Hello ,
We have 8 nights/ 9 days (Oct 3- 11)in Italy for part of our honeymoon. The only thing we have done is book 3 nights in Venice ( october 3, 4, 5) and now we need help with the Itinery after that.

First, Is 3 nights in venice too much and should we do it first or last? We were then planning on renting a car to go from there. but where? We are in our 30's and want to do the countryside. We love to explore, eat and drink some. Our only requirement is we need to fly out (anywhere) on October 11th to Santorini. that gives us 5 nights( after Venice). Places we were thinking of: Florence 1 night, tuscany for 2( sienna?) and then the lakes for the last 2) flying out of Milan the next day. Is this too much driving time? We want this to be be romantic and not too hectic. money is not a issue. Any thoughts people? recommendations on other romanitic towns and places to stay would help too.

We stayed 4 nights in Venice on our honeymoon and in retrospect, 3 nights would have been perfect
We also stayed one night in Florence. We stayed in Suite 39 at Hotel Europa. If you do a search in the Europe Forum for "Hotel Europa Florence" my report on this hotel will come up. It is called "Honeymoon in Italy, Report" dated June 30, 2004. This hotel was special in that we had authentic 16th century frescos on our ceilings. It was about a 5-7 minute walk from the Duomo, and only about 5 minutes from the Medici Chapels.

Some people would probably say that's too much moving around, especially for a honeymoon. Others love to travel that way. I personally would stay at either Florence or Siena, but not both, so you're not constantly checking in and out of hotels. If you want to cut down on travel time even more, there is some beautiful countryside between Venice and the lakes. The area around Verona is where grapes for Valpolicella and Amarone wines are grown. We found Verona and surrounds very interesting. If you haven't been to Tuscany, though, October is apparently a great time to go.

Keep in mind that the lakes will be chilly that time of year.

in two days in venice i saw the main museums,did shopping,took photos,went for gondola ride and strolled around the island & saw some of the less frequented calle.i did not get a chance to see merano nor the smaller museums & i did keep to a pretty hectic schedule.with 3 days you can afford to wake up late and take it easy.florence is around 4 hrs driving time from venice so i would change the sequence a bit to avoid this. Enjoy . Sam

How cold will the lakes be around Oct 10th? Also, how long is the drive from the lakes to the airport in Milan?