honeymoon itinerary for Italy - need serious help please!
 

What would be the best itinerary for 14 days from October 23 - November 6. We want to start off with a relaxed romantic city possibly Venice, and then travel to Rome, and Florence, and possibly doing a day trip from Rome or Florence to other towns. Things we like to do include: enjoying great food and wine, sightseeing, having some time to relax, and shopping for me :) How would you split the time? Are there other places that would be worth visiting in late October? Thanks for any help you can offer including nice romantic hotels or places to dine.

I think the best place to start is to grab a book like Fodors, Frommers or Rick Steves. This way you can read up on places you might be interested in traveling. All the books will have hotel, restaurant, and activity recommendations. Locations will also be grouped geographically so you can figure out where you might like to go on a day trip from Florence or Rome. It's different strokes for different folks so it's best to read up and find out what you might be interested in. From there you can gather more specific questions about your itinerary, which this forum excels at. Best of luck on your trip planning! I will be oin Italy this June on honeymoon and this forum has been a wealth of help. Happy planning! :)

Hi
I have long files on those cities, if you'd like to see them, email me at
[email protected]

Can you say what your budget is like for hotels?

Hi soon,

I would fly into Venice and out of Florence with a week in each place and 2 side trips.

((I))

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Italy in April. If you are leaving immediately after you wedding, Venice is a good start and end in Rome. We did the reverse because we wanted to end on a slower, more romantic note. We had 12 days and did three in Rome, spent the day in Orvieto on our way to Florence. 1 1/2 days in Florence, 3 days in CT and 3 1/2 in Venice.

We really liked Rome a lot more than we thought and were slightly disappointed by Venice but did not have good weather there. CT was very romantic, excellent food and ambiance. Lemon trees everywhere and very peaceful. If you want more info, I would be happy to share our hotel info, etc. We were ALL about food, wine and romance!

My boyfriend and I stayed in the Nord Nuova Roma hotel near Stazione Termini in Rome. It was so romantic. There is a rooftop bar that is small, quiet and has a fabulous view. We would go up at night and have a nightcap and chat with each other. It is not the typical hotel that an American would end up at but we enjoyed it very much. It was comfortable and had private bathrooms. There were many very cute restaraunts and cafes in the area as well. Being so close to the train station gave us the opportunity to travel around the city with great ease. Good luck.

Thanks for all the help. I just bought a Fodors Italy 2005 book tonight :) Our budget for the hotels is about $200 - $300 a night but less for a nice place would be great.

My email is [email protected]. I'd be happy to take any information you'd like to send. This board is great! I'm glad I found it. I'll post more specific questions once I narrow down the cities. This is a great start though.

soontobeMRSLee,
For Late October consider Montalcino. See http://www.montalcino-tuscany.it/sagra_del_tordo.htm
for information on the Sagra del Tordo.

Hi SoontobeMrsLee :

Don't wait too late to set your plan and start hotel reservations so you are not disappointed. The smaller places that get rave reviews in this forum, like Locanda Orseolo in Venice book up - for the preferred rooms.

How about start in Venice for 4 days - Tuscany for 5 (with a day trip to Florence) and end in Rome?

Linda

If you like wines and want to visit the wineries - plan a day along the chianti road. Make advanced reservations to get a tour of a winery (strongly recommended - many only take reservations) and do some wine tasting. It was a great day trip from Siena and is still pretty close to do as a day trip from Florence. As far as some specific suggestions - I would recommend:

Fly into Venice - stay for 3 nights
Train to Florence - stay for 4 nights
Train to a tuscan city/village (Siena, San Giminagno or even a small village in Chianti) - stay for 3 nights (day trips to other tuscan cities/visit wineries - this would be very laid back and relaxing)
Train to Rome - stay for 5 nights (from here day trips to Umbria - Spoleto, Orvieto or Assisi)

Fly home from Rome

mgfit - I like that itinerary a lot. After reading all of the suggestions, I think that's what we'll do Venice-Florence-Tuscany-Rome. This board is great! You guys are great! I'll look into some of the other links that were sent to me for more specific locations. Now, I have to research hotels and flights.

Fly into Venice. 4 days there. Train to Florence. 4 days there, inclusive of a side trip to Pisa. Train to Rome. 6 days there. Side trip to Assisi. Sorry, no Naples. Don't want to stress your honeymoon too much so that other enjoyable activiites can be fitted in.

will the wineries be open in the late autumn?

We are going to Italy in early September. We enjoy wine and food and kicking back some, as well as sightseeing. We are:

Flying to Venice - 3 nights
Train to Florence - 2 nights
Tuscany - 5 nights - but 2 locations-
Siena (3 nights within the town) and 2 nights in Pienza (La Sarafina). This will allow us to see several areas without backtracking.
Then on to Rome for 4 nights

It may seem to some a lot of moving - but it's our first trip and we want to cover a lot - plus the time in Tuscany can be at our own pace.

Good luck with your plans!