10-12 day honeymoon in Italy and/or France, Corsica - HELP!

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials! We are heading to Italy for our honeymoon in November! I have been to Italy twice and she has never been. Remember that your first and last days will be travel days, so stretch it to 12 days if you can. We are starting out in Venice and staying for 3 nights. We don't arrive until early afternoon on day 1 (Monday), so we will just walk around some and get over jet lag. We will spend the next two full days in Venice and take a train to Florence on Thursday around 1 PM (we already have train tickets for this trip - purchased well in advance, our trip is 18 euros for 2 people - 2 hours). We will spend the morning in Venice and the late afternoon in Florence. We are staying 3 nights in Florence and plan to visit the American Cemetery nearby, the Uffizi, Academia and the Duomo. We are getting the Florence Card, so we will likely hit some of the smaller museums and gardens as well. On Sunday, we spend most of the day in Florence and then train to Rome (again, 18 euros for 2 people - 1 1/2 hours). We will arrive around 5, so we will probably grab dinner and walk around, maybe the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We will go to the Vatican on Tuesday (already have tickets for Garden Tour) and plan to go to the Colosseo/Forum?Palatine Hill one day as well as the Borghese. We plan to hit Ostia Antica and do a day trip to Orvieto from Rome. You can base out of Florence or Rome to do day trips to Tuscany/Umbria towns. We leave on Friday morning from Rome back to Charlotte. I have not been to the 5 Terre, but the weather might be a bit chilly there for a coastal visit in early May. Check the weather charts and see what you find. good luck!

I think you should look into a book, or DVD, such as one by Rick Steve's to get an idea of what you would like. If this is his first time there and have a couple of weeks or more, you may want to visit a variety of things, not just one spot. For now I'll limit myself to describe Corsica. Corsica is a beautiful island with a mouth dropping coastline and sea that South Carolina can hardly match, although SC has some pretty spots too. In the interior the island has majestic forested mountains anD there are some of the quaintest villages both on the coast and the interior. The weather in May should be great, however I presume the water would be a little cool still. I've been in Corsica only in June and July, when it is rather scorching. One good way to see what you might like is to google some of the places you are considering and use Google Images to see some photos.

Diana, First of all, congratulations! Such a short time frame will limit the number of places you'll realistically be able to visit, so Corsica might be better for a future visit. Does the 10-12 days include your two travel days? Using open-jaw flights would be the most efficient, perhaps inbound Milan or Florence and outbound Rome. One route that you might consider would be Florence > Cinque Terre > Siena > Rome. That would allow you to see four different areas at a reasonably relaxed pace. You could also visit Siena as a day trip from Florence. Good luck with your planning!

Diana, congratulations! You're already living in one of the most romantic areas in the US, in my opinion (Charleston). I'm thinking of places that are romantic. If you can get a Vatican tour at night, and then walk through St Peter's Square when it's all lit up, it can be beautiful and not so crowded. In fact, any evening/night walks are romantic. If you can pick two or three cities as bases, that might be the way to go, or concentrate on Tuscany/Umbria and Rome. In terms of romantic places, I like the hill towns. Or you could fly into Venice (or take the fast train from Milano), spend a couple of days there (the islands of Burano and Torcello are lovely), then go to Tuscany (base in Florence or Siena and daytrip from there). One of my favorite museums in Florence is the Museum of San Marco, with each room having a fresco by Fra Angelico. Assisi is beautiful and can be reached from Florence or Siena (walk up to the Rocca Maggiore for great views of the town and the countryside). For food and wine, Montalcino makes a great daytrip and it's small enough to see in a half day. Many of the hill towns have medieval festivals in May, you can look for that as a unique experience. If you love beautiful cliffside coastlines (none of those near Charleston), there's the Amalfi Coast. Not suggesting you do all of these things, but choose what appeals to you (you can also google images of cities for some ideas of places you haven't visited).

Thank you to everyone for such speedy, thoughtful, and informed responses! I have been reading a few travel books (including europe through the back door) and that is what brought me to the graffiti wall. in all honesty, reading the books got me more and more confused b/c there are so many great places to enjoy. I needed some solid itinerary suggestions and love that this forum allows for real people to converse with one another and give real answers.
oh! and congrats to the other honeymooning couple :)

New possible plan: what do you think? Well, I have now been toying around with starting the trip in Barcelona and then flying into Rome or Florence (of course, we could reverse the itinerary so we start in italy and end in barcelona). We would do a few days in Barcelona and a the rest of the trip in and around the major city in italy we fly into. sound good? Has anyone flown between barcelona and either florence or italy? what are good sites to check airfare and how long approx. is the travel time? Thank you!

I meant to say "has anyone flown between barcelona and either florence or rome?"

Diana, I haven't flown that particular route, but in the circumstances you mentioned in your last note, this is the method I'd use..... > Start in Barcelona (3 days?). > Flight to Milan via EasyJet (fares currently as low as €34.99 plus fees); train to Florence (3 days?). While in Florence, possible day trip to Siena. > Train to Rome (4 days?); flight home from FCO. When in Rome, possible day trip to Orvieto. There are all kinds of possibilities, so this is only one suggestion. Cheers!

thank you, ken! great suggestions. i am going to look into it a bit further.