We are planning a honeymoon for October 20-30, 2003. We would like to find advice on a couple of topics
1. Is October a good time to visit Italy?
2. What cities/areas should we visit during the trip.
3. We would like a mix of hitting the pavement sight seeing and adventure, romance and relaxation, a little pampering, and some of the night scene.
4. We have never been to Italy and so we don't know where to begin our trip.
5. If Italy is not the best place for an October honeymoon, any ideas for a mix of the adventure, romance, pampering, and night scene. We love to travel and will go just about any where.
Thanks for your help.

October is a wonderful to be in Italy. We've done it twice and had great weather both times...from leather jackets to shirtsleeves.
Where to go? You have the happy dilemma of too many choices!
For a combination of sightseeing and nightlife, Rome certainly fills the bill. For romance and relaxation, certainly Venice tops the list. Ten days in those two cities (with time for side trips) sounds good to me!

I agree whole-heartedly with what HowardR has to say! We spent a lovely 3 weeks in Umbria in late October and the weather was terrific.

My recommendation would be not to try to do too much! We just spent 9 days in Italy with 2 days in Venice (not long enough) 2 in Florence (about right for us) 1 in Orvieto (just nice) and 4 in Rome (would have spared a day here and added it to Venice). There is no way that I would want to travel around more than this in that amount of time, because easy as the trains are to use, it is still a hassle packing up and lugging cases (pack light) around.

I have never enjoyed Florence much before, but this time finally got to go with my husband and it was one of my favourite places! It was very romantic, and we spent lots of time in beautiful piazzas, and sitting along the river walls or bridges and watching the world go by, and the sun set!

Enjoy!

We were in Italy for our first time in early April and it will not be our last trip there. You will love it. I know it is a big country and there are many choices of places to go. We concentrated on Rome, Florence and Sorrento. I really loved Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. There is the small town flavor of Italy and the residents are wonderful.
Bill

Europeautumn,

I agree with the others. For a nine-night (or ten-night?) trip, you might want to combine Rome with one more place (two more maximum). Rome plus the Amalfi coast (with maybe a night or two on the island of Capri), or perhaps Rome plus some time in Sicily.

Good luck.

MMM

My fiance and I have chosen Italy as our honeymoon location also. We will be there from Nov 3 to Nov 13. October is suppose to be beautiful. WE will be staying in Florence for 5 nights but have a car and will be traveling through Tuscany, then finishing our trip in Rome/Vatican. These boards are fabulous. Just search for whatever you are looking for. You will hear mixed reviews.

Hi
with about 10 days, I'd pick either a combination of the Lakes and Venice, or else a combination of Tuscany plus Rome.
The first choice doesn't offer as much night life--Venice goes to sleep relatively early. But it's Venice.

Rome is much more hustle and bustle and noisy traffic, but a stimulating city.
Of course, plenty of sightseeing.

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

congratulations

Author: BuzzyJ
Date: 05/14/2003, 10:40 am
Message: Back in 1997 there was a posting here recommending The Italian Connection (www.italian-connection.com) for walking and culinary tours of Italy. Has anyone used them recently? Are there others you would recommend?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Author: kazzawary
Date: 05/14/2003, 12:31 pm
Message: I haven't heard of them, but try Living Italy. www.livingitaly.com I have done one of their "Living Italy" tours, and would love to do their "Walking Tour", as the other one was such a great experience.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Author: flanneruk
Date: 05/14/2003, 01:16 pm
Message: ATG (www.atg-oxford.co.uk)Follow "find a trip", not "find a trip fast" which uses unhelpful titles for each walk.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Author: Loretta ([email protected])
Date: 05/14/2003, 02:39 pm
Message: Hi,

Just got back from Tuscany. We hired a private guide in Florence named Alessandro Cammilli. He was wonderful. A native of Florence, he speaks good english, & knows some of the off the beated path sights. He's very reliable, & very reasonbly priced at $25 per hour for two, $35 per hour for four. He furnishes the transportion, & can take you to Pisa, to the wineries in Tuscany, to good restaurants, to and from the airport, etc. Alessandro is a good italian driver, just don't watch any of the cars when in Florence. Our trip would not have been the same without Alessandro's help. He can even reserve tickets to museums in advance.
You can reach him [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many congrats on your impending nuptules; I am going to recommend Rome & the Amalfi coast, I just can't think of a better place for a honeymoon (Venice is a dead on tie).
I love Capri & Positano here is a web site for Capri www.caprionline.com- lots of info. I like the hotel Mamela-you can find it on that site.
Wishing you much happiness in your new life together.
Fluffy

So hard to choose, but Florence is one of my favorite cities in the world. It's small, beautiful, interesting, incredible food...it has everything. Rome is beautiful and interesting, but much more of a city city. Lots of motorbikes EVERYWHERE of which you are breathing in the exhaust.
If it were me, I would combine a trip with Florence (maybe hitting some of the wineries in Tuscany just outside of the city) and the Amalfi Coast--taking a drive down to Positano and then take the ferry over to Capri for 2-3 nights (so beautiful, relaxing and romantic). You may have to take it from Naples which I wouldn't spend much time in for a honeymoon other than getting on the ferry.

1. Venice
2. Florence
3. Weather is a roll of the dice, mostly good.
4. San Gimignano (we are talking honeymoon,right?)
5. Rome

Never stay less than 2 nights anywhere.

I also would agree with the first two posts. Rome (with a one day trip out of the city) and Venice fits the bill for all your requirements. Just don't try to squezze in more and you'll have a relaxed, romantic, delightful honeymoon. Take a look at the millions of posts on this board for hotel/food/sightseeing/relaxing advice.

Auguri, Europeautumn. I'll go even farther than posters who are urging you to do no more than two locations and suggest that you do only one, with day trips from that single location. For a honeymoon I'd pick Venice: it's very romantic, and there's no traffic. The weekends can get hectic with daytrippers (though less of a problem this late in the year), but then you can just daytrip your way OUT of Venice. The train station is very convenient, and Venice is well-served by trains from all over.

October is a great time for Italy! We were there last October 7-27 starting in Rome venturing into Tuscany and ending up in Venice. Venice was my favorite and I returned from this trip feeling more relaxed than I have ever felt. I think Venice is a great place to end up after sight seeing. The absence of cars and its charm allow you to wander and wander and wander. Folks who know the coastline might also have some great suggestions for you (Positano,Sorrento and the like). I will say I was surprised how cold it could get so bring some approprite clothes for that possibility. It rained in all three places while we were there including high water in Venice. The high water was more an adventure than anything else. I'd say try and see Tuscany(Siena,Montepulciano,Montalcino) and Venice. I was not a big fan of Rome but there are folks on this forum that adore it. Gourmet had an entire issue on Rome(March 2003). BTW, I thought Italy was wonderfully romantic. If you intend to drive at all..do not despair if you find yourselves hating each other..some of our adventures on the autostrada left me visualizing divorce on the spot..it seems to go with the territory. Have a great time!