Hello!
I am trying to plan an itinerary for an 8 1/2 day trip in Italy in early November. My just married husband and I (this will be a honeymoon) plan on leaving the USA on November 2nd, with an arrival in Rome in the midafternoon on the 3rd. Whatever our plans, we have to end up back in Rome the night of the 11th, for a late morning departure from Rome back to the USA on the 12th.
My fiancé and I are huge foodies. We love trying the local cuisine. I am definitely a wine aficionado while my fiancé prefers beer. We also enjoy experiencing what the locals do and aren't too big on being touristy. We like art, culture, and history - but to an extent. We prefer that not be the focus of our trip but rather knock out the "must-sees". We definitely want to visit the typical spots, such as Rome, Florence, and Venice. We're wondering, since we are not interested in seeing every museum, if we have time for one more spot. We understand the weather might not be ideal, so I think we might want to avoid Cinque Terre, Capri, the Almalfi Coast, etc? Whatever itinerary we end up deciding on, we know we have our hearts set on renting out a car in Florence, staying in a villa in Tuscany for 3 days, while we enjoy the wine and food tours in the area while also taking a cooking class or two.
Basically, I think I have an idea of what we want to do in Rome, Florence, and Venice, but I'm not too sure how much time I need in Rome and Venice, and if maybe we can squeeze in another city. I know the train rides to these cities also eat up time. I don't want to feel too rushed, as this is a honeymoon, so if we need to stop at just those 3 cities, that's fine too. Also, just itinerary suggestions in general are much appreciated. I am overwhelmed by the endless number of options!