Hi there,
My new wife and I are planning on traveling to Italy for a week-long honeymoon in January or February. We have some sense of the weather, and are coming from VT, so anything in Italy will be an improvement.
So the question is: If you were us, where would you go? We're looking to basically base in one place and have a relaxing, romantic week. We'd welcome specific lodging recs. also. Any place you would specifically avoid in winter?
And what about car vs. no car? Would you rent one?
Thanks in advance. Ben Skolnik

I would base in Florence. A week in an apartment would please me. I choose it because of the great variety of indoor experiences, shopping, food, romantic strolls, and good access to other towns for day trips. Go to Siena or Bologna or Arezzo or or or....

You won't need a car for the above. Save money and spend on nicer digs and meals.

We go to Florence every winter and find it most romantic. And we're old.

Hi ben,

I also suggest Florence.

You can visit, Siena, Bologna, Venice and Orvieto as daytrips by train, if you wish.

See www.trenitalia.com for schedules.

Remember the old saying, "All roads lead to Rome."

You must, must go to Rome. Either Florence or Naples can be reached by train in about 1 1/2 hours.

No Car! One of the other posts mentioned Orvieto....go there; 1/2 hour on train...actually E* stops there on way to Florence.

Stay around the Piazza Navona. The Vatican is a 10-15 minute walk from most hotels in that area. That's my two cents worth.

If I were you I would go to Rome or Florence, if you have 7 days in Italy not including flight days, you could do the two if you wanted, as they are only a few hours apart by train. Venice is a possibility, but weather is not the greatest, esp for water trips, i.e. gondola or ferry trips. Take a look at weatherbse.com for historical average temps. As long as you are dressed for it and don't mind the possibility of rain and maybe snow, any of these places would be wonderful, romantic, not crowded and you should be able to get good deals on hotels (again possibly not in Venice as Carnivale runs 17-26 February). The bare trees and wet cobblestone streets are quite beautiful, IMO. Outdoor cafes will not be open, unless you get a really warm stretch, but other than that I think these are great cities for winter trips. In Florence, you could rent a car and tour the countryside for a day or even take a several day trip. Other than the Tuscan countryside, you would not want or need a car.

You seem to realize you won't find warm weather. Even places very far south like Sicily won't be warm. Places in the Alps like the Dolomites will be gorgeous but as you are coming from Vermont you probably don't want to ski or do winter sports, besides January/February are high season there.

I would specifically avoid the Amalfi coast as weather is too cold for the coast IMO, many good restaurants and hotels will be closed, ferries are not running in most cases and Capri is basically shut down. (I believe danilo is an Amalfi coast travel agent or hotelier and I would discount a lot of what he says.) I would also avoid the Lake Como area as it is not at its best in January and February either.

Look into flights into one city and out of another, i.e. into Rome and out of Venice if you are interested in those two cities, to save time and backtracking.

If you can provide a hotel budget, myself and others can recco hotels, also take click on "hotels" above, or the frommers.com site or tripadvisor.com all of which are good sources for hotels.

With one week (and, I gather, no prior experience of either), I would choose one city only and Florence over Rome for two reasons.

First, Florence is wildly romantic aqnd atmospheric; the twisty streets, very walkable, and many intimate little restuarants and enoteca to hide away in over a glass of wine, after museums.

Secondly, while Rome sould always be part of your total lifetime experience of Italy, it can be overwhelming the first time out and you don't want to be disappointed or distracted by travel-stress on your honeymoon.

Congratulations on your forthcoming marriage and may you be returning to Italy for your 25th anniversary as my husband and I had the opportunity to do...

Hello! I would strongly recommend settling in one place for a week as well. My husband and I honeymooned in Italy, and had no idea how completely exhausted we would be! We rented an apartment for a week in Montepulciano, and only left the town once...mostly we just soaked up the atmosphere, took things very slowly, and enjoyed being together.

Rome could be a great choice for you. It should be a bit warmer then, and would be a good base IF you wanted to do trips. However, you could also be perfectly content to just stay put all week.

Enjoy, and congratulations!

Hi Ben,
My DH and I are from MN, so we are in your boat and are not letting winter hold us back from enjoying an Italian vacation.

After much research, we elected to spend our time in Florence and Venice. I just cut and pasted the following link for another poster and thought perhaps you may enjoy it too, just click on:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34604835

I think with what you offered to us as preferences (relaxing, romantic) that Florence and Venice would be a good place to start. Although I loved Rome, I would not place it in the relaxing catagory. Perhaps save Rome for another trip when you have more time, there is SO much to do in this wonderful city.
Florence and another city are much more doable with only a week.

Another suggestion, book an open jaw ticket (fly into one city, fly out of another) so you do not have to back track.

You could fly into Florence, train to Venice and fly home from Venice. Very doable with a week.

One thing I would recommend though is to research the cities you amy want to travel to. Go to the bookstore or library and look at books, read and go over pictorials. You and your new bride will really be the only ones that can make the decision on which Italian cities will be the best choices for you!

Go, enjoy, and stay as long as you can!
Congratulations on your recent nuptials! Tiff