Hi. I'm planning my honeymoon and these are my thoughts:
Day 1 - Arrive Rome
Day 2 - Rome
Day 3 - Train from Rome to Florence
Day 4 - Florence
Day 5 - Pick up rental car, drive to Tuscany
- Rent Farmhouse in Tuscan Hill Town
Day 5 to Day 9 - Explore Tuscany
Day 10 - Drive to Cinque Terre
Day 11 - Cinque Terre
Day 12 - Drive to Italian Alps
Day 13 - Italian Alps
Day 14 - Italian Alps
Day 15 - Drive to Venice (Return Car)
Day 16 - Venice
Day 17 - Venice
Day 18 - Fly Home

My fiance really wants to make it up to the Alps, but I'm not sure how to work it in. I'm dying to go to Cinque Terre.

Any feedback or advice on this itinerary? Only absolute right now is my flight into Rome and out of Venice.

Thanks!

First, Congrats on your upcoming wedding. DH and I honeymooned in Italy in 2004 and returned for our first anniversary last May.

Honest advice here...

That is WAY too much traveling in much too short of a time period. Every time you change cities you will lose a half day at minimum. The way your itinerary reads, you won't even see some of the "Must See" sights in each city, let alone have any time to soak in the ambience, romance, and culture.

Trying to cram in way too many destinations into a short trip is one of the most common mistakes that people who have never travelled to Europe make. I certainly had a couple trips like this one before I learned my lesson! What's the point of going to Europe to fly by every sight with no time for proper exploration and spend most of the time in a rental car or on a train?

So for your honeymoon this is what I'd do:

I'd cut the Italian Alps out of this trip. You could combine it on a later trip to Italy with the Lakes and have a lovely 7-10 day itinerary there.

<font color="blue">Rome </font> - worth a FULL 3 days, 4 if you can swing it.

<font color="blue">Florence </font> - worth at least a FULL 2.5 days, 3 is better.

<font color="blue">Tuscany </font> - your 3.5 days are fine

<font color="blue">Cinque Terre </font>- looks like you will have about 1.5 days. I've visited the CT 4 times and I usually recommend two full days but if you make it there early on your first day you should be ok.

<font color="blue">Venice </font>- worth at least a full 3 days. If you can spend more time, Verona is an amazing daytrip. Vicenza (hill town) is highly recommend as a daytrip as well but I have not been there.

If you cut out the Alps I think you can see the highlights of Rome, Florence, a few Tuscan towns, the CT, and Venice. It is still an extremely packed and fast paced itinerary, but it's doable.

Good Luck planning

P.S. A few more questions for you:

1. What time of year are you travelling? This could make a difference in my rec for the CT

2. What is your hotel budget? I have several hotels I can recommend but most are within the 125-170&euro; per night range for a double.


And this is just a tip: look at www.trenitalia.com for train schedules. You can select English at the top. The trip from the CT to Venice will take a huge chunk of one day, just FYI.

Well, if one of you really wants to visit the Italian Alps, and the other really wants to visit the Cinque Terre, then tell yourself you'll have other trips on which to experience the more standard first-time-visitor destinations, and plan an itinerary around what's at the top of your list. (Also, based on your current plans, it looks like you're not really interested in a city vacation, at least not this trip.)

I would agree that if you are going to visit Rome, you should give it more time; same with Florence. Also I agree that you have too many destinations. Again, tell yourself you'll go back, and streamline your itinerary. On our first trip to Italy, we visited northern Italy, and saved Rome and the south for the next trip(s).

I would say to skip something - Rome (believe it or not, you could skip it, even if you're flying into Rome), or Florence/Tuscany (even though it's wonderful too) or Venice (ok, it's wonderful too too). That way, you cut down on your travel time, and have more time, in particular, for your two top destinations, the Italian Alps and the Cinque Terre. You haven't planned enough time in either of those locations. As pointed out in the previous post, you lose about 1/2 day every time you travel from one place to another, and your trip from the Cinque Terre to the Alps, especially, will take a while.

As an additional comment, we really enjoyed the Italian alps. There were a lot fewer tourists there, especially those from the U.S., which we liked. The people here were even more warm and welcoming than in other parts of Italy (if that's possible). It has a much different feel from the rest of Italy, and of course is beautiful. If you like to hike, it's a great location.

Wherever you go, you'll have a wonderful time!

HI C,

Considering what you say you really want, I suggest that you skip Rome and Florence.

You are not spending enough time there anyway.

How about:

Fly into Rome, take train to La Spezia and on to the CT - 2 nights.

Rent car in La Spezia, drive through Tuscany and the Alps to Venice.

See Venice, 4 nights.

Fly home?

I suggest you fly in and out of Milan.

Rent your car in the Milan airport and go to the Alps. Do the tour, then drive to Venice and drop off the car.

After Venice, take the train to Firenze and rent a car. Do Tuscany first or CT first. (I would avoid the weekend days in CT between May and September.)

If you end your trip in CT, it makes sense to drop of your car at the Genoa airport (it costs a bit more than downtown but driving into Genoa is a real pain) and then take the train back to Milan.

If you end your trip in Tuscany, drop off your car in Firenze and take the train to Milan.

You could also do the trip in reverse: Fly to Milan and take a train to CT. Take a train to Pisa, rent a car. Do Tuscany, then either drop off the car in Firenze and take a train to Venice or drive the car to Venice. Park car in Mestre parking lot (check threads; not expensive), tour Venice. Retrieve car and go to Alps.

Spend last night in Stresa on Lago Maggiore. Drive the next morning, drive the car for one hour to Malpensa airport.

I think the latter option is probably the most efficient.

I think your trip is doable, but if you are worried it is too rushed, it looks to me like you should cut Venice from the itinerary, since you both seem to want nature and relaxation more than art sightseeing. There's nothing wrong with skipping the major American tourist destinations, and many people say that weddings are so exhausting, recuperating in the Italian countryside is better than dealing with the crowds in Rome, Firenze or Venice.

But up to you!

i agreed with TexasAggie for a first time trip to Italy. I'm finally making it to CT on my fourth trip! However, the other postings also really make sense for a honeymoon -- especially if you will make it back to Rome another time. Sightseeing in Rome is &quot;work&quot; -- if you want to relax consider staying further north and making it to the Alps if that's a dream.
Meanwhile, TEXAS AGGIE, what hotel recommendations do you have for CT end of June? We're booked in Levanto because we'll have a car and using it as base and want a/c, but am still open to suggestions. thanks.

Hi alison,

I've only actually stayed in 2 hotels in the CT b/c we fell in love with the second one we stayed at and always return. We've become friends with the family so staying elsewhere would never occur to us.

If you are looking for cheap and basic - Albergo Barbara in Vernazza. It is right on the piazza overlooking the ocean. No elevator and I'm not even sure there is A/C (I think there is though). Very basic but clean and again, wonderful location. I paid somewhere around 60-65&euro; per night in August 2002 for a double with no view and the bathroom down the hall.

If you want a nice place at a reasonable cost I highly recommend Hotel Villa Steno in the old town part of Monterosso. We pay 125&euro; cash (more if you pay by CC) for a double with a beautiful balcony overlooking a garden and the sea, bathroom ensuite, and the usual amenities like air conditioning, tv, breakfast, mini fridge, hair dryer, etc.

www.villasteno.com

If you search on this board you'll likely come across a few of my detailed reviews

Wow, what helpful, insightful responses! I wish I had discovered this site years ago. To answer your questions, we are arriving Rome on 6/20 and leaving Venice on 7/7. I have been Italy twice before, but have only been to Rome and South. To be honest, my fantasy honeymoon was always to rent a villa in Tuscany and live amongt the locals. So I really want to make sure I fully experience that. I'm also dying to go to CT. We live in NYC and we are not big art fans so I could easily cut out some City stuff. In terms of our budget, I've been looking into lodging between 100-150 Euro, but willing to splurge for a few special nights. We love hiking and being out in the mountains, and since my fiance wants to hit the Alps, I think its the least I can do for him. More specific itinerary reco? Hotels? Agriturismo in Tuscany? Thanks!

As you know, hotels in Venice, Florence and Rome are pricey, and since you are mainly interested in the Tuscany, CT and the Alps, spending fewer nights the arts cities makes sense.

I hope you are planning to rent a car. I would splurge on that.

On another thread, I think I saw someone mention the top hotel in Monterosso al Mare, and that it has free parking. You might do a search for that.

FYI, I have tried to get rooms at villa steno end of june and they are fully booked. thanks, Texas Aggie for the recommendation. that was our first choice. I'll keep trying in case there's a cancellation, but right now we are booked in Levanto which may make good base for day trips, etc.
Corkee, there are many villa/agriturismo recommendations for Tuscany on this board and slow travel. you won't have trouble finding that. However, if you do go to CT, you might want to book soon -- some places there are already booked for end of June.

Hey alison,
Did you try the Villa Steno's sister hotel, the Pasquale?

Great. Based on everything I've read on here, I've re-worked our itinerary:

Day 1 Arrive Rome
Day 2-7 Pick up car, drive to Tuscany
- Rent Tuscan Farmhouse, take daytrips to Hill towns, Florence, etc. (recommends?)
Day 7-10 Drive to Cinque Terre (recommends?)
- Explore CT
Day 10-14 Drive to Lake Como (recommends?)
Day 14-17 Drive to Venice - Return Car (recommends?)
Day 18 Fly home from Venice

I'm looking for hotel, sites, towns, restaurant recommends from anyone. I already reserved the car for only $620 for 14 days with Europebycar.com. I'm almost more excited for this trip than I am for the wedding, especially after reading all these postings. Thanks.

Since you'll have a car, check out Lerici as base for Cinque Terre. Very romantic.

The prime destination on Lago di Como is Bellagio. Book a room with a view. For an alternative honeymoon suite, try Eremo Gaudio in Varenna. Book a room in the upper part of the hotel, with a terrace.

The Slow Travel website is a great resource for week-long rentals in Tuscany with detailed reviews from people who have stayed in them.

It might be easier to take a train to Tuscany and picked up the car there. Check with your rental agency to see if they'll let you do that.

I would not skip Venice. Does your flight back to NY leave from there. From what I am getting from your itinerary you fly into Rome and fly out of Venice, so it makes sense to see both those places.

Exploring Tuscany will give a nice counterpoint to the cities. Personally I find Venice more romantic than Rome, so I think you have done the right allocation there.

I hear that you are from NYC and so am I, so even though you may not want to hit the museums (yes, the Met here is excellent!), there is nothing to compare to a Renaissance city anywhere on this continent. Florence was the center of the Italian Renaissance and the Duomo alone is worth seeing. Then there is the Piazza Signorina with the large copy of Il David and hundreds of young people and entertainers out every night just enjoying the summer and an expresso or gelato. Spend at least a day and night there. I did not get this feel from either Rome or Venice.

Two summers ago we did the Alps with a more southern trip starting on Lac Leman.... What we failed to realize is that we like to travel light and we were going to two completely different climates. It gets cold up there and we had to make some purchases to layer ourselves. We actually opted to stay on the French side in Chamonix instead of the Italian side. But you can take the cable car completely over the top of Mont Blanc from the Italian side and stay on the French side. Do you plan on hiking the famous glacier? People spend weeks there hiking, camping, etc. It will be a totally different experience.

Personally I think it is too many stops in 18 days. Save CT for another time if you are planning on going to the Alps. It's alot of traveling just to get there and back to Venezia.

Enjoy.

You really have a great deal of traveling.

Corkee,
E-mail me and I will send you some ideas for day trips in Tuscany.

For Lake Como, Albergo du lac in Varenna or Albergo Milano in Varenna have been highly recommmended. HOwever, we are going there early July and it was mostly booked already.