want to check out www.italyby.com for ideas on lodging -- everything from hotels to castles! Just be sure you read cancellation policies very closely. I have never had a problem, but you may prefer dealing directly with the establishment rather than italyby.com.

kalili,

I notice that you haven't said you wanted to go to Venice, and before you book a ticket, you should decide if you want to rush around that much on your honeymoon and spend time in transit. Check out how many hours it will take you to get from Venice to Positano -- a lot.

Seriously, save Venice for another time!!

This would be way too much travelling for only 10 days if you want to go to Positano. You'll want some relaxing time to spend with your new husband. My husband and I like to travel and move around a lot. We get bored if stuck in the same place too long. But our itinerary was perfect. Some moving around and some down time. We were able to see a lot of the coast, capri, pompeii and rome, naples. It was so romantic.

If you need a change of scenery Capri is a wonderful place to spend the night. Very magical - especially after dark when the majority of tourists (day-trippers) leave.

I - along with everyone else- encourage you to book your flight ASAP!!
FYI- we flew NYC to Rome and home Naples to Rome to NYC.

Rome, to really taste it, imo, needs no less than 3 full days, otherwise you almost feel as you never really went...

In Tuscanny I stayed for three days in the beautiful, romantic and brilliant tuscan example, of San Gimignano. Hire a car to get there, and the do a day trip drive to Volterra(sp). With its 13 or so remaining towers, it used tohave over 50, it's a beautiful town, great eating, lovely shops, you can do nothing but sit, eat and watch in one of the two adjoining main piazzas, or you can stroll about, going beyond the main roads (you can walk san gimi from one end to the other in 15 -20 minutes using the main road BUT go off the beaten track too.

We stayed in salerno, as our base to visit amalfi coast. The don't miss place is Ravello, imo, at least as a day trip. With exchange rates we couldn't stretch to positano as a place to stay BUT you will love it..take the ferry and bus combo from positano to ravello on a blue sky day, you wont regret it.

My husband-to-be has family from Positano so I think that is first and foremost on our list. Everyone has some great suggestions...I guess I have alot more homework to do! steviegene and beanweb24 - I think I'm going to look into doing the same.

Oh, I know it's your honeymoon BUT, if you want a taste of the BEST preserved GREEK temples on our planet, visit Paestum, about an hour south of salerno, you can do it as a day trip from positano, and wander about amidst the world most complete greek temples. Do pompeii VERY early or much later in the afternoon. Apart from the fact that you're going at a HOT time, there are fewer tourists.

To get better advice - you should let us know what you are interested in. What thrills you? Sitting on the beach, or seeing historical sights, art, food, etc.??

We are definitely looking for fabulous food! We love the water so will probably spend alot of time at the beach...would love to visit some historical places as well.

kalili,

If your intended has family in Positano, it would be great if they were in on the planning. They can probably help you find some of the best stuff in that part of Italy none of us have ever heard of. Plus, they can probably help you out with getting transportation to your hotel, etc.

Unless of course, you aren't quite ready to get that involved with new relatives!