Hello,
My fiance and I are trying to figure out our itinerary for our honeymoon this July. We're planning to be in Italy arriving on July 5 and flying out to Paris on July 13 (8 nights). We're looking at flights in/out of Pisa and Venice - either order. We're considering two different itineraries and would love advice for which would be better during early July, given likely very warm temperatures and crowds. We're interested in great food/wine, culture, not moving around too much (but still seeing a few areas as it's his first time to Europe), and generally experiencing the country.
First option: Cinque Terre (2-3 nights), Florence (~3 nights), Venice (~2 nights). Could go in either order, but likely in the one I've listed here. Pros: It looks like there are pretty good train connections between these. CT is on the water and so good time for being by the beach (cons - very crowded during this time of the year?).
Second option: Venice (~2 nights), Florence (2-3 nights), and surrounding/Tuscany hill towns (3-4 nights). This is where I could use specific suggestions for places that will be good to visit/stay in during this time of year. As we'll be flying in or out of Pisa on one end, we'd likely plan to visit Pisa for a few hours and potentially Lucca. We're also interested in Volterra, Montepulciano, and Siena from the reading we've done, but would consider other towns if it made more sense. I understand a car is easier in this area, though options to use public transit or reduce the total need for a car would be great. I'm thinking that going to the hill towns might somewhat help with crowds (at least compared to CT) - is that right?
Any suggestions, tips, etc. would be very welcome! Also, if this really does seem like a bad time to go to this area in general, that'd be good to know too. We had also been considering the south of France (Provence, Nice), but are strongly leaning to Italy right now.
Thanks!