Honeymoon for first timers in Italy!

This is a very short trip. Does your figure of 7 nights include the first night of your trip which will be on the plane? eg. leave US on a Thursday evening and arrive on a Friday morning?

Assuming you can stretch to 8 nights on the ground:

Night 1: Arrive in Venice in the morning. Having left US previous evening.
Night 2: Venice
Night 3: Venice
Night 4: Stay in Florence, having caught an early train from Venice. www.trenitalia.com and www.seat61.com are good starting points for information on train travel.
Night 5: Florence
Night 6: Catch an early train to Rome and then stay in Rome.
Night 7: In Rome
Night 8: Rome
Fly back to US from Rome on morning of day nine. Flying into Venice and out of Rome will be a much better use of time than going back to Venice to fly out.

Consider using a site such as booking.com for accommodation. You will be there in peak season so I would consider booking soon to make sure you get something you like and in budget. Most bookings can be canceled at no cost upto between 2 weeks and 3 days before your arrival date.

And finally, get a guide book to help you plan what you may want to see! It will also show attractions that are best booked in advance to avoid standing in long queues.

You might reconsider your honeymoon location if you are so strictly bound by time and budget. A week is very little time for such a trip and if your budget is only 6 thousand including flights, you're very short of money. You'll spend half of your budget on airfare alone. That leaves you 3 thousand bucks for hotel, transportation within Italy, food, entrance fees and souvinirs for a week. You could (perhaps) do it if you're staying in hostels instead of hotels, avoiding restaurants (eating home-made picnics and in your room) and taking advantage of free things to do (self guided walking tours, parks, etc.).

10 days to 2 weeks is a more realistic time frame (2 days to get to Italy, 3 days/nights in Venice, Florence and Rome and a day to get home). Keep in mind 3 days and nights per city is very little time, especially considering you'll need at least half a day travel time, time to check in and out of hotels, etc. between each city.

6 thousand dollars is a much more realistic cost if it DOESN'T include airfare. 9 thousand including airfare.

I hope you can find a way to work things out. Italy is a fantastic idea for a honeymoon!

Look into Rick's Italy tours for an idea of costs and making a plan. If it's your first time ever overseas, you should strongly consider joining a tour and letting somebody with experience worry about transportation, hotels, etc. There is an Italy My Way Tour if you're not wanting to hang around with a tour group all day (though the group tours give you plenty of on your own time for romantic excursions). His tours are around $7000 per couple not including airfare.

Arrive VCE and return from FCO
2 nights in Venice
2 nights in Florence
3 in Rome
If you have an extra night add to any of the above.
BUDGET FOR 7 or 8 nights for a couple (if you are careful):
Hotels €1000
Food €1000
Ground transport (trains, buses, vaporetti, taxi) €300
museums and misc €200
The total above is €2500, or about $3000.
If you can find airfare for $1500 each, you are set (hopefully you are on the East coast)
Not much room to splurge in souvenirs or shopping.

Congratulations! And don't let anyone discourage you – you can do this on the budget you have established. Roberto's itinerary and budget provide excellence guidance, as usual. Also there's room for creativity, such as splurging on lodging in one city and compensating by having a few extra picnic meals to economize on food costs.

Venice is likely to be your most expensive city, and you should book lodging there as soon as possible.. Definitely stay in Venice, rather than on the mainland. And you will save a lot of money by buying your rail tickets early even though it means you will have to commit to a specific travel day/time. Train tickets go on sale about 3 months ahead, and the deeply discounted tickets sell out quickly.

In my experience, the most significant benefits of the RS guidebooks are their suggestions for logistics, saving money, and using time efficiently – all of which will be important for your relatively short trip with a defined budget. I would suggest getting the Italy guidebook and probably also Europe Through the Back Door.

Enjoy your planning!

Is your heart set on Italy? Are you locked into travel in July? Italy is HOT in July, not to mention packed with tourists (be sure your hotels have A/C). If you can postpone your honeymoon until fall, late September and October would be a lot better. If July is your only option, consider going to Sicily which is a lot cheaper. It's still Italy, has great food, great beaches, ancient towns, Greek temples, Roman ruins, of course.

rachel,

First of all, congratulations!

Roberto provided an excellent Itinerary to consider, one which will provide a nice "sampler tour" of Italy. A few thoughts and comments.....

• I'd suggest packing along a copy of the Italy guidebook, as there's LOTS of good information there on hotels, restaurants, sightseeing, transportation, etc.
• You'll need to get some of the details sorted concerning things like how to get to and from the airports, using trains in Italy, etc. There are some potentially expensive "caveats" when using public transit in Italy, so it's prudent to be aware of those. If you need further details, send me a PM.
• Especially in July it will be a VERY good idea to get hotels pre-booked as soon as possible. When booking hotels, it's a good idea to consider which part of the city they're in as well as proximity to rail stations.
• Many cities in Italy have more than one rail station, so you'll have to know which stations you're using when you buy tickets.
• It would help to have some idea where you're from, as that will have a bearing on flight costs. Some in the group here may have experience with flights from your area.
• It's a good idea to wear Money Belts in Italy, as there will be pickpockets operating.

As this is your first trip to Europe, it would be a good idea to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It has a LOT of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. You should be able to find a copy at your local Library or larger book stores.

Time is short so you'll need to get some of the details sorted soon.

Buon Viaggio!

In a week, I would stay in one or two cities, max. It's your honeymoon, there are some beautiful and romantic places to choose from: Venice and Florence, or Venice and Lake Garda, with side trips to Padova, Verona, Ferrara, a night or two in Ravenna. Or Venice and Bologna if you want to get serious about food!

The area around Venice has some great wine towns, if you are interested.

As for your budget, you can do it, but you'll need to use RS' walking tour guides rather than hire tours. If airfare is $3000, you have approximately $400+ per day for food, lodging, transportation and entertainment. You can do it.

How about dividing your time between Venice (with possible side trip to Padova - train) and Verona (side trip to Malcesine, on Lake Garda - bus)? In Malcesine, you can take a cable car up Mt. Baldo - fantastic views, and also take a ferry across the lake to Limone.

Having just re-read my first post above I must apologize if I came off harshly- as I didn't mean to. Your time factor and budget are challenging, but as others have posted, certainly not impossible, and that is what I thought I was saying late last night, but did a lousy job of it. I am the ultimate budget traveler and have been known to take fun short getaways to places people told me I was crazy to try to do in such a short time and tight budget- but I did it and had a blast! What you'll need to do is start your game-plan ASAP so you can find the best deals possible. Make lists of "must see" cities and your top 10 list of things to do and figure out how to get it done. Watch the Rick Steves Italy videos for ideas and get ahold of his travel guides. There are probably some coupons and or deals out there for honeymoon travelers, so check with a local travel agent or flip through wedding merchandise ads to look for discounts on things you can apply to your trip. It doesn't hurt to ask when checking out hotels/airlines/restaurants, etc., if they have any honeymoon specials! Often, the best thing to do are free- or quite reasonable (such as museums and hiking) which can allow you to splurge for other things- like wine and a lovely restaurant. Budget carefully, have a plan, stick to it- and have a blast!

Congrats on your upcoming wedding and I hope you have a wonderful Italian honeymoon!
Lisa

Congratulations, Italy will be a wonderful honeymoon. But Zoe is right; cut back to two cities. Venice, if you consider it a must, and one other - I would choose Florence, but there are many good choices. As other posters have recommended, check out the RS guidebooks (your local public library should have them), and head straight to the hotels section. Just about every Italian destination has decent (not luxury) hotels for 100 euros or less. When you call or email the hotels to check rates, ask for the Rick Steves discount. We just booked a hotel in Rome (the Aberdeen) for considerably less than the price listed in the guidebook - and well under 100 euro.

And it is easy to eat cheaply in Italy. Most trattorias and restaurants have menus posted outside, so you can get a feel for the prices. Your hotel will probably provide breakfast, and you can buy bread, cheeses, and salamis at grocery stores or open markets. And as several people have noted on other threads, wine is cheaper than water at most places! The house wine is always decent, and dirt cheap.

My main recommendation is not to overdo. Remember that one important guideline is "Assume you're coming back." If you try to go everywhere and see everything you'll wear yourselves out. Slow down and enjoy. Have a wonderful trip - Buon viaggio!

Thank you everyone for all of your advice and help it has been extremely informative!
-To answer some of your questions we will be flying out from Pittsburgh, PA.
-As far as budget goes, I know we will be able to save a little more for everyday activities I am just not sure how much would need to be paid upfront when we book our trip.
-Would you suggest going with a travel agent or trying to do everything ourselves?
-Our wedding is July 25,2015. I have off from work from the 25th until August 4th. We are a little flexible but I would like to be home August 3rd so I have some time to relax before I get back to the everyday work schedule.

Thank you ALL again so much for all your input I cannot stress how grateful I am for it!
-Rachel

You can do a far better job yourself than a travel agent will do for the in-Italy portion. You may want to use an agent for flights. I agree with Zoe: stick to two locations to make it easier and more relaxing. Venezia and Firenze would be great, easy high-speed train between them. Read Rick Steves' Italy guide, search for lodging on www.Booking.com, and come back here with detailed questions.

I find most of my hotels at booking.com, look there and compare reviews, location, amenities, what's included. Honeymoon specials are sometimes listed on the hotel's website but not on booking.com, you can contact the hotel about specials before you book.

Personally, I would not engage a travel agent. I deal directly with airlines, rail services, and often reserve rooms in advance. I get restaurant recommendations from hotel staff and by following my nose.

Rachel, half the fun of a trip is in planning! If you have the internet and time, you have the tools you need. If between work and wedding planning time is short, then talk to a travel agent.

Use travelocity (or travel site of preference: orbitz, expedia, etc.) to search out airfare costs and hotel costs. Some folks like to book directly with the airline. I've done it both ways. Sometimes you can get discounts for booking your air and hotel together. You can also buy travel insurance on your trip for a decent price thru travelocity. Just make sure you do a lot of research first- before you book. If you find a hotel you like, go to tripadvisor and read the reviews- that will be your best insight as to if the place is really located how they advertise and were the beds comfortable and the people nice. A few poor reviews might just be grouchy travelers or random bad experiences, but a large percentage of bad reviews or mixed reviews- you might want to check out a few more places.

Look on you tube for videos of cities you're interested in to help you narrow your cities down. Perhaps you want one romantic city like Venice or Cinque Terre and one busy historical city like Rome. Looking at pictures and video or reading travel blogs of folks who've taken similar trips might help you decide. Make that list of things you want to do most and that too can help you narrow down your cities.

Whatever you decide, I wouldn't waste too much time before booking airfare or hotels for a July visit. Things book up fast. The better researched you are, the better your trip will be. Coming to this messageboard is a great start.
Lisa

Thank you again for all of your input!

Do you think Cinque Terre would be worth visiting? My fiancé is set on Rome and I really would love to see Venice. I'm just not sure with only having 8 days if it would be wise to try to conquer 3 places. And if we could manage it, would Cinque Terre be the place to visit in between?

Since you have places you really want to visit – Rome and Venice – I would suggest sticking to those two places and really enjoying them. I spent more than a week each in Rome and Venice on my first visits and have been back for a long visits a number of times since then. There's plenty in each city to keep you occupied, and you can spend time touring that you otherwise would spend on a train trying to get to the CT. If you more variety, I'd suggest a day trip from Rome or Venice. Both offer a number of interesting options.

You are going to have a wonderful time... and I have often traveled on much less $ than you... Just decide what is most important to spend money on, then cut someplace else. As far as too many locations, while I agree that 2 might be best since you have listed 2 cities as must do... Venice & Rome I feel you will have a really limited view of what Italy has to offer. Yes, you might return... but as a young couple starting out, other things might take priority. Many people who go on their honeymoon to Europe don't return for years, and for lots of people it is a once in a lifetime... you just don't find those people on this forum.
So... I would suggest trying to add either another location possibly a village in Tuscany. CT will be hot and crowded and so will Rome & Venice. You might like a little down time to just enjoy... La Dolce Vita!
You could take a boat trip to Burano from Venice or a day trip from Rome, but I hope you can fit in some time in Tuscany... it offers everything you said you wanted, especially the romantic scenery.