Honeymoon in Italy - First Time Travellers

We spent our honeymoon in Positanto and spent a week on the coast. We would do one day as a lazy beach day and the next would be an exploring day. Capri and Ravalo are a must. I would consider Rome and Florence before heading home. Plan to spend at least two nights in any city you visit. On a first trip some folks like to do two night stays in many cities so they can get a taste of where they would like to return. If your not on a tour the time spent getting from place to place and planning things can make it very difficult. So keep it simple and take the time to relax and enjoy each moment. Best of luck.

I haven't looked at flights, but consider flying in and out of Rome instead of Naples, and taking the train to Sorrento because Rome is probably cheaper. The airfare is probably going to be the most expensive portion of the $5000. At least on Kayak a round-trip through Rome is a little cheaper. Airfare is probably going to take up half your budget, or more. So let's pretend you spend $3000 on the airfare (hopefully less, just an estimate) well then you have $2000 for the next 12 days. If you spend $100 a night on lodging, that's $800 left for transportation and food and shopping. You may need more than you think. (I also realized you may be saying $5k Canadian dollars which is less than American dollars, so it means you'd have even less.) But also congrats on your wedding that's coming up! My fiance and I are getting married one day after you, on July 10th! We're waiting a little on our honeymoon because we're studying in Arezzo in the fall and going to save the honeymoon money to arrive a few days early and spend time in Rome (I've been there, he hasn't) and travel while we are there.

First, congratulations and best wishes to the two of you. Italy is a wonderful place for a honeymoon. Second, IMHO, your starting point should be to buy the RS Italy 2011 book. It will be the smartest money you spend on your vacation. (And good for you for not trying to cram 10 different cities into your two weeks there.)

Hi Michael, Thanks for your reply. We've been doing a lot of internet research, including reading Rick's online info. as well as listening to his audio downloads, but we'll definitely pick up his guidebook! Thanks for the suggestion! Jill

Jill, I would definitely fly open-jaw into and out of Italy. Setting aside the boot shape it's a long skinny country. I'd fly into some southerly point like Naples or Rome and out of Venice. Rome is beautiful, Naples is, eh. challenging, Venice is unique in the world. Given a 13 day itinerary, I'd fly into Naples (if you must) and then work my way north with a few days in each of: Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice with a few one day visits like Siena, Assisi and some Rome outskirts (Ostia, Tivoli) etc. Don't try to do it all in one trip, Rick says assume you'll be back. We just got back from our 3rd trip last night. We keep tossing coins in that dammned Trevi fountain, and Italy just keeps pulling us back. We were in Italy for 10 days and will probably have spent around 4K staying in nice hotels and eating in modest restaurants, paying for Taxis in Rome and Vaporetti in Venice. Rick's book is very helpful. #1 tip in it. Buy a bottled water in it and fill it up at every fountain you pass. Rome and Venice have great water and stopping to find or pay for water would add time and $$ to the trip. While Rick doesn't mention it, the Hotel Villa Del Parco in Rome is an oasis. It's a 10euro taxi ride from Rome and is on bus lines as well. We've stayed there several times and always return. Enrico is the primary contact there and is a wonderful resource. http://www.hotelvilladelparco.it/en Look at the site, when you go up the walkway Rome's noise melts away, and it smells like a garden. We love it.
Enjoy your honeymoon (and Italy).

Hi everyone, Thanks for the replies and the links to various websites. Originally we were going to focus on Sorrento and surrounding areas and then head to Rome for a few days, but we're considering trying to see a little bit more... AND our budget could be stretched to $6000... Can anyone recommend an itinerary that includes a bit more of Italy? We're looking for a good mix of sightseeing and relaxation. I like the previous suggestion of spending 2 days in various cities...but there's just so much to choose from! Below is our modified version of Rick Steves 22 day Italy itinerary. We really have no idea what we're doing, so it might not make sense. Please feel free to make suggestions as to things to add and/or things to leave out, etc. Day 1: Arrive in Milan, explore Milan, train to Lake Como, sleep in Varenna Day 2: Varenna, train to Venice Day 3: Venice, sleep in Venice Day 4: Venice, sleep in Venice Day 5: To Cinque Terre, sleep in Vernazza Day 6: Cinque Terre, sleep in Vernazza Day 7: To Siena via Pisa, sleep in Siena Day 8: To Civita, sleep in Civita Day 9: To Sorrento via Pompeii, sleep in Sorrento Day 10: Sorrento, sleep in Sorrento Day 11: To Positano or Paestum via Amalfi Coast, sleep in Sorrento Day 12: To Rome, sleep in Rome Day 13: Rome, sleep in Rome
Day 14: Rome, fly home Could we fly into and out of Rome with this itinerary? Would it be beneficial to buy a rail pass or buy tickets as we go? A friend recommended we should see Florence as well... So much to consider! We'd love any input! Thanks! Jill

A railpass is almost never the best bargain in Italy. You would need to crunch the numbers yourself to see if that's true in this instance, but I'd say 90% chance of saving money by doing point-to-point tickets. The one thing that jumps out at me about your itinerary is you're doing 2 one-nighters in a row. The only time I do a one-nighter someplace is if it's related to catching a flight. Otherwise I just can't enjoy the location. Too hectic. Best wishes.

I was looking at Air Canada's website, and you could save alot on an open jaw flight if you fly home from Rome. I saw flying in to Milan or Venice and flying home from Rome at $1500 Cdn which would give you alot more money to enjoy your trip. The return from Rome is also a direct flight. If you fly into our out of Naples it took it up to $2,400.

Jill: Especially since it is your honeymoon I'd suggest you slow it down a bit: fewer places for more nights. My comments below are based on the itinerary you posted today, April 10. Landing in Milan you won't really have time to explore Milan and get to Varenna. If Varenna is important, go right there, spend 2 nights to get over jetlag, OR go right to Venice. You can land in Milan in the morning and be in Venice by 3:00PM and spend your first 3 nights in that romantic city. Or better yet, fly to Venice and skip Varenna. If you go to the CT next, spend 3 nights. It's along haul to only stay two. It is also a long trip from CT to Siena because of all the train changes. If you go to Siena, make it for 3 or 4 nights so you have time to see more of Tuscany from there. You can certainly stop in Pisa, see the tower, and continue on. Siena is a good place to rent a car for a few days, but seek out lodging with parking. You can drive to Civita for your one night there, drop the car in Orvieto and be on your way to Sorrento or Rome. If it were my trip, I'd probably fly into Venice and out of Rome and spend my nights as follows: Venice - 3 Vernazza - 3 Siena - 4 Civita - 1 (Well I'd not do this but since you put it on the list...) Rome OR Sorrento - 3 Some other thoughts:
If you can live without sleeping in Civita, add that night to Rome. Maybe leave Siena via car, go to Civita, then turn the car in at Orvieto late afternoon and catch a train to Rome. That way you can see Civita but have one more full day in Rome. Sorrento is a long haul south. If you really want to see it, drop the CT from your itinerary. It's a stretch to do Venice, the CT and Sorrento in one trip and do justice to any of them.

Jill, First of all, congratulations! I have a few comments to add as well. As you're "first time travellers", my first suggestion would be to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Also, pack along a copy of the Italy Guidebook, as it will be valuable reference during the trip. Note that most of the Guidebooks are now available in E-book format. Regarding your last Itinerary, I tend to agree with Laurel, but would arrange it slightly differently. With such a VERY short Itinerary, using open-jaw flights is absolutely the best idea (regardless of the cost) and I'd suggest inbound Milan and outbound Rome. I assume you'll be departing from Pearson / YYZ? IMHO, you have TOO MANY stops for a 12-day trip! You've listed about 9 stops with side trips, which allows an average of ~1.3 days per stop. Keep in mind that you'll lose the first day and last day in travel times (you'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart. Your Itinerary also doesn't provide any allowance for travel times, which in some cases will be significant. You won't have as much time in each location as you might think! Given the occasion, I'd tend to focus on quality rather than quantity, and "assume you will return" (as Rick often says). Some comments on specific locations. I wouldn't bother exploring Milan (you won't have the energy and will be hauling luggage); go directly to Varenna as it's only 1H:03M by train. It's a perfect location to start your Luna di Miele! There are several methods to get from Milan / MXP to Milano Centrale. Have you researched those? I'd also drop Pisa; it's not worth the time just to see the Tower, especially as you have so little time! Continued.....

Part 2...... Getting to Civita for one night is going to be challenging and for one night I'm not sure it's worth the effort. A rental car would be easier, but that comes with other "issues". Travel by Bus will take the better part of a day from Orvieto. Positano will also be challenging, as this involves a Bus trip from Sorrento (there's no rail service in Positano), which of course will use more of your short trip in travel times. In arranging a logical and efficient Itinerary for such a short trip, it might be advisable to also eliminate either Venice or the Cinque Terre, as they're on opposite coasts, and getting from one to the other will take ~5H by rail with one or two changes. Regarding "changes", BE SURE to read the "Rail Skills" chapter in ETBD carefully, as you'll have to be "up to speed" on the procedures for those. These usually involve a short trip down stairs and through a Sottopassagio and then up to the next track (Binario). If you're hauling around several pieces of wheeled luggage the size of a small car, changes will be a supreme effort! If you could decrease your list to perhaps five or six destinations, I'll try to provide more specific suggestions. Happy travels!

Ken, what does the ETBD book have that the Italy book does not?

A honeymoon in Italy! Wonderful! It seems you have gone from a very leisurely 14 day trip to southern Italy to covering the entire country. Perhaps you can find a middle ground. To really get a sense of your travel times as opposed to your actual times in destinations, go to WinCalendar.com. You can choose one of their monthly calendars in Word and be able to play around with your itinerary and save it Then check out the end of the destination chapter in Rick Steves Italy Guide. He tells you how much time by car, train, air it takes to the next possible destination. So start filling in those days with the travel time. It is easy to see how much time it really takes to get from one place to another. By train, you also need to add the time it takes from the hotel to the station, the amount of time you want to be at the station in advance, train time, new station to new hotel. If I am reading your itinerary correctly, you only have one night in Varenna. And you have 2 other one night stops. My own personal rule is always stay at least 2 nights. It is important you realize what a $100 hotel means in Italy (and Europe). Can't remember if RS spells it out or not. But pretty basic, small room. Not centrally located and no views. This is especially true in Rome, Sorrento, and Venice, some of the highest hotel rates in Italy. It is very important to get as low a flight cost as you can but no more than 1 stop each way with your $6000 budget. Also, you might want to consider putting your honeymoon on your wedding present list. I usually give money as a present to be put toward honeymoons. And the brides like the idea and other people have made contributions too. Also, does anyone in your family have frequent flyer miles? That would be an awesome gift! The Helpline can continue to help you refine your intinerary as well as work with you on your budget.

@Michael, Europe Through The Back Door is a more detailed "how to" book which is especially relevant for first time travellers to Europe. It provides more details on things like Itinerary planning, packing, security, cultural differences, language issues and especially Rail Skills. While the country specific books also cover some of the same information, they're not as detailed. I found that ETBD was tremendously helpful prior to my first trip to Europe, and based on my experience, I would highly recommend all first-timers to read it before their trip. Cheers!

Hi everyone, Thanks for all your wonderful help! We're still working away on the plans... We still haven't booked a flight - aaahhhh! I keep seeing sales, but the travel dates go until just before we can leave! Is it possible that we might be able to get a deal on airfare over the next few weeks? Right now I can get two roundtrips on Sunwing (?) for approx. $2000. I've been told $1000 per person is pretty good? As for our itinerary we're leaning more towards our original plan... Start with a home base in Sorrento (although I can't find any apartments to stay in that are within our budget...I tried VRBO and other recommended sites...) and visit Amalfi, Pompeii, etc. Can anyone recommend another area near Sorrento to stay?? Or other sites I can look on for apartments? We're thinking approx. 5 days in or around Sorrento? Then we'll head to Rome? We don't really know where to stay here... We're also wondering if we could squeeze in some time in Tuscany? Or would that be too much again? Finally, we're trying to avoid renting a car... I've read a lot of posts where people suggest to rent a car for the Tuscany area? Can it be done by train? Thanks again everyone for the feedback. We're both elementary teachers so from this point on to the end of the school year, it gets pretty busy. With the wedding, planning this trip, report cards, etc. I'm driving myself a little crazy! I really appreciate all the help! Keep it coming! :)

I personally would do Sorrento/Amalfi coast area, but I think you should book soon for this July! Then train up to Florence, and perhaps do a day trip drive to a Tuscan hill town. I guess it depends on what you want to do, but doing a lot of traveling around, particularly in hot weather, with crowds, isn't my idea of a relaxing fun honeymoon. From all I have seen on Rick Steves' shows Naples seems like a formidable city to deal with. From my own experience, Rome can be hectic also. Personally I would I would hang in Tuscany. There are great things to see in Italy, can't do them all on short trip with limited budget, spend the time and money wisely -- you will return.