Nikki349

Hi,
My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon to Italy in November. We have just under four weeks. We've dreamed of renting a house in the Tuscan countryside and doing day trips to surrounding villages. We thought we might spend a few nights in Florence at the start of the trip, then hire the house in Tuscany for 10 days or so. We were initially thinking of rounding out the honeymoon with a week or so in Cinque Terre, however have been reading it's not the best time of year to visit that region. Are there any recommendations for places to visit/things to do in November in Italy? We're after a relaxed, romantic vibe, soaking up the lifestyle and ambiance. Also would be interested in thoughts on whether we'd be better to stick to cities at that time of year rather than the countryside as I've read the countryside can be 'miserable' in November (my personal thoughts are it would be romantic and cosy even if it was rainy and cold!). We'd be planning on hiring a car for the majority of the trip as well. Let me know thoughts and suggestions please! Also open to suggestions for special restaurants/places to stay for a couple of nights if we wanted to splash out at the start of the trip!

Thanks!

bilboburgler

November can be cold and wet. Even if you get the log fire going, and you have food being delivered, it might get a little dull staring out at the damp landscape.

Going south may make it a bit warmer, but tourist sites tend to close up a bit in November.

Some thoughts,
1) You could stay in the northern end of Tuscany within easy commute of Florence and Pisa say
2) Or closer to Siena
3) Or down near one of the spa towns, where at least you can soak up some heat

I think 10 days may just be too much, do it but limit it to 4 or 7 days (you should be able to get a 4 day rent as demand will be way down).

You might also like to stay in agriturismo.it type accom. It means you are in the middle of no where but breakfast can be organised, some local advice is easily available etc.

bvlenci

I thought that on your honeymoon things were never dull. Bring along a copy of the Kama Sutra and let it rain!

tuscanlifeedit

I second Bilboburger's comments and ideas. 4 or 5 nights in the countryside in November would be plenty for me.

Adding Florence is a good idea too. How about Bologna? Covered walkways and good food. Or Venice, which to me is the most romantic of Italian cities.

Maybe 3 or 4 days in Florence.
4 or 5 in the countryside
4 or 5 in Venice


That sounds like a great November honeymoon in Italy to me

StCirq

Yes, it will be romantic and cosy - for about 5 days or so, if you make the best of it. I live in France in an area that is roughly equivalent in climate and natural surroundings to Tuscany, and November is a rough month, usually, cold and wet and dark, and the usual beauty of the fields and hills is gone. It's brown and gray and the vineyards are sticks in the mud, and the trees are bare, and the livestock are grumpy, and it's up to you to provide the romantic atmosphere.

Things will be closed. You will probably be dependent on yourselves for amusement (not a bad thing).

As others have said, I would give a try at 4-5 days in the countryside, then visit Florence and Venice.

Jean

The entire month of November?

We been to Florence, Tuscany and Umbria several times as late as the first week of November. There's no predicting weather, but most of the time the weather has been fine. It did rain buckets for a couple of hours in Florence one time, but we were inside a museum. (The same thing happened one year when we were in Naples, so being farther south was no protection.)

The only things we've found "closed" at that time of year were some hotels. If you went to the CT or the AC (or one of the lakes), you'd find some hotels and restaurants closed and ferry service reduced. Because people live there year-round, no places closes up completely.

Personally, I would go where I want to go with the knowledge that there could be rain and it could be cooler. Just take the right attitude and clothes. There will be fewer tourists everywhere which IMO would make any place potentially more romantic.

topeater

We were in Italy in early April last year and our stay in Tuscany was cold and rainy. We started in Florence which was sweater weather and sunny. I highly recommend The Portrait Firenze for a hotel. A bit pricey, but well worth it. The staff are wonderful, the rooms beautiful, restaurants close and we had a balcony with a view of the Ponte Vecchio. https://www.lungarnocollection.com/portrait-firenze.

We did a tour for a couple of hours with Walks of Italy which gave us a great introduction to the city and history which made us appreciate the city even more.

We rented a car for our stay in Tuscany countryside. I had booked 3 nights in a agriturismo.it which was a disaster for us. I don't even remember which one, but the room was freezing and very uncomfortable. We went to Siena the next day and decided to check into a hotel there as I felt I was getting a cold staying in such a uncomfortable place.

Siena was wonderful, the weather brisk, cold and rainy. It was so cozy and comfortable. It wasn't crowded with tourists at all. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Continental in the middle of the historic area. It felt like staying in an old castle. The staff was wonderful and our room had a beautiful view of the roofs of Siena. Highly recommend. The hotel staff recommended several restaurants and all were incredible.

We had booked 3 days at another property in the Tuscan hills which was much better than the first, although we were there before they officially opened, so things felt a bit unfinished as far as the house being stocked with coffee or tea or really anything. It was cozy with a wonderful fireplace. There was a lovely patio overlooking the Tuscan hills, but alas, too cold outside to use. From what I could see, there are a lot of areas with narrow roads that drop off pretty substantially as was our case. We would usually visit a couple of hill towns during the day and have lunch and then pick something up to have for dinner at the house as driving after dark could be dangerous.

We ended our stay in Rome with 5 days, 6 nights and it just wasn't enough. So much to see and do and so wonderful to just sit and watch. It was nice to leave the rainy, cold weather and to experience weather than was warmer.

Have a great time.

StCirq

Early April can in NO way be compared to November. Sorry, it's just not the same at all. Not. At. All.

It's early April here in the Dordogne now, and everything is open and there are tour buses and campervans and people on the streets. It is TOTALLY different from the scene in November. Whether it was cold and rainy where you were last April is totally irrelevant - we are talking about the seasonal changes, not weather-wise but the habits of the locals in terms of openings and closings and such. They are not so much weather-dependent as habit-dependent. So the fact that you had a great time in Tuscany last early April means absolutely nothing in terms of someone wanting to visit in late November. Niente.

topeater

Thanks for the info and scolding StCirq. I did not mean to compare early April to November, my point was the weather and how it affected what we did. I wanted to point out a few things they might want to consider....such as renting something in the Tuscan hillside that might be freezing at night and uncomfortable. I also wanted to point out some hotels we enjoyed which I hoped would be helpful to the OP.

StCirq

Duly noted, topeater. It will indeed be freezing at night if they choose to travel in November. We are blessed with a gorgeous spring here in the Dordogne, which means really hot daytime temps, but we still build a big fire in the wood stove every night because the temps dip so much.