Italy Honeymoon
 

We will be in Italy for our honeymoon from October 14-22. We fly into Rome and we are spending the first 3 days in Rome. We fly out of Venice and plan to spend the last 2 days there. We are trying to figure out where to go inbetween Rome and Venice. We would like to visit a vineyard in Tuscany with rolling hills and/or go to a costal town like Cinque Terre. Are there ways to get to these towns without renting a car? We would like to stick to places we can take a train to. Any city or travel recommendations? I wish we could make it to Sicily for a few days but unfortunately it is south of Rome.

How many days do you have in between Rome and Venice? Sicily doesnt make sense with this itinerary

You won't be able to visit Tuscany villages and tour vineyards without a car.

It sounds like you have perhaps 4 days between Rome and Venice.

Personally, I wouldn't go to the Cinque Terre mostly because of the travel time required (coming from Rome, ending in Venice) but also because you're not guaranteed good weather that late in October. Also people who stay 3-4 days in the Cinque Terre are usually there to hike the trails between the towns.

Visiting a vineyard in Tuscany almost always requires making a reservation and having transportation to get there. If you stayed somewhere in Tuscany (Siena, Florence, etc.) you could join a group tour to a vineyard or hire a guide to make arrangements and drive you. Otherwise, you really need a car to see much of Tuscany in 3-4 days.

What other interests do you have? Country scenery? Architecture? Ancient towns? Art? Food?

There are lots of small companies that provide a guide and car for visits to the Tuscan hill towns and vineyards. You could take the train from Rome to Florence ( 90 minutes) and then hire a private transfer from Florence to a destination in Tuscany.

We stayed in Radda a few years ago, and did several day trips with Luca Garapa of Hillsandroads.com. I highly recommend him. He's great company and very knowledgeable about the whole area. Plus it was great to tour vineyards and not have to worry about how we'd make it back to the hotel!

Luca also provided transfers to and from Florence, but I'm not sure if he's still doing that. Check his website for the information.

Have a great time!

Just to be clear- will you be staying in Rome 2 nights or 3?

As mentioned, the Cinque Terra is NOT on the way from Rome to Venice and trying to include it will take a lot of travel time you don't have.

Assuming 3 nights in Rome and 2 nights Venice, that leaves two nights you could spend in Florence. You then have one full day in Florence and one day for a day trip outside of Florence to another Tuscan town - either by private guide/driver or via a same-day car rental pick-up and drop off in Florence.

That's it. Honestly even that's a bit much for such a short visit to Italy (what you described in your original post is a classic <b>two</b> week trip). Four nights in Rome and three nights in Venice would be much more enjoyable, IMO.