I just started planning our honeymoon and need some help. My husband is Swedish, and we have traveled in Europe. However, I've never been to Italy. He has been to Rome with his family several times, but we can't afford his parents' hotels so I'm basically starting from scratch.

1. I have to decide on dates. Is there a huge difference in rain/heat between September and October? Do the rates get any cheaper? The choices are Sept (any 10 days between 10th and 25th) or Oct (10 days between 3rd and 19th).

2. I want to see Venice and Rome. With only ten days, should I just stick to those two cities and not try to see any others?

3. What is the best way to get between the two cities, and when should I purchase the tickets?

4. Hotel suggestions? (2 ppl, private bath required, under $200 per night) What areas are best to look for hotels in?
I like taking night pictures so finding something close to the sights is a definite bonus.

Once I decide on dates and find a hotel, what are the first things I need to do? I've read about people getting reservations to things in advance... but what?

I've planned our trips to London, Paris, and Prague with great success. My expectations for Italy are a little higher though, especially since it is our honeymoon. Thanks for any help!

BTW, if anyone is interested...
My travel pictures are on pbase. Sorry, you hae to cut and paste since I don't know how to turn them into links.

Paris
http://www.pbase.com/indigo997/paris

Prague
http://www.pbase.com/indigo997/prague

Yellowstone
http://www.pbase.com/indigo997/yellowstone

Sweden
http://www.pbase.com/indigo997/sweden

and one from our wedding two weeks ago
http://www.pbase.com/image/30716073

Congratulations on your marriage! Your pictures are beautiful.

To answer some of your questions:
1. October will be cooler and maybe a bit cheaper. Most likely fewer tourists as Sept is still considered high travel season.

2. 10 days in Venice & Rome - you will get to enjoy them. If you want, you can squeeze Florence in for a day or two. Florence is sort of in the middle of the route Venice -> Rome.

3. Best way is to take the Eurostar train. Trip takes 4.5 hrs. You can also fly between the 2 cities, but adding on traveling to & fro the airports and check-in times, I think the train will be faster. You can buy the train tickets after you arrive in Italy.

4. There have been many many threads on this board about hotels. Do a search on the search box above.

A lot of things you can do after you decide on the dates:
Get your flights
Get some guide books and start reading
Read on this board - tonnes of trip reports here which will give you some good ideas.

Good luck!

Hi indigo,

Congratulations.

1. I have to decide on dates. Is there a huge difference in rain/heat between September and October?

Not much

Do the rates get any cheaper? The choices are Sept (any 10 days between 10th and 25th) or Oct (10 days between 3rd and 19th).

You might find cheaper rates after Sept 30

2. I want to see Venice and Rome. With only ten days, should I just stick to those two cities and not try to see any others?

An overnight in Florence on your way between cities might be fun.

3. What is the best way to get between the two cities, and when should I purchase the tickets?

Train. If you fly into FCO get your tickets at the train station when you buy your ticket for the express shuttle to Roma TE.

If you fly into Venice, you can get them at the train station.

Thanks for the help!

I just wish someone else could plan this for me. After all the wedding planning, I'm too tired. This was supposed to be HIS job, but he works a lot.

He said that there are companies in Sweden who do the flight and hotel deals by buying in bulk. Are there places like that in America that I should try contacting?

Looking through the vast expanses of hotel info is a pain. What areas/neighborhoods should I be looking for?

I just started looking at plane tickets online, and the roundtrip to Venice isn't much more than to Rome. One-way tickets are a LOT more. Is it normal to fly into a city, travel to another, and then go back to the first in order to fly out? Seems like it will add a lot more travel time and take away from touring time. Is there another way without paying for two one-way tickets?

I'm a bit overwhelmed with this, but I know that it needs to get done ASAP if we're ever going to go.

Hi indigo-

You don't need to buy one-way tickets. What you need is open-jaw tickets, which allow you to fly into one city and return from a different one. Usu open-jaws are a bit more expensive than regualr r/t tix, but definitely much much cheaper than 2 one-way tix. Flying open-jaw will allow you from "wasting" time + transportation cost to backtrack to your original city.

For packages, I've used go-today.com (for Berlin) which has flight+hotel packages. Most people on this site enjoys planning the trip on their own rather than buying packages (which limit you on your choice of lodging). But if you find this too overwhelming, then maybe you should shop for packages. Even Expedia, Travelocity allows you to buy plane tix + hotels - though I don't know if they allow hotels in >1 city. Alternatively, you can just go to a travel agent and have him/her do it all for you. Really depends on whether you enjoy planning (ie doing tonnes of research) or not.

My compliments on your photographs. You have a very good eye......And, you're very pretty, too!

Indigo-

just posted "Italy trip report part 1"

check it out as I did exactly what you are wanting to do plus some. that should give you plenty to ponder with hotel and eating suggestions as well.