Honeymoon in Italy and first-timer

Since you will only have about 10 days, you might want to consider the RS tour that does about 3 days each in Rome, Florence and Venice. You'll have plenty of logistics to take care of with the wedding. By taking a tour, a lot of the honeymoon details will be handled for you. Just food for thought.

Elizabeth,

First of all, congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

With just three destinations, it's certainly possible to plan this trip on your own and tailor the sightseeing to your own preference. Considering the occasion you may want a less structured Itinerary. Good planning will hopefully result in a trouble free and memorable trip.

The first step will be to book open-jaw flights into Venice and out of Rome. It would be better to start in Venice, as the return flight will be easier from Rome. In terms of how many days to spend in each destination, you'll get as many opinions here on the forum as there are posters. My suggestion would be three nights in Venice, four nights Florence (to allow a day trip to Siena) and the remaining time in Rome. If you'd prefer more time in each destination and a more relaxing schedule, skip Venice and fly into Florence. Is there any possibility you could add a bit more time?

I'd also suggest buying a copy of the RS Italy guidebook, as that has an enormous amount of information that will help both in planning and during your trip.

I can't think of a better place to celebrate a honeymoon than Venice. You can high speed train from Venice to Florence, and/or Rome, or vice versa, start in Rome and finish in Venice. Whichever you want to do, but Venice would be the most romantic.

Oh, definitely start in Venice. Just relax and soak it all up while you get over jetlag.

Florence is all about Renaissance art and architecture. If you want to enjoy it, you'll want a minimum of 2 full days there. If not, a town like Siena may be more to your liking, with a day trip to Florence for the highlights.

As Ken and the others said, by all means start in Venice. It is honeymoon perfect! You definitely have time to go to Florence, day trip to Siena, then on to Rome to fly out of.

Not putting down tours, but I would prefer to spend my honeymoon alone with my husband.

Congratulations and enjoy your trip!

Thanks so much for your input! It gives us ideas to start our planning this weekend! Any suggestions as to the best way to buy tickets/passes to the different monuments, museums, etc. and avoid the lines?

Each city has different pass options. Any good guidebook will list them all. Check their websites for updated information, cost, listings.

You can try googling "Museum Pass (or Tourist Pass)" plus the city name and see what comes up.

Before you get into nitty-gritty like passes, start by getting a copy of Rick Steves Italy (for this purpose, it needn't be the very most recent edition). Read it. Also, watch his videos on Italy here: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show. Then, look at as many other guidebooks as you can get your hands on (friends, library, etc).

Doing these steps will help you make sure that Venice, Florence, and Rome are indeed where you want to go. Be careful of well meaning people who will try to add things to your trip - "You can't go to Italy and miss the Amalfi Coast! You must see the Cinque Terre! Get out of the cities and see rural Tuscany! Don't miss the great food in Parma and Bologna!" While these are all fine destinations, you only have 10 days. Italy has several months of "must sees on a first trip" and you have to be careful not to include more than you can enjoy in your short time (I only get 10 days on most of my trips, so I know how hard it is to cut things). So, if you include one of these other places, you have to cut something else.

Next, decide how many days you want in each place. As Ken so accurately said, everyone will do this slightly differently, including those who say you should only go to two and spend more time in them vs. those who say go to all three for a taste. They are quite different, and you really can't go "wrong."

Assuming you're seeing all three, definitely book flights into Venice and out of Rome, as this direction is much easier for airport-to-city transit than the reverse.

Once you know exactly where you're going, and how long you're spending there, only then do you need to worry about things like passes and advance tickets. You will want to get these things, as well as advance train tickets, to reduce costs and avoid missing out on some things - but for June 2016, it's too early to get them, so don't worry. You will definitely want to buy the 2016 edition of Rick's Italy book, and it has all the details about booking advance tickets for attractions (you may need help with the trains, but the people on this Forum will gladly help you with that).

Happy planning!

First of all congratulations! I agree with all of the posters in regards to starting in Venice - a great way to start a honeymoon! I should ask if the 10 days is 10 full days or are you counting the arrival and departure days? I would agree with the itinerary that others have mentioned. I would agree with Harold about reading the RS guidebook and/or watching the videos. There may be something that uniquely interests you that other people may not find any interest. If you are a scientist or science teacher, you may want to extend time in Venice to do a side trip to Padua to visit the university that Galileo taught at. Or if one of you is an architect, Vicenza may be of unique interest as a Venice side trip. Only you can answer these questions and with just a little bit of research, you may find a great side trip from your 2 or 3 cities. On a recent trip to Florence, we went on a day tour to Tuscan wineries. The other four couples were all on their honeymoons, so if tours of wineries is appealing, you may want to consider. But most of all, make sure that you do a little research and do things that you find interesting. Just one other piece of advice, when you decide on your itineraries, don't try to do it all. In a city like Rome, you will only scratch the surface of sites to visit and things to do.

Congratulations!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be able to eke at least a couple more days on this honeymoon of yours--it's the difference between you running around like a chicken with your head cut off and doing Italy on the slow-cook, really. Follow Ken's advice--into Venice, out of Rome. 11 nights (more is more better!) would be 3 Venice, 4 Florence, 4 Rome, just enough time to get a glimpse and take a daytrip or two from the latter two destinations. Trains from Venezia Santa Lucia to Firenze S.M.N. to Roma Termini are quick and run many times a day.

Don't use this as a rule of thumb, but in Florence and Rome, you may want to find lodging within walking distance to the stations, if it fits your budget & creature comforts. I know it's doable in Florence, not 100% sure in Rome. It just makes it easier to take a daytrip on the spur-of-the-moment if you want.

Enjoy your planning!

Several Ideas come to mind ...
A) Venice (3 nts) >> Florence (4 nts) >> Rome (3 nts)
B) Venice (3 nts) >> Cinque Terre (3 nts) >> Rome (4 nts)
C) Florence (3 nts) >> Tuscan Countryside (3 nts) >> Rome (4 nts)
D) Florence (3 nts) >> Amalfi Coast (4 nts) >> Rome (3 nts)
E) Amalfi Coast (5 nts) >> Rome (5 nts)

We just returned from the 10day RS Venice Florence Rome Tour - I suggest you take a look at that itinerary and copy it. Or, better yet - go on it. It was SO NICE to have guides teach us and show us the 'not to be missed' art and history. Florence and Rome are overwhelming without knowing and understanding what you are looking at. You are free by lunch everyday, so you have plenty of 'on your own' time. I can't imagine going to the Vatican or Colosseum without a guide. Whatever, you decide . . . it is amazing. Just remember traveling takes time, so the less you move, the better. It would be VERY hard to do those cities on your own for the 1st time and get all the art and history they have to offer. You could always just do Venice and Florence and relax and enjoy. I think that is what I would do. Or Rome and Sorrento would be a whole different experience. You can't go wrong.

I suggest you buy the RS Italy book. We also LOVE the RS Europe Through The Back Door 2016 . . . it is a must read for anyone traveling to Europe . . . so much info on packing, money, credit cards, each country, how to tour, etc.

Unless you have an affinity for fast-paced travel, for a honeymoon I would only do two locations in 10 days. That will give you more time for relaxing and enjoying both locations. If you want variety, you could always do a day trip or two. (Keep in mind that you will lose at least one-half day of touring time each time you change location.)

Venice would be a romantic beginning for the trip, as so many others have noted. If you have a particular love for Renaissance art or architecture, particularly the early Renaissance, then Florence would be a great second city. Otherwise, Rome offers more variety – ancient sites, the Renaissance, the Baroque period, the Vatican, etc. Venice/Florence/Rome is easily done by high-speed train; there would be no need for a car.

If you prefer some time in the countryside, an agritorismo in Tuscany or Umbria would be a great second location, but you would need a car to explore the area.

If you feel the need for a guide, it's easy to hire a good guide for a few hours... no need to book a long group tour (e.g., an RS tour --- not how I'd want to spend a honeymoon). I've had really good luck with half-day tours with Context Travel.

Hi Elizabeth, and congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

Someone said earlier that you're going to get differing viewpoints and indeed you have! Three cities; two cities…neither is the wrong answer unless it's wrong for YOU. Because it's a honeymoon, it is a special sort trip with its own considerations so here's what I'm thinking:

Weddings can be exhausting so you and your DH may need some recovery time when it's all over? Two cities would be great for letting down, getting in some R&R and taking a day trip or two if desired; Florence (which is the capital of Tuscany) and Rome would be my choices there. If you could find a little more time, I'd go with three: 3 nights Venice, 4 nights Florence and 4 in Rome. All three are very easy to travel between, and all three have different architectures, food and culture so that's the classic "First Timer's" itinerary. The fine point of tickets and what-have-you can wait until you've made a decision.

I'll respectfully disagree with taking a lot of tours? Venice is not very big, and the central historic districts of Rome and Florence are relatively compact; we don't find them overwhelming at all. We hardly ever take guided tours and have gotten a lot out of the places we've seen with just our own research. And again, a honeymoon is a special sort of trip that begs time for just the two of you versus the fact-finding missions that you may take later on in life. None of these cities can be completely covered in a few days anyway so don't even try: assume you'll be back for the deeper dive someday!