9 Nights: First timer Itinerary help! Venice, Amalfi Coast, Rome.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! Considering you have only 9 days for your honeymoon, you may want to rethink the Amalfi Coast. It is going to take you at least 1/2 a day to fly or train to Naples and then get to let's say Sorrento by bus or train and then check in blah, blah, blah. Your time is precious and you can always visit the Amalfi another time. You may want to reconsider staying in Florence. It's a 2 hour train ride from Venice and then another 1.5 to Rome. I'm not a big art fan either so I get your reason for missing Florence. However, Florence is in Tuscany which is really a beautiful part of Italy. There are a lot of things you can do in Tuscany while staying in Florence, winery visits, cooking classes, day trips to the countryside (loved the town of Lucca). You may also want to consider swapping the AC for Cinque Terre but I will leave the experts on this forum to give you advice on that as I've never been. Buon viaggio!

Congratulations.
My husband and I flew into Vennice and stayed 2 nights at Hotel Do Pozzi. We were able to see everything in that time frame. Hotel Do Pozzi is right by the St Mark's Square. We even got to visit the three islands.
We then drove to Florence and again stayed at a wonderful location Meridiana Country Hotel. You do need a car for this location though. from this base we did Pisa 1/2 day and 1/2 Florence. We are not big museums people. we spent a whole day visiting Cinque Terre. Simply AMAZING!!! In fact, my favorite place., besides Amalfi Coast. Stayed 3 nights
From there we drove straight to Sorrento, passed Rome. In Sorrento stayed at Villa Sabrina Relais. 3 nights
Did 1 day Capri Island, 1 day Amalfi Coast. The on our way back to Rome, stopped at the Pompeii Ruins.
In Rome we stayed 5 NIGHTS.
Don't miss Cinque Terre and Amalfi Coast.. You can do it in the time frame you have. A couple of days in Rome is fine. Everything is so close that you can do it. We did extra because we had the time. Hope this helps. Good luck

Thanks you so much for the suggestions! The more I think about it I am considering just staying in Venice on the arrival night plus the next. Its pretty small and I think it might be enough for us. Then I would love to travel straight to Cinque Terre or the Amalfi coast not sure we would have time for both but would love to. However, one or the other is almost a must for us even if it is hectic. I just need to figure out the best logistics of it all. Still considering skipping Florence, although the countryside picnic or wine tour would be up our alley if we can't fit in the others.

There are some things we really want to see in Rome: the Colosseum, Sisteen Chapel, Panetheon, I am not sure how long this would take I haven't been able to research this yet. I have always been fascinated by the history and amazing architecture of it all to the point where it is almost mythical to me. However, when I really think about it the way i picture it is we will go to these sites take some pictures say wow that's pretty neat and be ready to move on .

Venice and Rome have always been on the bucket list and I couldn't go to Italy and not go to them for the 1st time. However, I imagine with us being such nature loving outdoors types that hiking through Cinque Terre or just taking in the Amalfi Coast with a bottle of wine, great food, and lots of laughs would beat any city views anywhere even Rome or Venice. I just have to figure out the best way to travel between them....in too short a time!

In 9 nights you really do not have time to do justice to this itinerary. It's too bad you are flying into Venice Rome and the Amalfi Coast are your priorities. If you must see all three locations -- it kills me to say this -- but cut Venice to 2 nights and add a night in Sorrento, which is the town you should choose down south. To go further south than Sorrento just adds more complexity to your travel. Fly Venice to Naples then, if possible, get a private transfer to save you some time and complexity getting to Sorrento.

To me, the Cinque Terre is even harder for you to do from Venice. Take the attitude that you will be back and start thinking about a 2-3 week trip in the future where you can see Lago di Como, the Cinque Terre, and Tuscany.

I agree with Laurel. We have 10 nights and are doing Venice, Rome, AC....but flying home from Naples. I understand completely your need to see the AC and despite others opinions will be doing that. Even with one more night than you, we are only doing 2 nights in Venice, arriving noon on Saturday lleaving Monday morning. We also skipped Florence which was a bummer, but I wanted to see the AC more. We are not into Art either, but everyone I know just raved about Florence so with a heavy heart I cut it out. That is a reason to go next time.

Fly into Naples for sure. Staying in Sorrento would be logical as you are close naples and Pompeii. But if you want to stay in an Amalfi town you should. It will be another 2 hour ride. We are staying in Positano, very romantic. But be aware that still just gives you only 2 full days and one night. You will be traveling a lot the day you leaves books ending that which will cut into your touring. Sorrento is not on the AC, but easy to take day trips to them.

I also agree with Laurel.

However, if you do decide to split your time between Venezia and Roma, I suggest carving out a couple of days for a trip to Lago di Garda (closer to Venezia than Lago di Como). Maybe Venezia 3 nights, Lago di Garda 2 nights, Roma 4 nights. Save the Amalfi Coast for another trip (kills me to say that).

Agree with Laurel. Fly from VCE 8:55>NAP 10:05 using http://www.easyjet.com/en/ a budget carrier.

Flight time is 1H10m Prices start @ 65 euro. Make sure to check out their baggage allowances.

If checking luggage, you might want to check out their Flexi Fare.

After landing in Naples take the http://www.curreriviaggi.it/autolinee.html bus to Sorrento.

Cost is 10 euro, time is 1H15m.

If you are staying on the Amalfi Coast, use this shuttle service http://www.amalfishuttle.com/amalfishuttle-timetable/

I do agree, that Sorrento is a much better transportation base.

Have a wonderful Honeymoon

Thanks for all the replies. You guys have given some great input! I am concerned about making the trip too ruahed, it so hard to find a balance!

My new thoughts are Venice for two nights and then cinque terre which from my research is a 6 hr train ride. We have a direct flight to venice and plan on taking a sleep aid and getting 9 hours sleep. So we land at 9am on Friday in venice and would leave Sunday afternoon for Cinque Terre.

My new reasoning in favor of Cinque terre is how easy and stress free it is to get around there. I'm thinking this will be the beautiful, slow pace, relaxing part of the honeymoon! I'm considering giving 3 night here. So Sunday, monday, and Tuesday night, and then possibly taking our time hitting towns from cinque terre to Rome on the train line wednsday. Ariiving in rome late Wednesday and leaving sunday.

Practice taking your sleep aid before you go, if it's something you are planning on for the first time. Some friends reported a bit more grogginess than expected the following morning.