We will be spending our honeymoon in Italy and want a good balance between relaxing locales and more urban experiences. I have spent a few days in Italy, but my fiance has never been.<BR><BR>After searching through LOTS of posts, we've decided on the following Itinerary:<BR><BR>4 nights Positano<BR>1 night Rome<BR>2 nights Venice<BR>3 nights Siena<BR>2 nights Florence<BR><BR>Does this itinerary seem pretty do-able? Any comments about our city choices - are there other cities that are more worth our time? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

How do you plan to travel between cities? I don't think I would spend less than 2 nights in any one locale.

I would spend 3 nights in Florence and 2 in Sienna

Thanks for the replies...<BR><BR>xxx - we're still figuring out transportation between the cities. We're open to anything - car rental, train, or even flight from Naples to Florence, Pisa, or Milan (am sure such a flight exists between one of the cities!).

I would do 3 nights Positano/3 in Rome/2 in Siena.

I just got back from Rome and Florence. You definitly need more than one night in Rome. There is too much to see and you'll regret it if you don't.

Hi<BR>Since you've been there before perhaps your own preferences led you to decide on the amount of time in each place.<BR><BR>Positano is for the relaxation part I guess, and I won't argue with that, but I'd pick only two out of the remaining places so you see more, pack and unpack less, and lose much less time in traveling between places.

Hi Bec -<BR><BR>Thanks for the input...the only reason we have 1 night allotted for Rome is because I've been there before and didn't particularly enjoy it. We tend to shy away from the larger European cities (like Madrid and Lisbon) and prefer smaller areas...though I know Florence isn't exactly small by anyone's standarads either. Still working on the itinerary though - perhaps some things will change?!

I didn't realize that you were in Rome before. To be honest, I didn't like it that much either. It was very, very dirty. Alot of graffiti everyone. I know it's a poor country, buy I was expecting it to be alot nicer.

Bec:<BR><BR>If you think that Italy is a poor country, than you have very unusual ideas about pauperty! As a matter of facts, Italy is one of the leading countries in Ue and one of the 8 most industrialized countries of the world. The fact that our current government is strining to make us all poorer and worth of less international respect, doesn't mean that italy si a poor coountry. On the other hand, it is valued to be faring better than the Us (in proportion to its population and surface) by several indipendent organizations, with less pauperty and better public services.

This is the 3rd post today that I have tried to answer but cannot without more input. It depends on where you arrive and depart and mode of transport. With 12 nites in Italy you should do 4 destinations. I would skip Rome and fly out of Venice for best use of time.

Hi Bob -<BR><BR>Still doing some planning. Currently aiming to go to Positano first, then may fly from Naples to Venice. Figure 2 nights in Venice, then rent a car to go to Siena and Florence...flying out of Florence to head back home to DC. We're trying to figure out what makes most sense of where to stay in Tuscany area...based on previous posts sounds like it's worth time to see Siena and Florence. Thanks for your reply.

We stayed in Siena for a week and took side trips to Florence (by bus - very easy since parking in florence is difficult) and Venice (eurostar train - fast and comfortable). Also rented a car to drive around the hill towns of Tuscany. It all worked out great.

I am thinking of travelling to Siena end of this year. CM's suggestion sounds great. How much will it cost to take the bus from Siena to Florence, and to take the Eurostar train from Venice to Venice?<BR>

ops! sorry about the last message. made a blunder. i meant from "venice to florence", not "venice to venice."

Kristen,<BR>From reading your replies it appears to me that your wanting to stay one day in Rome is just so your fiancee can at least see some of the eternal city on his first trip to Italy, I personally don't see anything wrong with that.<BR><BR>If that is the case, then the only issue I see with your plan is the flying up to Venice and then backtracking down to Florence. When I use an open-jaws ticket I like to only travel in the direction of my exit city and try to not do any backtracking since this just additional un-necessary travel time which I like to avoid. So if I was doing your two week trip I would fly from DC into Naples and train/bus down to Positano. Spend my 4 days in the Amalfi coast, then head to Rome by train and basically do a "day trip" of Rome. The next day I would train up to Siena and spend my next 3 days there. I would pick up a rental car in Siena and drive my way up north to Venice stopping by in Florence for a couple of days. Then I would fly out of Venice back to DC.

Bill and CM -<BR><BR>Very helpful suggestions...really appreciate it! I've been trying to convince him to spend more time in Siena so we can explore the countryside and also to fly out of Venice to DC. We'll see. Your tips definitely help!

Hi Kristen,<BR><BR>I went to Italy on my honeymoon in June. We flew to Naples from NY, and took the hydrofoil to Capri for 5 nights. During that time, we took a day trip to Positano. We then went to Florence and ended our trip in Venice. We were away for 12 nights. It was a perfect trip. I think it's a good idea to start your honeymoon in Positano. We really liked the fact that we started in Capri b/c it was the most relaxing part of the trip...the florence and venice part we were on the go constantly and it can get tiring...but fun...and then we flew out of venice back here...oh, and we took the train between cities...it was the first time I took trains like that but it worked out great...good luck with your planning...

I would not do Florence-Venice-then Siena. We were there and stayed for three nights in Siena but did one day trip into Florence to see the Uffizi and Accademia. I'd recommend taking four days of staying in Siena, with day trips to Florence and maybe other Tuscan towns, and allocating an extra day to Venice, which I thought had a lot more to offer than Florence.