Feedback on our Honeymoon Itinerary! Any great restaurants/places to stay?

I think Venice is one of the most romantic places in Europe, so I urge you to consider spending at least 2 full days there.

If you are big fans of Renaissance art and architecture, then 3 days in Florence is barely enough. If not, then you can easily see the highlights in a day trip from an agroturismo.

I would go from Rome to the Cinque Terre, then to Florence and Tuscan Farm. Try to carve out time for a second full day in Venice for a nice end to your honeymoon. You coudl do this by cutting a day and night from Florence,

I should also mention that napping upon arrival will not help you acclimate. Check in, shower, unpack, then go out for lunch, a walk. MAYBE take a 1 hour nap about 5:00PM, but get up and out again for dinner. Stay awake until 9:00PM so by morning you are more or less adjusted.

daniellemichael,

First of all, congratulations!!!

Regarding your proposed Itinerary, I agree with Laurel that a slight change of order would be more efficient. I'd also suggest traveling Rome > Cinque Terre > Florence > Agriturismo > Venice. I would have suggested starting in Venice and ending in Rome, but as you already have tickets, that aspect is now set in stone.

You might consider waiting until you arrive in Florence to pick up your rental car, as you don't really need it except for travel to the Agriturismo. All the other locations are much easier and quicker by train. Note that for driving in Italy, each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. Also, you'll need to be VERY careful to avoid the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato (limited traffic) zones that are becoming increasingly prevalent. Florence is virtually saturated with ZTL cameras, so you'll have to be careful exiting the city after you rent the car (hopefully Roberto will spot this Thread, as he can advise on the best routes to follow).

I'm assuming from your title that you don't have any lodgings booked at all for your trip? Especially for travel "this summer", it would be a really good idea to get cracking on that!!! At this late hour, it may be very challenging to find something in the Cinque Terre. Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in?

You can find good hotel suggestions in the Italy 2014 Guidebook, which lists a good range of accommodations in various price ranges and various parts of each place you'll be staying. The Guidebook also has great information on restaurants, sightseeing and transportation (you may want to pack a copy along, or download the E-book version of the book).

On the topic of "transportation", there are some potentially expensive caveats to be aware of when travelling by train or other public transit in Italy. A brief summary.....

• On Regionale trains (no reservations required), tickets MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. DON'T validate them any earlier than required, as they have a "shelf life" once stamped. Failure to validate may result in hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot! The same applies to Buses or Metro in Rome.
• On "premium" trains such as the Freccia or InterCity versions, reservations are compulsory and these are specific to a particular train, date and departure time. Passengers have an assigned Car no. (Carrozza) and an assigned Seat no. (Posti). You can NOT board any train, it can only be the one specified on the ticket. Again, hefty fines for those that don't have valid reservations for the train they're riding on. Using the fast trains such as the Freccia trains is often the most efficient use of travel time even if they do cost more, as they travel at up to 300 kmH (ie: Rome to Florence is only 90 minutes, and a very nice trip). Passengers can save money by pre-purchase of tickets for premium trains. You may find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website.

Buon Viaggio!

I would also give at least one more night to Venice, probably taking it from Florence. All of Rick's hotel, restaurant, sightseeing, and other tips are in his Italy book, which has served well in planning my trips.

Forgo the nap as you arrive in Rome & allow your body to get acclimated to the local time.. On 2nd thought, since you will be on your honeymoon, perhaps just a brief " rest " would be appropriate! As noted by others, try to spend one more day in Venice by giving up one elsewhere.

Happy days!!

I agree with the others on flipping Florence and CT in the schedule.

I did 2 nights in Venice on my last trip and that was enough for me. We arrived in Venice about 11am on day 1 and left at 6:30 am on day 3. We had a full day, and half the first day. That was plenty to see the sights we wanted to of St. Marks, climb the tower, some glass blowing. (We didn't want to see the Doge Palace and skipped that wandered around instead.

I like to count nights on the ground, not days.

Currently you have 14 nights on the ground in this order:
Rome - 3
Florence - 3
Cinque Terre - 2
Tuscan farm - 4
Venice - 2

I'm not going to change your allocation because that depends on personal preferences. I would probably allocate the nights exactly as you have. But it's really up to you.

However I would change the sequence of the nights for sure and switch Florence to later before Venice and move the Cinque Terre to after Rome:

Rome - 3 nights
(train to Cinque Terre 3.5h)
Cinque Terre - 2 nights
(rent a car in nearby La Spezia on day of departure and drive to farm)
Tuscan Farm - 4 nights
(drive to Florence, drop car upon arrival)
Florence - 3 nights
(train to Venice, 2 h)
Venice - 2 nights