Italy 2019 Honeymoon Itinerary - Please Help!

I've never landed in Milan, so I'm not sure of the timetable. Assuming you're flying out of the US either with a direct flight or a connecting flight to Milan, you may wind up landing earlier than you like. That first day is always terrible for me since I have issues sleeping on a plane. If you do have that early morning landing, it wouldn't be the worst use of your time to spend that first, jet-lagged day on a train to Rome or elsewhere...

I'm sure others will have vastly different opinions, but just thinking on my own first experience when landing in Rome. And congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!!

Hi there! We will be flying direct to Milan overnight (landing Saturday morning) from NYC. I also NEVER sleep on planes so I am expecting to be in at least partial zombie-mode for the first day, though we would like some time to stroll outside wherever we end up.

Since you are going in/out of Milan, my first suggestion would be to not go to Rome. No further south than Florence (or Siena). Then back towards Pisa, Lucca (a real gem) and CT. Or head east for Verona & Venice. Not to mention Milan. I suspect that you are staying in Bellagio on Lake Como. I recommend visiting Varenna, Villa Carlotta and Villa Balbianello.

Have a great trip!

It sounds like my arrival days--pretty much a total loss because of sleep deprivation and jetlag. In that case, it is extremely logical to use that day to get to your most distant destination, Rome. Otherwise, you'll have to make that trek on a day when you actually could be doing some real sightseeing.

The tricky part is to figure out what time you will be able to board a train in Milan. The tickets will be a lot less expensive if you buy them when they first go on sale and commit to a specific train (no refunds, no exchanges). But that's risky to do when you're arriving on a transatlantic flight. Stuff can happen. So you may decide to wait to buy the Milan-Rome tickets when you land in Italy, even though that means you have to pay full price for them.

You need to recalibrate your expectations about how much time you will have in Italy. If you are spending 13 nights on the ground in Italy (not counting the night on the plane), that is not a 14-day trip; that is a 12-day trip. That first day really doesn't count, and your last day will be spent getting to the airport for the flight home. Where exactly is that great hotel on Lake Como? You need to be absolutely sure you don't miss the flight home, and it sounds as if you're planning to travel from the Lake Como location to the Milan airport the morning of your flight. What time is your flight?

Even if the Lake Como hotel is in a location that allows you to spend your last night there, I think 12 days (13 nights) is just barely enough time for Lake Como, Rome, Florence and Venice. And you'll end up with less than 3 days in two of those places. 3 nights = 2 days and a few hours. That's an awfully short first visit to Rome. So Orvieto/Assisi need to wait until Trip #2.

Hello! Thanks for your help. We are staying at the Royal Victoria in Varenna and aiming to go straight to the Milan airport for our departure home. Our flight into Milan lands at 10:50am and our flight home departs at 1:15pm on Saturday the 28th. Do you think it’s realistic to get to the airport from Varenna at 10:15am?

Are you flying out of Malpensa or Linate? With Malpensa it will take you about 50 minutes by train from Milano Centrale. Plus you have an hour train ride from Varenna. I would say that you will be cutting it close flying international. I'd pad an hour on there. Also, check in advance the train schedule to Malpensa so you can time your trains properly as well. If Linate, it is an easy bus ride from Milano Centrale to the airport.

I have not stayed at the Royal Victoria but have dined there. You will enjoy it. If you need any other info, feel free to PM me. I'll be back in Varenna in 8 weeks.

A quick glance at the schedules on the Deutsche Bahn website suggests that you can it pull it off on a weekday; I didn't check Saturday and Sunday. I don't know what day of the week you are flying home. I agree that you need to get an early start. You have a connection to make at Milano Centrale, and regional trains have been known to run late. It would be very expensive to miss the transatlantic flight and have to buy last-minute one-way tickets to get home.

With 13 days in Italy, I think your wish list of Florence, Rome, Venice and Lake Como is realistic, and I would do them in that order. Go directly to Florence as that's the closest (3 hours from MPX by train). I wouldn't add additional stops, but would instead visit smaller cities on day trips from Rome and Florence. Orvieto is an hour from Rome, and Siena, Lucca and Pisa are about an hour from Florence. Pistoia is another nice day trip destination from Florence, and it's closer than the others on the Florence to Lucca train line. If your Lake Como accommodation is in Bellagio and your flight departs MPX in the morning, you'll have a very early departure to get to the airport before your flight. Depending upon what time your return flight departs, you may want to consider moving your Lake Como reservation back a day and spending the last night in Milan or near the airport. I would only stay near the airport if you decide to spend most of the day at Lake Como and only head to an airport hotel later in the day.

Note that much of your train travel will be on high-speed trains. You could save quite a bit by purchasing discounted tickets for the Florence to Rome, Rome to Venice and Venice to Milan trips, but those discounted tickets will lock you into a specific day and time.

our flight home departs at 1:15pm on Saturday the 28th. Do you think it’s realistic to get to the airport from Varenna at 10:15am?

Outside my comfort zone. Certainly would not sleep well the night before wondering about all the 'what if' scenarios of what could go wrong.

With flying into and out of Milan I would recommend shelving Rome. If you had been able to fly into Rome and out of Milan that might have been a different story. As you say you will be back, so next time do the southern half of Italy. This time concentrate on the northern half: Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Pisa (for the Campo Santo), Assisi, Orvieto, the Cinque Terre, and of course Varenna. If your flight is at 1:15pm I would plan on arriving at the airport no later than 10:15 am. And I gather from Varenna from what others have said about the time it takes that you would need to leave quite early. There is a good amount to see in Milan itself so you could move your reservations up one day in Varenna so that you are sleeping in Milan the night before your flight. I personally would not be comfortable coming all the way from Varenna for a flight. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

I flew JFK to Milan to Naples on Air Italy and I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, for what I paid, I expected much much worst. It was a decent airline with a price tag that meant I would be back... many times. It was an escapade to the Amalfi Coast. So congrats on snagging low fare tickets. The only thing I might scold you on, is not booking Air Italy all the way into Rome on your inbound flight; your outbound flight from Milan to the USA is fine since your last destination is Lake Como (Varenna, nice town BTW, one of my favorites).

It might not be too late to add the individual Milan-Rome flight segment. After all it is only around 44$. Just give yourself plenty of time, in case of delays but it would be wise to book with the same airline, so maybe in case of a delay, they would wait for you. Maybe if you call Air Italy, they can merge the reservation for you. But with separate tickets you might be on your own. Plan a minimum of 3-5 hours layover. Get access to a nice airport lounge so that your fiancée (with two "e", one "e" is male) can get a place to drink, eat, and maybe a shower. Plan B will be to train into Rome (7 hours)

If you start your honeymoon in Rome, and from there move north, you will have time to see everything you want. You are right about everything: Italy is wonderful and you should try to see as much as you can.

A word of advice about Venice: See St Marco's square early in the morning and in the evening (when the dueling orchestras are playing). During the day it is mobbed and unpleasant. Use the time during the day to wander around Venice where all the day trippers/cruisers are not.

I like the idea of heading to Rome the first day, be it by train or plane, but on the otherhand saving it for next time might not be a bad plan either as it might be a bit more relaxing, it is a honeymoon after all 😉.

I would not travel to Milan the day of your flight, but the night before. Italy is notorious for their spur of the moment train strikes, my last time there we were stuck on the tracks for three hours and by the time we reached the next station, which wasn’t our final stop, we had to disembark and there was no one around to ask for help as they were on strike. Ended up taking a very expensive cab ride to our final destination. Stressful. Spend the final night in Milan!

I don't think you have enough time for Rome unless you rush around from place to place and short-change all of them. Italy does not disappoint. You absolutely will return and the Eternal City will be waiting for you.

It is easy enough to go to Venice on your first day. Venice is romantic, just avoid the 2-3 really popular areas when the day-trippers are out. Venice doesn't "scream" honeymoon - it's too low-key to do much more than whisper, but it's where I'd choose for a honeymoon. It's slower and quieter than most places, so you can relax and recharge while you soak up just being in Italy. Stay 3 nights at least! Florence is worth 2-3 days in itself for the art and architecture. You can day trip to Siena for something very different. So Florence for 4 nights. That leaves 3 more nights (not enough time for Rome, sorry). Do you want to split them between 2 places or stay 3 nights in one. Bologna is excellent for 3nights, you can day trip to your choice of great towns by train. You could even spend 3 nights in Assisi, though 2 is enough.

Thank you everyone for the help. Looks like I've got some decisions to make, and I have to check if there is availability to shift the Royal Victoria hotel dates. Looks like it could take longer than I thought to get to MXP. Apparently the hotel has a charge of 180 euros to drive us to the Airport-- quite a bit more than what I want to spend on transportation for one morning!

Is it "etched in stone" that the last three nights be at Lake Como? If not, consider this option. Fly into Milan and go straight to Lake Como as it is a great place to start a honeymoon. Then do Venice, Florence, and Rome. Rather than a train ride from Rome back to Milan to return home, perhaps fly there a day or two before the flight home and spend the last night(s) in Milan. Just another idea to consider.

Lake Como for the last three nights isn’t etched in stone but it was the only time I could get the Victoria hotel in Varenna. I would actually love to switch it to the front of the itinerary but they appear to be sold out. Do you recommend a similar hotel we could have a look at in Varenna?

Villa Cipressi. Overlooks the lake and has beautiful gardens. Google it and see what you think.

Thanks! Going to have a look and run it by the lady.

I would definitely not recommend flying from Rome to Milan to spend the last day or so of the trip there. The Frecciarossa trains will get you to Milan in three hours.

acraven is right. I forgot about the super quick trains.