Hi All
New to the forum.. but have been researching Italy the last couple of weeks and have been intrigued and amused by some of the posts. Finally broke down and decided I need help to plan honeymoon for me and my husband.. just married on October 8th in Punta Cana, DR (if anyone needs info on that, I can help). So now planning our honeymoon for Italy in May and thought you guys might have some better insights than my guidebooks to making this a very special, romantic trip.

Could you look over my rough itinerary and suggest places to stay, eat, visit - aside from the obvious major sights and museums. We are going to Italy because it has everything that I (we) love: great food, art, WINE, history, romance.

Prefer cozy accommodations with comfort and character. Boutique hotels and B&Bs are my preference but willing to splurge a bit in Rome & Florence. Would love to mingle with the locals as much as possible.

Itinerary (subject to change based on recommendations):

depart NY to Rome (for 3 nights/4 days) then Sorrento for 2 nights - possible day trip to Positano, one night in Assisi, then to Siena for 2 nights, one night & day in Lucca, two nights in Cinque Terra, and finish in Florence 3 nights & days.

Sorry for the long-winded intro. Appreciate any help!

I wonder if you've considered the travel time and distances between your stops.

Rome to Sorrento is about a two and a half hour drive, depending on traffic, which in season (like May) can be heavy.

Sorrento to Assisi is quite a distance. I'm guessing it may be about a six-hour drive. And you're only staying there one night!

Are you sure you want to spend so much time traveling and lugging suitcases for such short stays?

Also, you'd be better off visiting Florence on your way to Lucca from Siena. Florence is a few hours' drive from Cinque Terre, and there's really no need for you to backtrack to Florence, when you could fly out of Genoa.

As for hotel accomodations, etc., it would be easier to make recommendations if you'd post your budget.

Hope this helps with your plans!

thank you Weadles; I've been anxiously waiting for a reply. I was hoping somebody would take pity on this hopeless romantic.

I will definitely re-organize our stops based on your suggestions. I made the itinerary based on a couple of maps I was looking at (I'm obviously not good at reading them) and hoping to do most, if not all, of the traveling via rail. I also didn't think of flying out of Genoa but that's a good idea.

I was hoping to avoid renting a car as much as possible, since we are city dwellers, we're more comfortable with trains and taxis. Is it better to drive in tuscany than rely on the rail system?

I'm trying to keep our budget for accommodations around 75-100 euro per night. Except in Rome where I'm estimating approx 200 euro per night and in Florence for 150 euro per night.

thank you again!

You have 14 nites in Italy and 7 overnite destinations--that is 3 too many IMHO. I would drop one of the coastal venues, and forget one niters. Lucca can be a 4 hour stop enroute to CT, and Siena can be a day trip from Florence. You need to better understand your travel logistics--both the travel time and access. If were my trip, I would do:
Rome--4
Florence--3[ day trip to Siena]
CT--3 [stop in Lucca]
Venice 4

You did ask--that will save you a full day just in travel time and a ton of hassle. It is your honeymoon.

thanks Bobthenavigator. I did ask. The perspective helps. I definitely don't want to be totally wiped out at the end of the day, or irritated from too much traveling - not good ingredients for honeymooners.

instead of Venice, would anyone recommend Sorrento/Positano? Or particular wine country? (Montalcino, Montepulciano, or San Gimignano)

With a couple of exceptions, I agree with Bobthenavigator. I think Venice is too far from Cinque Terre, so I'd recommend:

ROME

FLORENCE ( with day trips to: Siena, and San Gimignano. FYI, I would skip Lucca. We were there this summer, and I am still trying to figure out what I'm missing about the place. Found it boring beyond belief! We much preferred touristy San Gimignano.)

CINQUE TERRRE

SANTA MARGHERITA- lovely coastal resort town, close to Genoa. You could day trip from here to Cinque Terre, if you haven't seen enough of it. Also easy day trip to Portofino.

Home from GENOA

Good luck!

I promise. Last message for the night, anyway! Yes, I would always recommend Sorrento/Positano. I absolutely love both of them, esp. Positano, which must have been created for honeymooners. If you decide to go there, I'd recommend:

Venice 4 nights -Fly to Naples
Positano 4 nights
Capri 2 nights ( much better when you stay there after the hordes of day trippers have left!)
Rome 4 nights
Home from Rome

that sounds more like what I'm looking for. thanks, Weadles

would still appreciate accommodation suggestions, especially for Cinque Terra and Rome. Considering B&B Novecento for Florence. And any ideas on which vineyards to visit would be most helpful. many thanks.

Hi BL,

What is your current itinerary?

hi ira
based on suggestions from bob and weadles, and things I've read on other threads, I've tweaked it a bit from my original message and so as of now, the itinerary is:

Rome - 4 nights, Sorrento or Positano - 4 nights, Florence - 4 nights, Venice 2 nights - then home.

Please note: I am starting in Rome so that I can be at my girlfriend's wedding (on a Monday) and then move on with our honeymoon itinerary. Otherwise, we're very flexible with the days.

I second the recommendation for Santa Margherita Ligure or Rapallo, two lovely and romantic spots.

We stayed in Rapallo for threes nights in September and really enjoyed it. We travelled to Genoa one day by train and to Vernazza as well (we did not stay an hour there as it was inundated with Rick Steeve's handbook carrying American tourists). We also did the ferry to Portofino one day and it was very nice.

I personally would bag Venice and stay in Rapallo but then I am one of the few who is not a fan of Venice.

I didn't have Venice in our plan originally, I'm worried I may not like it as well. And can always do it on another trip - right? Have heard good things about Rapallo - where did you stay? What did you do while there?

We stayed at the Hotel Europa right in the center near the promenade. We arrived on a Sunday - by train from Florence - and the hotel was a 5 minute walk from the train station. There happened to be a open air flea market so we browsed for a couple of hours then had a great lunch at this little place in a back alley. We took the 3pm ferry to Portofino and walked around there for a couple of hours then took the ferry home.

There was a wonderful and very reasonable seafood restaurant directly behind the hotel where we had dinner every night because the seafood was so fresh and wonderful! And my husband was a professional fisherman for years and we live in FL so good seafood is not new to us.

The next day we jumped on a train to Vernazza in the CT, hated it and jumped right back on and got off in La Spezia where we walked around for a couple of hours, had a lovely lunch and then were back for an early evening siesta and "passagiata". We had wine every evening at a different outdoor cafe and watched the sunset.

The next day we hopped a train to Genoa and spent a few hours at the wonderful aquarium and then had lunch and returned to Rapallo.

This was a 3 day break on a ten day working trip to Italy and we both very much enjoyed it. It was romantic and not crowded and there were lots of places to stroll along the water.

I have been to Italy 20 times or so and this was first trip to Rapallo.

I have never cared for Venice and have been there 4 times. This is because I have introduced several friends to Italy and they all seem to want to go to Venice. The last two times, we had 3 nights scheduled in Venice and both times we cut the time short and moved on. Yes, it is pretty and unique but I simply don't understand why so many are enamored with the city. It is really very expensive in comparison to other major Italian cities and I hate the crowds on the vaparettos, especially to//from the train station. Perhaps if I could afford private water taxis, I would enjoy it more. But I don't and do not plan to return.

Boxerlover: I forgot to mention my favorite splurge hotel in Florence: Antica Torre Tournabuoni. Small, intimate and the rooms are lovely. The location is perfect, they have a wonderful terrace and I think you would love it if you enjoy boutique hotels. Pricey but worth a splurge!

that sounds wonderful. thank you for the details. It sounds like what we're looking for. I might add it to the itinerary and drop Venice (stick to my first inclination of skipping it altogether this time). I'll keep you posted. and look into the hotel Europa.

Enjoy your trip BL.

hi all. As you can see by the lateness in the hour, I've got the bug. I've read so many wonderful things, I think I'm just more confused than ever. And probably putting too much pressure on myself to make our honeymoon perfect.

please help - again. We have 14 nights.

Absolute musts: Rome (3/4 nights), Positano (4 nights), Florence 4 nights.

So what should I do with the extra 2 nights - go from Florence to Santa Margherita? or Ravello? or Siena? or add the extra days to the one or two of the main destinations and just do all of these places as day trips?

Also, could somebody advise on the order of this itinerary. Start in Rome then...? or start in Florence and work my way down? I think I'd like to end in Positano but that's not set in stone, obviously.

Hi BL,

Ravello is much closer to Positano than to Florence.

You could add one day to Florence and take a daytrip to Siena, although some folks recommend overnighting in Siena.

You could add a day to Rome and visit Orvieto or Ostia Antica.

Order of itinerary:

A. Fly into Florence or Pisa
Train to Rome
Train to Naples and on to Positano
Fly out of Naples

B. Fly into Rome
Immediately train to Florence
Train to Rome
etc.