I have been asked to assist my son and his future wife in planning their honeymoon in Italy. They have 13 days (14 nights) in September 2022. They will fly into Venice and out of Milan. After Venice will be a train to Florence followed by the train to Milan and a car with a driver or train to and from Lake Como. After Lake Como they will head back to Milan for the plane home.

I have been to Florence and Milan but I only spent one day in Venice so I would like some suggestions on how many days they should spend there and in Lake Como. Also since it is September hotel recommendations with good air conditioning in convenient locations would be appreciated. Hotel price range would be in the $250 - $400 range.

I was thinking 3 nights in Venice, 4 in Florence, 4 in Lake Como area and 2 nights in Milan but am open to suggestions. I am trying not to have them jumping around too much. It you think there is too much time in one place we could always have them take a day trip to a nearby site.

Any suggestions on tours in Venice and Lake Como would be helpful.

Thanks

Traveller51, how nice of you to help! How much do they love art as opposed to outdoor activities? That could make a difference in ideas for the itinerary.

Sounds nice. I would perhaps consider Verona or Vicenza instead of Florence.

It isn't absolutely necessary to return to Milan to get to lake Como but sometimes faster due to express trains. A driver isn't required. It isn't necessary to spend as much as that on hotels but certainly they could if they wanted something upmarket.

For lake Como, I would suggest that they just jump on a ferry or bus to explore the lakeside towns and villas (easy to do by themselves).

An evening cichetti tour might be enjoyable.

The nights you list add up to 13, not 14, so there's one unaccounted night. I would give that night to Venice, esp. if there's a chance they will be jet-lagged on arrival.

If there isn't another night, I'd take one from Milan and give it to Venice. I like Milan, but it doesn't say "honeymoon" to me like Venice does. In one well-organized day, the newlyweds could see Milan's highlights.

It's not "too much time" in any one place, but I hope the number of days is based on what is required to see/do what interests them and not just a sort of even division of nights.

If possible, the sightseeing days in Florence should not include Sunday and Monday because many of the main sights are not open every Sunday and Monday.

For the hotel on Lake Como, they must first decide where on the lake they want to base. The most frequent ferry service is between/among the mid-lake towns of Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, Tremezzo. If they don't stay in one of those towns, they should definitely pick one that has ferry service. No need to sign up for any tours unless they like to be guided. Lake Como is lovely to explore on your own, at your own pace. There is train service to/from Varenna-Esino (note full name) and Como. No need to hire a driver to take them from Milan unless they choose a somewhat remote hotel or specifically want the splurge factor of arriving that way.

Mid-lake ferry shuttle:

https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/doc/...20CL_E2021.pdf [timetable for next September should be almost the same]

The rest of the boat/ferry service on the lake:

https://www.navigazionelaghi.it/risultati?lake=Como [don't use the search function, just click on Timetable PDF]

Train timetables:

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html [use Italian spellings of all cities... Milano, Venezia, Firenze, etc.]

Give Venice one more night. And neither Venice nor Lake Como need guided tours as they lend themselves to exploring on your own. Use ferries around Lake Como. I recommend they stay mid- lake where most ferry service is and also for the most beautiful views.

Traveller51,- one important question; what will they want to do? since they are on their honeymooning, they may want to spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying glorious scenery. Lake Como is gorgeous. Boat trips and walking and eating. I stayed in Bellagio right on the lake.

Re: Venice, the annual historic regatta is held in early September reach year. Hotels are packed and there are tons of visitors. Check the dates, because hotel reservations at that time should be made early, early. Florence is wonderful to walk around and the art is stunning.

I will say that pathetically I have only been to the Dolomites once and it was a day trip from Venice. It remains one of the top 10 things I have done there over 20 years. The mountains are stunning. If they want to do a day trip from Venice and like mountains it is well worth it.

On Lake Como, look at Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio and Grand Hotel Tremezzo across the lake.

Great advice above from all and especially from Jean.

Can we hear a bit more about what the couple like to do together? For instance if they are fans of canoing there is a Venice tour by canoe. Much as getting married is critical here it would be nice to arrange somethings they can do on holiday.

Or maybe they're avid cyclists and would really enjoy a tour through the Dolomites. Sellaronda, Passo Stelvio, or other nice Giro routes... some of us dream of those rides....

And if, by chance, they are "avid cyclists," they might enjoy visiting the Santuario Madonna del Ghisallo, a chapel named for the patron saint of cyclists, and the adjacent Museum of Cycling, both located in the hamlet of Magreglio a few kilometers south of Bellagio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_del_Ghisallo

https://www.museodelghisallo.it/en/museum/

I absolutely LOVE Venice so would give it more time than anywhere else. I cannot think of a more romantic place for a honeymoon! I stayed (twice) at Pensione La Calcina and the rooms overlooking the canal (Giudecca) are lovely. I don't have tour suggestions as I either wandered around or did a couple walks from a guidebook on my own. Do not shortchange Venice is my best suggestion.

Are they set on Florence? If I were planning this trip for them, I would do Milan (since this seems set for start and finish), Venice, and Lake Como. And leave it at that.

Thank you for all of the advice. While they are fairly active I don't think cycling or canoeing is something they would like to do on this trip.

A visit to Luigi Bevilacqua would be of interest to my future daughter in law and any perfume factory like the Fragonard factory in Grasse, France. I think if they go to Florence a tour of the Ferragamo museum or any cosmetics factory or museum would be a hit. The glass factories in Murano may be of interest but everyone seems to do that.

On past trips to Europe we have arranged for a guide to take us around a city and really enjoyed having a person who lives their show us around. I know Venice you can do on your own and they will have time to do that but some of our fondest memories are of the guides we have had over the years because we were given a more in depth understanding of life there, the history and the little tidbits that you don't get from a guide book.. So if there was a tour you particularly liked in Venice that would be great.

With that in mind a Venice Cichetti tour would be perfect. My future daughter in law does like to cook so a cooking lesson may be worthwhile. Her family is from Southern Italy.

As to art. I was going to try to get reservations for the Last Supper in Milan. If they go to Florence we had a nice tour of the Uffizi I would recommend to them and there is David there as well.

For the Lake Como area, they will like to kick back and take the ferries and tour the gardens. A day trip to Switzerland would be of interest.



I agree that Florence may need to wait for another trip. I like the suggestion of the day trips from Venice to Verona or Vicenza sound good as does a day trip to the Dolomites. Perhaps there is a winery tour they could do on the day trip to the Dolomites say one where they may Prosecco.

I believe that the prosecco vineyards are mainly around Conegliano and Valdobiadene. I've read about day tours you can take but have not yet taken one myself. You can find them using an internet search (I've long since lost the details as it got dropped from our plans due to lack of time). They would not have time to do that on the same day as visiting the Dolomites. In fact, although feasible, I think that Verona and the Dolomites are a bit far for a day trip (although everyone has a different tolerance for how far they are prepared to travel for a day out). Staying in Verona or Vicenza would be great.

IMO, a "day trip" to the Dolomites from Venice would be a waste of time. Some of the very best places and scenery of the Dolomites are not within reach, even with a car, even if you spend the entire day driving.

There are trains between Venice and Verona that take less than 90 minutes. Whether that's close enough (along with a desire to explore Verona that is great enough) depends on the individual. I like Verona, but I doubt I'd take a day from the limited time in Venice to go there.

For me, the "day trip to Switzerland" (presumably Lugano) from Lake Como would be a low priority. First of all, whether the day trip logistics "work" depends somewhat on where their hotel is. If they're not staying somewhere on the western shore, they need to be able to get back to Menaggio or Como by about 7:00 p.m., in time to catch a ferry before service to their hotel location ends for the day. I don't find Lugano to be an enormous contrast to Lake Como, although we did enjoy a day in Bellinzona which still felt fairly Italian but had some interesting things (castles!) to see. They'd need to have a few Swiss francs. Don't forget the passports...

There are dozens of charming towns and sights between the main points of their itinerary that can be recommended. But they can't see everything and shouldn't try. They're young, and hopefully/presumably, this will not be their one-and-only trip to Italy/Europe. I think it's time they figure out (on their own) what they want to do/see on this trip and what can wait.

Two weeks is not that long. In suggesting skipping Florence, I didn't mean to fill it in with so many other long "day trips" I'd propose 2 days Milan (land, get over jet lag, get onto local time), Venice 5 days (boat trips to the nearby islands can be 'day trips' here), Lake Como 5 days (a peek at Switzerland if desired), 2 days Milan for sightseeing and to catch the flight home.

Yes definitely to the idea of local guides or a cooking class!