Looking for advice on my draft honeymoon, plus must-do niche activities. Thank you in advance :)

Welcome!

What time of year?
Where are you flying from?

Day 3 looks impossible

You have basically no time in Venice or Rome

Where will you drop the car? You do not want or need in Florence.m, CT, or Amalfi

Need a lot more info

Mid-September. Planning to drop car off in Florence, so only have it from Venice -> Dolomites -> Florence. Flying from Toronto, Canada into Venice and out of Rome is the plan. We're okay with little time in Venice and Rome, not huge city people and have plans to return to Rome on a later trip.
Seen that you can do Murano/Burano in ~4-6 hours, so were hoping to do 7-8am until 1pm, go pick up the rental car and be in Cortina by 5:30.

Appreciate the help

This seems a lot less like a honeymoon than a hectic trip, barely a vacation.

Use some type of nav app to figure out how long it will take to get from place to
place since you're trying to be in 7 places in 15 days. Then increase it by 50%
to account for getting lost, stopping for a long lunch in some charming little
Italian village, etc. Then really seriously look at how much time you actually
have in each destination and think about what you really want to do on your
honeymoon.

I'd consider dropping one of Cortina/Ortisei and spending all your days in one
of those places.

Cinque terre to Amalfi is at least 8 hours by train.

We drove from Cortina to Venice Maestre. Lots of traffic, it took much longer than google maps estimate. Trying to go to Murano and Burano, and then driving to Cortina, is a lot. You are picking up a car which would take some time. Cortina is lovely, and expensive, I feel like you will spend a lot for accommodation that you will barely experience.

You will probably drive thru Verona from Ortisei to Florence.

On your way to Ortiesei, which looks wonderful, you might consider the Prosecco Road! We did that one day (with car) and stopped at two wineries - you make appointments with them to do this. We had lunch at an incredible location on the terrace looking out at the "snail" hills of the area. Good for special, definitely off the beaten path, experience! Congratulations - you will have a wonderful honeymoon! https://www.prosecco.it/en/scheda-itinerario/the-prosecco-wine-road/

This is way too much for two weeks, and I am a fast mover.

Ideas:

If you had to drop Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast, which one would you keep? If you don’t care about Venice, then fly into Malpensa (Milan). Take the train to Verona & stay there. It’s a straight line north to the Dolomites, so you can pick up the car in Verona when you’re ready to leave. Give the Cortina day to Ortesei. There’s plenty of great hiking in that area, and if you have a cloud-covered day, you still have some good days. Leave the car in Verona & train to Florence. Or pick a beautiful Tuscany spot and keep the car. If you’re finishing in Florence, just do a RT flight from Milan & probably save some money & time. I like the MOXY at Malpensa for my night before flying home from Malpensa.

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate the tips and fast replies. So many places to see, just more reasons to come back! Very good to know that the commutes are typically longer than anticipated.

I agree that your travel times are practically guaranteed to be significantly longer than what Google Maps says. Not least because September is still high season. You have set an absolutely frenetic pace, with not much time allowance tor finding "niche things" or enjoying honeymoony things. Or heaven forbid, Murphys law makes an appearance. With all the travel from place to place you are sacrificing a lot of sightseeing time, or any time to just soak up the local ambiance. If you could eliminate CT and allocate thoe days elsewhere, I think you would enjoy your time more.

I'm exhausted just reading your plans. You might want to consider slowing WAY down. With the stress that comes with most weddings you'll want (need?) some down time to just relax and unwind.

You want to have good memories of nice places, good food and wine, and meeting new people. But I'm afraid you might have just memories of checking in and out of hotels, driving through but not seeing great scenery, and train stations.

Don't mean to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought. Love long and prosper.

Slooow waaay down! Your honeymoon shouldn't become the Amazing Race.

Mid September will still be hot, so choose your locations and lodging wisely.

Have you already booked your flights? If not, either do north or south.

Plan some time to relax and enjoy Italy. Linger over a lunch with views of the countryside, evening strolls, gelato stops. BTW, Venice is not your typical "city".

Whatever you choose, I hope your new wife enjoys the same travel style.

I will echo what others have already said. Too many places in too few days. Pick two or three close cities and enjoy more time in each.

You want to enjoy your honeymoon being together instead of travelling from place to place half of your time. Rather imagine sitting in a plaza enjoying a good meal and drink, watching people, watching the sun go down, admiring the architecture, and so on, not sitting in traffic every other day, getting lost when you miss your turn off...,

When is this for 2026 or 2027?

If 2026 and you still go to Venice then I think your accommodations options will be very limited as many have been booked already. Assuming I will still be able to fly to northern Italy for my trip in late September because of current world events, I did my accommodation booking in January and some places did not have rooms available at that time.

Be sure you have discussed with your fiancé—the concerns about the overall pace and brief stays in some places should be heeded, best of luck and congrats!
You can cut half of the stops and have an amazing trip and see so much more in actuality.

hey hey hgro99
welcome to the forum
whoa whoa whoa, you really need to slow down. you are on italy overload wanting it all with a short time (i count 13 nights & 7 places) along with a car which takes longer than you think or see on maps. my own opinion is venice to florence, drop amalfi coast and add those days to maybe cortina.
few things you need to be aware of: jetlag is REAL especially next day, hotel check-in times 3-4pm check-out times 10-11am (where will you keep luggage while waiting for room, transportation from airport to venice proper and are hotels booked?
day 2 & 3 are too much, i would enjoy venice and not driving "foggy" to verona & lake garda.
all drivers will need an IDP (aaa.com/IDP) which is mandatory in italy before you leave canada. read all the rules and laws about driving in italy. (italia.it requirements and rules). the cost of fuel & tolls, parking, ZTL zones
look at departuring from florence, milan or venice airports. pay close attention to departure times since some can be very very early AM's, spend night before in airport town.
look at train travel between cities that goes city center to city center, many towns there is no driving allowed in centers, finding parking garage which can be further away and $$$ parking.
you are traveling during high high summer season and HOT. the places you have picked will be crowded, it's harvest season with many fairs & festivals all around.
it's your honeymoon/vacation, you do you. enjoy more time in towns and less time driving. sit outside cafe with a drink, appetizers, people watch and gelato after.
aloha

You need to do some serious work on each day
I think you are way over estimating can be done, way underestimating how long things take, etc

Just taking Day 3
Vaporettos to the island leave from Fondamente Nove-how far from there is your hotel? Let’s say 20 min walk
Vaporetto to Burano takes 45 mn
Leaving Burano you will likely find a wait for a vap (let’s say 20 min) to Murano and that journey takes about 30 min
Leaving Murano will have a line for vaporettos (20 min) and the journey back to F Nove is 30 min
From there to P Roma where I assume you will pick up car will probably take about 45-60
If you stayed on Burano and Murano for an hour each you are already up to 6 hours or so and that’s a best case scenario

Where has your luggage been this whole time?

Why bother going to those islands if you don’t really have time to enjoy ?

Picking up the car will take about an hour, drive to Cortina maybe 3 hours
Check the open hours of the rental agencies-many are closed mid day 12-4 ish

Anyway

If you are not interested in Venice and Rome why not fly in to Milan-go right to Verona for a few nights-it’s a lovely city
Pick up car as you leave and drive to one location in Dolomites

Drop the car in Bolzano or Verona and continue by train to Florence
Train to CT
Train to Amalfi-super long travel day

Fly home from Naples

Expect huge crowds in CT, Florence and Amalfi
Mid September is still the height of tourist season

Don't laugh, but have you considered taking the Rick Steves' My Way Italy tour as your honeymoon trip? And, yes, couples do go on RS tours for their honeymoons.

If that's not your speed, okay, but as others have said, this itinerary is way too packed. I'd pick northern Italy, Tuscany/Umbria, or one of the coastal areas and focus on a region or two. Ask yourselves how you truly want to spend your time. Also consider renting a car only if necessary and use the train when you can. Good luck & best wishes!

first day in Venic walk rick steves walking tour route, google maps works fine. Pre-arrange tours through a company so things are easy, you need zero stress on honeymoon. it will cost more but you will enjoy each other more. Day 1 - reserve doges palace behind scenes tour in Venice, go tour Academia in afternoon along with walking into Frari Church. if you are really going to do Rome in one day pre-reserve a full day tour. but id do 3 days minimum and even that isn't enough time.

Read your itinterary and thought draft must've been a typo and you really meant daft 😄 That's like two trips in the time-span of one! As others have said, pare it down or extend the stay lest your honeymoon be forever memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Hi there & congrats on your nuptials. Many people have said things that I agree with, but it is after all your trip. What we do is sit down and think about the details - What time does the plane arrive, how long realistically to the hotel? How many hours and where for dinner? Do you like to sleep in? How much luggage are you carrying for such a busy schedule? We like to actually have a sit down lunch, in Italy that's at least 1.5 hours or longer, at which point maybe you'd like to relax, take a walk, have a gelato.... I think you see where this is heading. It's ITALY, it would be such a shame to miss what makes it SO wonderful in order to cram in more places!

You seem to like scenery / walks so perhaps focus on those areas. Amalfi Coast is the outlier to this vacation - In September it will be packed and hot. And frankly so will the CT, which you could skip in favor of more time in Cortina / Venice & Florence. You're only spending the jet lagged day of arrival in Venice, seems like it just won't be enough.

If you've already booked air fare, flying into Venice & out of Rome works, as long as you're in Rome the night before departure. Let us know what you're thinking, changes etc, and you will get much more detailed info about your trip! Bon Voyage!

Hello all! Thank you again for all your input. We cut out the Verona/Lake Garda day trip at the beginning so we’d have more time in Venice and could pick up the rental car first thing in the morning on Day 3 to head to the Dolomites. Also re-thinking the dolomites portion and considering staying more in one area compared to splitting between cortina/ortisei. Would love peoples’ input on possible itinerary for this portion.
My fiancé still really wants to see both Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast, so we tried switching the order of Florence and Cinque Terre to help break up the travel a bit better and cut down the long commute toward Amalfi. Curious what everyone thinks of this updated version.
If the general consensus is that this still feels too rushed or not realistic, we’ve also discussed potentially cutting Amalfi (sadly) and using that extra time to go to Lake Garda instead. No flights have been booked yet – only our Venice hotel is locked in (but refundable) so far.
Some more information about us – we’re compact travellers, so we typically travel only with a carry on backpack and personal item. We’ve done previous Europe trips for 2.5w with only our backpacks as well. We're early risers, typically up before sunrise and asleep shortly after sunset haha. We like to relax, but overall can't sit still for too much time.

Day 1 – Venice
• Arrive in Venice around 9:30 AM
• Explore Venice
Day 2 – Venice
• Murano & Burano in the morning
• Venice in the afternoon/evening
Day 3 – Dolomites
• Pick up rental car first thing in the morning
• Drive to the Dolomites
• Explore
Day 4 – Dolomites
Day 5 – Dolomites
Day 6 – Dolomites -> Cinque Terre
• Drive toward La Spezia/Cinque Terre
• Stop for lunch in Verona along the way
• Flexible driving day with scenic stops
• Arrive in La Spezia that evening and train into Cinque Terre
Day 7 – Cinque Terre
• Explore Cinque Terre
Day 8 – Cinque Terre -> Florence
• Day in Cinque Terre
• Train to Florence in the evening
Day 9 – Florence
Day 10 – Florence
Day 11 – Florence -> Sorrento
• Explore Sorrento that afternoon/evening
Day 12 – Amalfi Coast
• Explore Amalfi Coast
Day 13 – Amalfi Coast
• Explore Amalfi Coast
Day 14 – Amalfi -> Rome
• Travel from Amalfi coast/Sorrento to Rome
Day 15 – Fly Home
• Fly home out of Rome

Appreciate all of your well wishes and advice!

Definitely an improvement!

I am seeing 14 nights
Venice 2
Dolomites 3
CT 3
Florence 2
Sorrento/Amalfi 3
Rome 1

Stopping in Verona for lunch probably more hassle than it’s worth as parking will be well outside the center, pedestrian area

Be careful wherever you park en route leaving your belongings in the car

Assuming you are dropping car in La Spezia-check rental agency closing time and train schedule carefully

Consider train to Salerno from Florence-direct fast trains- much easier to get to than Sorrento and easier to get to Amalfi coast towns from Salerno
No need to go to Sorrento for just 1 night or the whole stay if your goal is to see AC

I would still look to fly home from Naples
Going all the way to Rome from AC just means more time/expense on travel for only an evening there
Spend that final night before departure in Naples

I would settle on itinerary soon and get places booked in CT and AC asap

Congrats on the honeymoon!
If you stay in the right neighborhood, Venice is not a large city. Stay away from St Marks Square and Rialto Bridge, and you can enjoy peaceful, charming back canals-no crowds- and still have great shops and restaurants. We love the Cannaregio area, Hotel Ai Mori D'Oriente. Venice is great for working through jet lag. We go to Venice very few years, we love it so much.

The influencers have ruined the Amalfi Coast, plus the infrastructure has been sadly neglected. There is no public or private transportation mode that is quick or efficient. The roads are all gridlocked. It's a slog, which takes patience. And you'll have the heat. And the crowds are shoulder-shoulder. We were there in May a few years back- it was god--awful crowded. The influencers don't show that in their perfect pix. And the crowds start at Easter and go thru fall. (I read that the CT is the same, but I haven't been there.)

In any trip like this, folks usually hit a wall 7-10 days in, especially with a brisk pace. You either have a cold, or the body is completely exhausted. The RS advice to slow down and plan a "vacation within a vacation" day is very wise!

Have a wonderful trip, and remember, less is more. Folks want to soak up the local culture, but that can't be done if you're buzzing past it.

Day 3 - first thing in the morning. Check the rental companies. City locations often don't open before 8 or 8.30 and allow 1/2 hour for paperwork, checking the car, etc. Estimated drive times on apps like google are usually optimistic.

I completely agree with Christine on choosing Salerno instead of Sorrento. Unlike Sorrento, It is in fact on the AC and closer to the AC villages. It also has a relatively large sandy beach, and lovely seaside promenade, a medieval historic center to explore and lots of restaurants and cafes to choose from, all less expensive that in Sorrento or the picturesque villages.

Looks much improved. Often, when people say slow down, they do not necessarily mean you need to sit in a cafe for hours instead, it is more that you are skipping over so many places/things that you could do instead of being in transit (those long train rides are your down time).
I’d say eliminate Sorrento and stay in one place ON the Amalfi coast.