Itinerary help

Siena is good as a base for Tuscany if you have a car, otherwise Florence is your best option because you can get pretty much anywhere via train or bus. As for another location, that depends on your interests and the time of year. The lakes are gorgeous. Verona is lovely and has lots of history. I hear Cinque Terre is nice, though I haven't been yet so I can't give an opinion.

Thank you Angela for the info. I will look in to the Lakes region as it seems like I would enjoy that area of Italy. Andrew thank you for the flight info. Actually Newark would probably be easier but I was hoping to take a non stop flight. My credit is just ok and I tried to apply for the Capital One Venture card but was denied :(

I agree with Angela, Verona's charming with lots to see. I would not even consider Milan. If you haven't yet committed to flights, I'd switch the order, flying into Venice and out of Rome. You'll arrive after a long flight and with a significant time change. In Venice you can soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the city while you "catch up." If you can't sleep in the morning, go to St. Mark's Square and watch the sun rise over the lagoon - magical. Ride the vaporetto lines and watch the city flow past - night or day, always beautiful always different. Go for a walk and get lost - you're never far from a major landmark and the side canals have a different charm. Rome is a big, bustling, impersonal city. Sights are far from each other and big. You need stamina to see them. It's probable that if you start there, you won't see much on your first day or so. 3 full days for the main sights is needed, without a day trip.

"Rome is a big, bustling, impersonal city. Sights are far from each other and big. You need stamina to see them. It's probable that if you start there, you won't see much on your first day or so". I agree with this statement strongly. I experienced extreme exhaustion when I was in Rome.....we packed Rome into 4 nights and found our itenerary to be completely intense. Since this is your honeymoon, I would take more time in Rome just so you can see it at a slower pace and really enjoy yourself. Rome was intense......craziest traffic I have ever seen. Try to cross that busy road, you might make it across without having a panic attack. So my advice is to add 1-2 more nights to Rome.
I spent 3 nights in Venice, I loved Venice....way more than Rome. So I would recommend the 4 nights there. Maybe add a couple more days to Tuscany? Siena was great, so was Florence.

My first plan was to fly in to Venice and out of Rome. I am really looking forward to Venice and I would like it to be the last leg of the trip but you are making good points so I may reconsider. Flying in to Venice and out of Rome is about $500 more expensive than the reverse so that went in to the decision as well. I am looking at non stop flights from JFK in NY. Back to the drawing board I guess!!

If you add the lakes or Verona to you itinerary, fly into Milan and do them first. Milan is the cheapest to fly into from my experience. Either place is about 1 to 1-1/2 hour by train from Milan. Then Venice, Florence/Tuscany, and finally Rome.

Zachary....try TAP if you don't mind flying out of Newark...they are one of the least expensive and they will fly you from Newark to Lisbon and Lisbon to Venice....then you can fly Rome to Lisbon and Lisbon to Newark. Also to make things better....if you have decent credit....apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card....it has No Foreign Transaction Fees and if you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months you will get 40,000 Ultimate Reward Points which if you spend those on airfare through the website it will be worth $500 because when you use points and cash to book your airfare they give you a 20% discount.