honeymoon itinerary

I would encourage you to read some guidebooks on Italy, so you can determine what you want to do & see once you reach each of your destinations.

I'd recommend spending your 11 nights in Venice (3N), Florence (4N), & Rome (4N), which means leaving Naples/AC for another trip.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. You may arrive feeling exhausted, from the overnight flight, so the arrival day may not be very productive.

2. Two nights = 1 full day for exploring, 3 nights = 2 full days, and so on...

3. Each time you relocate from one place to the next, you will lose at least half of that travel day.

4. If you want to save money, you can book your train tickets, 120 days in advance, on the Trenitalia website

5. Florence is the capital of Tuscany & you may consider taking a day trip to Siena, or other nearby city, or town.

6. Spend time experiencing, “Dolce far Niente“...the sweetness of doing nothing

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

Hi poollaur -
What city are you flying home from? I'm teetering on advising you to scrap Naples/Amalfi and redistributing those nights. Venice and Rome could both use another one, and adding the third to Florence would give you more time for a day trip. There's enough to see in Florence to fill the 2 full + 1 partial day you've given it, depending on your interests.

I'm asking about your flight home because if it's from Rome, you're probably going to want to stay close to city the night before versus the Amalfi or Naples.

No, you definitely don't want to come home needing "a vacation from the the vacation", and weddings, while great fun on the big day, can also leave you needing some let-down time! I'm thinking paring down to just three locations - the 'Holy Trinity' of Venice, Florence and Rome - would give you room to really catch your breath and enjoy this special time together with a little less packing, unpacking, catching trains, checking in/out and having to cram so much into your days.

May you love long and prosper. Priscilla makes a good point about the sweetness of doing nothing. After the stress that accompanies most weddings, you will probably need and want "down time". The first day or so you may (or may not) be jet lagged and just be zoned out. It is a fact that going from Point A to Point B almost always takes longer than anticipated and that is time "lost" that you can't recover. With this being a honeymoon trip, you will want good memories of places, people, and good wine / food -- not just memories of train stations. Personally I would pick only two (three at the max) places and really enjoy them and the surrounding areas well. Save the other places for a later trip. Don't mean to rain on your happy parade, just food for thought.

Guidebooks are a great idea. Any recommendations? I was also planning on picking up a book with some basic Italian language in an attempt to at least close the language barrier a tiny bit. I know some Spanish and I have heard the two have a lot of similarities so I'm hoping I will pick up on it fairly quickly. We are catching a 6:40am flight home out of Naples so we will have to end up back there eventually, even for just one night. Initially I was under the impression that Naples was pretty close to the Amalfi Coast, but after some more research I not only discovered that the AC is about an hour and a half drive away, but also that Naples is not the greatest place to visit. I have read that it's run-down and crime ridden without much to see or do. I hope that isn't the case since we will have to be there at least a day. I'm okay with re-distributing my days and cutting out the AC. It will make me sad to be so close and not get to see it, but since it will be mid-March I'm not sure how much of it we would get to experience anyway. Maybe if we add days to Florence/Rome we can fit in a couple of day trips and that will still make us feel like we're seeing as much as possible, but without it taking such a toll on us. This is all such good advice. None of this is raining on my happy parade so don't worry about that! This process can be very overwhelming for a first-timer so the reminder to enjoy Dolce far Niente was something I desperately needed.

In regards to staying in Venice: Should we try to stay on the canal or would we be better served staying off the water?

Naples is a big, bustling city. It intimidates some people. It does have worthwhile sights, first among them being the archaeological museum. Naples also has fabulous pizza.

For the cities you'll be visiting, I recommend Rick's "Italy" guidebook. He doesn't cover the entire country, but the material on the cities he includes is extremely comprehensive. His detailed information about things like transportation, sights for which you should pre-book tickets, safety and avoidance of scams is very helpful for a first-time visitor; don't skip the introductory material. Most people seem pleased with his recommendations for hotels and restaurants, too. Since you're traveling off-season, you may well be able to book places he recommends if they sound appealing to you. That can be difficult in the summer unless you reserve far in advance.

For up-to-date impressions of hotels you are considering (this is a honeymoon, after all, so you probably want places that are a bit special), go to booking.com and TripAdvisor and read reviews from the last year. Try to find the hotel's own website when you're ready to make a reservation; sometimes that saves a bit of money.

I have read that it's run-down and crime ridden without much to see or
do. I hope that isn't the case since we will have to be there at least
a day.

Naples is a different city than the rest you'll be visiting - I'll call it gritty versus dirty - but it's a piece of 'real' Italy. The archeological museum there is excellent: contains many of the treasures from Pompeii and Herculaneum. In fact, if you got into Naples in the morning, you could drop your bags at the hotel and go to Herculaneum: it's not far from the city, and some travelers prefer it to Pompeii as its better preserved. Then go back and have pizza! :O)

I would spend 3 nights in Venice, to give you 2 full days. Venice is a great place to start your trip, easy to relax and soak up the atmosphere while getting over jetlag. I thinks it's very romantic, so I'd give it an extra night. Or at least spend the last full day there and take an evening train to Florence.

Florence is all about Renaissance art and architecture. If that suits you then 2-3 nights there is fine. If that doesn't particularly speak to you, perhaps Siena is a better choice. You can day trip from one to the other by bus quite easily. Florence does have better rail connections, though.

There is so much to see in Rome that you can't really spend too much time there. Do plan your days carefully so that you get to see your top picks.

I haven't spent time in Naples, but I am planning to go this February. I think it gets a bad rap. It is certainly a good base to visit Herculaneum and/or Pompeii and even Sorrento, which though not the Amalfi Coast, is still a charming place to visit.

March is definitely a good time to go, with low season prices and many fewer tourists. I have never had a problem getting by with just English in Italy, but it is very helpful to be able to start any conversation with a few polite words. If you want to spend the time and effort to learn a little more Italian, I'm sure it will smooth the way even more and make your visit even more enjoyable. The Rick Steves Italy guide book is excellent, especially for useful information on getting around in each place and the self-guided walking tours of neighborhoods and sights. Rick has also recorded a number of audio guides that are enjoyable and informative . . . and free. Easy to download from iTunes. I like the DK Eyewitness guides also but Rick's guide is probably all you need for this trip, since you aren't spending a lot of time in any one place. The hard part will be to choose which sights you want to see in each place. One of the key things is to plan around closures - for instance, many museums are closed on Mondays. Also there are a few sights that it's either necessary or better to book in advance.

You can save quite a bit of money by purchasing non-refundable, non-changeable train tickets well in advance. They usually go on sale about 4 months ahead and prices only go up. You can check timetables at trenitalia.com and italotrain.it. The trains are listed when tickets go on sale, so you may find it helpful to choose the day of the week you plan to travel, but a few weeks earlier. Schedules rarely change. Regional trains do not need to be bought in advance. They only go on sale 7 days ahead, so for those trains you need to look at next week's schedule. Chances are you won't be traveling on any of them anyway. On Trenitalia (maybe Italotrain too) you need to put in the Italian name - you'll want Venezia Santa Lucia, Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Roma Termini and Napoli Centrale.

In Venice, anywhere is good. I prefer the Dorsoduro section, a little quieter and more residential but still near the vaporetto (water bus) and walking distance to St. Mark's.

Venice is small so it really doesn't matter where you stay as you will be close to everything. A room on a canal is romantic, but how much time will you spend in the room?

I have ordered Rick's guidebook and it should be arriving this week. Sounds like there is some really great information there.

Chani: you are an angel. I needed to hear everything that you laid out for me. I have been told (rather harshly by some) how insane and stupid it was to plan our honeymoon in Italy in March. According to them, the weather will be miserable. Cold, windy, lots of rain. I am very thankful to hear your positivity about it. Also, very good to know about not having any communication issues. I do always like to make an effort to learn and attempt to speak their language as a courtesy. I have found that a little effort goes a long way. Once we get our itinerary ironed out, I will absolutely go ahead and purchase our train tickets.

I am going to look further into the Dorsoduro section. I've pretty much talked myself out of staying directly on the Grand Canal due to the noise and us more than likely being jet-lagged. Dorsoduro seems like a good middle ground.

Thank you SO MUCH!

I love Napoli, and if you are going to fly out from there, you should take a night or two for touring some of the sights. Across the street from the train station is StarHotel Terminus, very convenient and a nice hotel surrounded by a new mall area (underground and above ground). The underground Metro will get you to the Museo stop in a few minutes.

In addition to pizza, try a sfogliatelle pastry. The waterfront along the bay is beautiful; Vesuvius may be smoking a little.

The airport is a few miles outside the city, an early taxi can be arranged by your hotel.

I've been to Italy 3 times in February. I doubt the weather would be "worse" in March than February. In fact, the worst weather I encountered led to some of my best memories. . . flooding in Venice, snow in Rome (first time in 25 years). It was never really cold (never got below freezing) and there were many sunny days, some so warm I took of my jacket and went around in short sleeves.

I don't know your budget. Right now La Calcina in Venice shows a room with a view for under €200/night. It's a lovely historic building with great breakfast on the Giudecca Canal, with good vaporetto connections from there, or a short walk to the Grand Canal.

but how much time will you spend in the room?

Well, it IS a honeymoon...
(humming "Makin' Whoopee") :O)

poollaur, just throwing my support behind Chani's comments about language. The hospitality industry is well used to hosting English speakers so you shouldn't have a problem. Sure, learn the manner phrases/terms and anything else you can manage - that's fun! - but don't stress about it.

Relax: you're going to have a wonderful time. Should it rain here and there? Just roll with it. There's always something fun to do regardless of weather, and you can get some great pictures on wet days.