rllahiff

Hello all!
I'm trying to come up with an itinerary in order to price out a honeymoon vacation.
I will take care of flights from our home town to Italy, but what are the best airports to fly in/out of?
We'd like adventure, touristy museums and things to do, but also time to relax and enjoy.
We have never been to Italy before...The cities we are trying to see at no less than 3 days a piece are Rome, Tuscany and Venice.
We are looking at a fall/winter wedding, so a honeymoon during the winter months, preferably after Christmas. Is that a nice time to see these cities?
Is it doable to rent a car during winter or will we need to take trains from city to city?
What are some of the best websites to use while planning this vacation? Any specific sites that offer affordable detailed packages? hotel websites or airbnb?
There are so many things to plan and I'm just trying to come up with a budget for us or maybe a travel planner.

*****If there is too much information, please at least tell us the best things to see from a locals point of view in those three cities (Rome, Tuscany and Venice). We love the outdoors, farms, vineyards, beer and wine, foodie places, architecture, history, adventure.*****

Thanks for all your help!

greg

The “best” airport is what is compatible with your itinerary within your constraints: flights availability from your starting point, layover feasibility, arrival time/day logistics, how the sequence of visit lines up with the venue open days/closures. Many first timers book flights as a separate entity focusing only on its price and end up spending a lot of money and time to make the flights shoe horn into the ground itinerary.

Be sure to allocate sufficient time on correct days. For example, some might say arriving Sunday night, staying full day Monday, then leaving Tuesday morning as “3 days”. However, if museums are the key venues, this type of “3 days” is nearly worthless. Very few museums are open on Monday. If the “3 days” = “3 full days” = 4 nights, then you have considerably more latitude in what you can do at each stop.

I don’t understand your logic. The pre-Christmas time is when most cities are decorated and lit up for the season and at the prettiest time of the season.

You know it snows in Italy in winter?

This is not an ideal sequence. Matching accommodation, flights, etc. to your activities would likely to produce acceptable itineraries compatible with your constraints.

PalenQ

take trains between cities like Venice and Florence and rent car to tour Tuscany - ending at say a train station with car return and take train to Rome. Cars and cities do not mix. For lots on trains check www.trenialia.com; www.italotreno.com; www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

StCirq

The "best airports" are the ones that work with your itinerary, when you have one. Keep in mind that open-jaw tickets are often a better use of time and funds than RT tickets.

"The cities we are trying to see at no less than 3 days a piece are Rome, Tuscany and Venice."

Tuscany is not a city, but rather an enormous area of about 9,000 square miles. Where in Tuscany do you plan to visit? Firenze?

After Christmas would not be a particularly enjoyable time for me to visit Italy. Especially since you say you love the outdoors, it's certainly not ideal. The vineyards will be full of sticks and the farming landscapes could be bleak. Driving could be difficult (and you absolutely do not want a car in any Italian city). Beer and wine and history and architecture are everywhere, all year long.

You haven't said how long you have for this trip.

TDudette

First, congrats! A honeymoon in Italy is wonderful.

The usual suggestions for first-timers are:

Venice, 3 days
Florence, 4 days
Rome, 5 days

Assuming you are coming from the U.S., you will lose day one as most flights to Italy are overnighters. Others will have to confirm but when we traveled to Venice, the outgoing international flights left very early in the morning. Flying out of Rome was easier on the nerves, in my opinion.

Also assuming you are from U.S., good luck finding a non-stop trip to Venice. DH and I traveled from the D.C. area and only found a non-stop to Milan in the 15+ years we traveled. (We got a non-stop to Nice out of Philadelphia one time. Google 'non-stops' and see what you can find from your area.) If that statement is still true, try to build in waiting time between flights and stay with one airlines so you don't have to fetch your luggage until the end of the trip.

Take the train for this first trip. You can drive on your anniversaries--for you will return.

bvlenci

Actually, the Christmas season in Italy lasts through Epiphany, January 6th, so a vacation right after Christmas wouldn't be any less festive than one before Christmas. However, Italian cities are not a decorated and "lit up" as many other European cities.

I got the impression that you thought Tuscany was a city. It's actually a large region. Florence, Siena, and Pisa are all well-known cities in Tuscany, and there are also a lot of rural areas in the region.

It does snow in Italy. It's a mountainous country, and it snows more often at the higher elevations. It rarely snows on the coast, so you'd not be likely to encounter snow in Rome and Venice. In rural Tuscany, it's a possibility, I wouldn't plan a January vacation to rural Tuscany, myself, because bad weather obscures a lot of the scenery and makes long walks less pleasant. However, it's a good time to visit Florence and other Tuscan cities. The period after New Years Day and leading to Epiphany is a very busy time in Italian cities, but it's still not as bad as the summer.

tuscanlifeedit

A city trip in the winter is lovely, but farms and outdoor activities aren't the best. However, a honeymoon to Rome, Florence and Venice sounds just wonderful. There are thousands of indoor things to see and do, and lots to eat and drink. Congratulations.

If you tell us where you are flying from, we can suggest airports with direct, or more or less direct, flights.

jamikins

We have spent 3 weeks over 3 different New Year's in Montepulciano in Tuscany and will return for New Year's 2019-2020. The small towns have lovely decorations, restaurants are less busy, parking isn't an issue and most things are open if you are travelling up to 6 Jan (don't know about after that - you may hit seasonal closures). We find the landscape and light beautiful at that time of year. We have also been very lucky with the weather and avoided snow!

Here are our pics: https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

Happy planning!

bilboburgler

Italy in January can be a little dull. I guess you could go to Sanremo in February for the music. But really only Sicily is worth it in that month. Even here it may well snow and you'll need layers.

rhondab

I was In Rome last month in January for a week it wasn't dull at all, weather was in 60's every day great touring weather, I use booking.com for hotels,

bilboburgler

I suggest confusing weather with climate is a mistake

PalenQ

Been in Rome and Florence several Januarys and always had pleasant enough weather - never cold and often in 50s - sat outside at caffes most times.

tuscanlifeedit

Been in Florence in January, February, and March and have been snowed and sleeted upon. Nice weather is nice; crappy weather is crappy. I go when I can go and deal with whatever weather I happen to get.

rllahiff

Thank you for your replies! We'll make adjustments based off some of your comments and get back to the forum when we're ready to move further. = )