Honeymoon Help Please

Congrats! It's hard to help without knowing anything about you. Do you like big cities? countryside? Art? Ancient stuff? Beaches? hiking? wine? etc. Do you want to be on the go, relax, or a mix of both? Have you been to Italy before? 2 weeks is enough to get a great experience but unfortunately not to see everywhere! I did 2 weeks in Rome, Florence, and Venice only, with a couple of day trips, and it wasn't enough for any of the 3 cities! It whet my appetite for more and I'm already dreaming about my 2nd trip back! IMO, the best place to start would be to think about what you guys would like to do based on the questions I posed above, and people here can help from there. As for train/car, I'd go train unless you want to spend time in the countryside, and even then, only get the car for the days you'd need it. But if you're sticking to cities, even smaller ones like Siena that have good train/bus service, don't bother with the car headache, the trains/buses are great and inexpensive.

Yes more information would be helpful for you to be able to provide us with some help.
This is what we are thinking about. The 1st week going to large cities and then the 2nd week staying at a farm house in Tuscany to relax. We love wine, art, food of course, and being outside. We both love to meet people and learn about their life.
I love the idea of staying with a family, drinking wine outside and eating. We want to see the big cities but not spend a lot of time in a place that is very busy, ie. Rome. However, we must see the vatican and museums.

We have never been to Italy. I'm Italian but born in America.

With only one week for large cities (second week at a farm house in Tuscany), you're going to be very limited in the number of places you can visit and the length of time in each city.

You might consider 4 days in Rome (you'll lose the first day in flight) and 3 days in Florence or Venice. Florence would be a better choice as it's in Tuscany so travel time to the farm house would be minimal.

Use train as much as possible, unless you need a car to reach the agriturismo (farm house). DON'T drive in Rome or Florence if at all possible!

You might also consider adding a third destination and reducing the farm house stay to perhaps 3 days. Have a look at Lago di Como or the Cinque Terre to see if either of these appeal to you.

Open jaw flights would be a good idea - for example, fly to Rome and return home via Milan (depending on flight availability).

Congratulations and happy travels!

Thanks a bunch Ken!!!!

Hello Dan,
First of all: congratulations ! Does Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast (Amalfi, Ravello, Positano) with Capri interest you ????
Let me know I can give you great ideas !
Ciao for now.
Cinthya

Cynthia. Yes that sounds like a lot of fun. We would loved to stay by the water for part of our trip.

Rick Steves publishes a nice Italy book with sample itineraries. Reading thru a 300 page book will give you more general advice about various areas, places to visit, etc. than you'll get in a few paragraphs of postings, then the forum would be great for replies to specific questions.

Dan, Cinthya brought up a good point about destinations in Italy. For a honeymoon, the Amalfi coast is certainly a good option! You could (for example) fly into Rome, spend several days touring there and then head south to Naples and the Amalfi coast (Positano, Sorrento, Capri, etc.). You could easily spend two weeks there. However, if you're more interested in the north (Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Lago di Como or whatever) that's also a good choice. You might have a look at the Cinque Terre to see if Liguria looks appealing to you?

For travel to the Amalfi coast, you have to change to the Circumvesuviana train in Naples to get further south. Cinthya posted excellent information here recently on the travel method, so I won't elaborate here.

With only two weeks to work with, you're not going to be able to "travel everywhere we can". Some compromises will be necessary!

Good luck!

Brad, great suggestions in your post! Your last paragraph was priceless - LOL!

On a honeymoon, I would definitely plan some time in Venice. My wife thinks it's one of the top romantic spots in the world. As packed as it can get on a summer day, it always quiets down in the evening for some great aimless wandering along the canals.

We enjoy evening strolls in Rome also. Do this if you like people watching because you will be among thousands of other people.

An option to a villa in the Tuscan hills is an apartment in Cinque Terra. You can stroll on relatively quiet beaches, hike the trails between the villages, watch sunsets on the Mediteranean and relax.

Just a thought. You know your fiance best, but anything that implies you don't want to spend every moment of your honeymoom alone with your new bride may be taken as an insult.

When my wife says, "I don't care." That usually means, "I don't care to tell you, but you better quess right." I've been very happily married for 24 years and am still trying to figure women out.

Yes Brad your post was great and I loved the last lines. All of you have been so helpful and its great.

After all the post I have been able to get a great start on everything. I think we will fly into Rome and only spend a day or two there. Next we would go to Sorreto for 3 to 4 days and visit Naples, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast, using Sorreto as our home base.
One thing I have come to realize is there is no way to see all the places we want to go to on this trip so we are going to figure out what is most important. We MUST go to Venice since we are on our honeymoon. I wanted to go to Sicily because half my family is from there but we can do that on another trip, the other part of my family is from Norther Italy.
This is really great to have all your help, thank you so very much.

Dan-flying into Rome and out of Venice will allow you to see both cities and I agree that Venice is a must for your honeymoon.

For the in between you migh be able to do both Amalfi Coast and Tuscany, but you will be backtracking. We stayed in Ravello this past summer and it was FULL of honeymooners and wedding parties. We were coming from the South so spent 2 nights in Ravello, seeing Pompeii on one day but not getting anywhere else (i.e. Capri). It was a fairly easy, nice drive from Ravello to Tuscany. We stayed in Pienza at a great agriturismo - Le Traverse, run by a wonderful hostess, Pinuccia. We ate our breakfast on the terrace overlooking the picture perfect countryside. It was heavenly.

To get an idea of time involved go to viamichelin.com. There you can enter the different towns you are thinking about visiting and see if you want to do that much driving. I would suggest a car instead of a train because I find it romantic to be driving with my husband!

Dan, regarding transportation options, I have to respectfully disagree with Karen on that point. While a car might be "romantic", it can also be problematic at the best of times.

Given the short time frame of your trip, I really believe train or other forms of public transit are the best option. However it's crucial that you research how you'll be getting around so that you don't waste ANY time!

Dan-Ken does have a point. I'll say again that WE (my husband & I) enjoy road trips, both in the States and abroad. I'm a very good navigator-the kind of person who studies maps, enjoys picking the best routes, researches excessively to be sure the drive will be what we want. He is a very good driver, even when we are illiterate (i.e. in Prague when we had a hard time reading the Czech language signs). We are both the kind of people to even enjoy "problems" such as getting lost or when the drive takes much longer than anticipated. So, based on our experience, yes, driving is fun and even romantic. But I'd be the first to agree that it is not for everyone and maybe your honeymoon is not the best time to see if you are the driving sort.

I really think that you will not be able to go wrong, no matter what you choose, as you are going to Italy - the most romantice place on earth! Congratulations again.

Ive been married almost 49 years and I also agree with Brad but since we are still married I must have guessed correctly most of the time.Id suggest Rome(3days,Venice 2days and Siena (2 days with a day bus trip to Florence)and then get a rental car and stay in Tuscany just wandering around the hill towns.Fly home from Milan.

Take the trains. You and your new bride can snuggle. You won't have to keep your eyes on the road.
Congratulations. Anyplace in Italy would be romantic with the one you love. Just don't rush. Take your time. One day in Rome is not enough but....just go and believe "yes you are in Italy".
Happy wedding and travels. Your bride will love whatever you decide to do.