Italy Honeymoon - June 2026

I'd say Venice -Florence-Rome. Fly a multi- city ticket.
The Sorrento //Amalfi Coast area is so jammed anymore, and there's no shoulder seasons. The infrastructure has been sadly neglected, and moving about is time-consuming and frustrating. It's definitely not relaxing. The influencers have ruined the area, IMHO.
Venice is easier to fly into than out of, and is great for relaxing after jet lag. Is easy to find a place to stay on the quiet back canals, full of charm, with no crowds.
Maximize your time, as many nights as possible, and schedule late May, if possible, to avoid heat and crowds. Try to avoid mid-June and later, if you can.
Congrats on the honeymoon, and have a wonderful trip!

I would go earlier if we could, but our wedding is on May 30! So earliest we would probably fly out would be June 1 (Monday).

I will leave the suggested route to others. All the cities will likely be crowded around the normal tourist attractions. This is simply a fact of life these days. See the major sites if you wish, but also wander away from the tourist areas and you will find many beautiful sites. In Rome, for example we visited a “no name” church that had a stunning altar and stained glass. As there are so many churches in Rome, it is not possible for guide books to list them all.

As for food, you can google restaurants. They will be popular and hopefully good. Our experience is to wander into residential areas and eat in local restaurants. While the presentation may not be as elegant, the food will be authentic and good. Ask the front desk for locations of restaurants that they visit.

Enjoy your trip.

Congratulations!! It sounds like you are looking to travel some rather than honeymoon in one spot. 17 years ago my husband & I honeymooned in Italy and have been back several times since. For your first trip & the time you have, I will agree with the others that Venice, Florence, Rome would be my suggestion. There is plenty to do and you could throw in a few day trips. When you are off the main areas of Florence you can still find quiet spots! Siena would be a nice day trip or overnight and you can get there by bus. Lucca is also a fun day trip from Florence. In truth I have overnighted in all of these spots as well. We loved staying in Maiori this last May on the Amalfi Coast and did think it would be a stunning place for a honeymoon but it is an outlier. If you were thinking Rome, Amalfi, Naples that would work with your timeframe for a slower trip. But if you want to hit Venice, Florence and Rome I would stick with those three. I know it is busier now but maybe throw in a few days in the Cinque a Terre. It is stunning when the day trippers leave and easy to get to by train. You would have to back track to get to Venice but it would add that coastal element you are looking for. I would book open jaw Rome - Venice or Venice - Rome for your flights. Have fun planning! I remember that planning our honeymoon was more important to me than planning our wedding and we are still traveling together happily almost 17 years later! This forum will help you a ton and we are happy you are here. Happy planning!

hey hey ambergranberg
as Pat says fly multi-city (into one and out from another, no backtracking). if doing venice, easier to fly into to relax with jetlag plus many flights leave early "dark thirty" mornings. you may think of flying into milan, take train to lake garda or lake maggiore for few days with gorgeous lake and mountain views, less people. train to florence for few days then train to rome to fly out of. where are you flying from (USA/Canada)?
stay away from sorrento/amalfi coast as Pat mentions. there are other coastal/water areas to see with lesser crowds. no off season times anymore, so many people traveling all year long, all over the main cities in europe, over crowding/over tourism with people wanting just that quick photo op, rushing all over with trying to see too much in a few days. you don't want to only see train stations/airports/looking out train windows. relax like you want to, half way through trip or flying back you'll want to plan your next trip LOL
tuscany is a big area, you could look at lucca with smaller towns nearby then train to florence.
always look at trains & times, use italian train station names, hotel check-ins are usually 2-4pm and check-out 10-11am, unless prearrange early check in or baggage storage before check-in and check-out.
lots to think about, research with you guys decision. set limits and places to stay, come back, ask more questions before booking to get good bad and ugly. people on this forum are here to help and offer opinions so you guys are prepared and have a great time. with your decision can give more info about food tours/walks/classes if interested what's in that area. good luck have fun enjoy
aloha

We want a relaxing vibe and are big foodies.

The Emilia-Romagna region is considered by many to be the food capital of Italy (although every region is proud of it's local specialties). Think Parma ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, etc. Bologna isn't covered in the RS guidebook but plenty of others do.

And since you mentioned "relaxing vibe" but not an interest in ancient/medieval history or museums than you might want to rethink staying a few nites in Rome. Great city but I don't think may people would call it relaxing although it does have some great restaurants.

As for Sorrento, it depends on what you are looking for. Good food and places like Pompeii to visit, but Sorrento doesn't have a beach to relax on. You'd need to go to a nearby town. It's about 3 hours by train from Florence to Naples, figure another 1.5 hours to get to Sorrento. With a similar amount of travel time you could instead visit a town in the lovely Cinque Terre region but avoid the actual five towns except perhaps as a day trip. The RS Village Italy tour stays in Levanto these days and it's a smaller but enjoyable town. Or south a few miles from the CT is Lerici, written up in the NYT which in 2010 said "Lerici holds much of the same appeal as its more popular neighbors, with beautiful swaths of beach and miles of hiking trails with photogenic vistas, minus the suffocating crowds." You'd probably need a car to get to Lerici and for a first trip it depends on how adventurous you are since in many shops English is not spoken. And Santa Margherita Ligure north of the CT is another charming town you can find discussed here on the forum.

Enjoy the process of planning and keep your preferences in mind! Since you mentioned it, Rome to Florence to Naples would not be a recommended route because to get from Florence to Naples you would go right through Rome, where you would have already been. Since you have doubts about Florence, my advice is to skip it, unless there are museums you want to go to. Tuscan towns are relaxed, but not accessible by train.

My recommendation would be to fly to Milan, and if you don't want to stay over, it's less than 2 hours by train to Lake Como (Varenna, specifically). Train to Rome. Train to Sorrento. Leave from Naples (or Rome). There will be tourists, but not as many as July! Enjoy!