Honeymoon Advice - Rome, Amalfi Coast, Tuscany

Hi Anthony!
Are you spreading yourself too thin? Yep, I'd say so, starting with arrival day in Rome:

Day 1 (Tue 4/21) - Arrive in Rome Ciampino Airport at 7:00 AM. Settle
in to hotel and check out the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and
Piazza Novona (my note: Navona):

There is no way I'd try to do all this right off an international flight. You have no guarantee that your flight will arrive as planned, and as getting into the Colosseum now pretty much involves advance, timed-entry tickets for a specific date and time - and the Forum and Palatine are complex sites requiring wide-awake attention - anything other than a get-your-bearings outdoor walk in Rome on arrival day is not a great idea.

Personally? I'd skip the Amalfi Coast and add that time to Rome, Florence/Tuscany. You also don't want or need a car for Florence.

What I'd do? Go directly to Florence by train upon arrival, and end your trip in Rome. :O)

First and last days of any trip are basically wasted days. And changing cities takes the whole day generally.
The Amalfi Coast is about 200 miles south of Rome. Tuscany is about 150 miles north of Rome. You're probably spreading yourself out too far.
Rome is a very important city, and one worthy of 4 days touring. Taking the train up to Florence is the easiest, fastest and least expensive to get to Tuscany. After visiting the city, you could rent a car in Florence and head south into the countryside. The region has hundreds and hundreds of agriturismos to stay in.
Borghese and Uffizi are well worth seeing, as is the Vatican Museum.

Have you been to Europe before? If not, don't underestimate how exhausting an overnight flight can be. I would start by looking for a hotel that allows for early check-ins on your day of arrival.

Next - there is no such thing as a "must-do". It's your trip, do what you want to do. But don't plan on doing a lot on the day you arrive.

It's your honeymoon - why wait until Day 7 to relax?

hey hey anthony
welcome to the forum
i totally agree with kathy, way tooo thin. have you looked at a guide to the places you want to go to, how far they are from the towns you want to see, the time on trains to get there?
do you have hotels booked and what is the cancellation requirements? as we see you arriving at 7am, unless your flight is delayed, do you have early check in or drop of bags until checkin which is usually after 2-3pm, walking off a long transatlantic flight and may feel like zombies, fuzzy brain thoughts, jet lag that may go into your next day. my opinion your first day and last day are travel days so that's only 8 days, do you want to have memories of looking out the windows of trains/cars/shuttles or spend time and enjoy your honeymoon. you have an early morning flight out of rome (FCO or CIA airports, make sure which one) usually 2-3 hours before to check in and customs/passport, transportation (taxi, bus, or train/shuttle).

reserve your attractions early, seems nowdays you pick a day and time slot, check train schedules for times departures that coincide with your time schedule. things don't always happen the way you want and hope for, be prepared for last minute changes.
2 places is good (rome & amalfi coast or rome & florence, go further place first day when you arrive. leave rome for end of trip and close to airport, not changing hotels everyday or every other. italy is like the size and shape of california so you should understand how far places are when driving or taking a train, april can be a busy and crowded time with easter, spring breaks, long lines, bring patience.
check out the small town of frascati near rome, vineyards known for their white wines. oldfrascatiwinetour.com or minardifrascatiwinery.com check out their tours, pasta and pizza making class, wine tasting, walk the small village of frascati, stop at ceralli.it family owned bakery/pizza oven and known for "best" porchetta. take the 30 minute train from rome
in florence, come&seeitaly.com for day trips or tuscan-wine-tours.com giving you some info to check out.
just my opinions, it's your honeymoon and your trip. you'll have a great time, lots to see and do, just give yourself time to sit at cafes relax with glass of vino and people watch in a magical place. you'll both be planning your next trip on your flight home, for a longer time and go to northern italy. haha
aloha

Agree you are going to wear yourself out, especially on first day.

this is your honeymoon so relax. Get into Rome, wander around the city, orient yourself, get some gelato and eat a nice meal, then go to sleep. The Piazza Navona would be a great way to spend the first evening. Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, all these are things you can do without having to pay much attention.

To visit the Colosseum, Forum, etc you want to listen to Rick Steves audio tour and your will really understand where you are. Do Vatican on your way back up. It is practically an entire day and you will still be somewhat jet lagged even on Day 2.

Skip Positano and spend more time in Tuscany relaxing and drinking great wine and eating good food.

Spend a few days in Florence.

Thanks to everyone for the replies and advice. We're probably victims of being overly ambitious as it will be my fiancé's first trip to Europe and we had a mentality to see as much as possible.

You also don't want or need a car for Florence.

We're intending to spend several nights in the countryside (looking at Villa Bordoni & Villa Le Barone). Is it possible to get around without a car?

have you looked at a guide to the places you want to go to, how far they are from the towns you want to see, the time on trains to get there?
do you have hotels booked and what is the cancellation requirements?

No hotels are booked yet as we wanted to see if 3 cities was feasible. We're going to narrow our focus on two cities now and go from there. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I totally agree with all the above. Just wanted to share our last trip with our daughter and son-in-law.

We also flew in and out of Rome. Upon landing we immediately went to Positano for 4 nights, then a high speed train to Florence for another 4 nights(day trip to Tuscany). We ended our trip with 4 nights in Rome. If there is any way you can add a couple more days this might work for you. It totally made sense to use that first day as a travel day when we were already tired. We also did the Path of Gods hike---simply fabulous while on the Amalfi Coast.

It was also great to start our trip in a more relaxed area----not sure if you will be coming after a hectic wedding week---but that's always something to think about.

Good luck!

We're intending to spend several nights in the countryside (looking at
Villa Bordoni & Villa Le Barone). Is it possible to get around without
a car?

No. Both Villa Bordoni and Villa Le Barone appear to have remote countryside locations essentially requiring a car. If intending to explore the Tuscan countryside, rent your car only for your time outside of Florence, as planned (do your homework regarding car rental and driving laws in Italy). Otherwise, you could day-trip to towns which can be easily done from Florence by train or bus, although it sounds like you don't really want to spend much of your time there?

But it's possible you're considering scrapping Florence/Tuscany and doing just Rome and the Amalfi Coast?

Overambitious, I'd say! You'd need a vacation to recover from your honeymoon. It takes a lot more time than you think checking in and out of hotels, packing and unpacking, waiting in lines, and moving from point A to point B. A superhuman effort would be required to accomplish all this, even if you weren't coming off a wedding and a 10 hour flight and a bunch of time zones. I can't imagine how you wouldn't be totally exhausted on the first day and wouldn't be surprised if things went downhill from there. If it were my honeymoon, I'd want to focus on recovering from the wedding and the flight and concentrating on my new spouse. There will be plenty of time to come back to Italy. Pick a spot -- the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Rome or Florence and stay there. You could spend a month in each and just scratch the surface. What's your highest priority? Food, architecture, art, scenery? That answer should point you in the right direction. And don't forget you've got that long flight back and then, perhaps, go back to work straight away. That might also be a consideration.

I agree that this is not realistic. Way too much moving around, not enough time being there.

First, start by being honest with yourself. You don't have 10 days. You have 9 days (it's unrealistic to count your arrival day for much - you're certainly not going to peel yourself off of an overnight flight, head into Rome and as you say, "check out the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and Piazza Novona." Your first day, you will struggle to stay awake until dinner. If you really want to see those places in Rome, you need to give yourself some time.

You're setting yourself up for disappointment by moving too far, too often. You allocate one day to Rome, then spend a day getting to the far south (Amalfi). Then you just give yourself 2 days there, then you double back all the way to Tuscany. This is a long way to go, back and forth; you are burning whole days in transit for short stays.

It sounds like you are most interested in Tuscany. That's fine, but your side-trip down to Amalfi is going to cut into your time significantly. You might consider either skipping the Amalfi side-trip, or letting go of Rome. Or else cutting something from elsewhere.

You have 9 days. Minimize the moving around and you will be better able to make good use of them.

Always plan on a return trip - Italy has that affect on people! Spend enough time to really enjoy the time you have there. I would suggest taking a train to Florence on arrival to Rome, and let your last days in Rome be your days to see that city. Settle in to your hotel in Florence, and explore the city, and get your bearings. Maybe shop at the Lorenzo Market - nothing too strenuous. Then start your major sight seeing the next day. We are not big museum people either - however, we loved both the Uffizi and Borghese Galleria. To see works of art by Michelangelo, Bernini and others is breathtaking and not to be missed. We rented a car one day from Florence and drove to Certaldo, San Gimignano and Siena. It was an easy day trip and gave us a great taste of Tuscany - enough to make us want to go back! Then finish your trip in Rome because you will have to return there anyway for your flight home. Congratulations and enjoy your honeymoon!

I get out and walk around on my arrival day, I might even go into a museum, but after flying from the west coast of the US, I would definitely not be checking out the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona.
I'd strongly reconsider going to the Amalfi Coast for only two days. I'd add this time to Rome and Tuscany (so choose two places--either AC and Rome or Tuscany and Rome).
So you don't have to split your Rome time, you could take a train straight to Florence upon arrival. So maybe a couple nights in Florence, then transfer to somewhere rural with a car, then back to Rome.

I would add a different view. We landed after our International Flight and did the Colosseum Tour & Forum at about 3pm and we were totally fine, we were not jet lagged and not rushed, we landed at 9am. The following morning we did the Vatican and after we took a cab to Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon. So it can be done.

That said, we did 2 days in Rome and then train to Amalfi. We took the train to Naples and a car from Naples to Positano where we stayed. We did day trips to Capri, Amalfi, Ravello from our home point of Positano. It was great we did 5 nights in Positano. Then we took the train back to Rome for 1 last day before flying out the next morning. That day we walked around Trastevere.

I would take the advice of others and pick 2 locations so you're not constantly packing and repacking and on the go and have some down time.

I think 10 days is not that much to visit Italy and particular Rome, Florence and Tuscany.
I think you would need at least 4-5 days for Rome
3 days is a minimum for Florence
The rest for Tuscany Countryside and small towns ( Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano)
Florence is the Capital of Tuscany and if you do not get to know it you will not fully understand Tuscany. Florence and Siena are crucial. Greve or Cortona are nice little interesting villages when you already know the rest of it.
Another option would be to stay in Florence for 3-4 days and the rest in Tuscan Countryside. Tuscany is very big, so you can travel in Tuscany for a full week. You could do Rome and Amalfi Coast another time (best 6 days in Rome and one week for Amalfi Coast