Honeymoon in Italy - Help with Itinerary!

With the limited time you have, doing both the AC and CT is too much running around.

Try to arrange your travels so all of your time in Rome is at the end

Day 1: Land in Rome, take train to Florence
Day 2-3: Florence
Day 4: train to Naples, metro (circumvesuviana) to Sorrento
Day 5-7: Sorrento
Day 8: metro to Naples, train to Rome
Day 9-11: Rome
Day 12: Fly out of Rome

You'll waste too much time changing locations if you keep both the CT and the AC. The Archaeology Museum in Naples is well worth a visit. Day 8, you can store luggage in the Naples train station, take the metro to the museum, then back for the train to Rome.

Choose either Cinque Terre or Sorrento/Amalfi Coast. You don't have time for both. As it is your trip is very short even for one. Chani's plan is good. If you'd rather do the Cinque Terre instead of the Naples area, then replace Sorrento with the Cinque Terre (Florence>Cinque Terre>Rome). The Cinque Terre doesn't need as long as the Amalfi coast. Two nights there would be sufficient. The rest you can devote to Rome and Florence.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I've eliminated Cinque Terre and added one day to the trip. Where do you think I should tack on the extra day? So far here is what I have:

Day 1: Arrive in Florence
Day 2-4: Florence w/ day trip to Cinque Terre
Day 5: travel to Sorrento
Day 6-8: Sorrento w/ day trips to Amalfi and Isle of Capri
Day 9: travel to Rome
Day 10-11: Rome
Day 12: fly out
Extra day?? Where should it go?

I have an extra day. Which city would you add it to?

Going to the CT as a day trip is not recommended. It's a 2-3 hour train ride just to La Spezia. That's 4-6 hours of your day gone before you board the local train. And that lands you in this very very popular place with all the other day trippers. Spend the day somewhere else. Siena is a good day trip by bus. You can combine a 1/2 each in Pisa and Lucca by train.

I'd add the extra day to Rome - many many sights,

I will echo Chani.

Skip CT.-- Siena is a better choice for a day trip

And as you are going to the AC, you will get your "Italian Coastal Experience" there.

Add your 'extra' day to Rome

Rachel,

Congratulations to you both on your upcoming wedding.

I agree with the other posters that doing CT and Amalfi Coast both on a shorter trip is redundant. Florence is great for museums and churches and food! Good food!

Rome has a great mix. So many ruins to see that my hubby and I love to walk Rome. We have taken the metro and a bus at times, but mostly walk and have stumbled upon sights that we read about but had forgotten to look for. My husband sounds like your fiancé. He gets tired of going in churches and museums after a while. He does like the Borghese Museum and we have returned there on subsequent trips. You MUST have a reservation and arrive 1/2 hour before the reservation time or they give you slot to someone else. The selling point to your husband is that the entry is limited in numbers and it is for 2 hours only! At the end of the 2 hours everyone departs and a new group enters. We like it so much because the frescoes in the building are beautiful to look at but also because they have some beautiful statues. The carving makes the marble look soft. The Borghese Gardens on the property are beautiful and a great place for walking.

In Rome I would also suggest a food walking tour with eatingitalyfoodtours.com They are fun, interesting and informative. I can't recommend a particular company for a cooking class, but that's on our list for next time we go to Rome. Others here can chime in with recommendations.

If your fiancé is not into museums then the Vatican museum, may be overwhelming. But the Scavi Tour that the vatican has may be interesting to him. It is a small tour under the Basilica. Must make reservations in advance. Now may not be too early. Check that out.

I will be watching for more posts from you. What great fun planning a Honeymoon in Italy!

Mimi

If you have more questions, come back

if you are interested in history then I'd suggest a visit to either Herculaneum or Pompeii in the morning, then into Naples for the afternoon. Naples has the archeologicial musuem where a lot of the artifacts from the ruins were taken, and is the birthplace of pizza. While it may feel a bit gritty, to me it is like those black-and-white pics you see of NYC in 1900 come to life.

To do the above I'd drop either Capri or the visit down the Amalfi coast, they are somewhat similar.