Miss Candy Corn, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: Senior Editor/Writer & Freelance Illustrator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Student
Engagement Date: September 1, 2004
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: May 6, 2008
Venue: Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology
About Me: I enjoy people watching (especially in New Jersey malls), obsessive collecting, drooling over contemporary art, browsing flea markets for vintage finds and eating an absurd amount of cheese. In my Philadelphia abode, I create mixed media artwork and one-of-a-kind home accessories in the company of my farmer-tanned fiancé, our Westiepoo (Betty White), our three rabbits (Cadbury, Willie Nelson and Applesauce) and our two frisky chinchillas (Ethel Funk and Maude).
Honeymoon Planning is Supposed to be Fun, Right?
June 18th, 2008 @ 11:27 am by Miss Candy Corn
Dearest Weddingbee readers!
I desperately need your help with honeymoon planning. Mr. CC and I know we want to go to Italy in late May ’09 for roughly 10 days (a belated honeymoon since we want to wait until he graduates), and we know we want to go to Florence, Rome and Venice, but trying to figure out how to piece it all together is making my head spin.
What travel agents or travel packages do you recommend, if any? Or should we suck it up and figure it out on our own, without an agent? I just started looking into the Costco “Best of Italy” packages and they’ve gotten mixed reviews, so I’m not sure if I should pursue it or not. I’ve also looked into STA Travel, but haven’t seen reviews from real people who have used their services so I am hesitant to look into it without some initial feedback. Frommers and TripAdvisor are great for browsing their message boards and reading reviews, but I just don’t know how to tackle the honeymoon head-on. I’ve never been on a plane, so my travelling experience is nonexistent.
I own a few highly-recommended Italian guidebooks for us tourist-folk, but I figured I’d ask you readers for your opinions since you’re always pulling through for me 
I’m absolutely in love with Positano and Cinque Terre, but I’m willing to bet that it would be way less exhausting and stressful to save them for another trip entirely.
Mr. CC and I are looking for an adventurous, yet relaxing vacation where we don’t have to hustle around every day and worry about constantly changing hotels and catching train rides. We’re willing to stay in cute hotel boutiques and smaller b&bs over swanky hotels if it means saving a few bucks here and there. We’re also not really huge on going to really overcrowded tourist destinations when there are so many secret backroads to explore, so the more untraditional recommendations or ideas, the better! Although, I’m the type that gets lost in my own backyard, so I’m a little nervous about trying to figure out the transportation situation. I know this is supposed to be fun to plan and figure out together, but Mr. CC will be busy working full-time and student teaching, so I sort of took this on as my “not-so-little” pet project.
Please offer your well-travelled wisdom and pray to shiny happy Buddha gods that the American dollar will stop sucking soon!
Hugs and honeymoons,
Ms. Candy Corn
69 Responses to “Honeymoon Planning is Supposed to be Fun, Right?”
First off– this will be fun, both the planning and the trip. My advice would be, just go for it. Forget the packages and agents. Book a flight in and out of Rome– and then fill in the blanks. Buy a Rick Steves Italy guide– his travel style sounds very much like what you’re looking for. Rent his videos also, or look for them on PBS (we’re going to France and they’re really getting us excited about our trip). The train system in Italy is cheap and easy to navigate– you’ll be able to get between those cities easily and most often won’t even need a reservation ahead of time, so you can be somewhat spontaneous. If you want the trip to be relaxing, best to plan for just 2 or 3 cities and spend a few nights in each place– you can take great day trips from each place, esp. Florence. My advice, between trip advisor, Rick Steves and some very friendly Italians you’re sure to meet on the road, you can plan yourselves an awesome honeymoon. Good Luck!
Having lived throughout Italy, and being obsessed with the country and its culture, I have been trying to plan a wedding there for the past year. After getting frustrated with the ridiculously high costs of trying to put together and plan a trip myself, I learned that some sites offer airfare, lodging, meals, guided tours and more for less than I can book the airefare. Frustrating for me, great for you! I have had great success with the customer service at gate1travel.com. They also seem to offer the best/most competitive prices. Other sites offering great trips at cheap prices include Alitalia (http://www.alitaliavacations.com/specials/italy-rail/?utm_source=travelzoo&utm_medium=top20&utm_term=061108&utm_campaign=azv.italy&advid=357a7e1c-7bc7-443d-834c-2769dc060615) , Europeandestinations.com (http://www.europeandestinations.com/Europe/Itinerary_pk12032_Rome_-_Florence.aspx?utm_source=tzoo&utm_medium=reg&utm_campaign=tzooreg_71_IT_12032-RomFlo_061308) and Friendlyplanettravels.com (http://www.friendlyplanet.com/italian-treasures.html) . Good luck and keep us updated with what you find!
CC, I’m so happy to see this post, as Mr. MagPie and I are also interested in Italy for our “luna de miel” in early September. We’re thinking Rome, Florence, Venice — that sorta thing — but are also struggling with the deets. (And, like you and Mr. CC, we’re up for B&Bs, and lesser-known locations and adventures.) We went to AAA to talk to someone, and while we won’t be planning through them, got some ideas of pricing and excursions. Please keep us posted!
I went through http://www.go-today.com travel for my London Honeymoon. It really helped spread the wealth. We stayed for a week in a 4 star hotel with continental breakfast in Kensington/ Notting Hill and had our airfare covered for $2118. It was really awesome and I would reccomend them again. I called and spoke with the travel agent to set up the trip as opposed to ordering on-line. Just research your hotel and have fun. It was a great experience.
The Pickle formerly known as Miss
My husband and I did Venice, Florence and Rome for 10 nights this past February. We had a really great experience with Gate1 Travel, where we booked our package from. We got a great deal (because of the season). However, if you were to go this route, I would recommend that you upgrade your hotels a tier or two, since it IS your honeymoon! The hotels we got were all fine for our budget, but I would have been disappointed with them if it were my honeymoon…not quite luxe! Included in the package are flights, hotel, rail between cities in the nice Eurostar railcars and breakfast daily. A word of warning, Venice is EXPENSIVE!! And probably even more so now! Best of luck on your planning!
I agree with Turtle — this will be a blast. And big group tours don’t sound to me to be the thing of honeymoons (though I hate them anyways).
I would suggest sticking to Florence and Rome — they’re very close, and there’s plenty to see from each. Given your experience, I’d also suggest starting in Florence — fly into Rome and take the train up to Florence, all very easy — and planning a few days of relaxed sight seeing and adjusting. The town is pretty small, but BEAUTIFUL, and you can definitely take day trips. Then head back to Rome, which is a bustly, fun, European city. You could fit in a trip down to the Almafi coast, but it would make your travels a lot more packed.
Venice is on the other side of the country, and so a bit harder to get to. And, I’ve always heard it’s a disappointment, though I’ve never been. Sticking to the West coast leaves you more room to be spontaneous.
An excellent place to start is the message boards/chat rooms at Fodors.com. The posters are extremely knowledgeable, give great recommendations/suggestions/tips, and most are seasoned travellers.
I’m so jealous! My husband and I took a similar trip - Nice, Florence, Venice, Milan, Lake Cumo. Venice was my absolute favorite and would highly recommend at least 2 days there to explore (since you will most likely get lost, but that’s what makes it so much fun there). I used ItaliaRail for trains between cities and Hotels.com. It will be a bit of research work on your end but worth it. I planned the whole trip myself too.
We did Florence and Rome, with day trips to Pisa and Cinque Terre, in 10 days. It was perfect– I wouldn’t try to fit in Venice, you want to relax! Make sure you hit up all the famous gelato places!
If you have the time to figure out where to stay and how to get to each location, I think it’s definitely doable. Many Italian hotels are now online and you can map out where you want to go (also by looking at other travel agencies’ itineraries). Before meeting my FI I backpacked Europe alone for 2 months with no problems. On the other hand, if you want to have it all taken cared of, I say go with a travel agency to take care of airfare, accommodations and rail transfers for you. Have you seen The Big Day honeymoon site yet?
Ms. Candy Corn- I live in the UK and have done lots of travelling around Europe, including all 3 cities you want to see. Would be happy to message back and forth with you if you want advice. Since you haven’t been to Europe before, and are looking for more off the beaten path sorts of things, I wonder whether you might prefer smaller cities in Italy rather than the “big 3″? Do Tuscan villages appeal to you? Venice and Rome are both incredible, but can be a bit overwhelming, and if you are looking for some peace and quiet, you might enjoy a few days at a villa in Tuscany instead of fighting the crowds at the Vatican. Either way, I’d be happy to help you figure out the ins and outs of planning a European holiday.
we’re huge fans of MoonRings. All of our friends have used them as well, and recommend them highly. Good luck!
My husband and I did Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Rome in 10 days this past October on our honeymoon. I did exhaustive research. Email me at my website, don’t want to post here, and I can send you our itinerary… Here are some photos for fun… http://www.rachspiegel.com/italy/
We adored our Philadelpha-based travel agent — Robyn Potter. I cannot recommend her highly enough. If you would like her contact information, please let me know!
Miss CC, I spent five weeks in Italy (Florence specifically with weekend trips to Rome and Venice), so here’s all I can give you:
[1] first, you mentioned already having guide books. If you don’t already own Rick Steves’ Italy (or the best of Europe), BUY IT! Rick Steves’ literally saved Venice for me when I was ready to give up and go home. His book really was the one thing my friends and I could always rely on.
[2] second, you can absolutely go to Cinque Terre. If you give yourself enough time in Florence, you can do many day trips out of there. (That way Florence is a “home base” and you won’t have to change hotels.) You can take the train to Cinque Terre and spend the day there. The hike between all five cities is intense, but can definitely be done within the day. Start in Monterosso with a stop in Vernazza to eat (pesto was created there!) and stop for a nice swim. (vernazza is my favorite city and it breaks up the hike nicely). Then, stop in the next city for gelato, etc. This is what I did, and even though we did the hike on the hottest day of the year, it was still my absolute favorite day in Italy!
FLORENCE:
[3] I stayed in the Hotel Rivoli, a four star best western hotel in Florence. http://www.hotelrivoli.it/uk/
I was a part of a large group for a study abroad trip, so I did not pay the actual prices (which I am not sure how they compare to other hotels), but I know that it was a very charming hotel with friendly staff. It is actually an old convent, and is located right across the street from the Santa Maria Novella convent (and also very close to the SMN train station!) The rooms are small, but that’s pretty much how it goes in Italy. I lived there for five weeks, and highly recommend it.
[4] eat at trattoria’s NOT ristorante’s!!! most ristorante’s are crappy tourist traps while the trattoria’s are family owned and amazing. Definitely try Mastrocilegia (near Santa Croce). Also, for a splurge, go to Acqua al Due (you’ll need a reservation) - it’s on Via Delle Vigna Vecchia.
Also, avoid touristy gelato - go to Vivoli! (close to Mastrocilegia - ask anyone in town for directions to Vivoli and they’ll know - its known by everyone as the best gelato in Florence) Also, there’s Gelateria Carraia, just south of the river - two blocks down from the Ponte Vecchio.
[5] make reservations to go to the Uffizi! it’s worth it not to stand in line.
ROME:
[1] see everything at night. I took a night walk from the Colosseum, pst the Trevi fountain, to the Vatican (my hostel was near there), and it was the best part of my trip to Rome.
[2] DO NOT pay for a “private tour” of the Vatican! It is the only way to cut the line, but once you’re in they rush you through the museum. Just suck it up and get in line early. Go to the Vatican Museum FIRST, though, and then you can use the “tour groups only” (i did it w/o a tour - they don’t notice/care) exit from the Sistine Chapel and you can get straight into Saint Peter’s without standing in line again. (Also, to go into the Basillica, you need to have shoulders covered and no shorts)
VENICE:
[1] use Rick Steves’ for food! Venice food is very overpriced and many places are not too great.
[2] go to murano and watch the glass blowing!
haha, okay that was way too long, but there ya go! 
If you’d like to know anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.
We are leaving for Italy on Tuesday and are doing a tour. We didn’t really want to do a tour but it was so highly recommended by a friend we decided to give it a try. Plus trying to figure out hotels and transportation was really stressful and this takes care of all of it for us. I don’t want to have to think about anything on the honeymoon but just want to go to Italy and have everything taken care of for me and just enjoy it. Our tour is through Globus tours and we are doing the 9 day tour through Rome, Florence and Venice. They do pick the hotels for you but you get 1 1/2 days in each city to explore on your own then have a 1/2 day of a group tour. Apparently you don’t have to wait in such a long line if you go with a tour group to the major sites such as the Vatican. Otherwise I’ve heard that you can end up waiting for hours if you go on your own. Look at http://www.ecortedglobustours.com and there are multiple choices for Italy. I can let you know more when we get back but we are so excited!!
Do NOT do a group tour. I would suggest using a travel agent; like a wedding coordinator, they can make the most out of your budget. They also can give lots of tips on what to pre-arrange and what to due spontaneously.
Don’t pass up the Vatican! So much art and architecture!
I just got back from Italy for 10 days. Actually, I got engaged on Capri while I was there. I have a few pieces of advice: 1) hole up in the Tuscan countryside at an agriturismo–a working farm/vineyard with a guest house–within walking distance to a small, medieval village (like San Gimignano). We stayed at Torraccia di Chiusi (http://www.torracciadichiusi.it/), about 4 km from San Gimignano, and had the best food of our entire trip there. You often eat and drink the food, olive oil and wine right off the property which makes it so fresh and delicious. Take a cooking class. Rent a car, bikes, or scooter to explore Tuscany while you’re there. 2) Head to Capri and stay at the Caesar Augustus (Relais & Chateux property). The view is like nothing else on the island. Rent a scooter for a day and zip around the tiny island. Don’t miss the Blue Grotto (as cheesy as it appears). It’s Julius Caesar’s private swimming pool. 3) Go to Cinqueterre and rent a room from a local once you get there. Head into any cafe or gelateria and ask if they know of a room for rent. Last time I did this, I ended up at a vintner’s apartment right across from the beach, which we took advantage of for midnight swimming. The owner let us sample homemade grappa and limoncello and buy wine for cheap. 4) I suggest heading to these places and hitting the cities for a day or two while in transit. Stay at each of these places for three nights or more to avoid so much travel. If it were me, I’d avoid the major cities because they’re becoming too much like a big, Italian Disneyland. They don’t feel authentic anymore. Venice, in particular. That said, it’s hard to dismiss Florence’s David, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Duomo.
Let me know if you want more advice. I lived in Italy for a semester and was just there again for 10 days as I said. I’m happy to fill you in.
you can check out this website http://smartours.com/italy.htm
I am planning going on their china tour when I can get the time off. I read their reviews and it seems pretty positive. Even if you decide you dont want to with their package maybe you can use their schedule and make your own so you wont have to do too much planning where to go and etc.
Venice, Florence and Rome are doable for the 10 days that you are looking at. I’d spend 2 nights in Venice, and split the rest of the time between Rome and Florence. (Like Gillian said, Venice is often a disappointment to people, but it is one of my favorite cities.) Florence is basically in the middle between Rome and Venice.
Rick Steve’s guides are good for the details about when the best time is to go to various museums, but I’d encourage you not to follow his suggestions for food. (Let’s Go guides are much better for that.)
And I don’t think that you need to go with a travel agent. Once you get the flights booked, I’d scope out tripadvisor and contact the hotels that seem most interesting/promising.
Travel by rail is pretty easy, and it might be worth it for you to get rail passes. http://www.railkey.com/tickets/eurail-italy.asp?AFF=EOR
You’d qualify for the saver pass (since you’d be traveling together) and might qualify for the youth pass if you’ll both be under the age of 26.
Heather Kaplow at Liberty Travel in CC (on Chestnut) helped us book our honeymoon. I went to her because I read a lot of great reviews about her on Citysearch. She’s super helpful and actually listens to what you have in mind. I’m sure she’d be able to help and I think it makes is so much easier to plan a trip face to face! The number there is 215-972-0200.
Oh, and they’re like Carl Alan (who happens to be my florist too!) - they can work with any budget!
I will say that you absolutely MUST go to Cinque Terre! It was the most beautiful place we have EVER been and we even contemplated cutting an extra day out of another city to stay there longer. It was the dreamiest, most relaxing and romantic place on earth. If I were you, I’d focus on Venice and Cinque Terre with a day-trip to Florence (which I personally found to be the least exciting/romantic of the 3 cities). You can even squeeze in a quick trip to Pisa on the way! Good luck!
My college roommate and I did Venice-Florence-Rome in 10 days and had a blast. We only spent 2 nights in Venice, then 4 each in Florence and Rome.
I second melodicsighs’s Rick Steves suggestion — his Europe guides are fantastic and very budget-friendly. One word of warning: avoid one hostel Rick recommends, The Beehive in Rome. The hostel itself is actually really nice, which I’m sure is why he suggests it, but they put me & my roommate in a really sketchy apartment south of the train station, a 20-minute walk from the main building. To get out of that place, we ended up calling every hotel in the guidebook until we found one that would take us!
That was our only snag in an otherwise amazing trip. You can totally plan this on your own with the help of a few guidebooks and the Internet. Budget lots of funds for museums, splurge on at least one item of great Italian fashion, and enjoy!!!
Like many others have said, Venice is a crowded, over-priced tourist trap. It is gorgeous and I am glad I went, but you really only need to stay 1 night there. Also you should use Florence as your “home-base” and take some smaller trips out into the country-side. I wish we had done more research before our trip there so kuddos to you for planning.
I think you would be surprised how much you can fit into one day if you are out the door by 9. The day you arrive do not go to sleep until night. Just keep going, it will help you acclimate sooner. It is so hard, but you sleep so well and be ready to do it all the next day.
So if I were taking your trip I would say:
Day 1: Rome.
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome, train to Florence in early evening, stay in Florence.;
Day 4: Florence;
Day 5: Florence
Day 6: Venice for the day, stay in Florence
Day 7: Train to Cinque Terre, stay Monterosso. Day 8-9: Cinque Terre to relax, beach, eat & drink.
Day 10: Depending on flight time, getting back to Rome
Or some variation on this.
Don’t take a tour, this is my advice to everyone! There are many kinds of tours, but the I believe the best kind of travel in Europe is the kind that you plan! Train schedules are easy to navigate and Rick Steves is an excellent resource! Siena is a nice little side trip too, a medieval type city with great gelato! Ok, the gelato is great everywhere.
Hotels.com is a great way to book hotels in advance. You are paying in Dollars and it is confirmed in advance. I just always double check with Trip Advisor and check the location on a map.
I could go on and on…so I will stop. Enjoy the planning, it is half the fun!
I haven’t been to Italy but I would second two things:
1. Avoid group tours. Generally they’ll rush your experience.
2. Avoid STA travel. They were my agent for the year I lived in Tokyo and I had a bad, bad experience.
Cinque Terre is wonderful. Quiet, relaxing, romantic… when we go back, we are going to rent a place there and spend a week. You can take the ferry into La Spezia if you want some city time, and you can also hike and bike and swim.
I loved Venice, but hated Florence (go figure). While the architecture is definately worth seeing, the city is filthy; think parks full of completely dead grass absolutely slathered with pigeon poop. And I’ve lived in big cities - but Florence was dirty in an exotic disease opportunity kind of way. The rest of Italy seemed better, although in general I think Spain is much cleaner.
I would also vote that you stay away from the group tour thing - unless you really want to spend your time being herded like cattle with a bunch of other Americans. Or at least read up in your guidebooks and once you get in the gates, wander off on your own. You’ll see lots more, and more of what you want to see, and you won’t spend all your time smashed in a sweaty group of tourists, trying to hear the guide over the complaints of a couple of older ladies from Topeka who don’t like the food, the drinks, or the shopping and can’t stop talking about it. I wonder why a lot of Europeans don’t much like Americans? I don’t like us either when I see us over there.
If you really want to do all three cities (and don’t forget that you need to build in travel time between each city) I would fly into Rome and out of Venice, that way you aren’t spending a lot of time getting all the way back to Rome to fly home. Also, check out Trip Advisor for hotel and bed and breakfast recommendations. I found all of our B&B s on Trip Advisor for our honeymoon in Italy last fall. Lastly, have a great time!
I already saw a mention of go-today.com and I also highly recommend them! My boyfriend and I went to Paris for a week and had absolutely no issues with any of the trip and the combination of the flights and hotel were much MUCH cheaper through that site. We loved it. And we even got highly discounted museum passes through them. Definitely check out go-today.com. They offer lots of packages without a lot of fuss!
Wow! What excellent advice! I spent two weeks there while I was living in the UK, and LOVED IT! I think everyone has hit the nail on the head about Italy. I only have a few things to add.
1. I did all of the traveling planning myself, and am just not the kinda person to hand it over to a travel agent. I never get the best price with a travel agent!
2. I booked the hostels through http://www.hotstelworld.com. Almost everyplace I’ve stayed at was excellent for budget travelers in Europe.
3. Book your train tickets before you leave the US via http://www.eurail.com or http://www.RailEurope.com/Eurail
4. Make all our museum reservations for the Uffizi and Academia before you leave the US. We made reservations for the Uffizi and got right in, but we stood in line at Academia for over an hour.
5. Be flexible. Our hostel in Florence offered a day horseback riding/wine and food tasting through Tuscany with an Italian guide. I was a little hesitant at first, but it was the best $75 I have ever spent. As I have traveled more in Europe many hostels are offering more planning activities, but you won’t know about it until you get there.
6. Unless you are seeing an opera at La Scalla, skip Milan!
7. I would just like to emphasize: RICK STEVES. RICK STEVES, RICK STEVES. Everyone buys the book for a good reason!
I had a lovely time in Venice, but I went in early April when it wasn’t quite as overrun with tourists. And having lived 6 months in Rome, I still didn’t see everything. You can probably do all 3 cities, but I’d suggest maybe subbing Cinque Terre for Venice … less travel time all around. The trains are great between cities, and both Florence and Rome are very walker-friendly (and there are great buses. Just make sure you actually validate your ticket — it’s the honor system, but I don’t suggest chancing it.)
And Italy is a fabulous place to do it yourself. Group tours rush you from one spot to another, but trust me, this is NOT a place where you will want to be rushed. And it’s your honeymoon, so I’d imagine you’ll want to relax at least a little.
I second the suggestion to use Rick Steves - the man is a genius when it comes to travel. Also, plan the trip yourself - you’ll be happier with the end product.
First things first…..buy a rail pass. Look at http://www.railsaver.com to figure out what rail pass you should use or if individual tickets work better for you.
Also, Cinque Terre from Florence is completely doable! I’ve done it! :o)
Oh and buy the Rick Steves book for museums - helps you in enjoying and understanding so much more than you would have otherwise!
Karen
One more thing………the following website is awesome for planning trips to Europe. Lots of REALLY knowledgeable people on the boards:
I’ve been to Venice and Tuscany with my partner, but we always just did rando internet research, and nothing in particular that I think would be particularly helpful. But I will repeat the suggestions above, even more emphatically:
BUY RICK STEVES GUIDEBOOKS!!!!
They are seriously amazing; they have information for all the museums, suggestions of walking tours (that are really, really great–it’s not just the route, but things like “go in this church here,” and then giving you short but fascinating information about the artwork inside), and has lots of really great off-the-tourist-track information. I really cannot recommend them enough.
CC, PM me. I just got back from 2 weeks in Venice, Florence, Rome & Tuscany. Ask me all.
As for guide books, I LIVED off Lonely Planet’s, it is the best one. It was pojnt on. The picture you have of the bridge, I just got goose bumps, my husband and I danced on exact same bridge in Florence
I totally apologize in advance as I have not had time to read all of the comments in front of mine so I am sure I am repeating a lot of stuff. We did Venice, Tuscany, and Florence for 10 days in late May 2004. I agree with the Rick Steves if only because it shows you how to purchase museum tickets in advance which is the most awesome thing in the world. Although you can google this as well. We flew into London from NYC via a cheap flight and then took a Ryan Air flight to Venice. I found that cheaper than flying to italy direct. You should check out all the cheap european carriers and where they fly to and out of. (Ryan Air, Easy Jet, etc.) Venice is fun, although was not my favorite and we stayed in a small Bed and Breakfast that was gorgeous and super cheap. Frommers had good restaurant reviews as does the NYTimes (frank bruni use to live in Rome!). We rented a car and drove from Venice to Tuscany which was AWESOME. Spend as much time as you can driving through Tuscany (which is pretty small and full of little hill towns and vineyards). Florence is good too and I’m sure Rome is amazing. I just searched on frommer’s website and found a ton of reasonably priced hotels. Italy is pretty easy to do your own research on… even if you are not a seasoned traveler. A good itinerary would be Venice 2 nights, train to rome, rome 3 nights, tuscany 3 nights, florence 2 nights and then home!
Another rec for go-today.com. I’ve used them for trips to London and Paris, and everything was great.
Wow, lots of great advice here! Can I just second (or maybe fourth) a few of the recommendations? Rome and Florence are fabulous, easy to get back and forth on the trains, and using the Rick Steves guidebook, not too expensive. He’s got a lot of great suggestions, and I strongly urge you to get his books! Venice was a pain to get to, overcrowded, extremely touristy, and not worth the effort at all– wish we’d spent longer in Tuscany or even headed further south rather than wasting our time crossing the country. The rail passes are great. Have a fantastic time!
I’ve been to Florence and Venice. I would fly in and out of Florence. I took a day trip to Venice. It’s about 3 hours by train each way-it’s beautiful but one day was plenty for us. Then maybe 2 days in Rome. Take a wine tour in Tuscany. Florence was absolutely beautiful, stunning and so romantic. You will love getting lost in the streets there! I stayed at Hotel Arial-affordable but nice and has a computer with internet access.
I second (third?) europeandestinations.com. I just booked our honeymoon to Spain and Portugal with them a few months ago. I loved it b/c I could get everything with them - air, hotel, *and* train, which you just can’t get through travelocity or other sites. It saved me a big headache, plus they have so many options for hotels in each city. I’ve been to Europe several times, and it was a great way to plan it. Enjoy Italy! Do go see the Peggy Guggenheim collection in Venice. Gorgeous setting, and an impeccable modern art collection.
I wanted to say a quick *thanks* to Miss CC and all the wonderful readers who have been commenting on this post, as Mr. MagPie and I are also planning to honeymoon in Italy, and these suggestions have been great. What a helpful Hive!
I’m going to go WAY against the grain here and say NO to Rick Steves. I lived in Italy and I can tell you that a lot of the stuff in his books is just plain WRONG. I think he’s become so focused on making money selling books (and his RIDICULOUSLY high-priced group tours), that he half-@sses a lot of things.
He also writes up “hidden gems” with the result that they become overrun with Americans following his book to the letter and generally being annoying. No offense to any of the others upthread, but I LOATHE Rick Steves.
Okay, stepping off my Rick-Steves-is-ruining-Italy soapbox… I’m sending you a PM with some info.
Holy cow! I just got back from my lunch break and I’m overwhelmed by all of the fabulous advice and wisdom of our readerfolk. I think we’re leaning toward doing Florence, Rome and Cinque Terre, but your awesome feedback makes me super happy and I can’t wait to further obsess about this tonight once I get out of work! I’ll message you guys back individually when I get a chance later, I’m just swamped at my job so I can’t talk much now
You guys are the BESSSSSSST.
I have no travel advice, since I have never actually been to Italy (although I am obsessed with the idea of going there soon), but I am an avid Travel Channel watcher and do recommend any of Samantha Brown’s travel guides or Italy episodes of Passport to Europe. You can download some of them on iTunes (my favorites are Rome, Florence, and Amalfi Coast). She does have a penchant for expensive hotels, but she is very insightful when it comes to exploring the off-the-beaten-path parts to the cities. Her Travel Channel website is really helpful, because there are a lot of experienced travelers who post info on the message boards. Good luck planning! It will be amazing, no matter what you do! :o)
Miss CC, I also second the idea of replacing Venice with the Cinque Terre — so that your trip is Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome. I think you’ll find you get a lot more out of the 10 days than you would trying to cram Venice into that as well. (Sounds like you’re leaning that way anyway.) If you truly want to get out of the heavily-touristed areas, though, and there’s any way you can stretch the trip to two weeks, I’d recommend Untours:
http://www.untours.com. Their trips include the flights to Europe, the ground transportation, and then two weeks in apartments or villas — for many cities they require a minimum of two weeks, but you can do a week/week split in various locations in Italy, like Florence/Rome, Rome/Venice or Florence/Umbria. They also do have some one-week apartment rentals in Tuscany. But you avoid the cattle-car “If it’s Tuesday this must be Siena” feeling of group tours.
All the practical advice above is awesome - I just need to add another plug for Cinque Terre. I met my husband in Rome during a study abroad year… I Fell. In. Love. with him in Cinque Terre. I get little butterflies in my stomach every time I think of that place… it is so, so romantic.
Off to spend the afternoon trying to do work but really reminiscing about that kitten we met on the trail in Cinque Terre… sigh…
I just want to offer some advice for picking out hotels in these cities–location is everything! Book hotels that are centrally located (and not just according to hotels.com or whatever, but check the address of the hotel you are considering on a map of the city to see where it is located compared to sights and interesting neighborhoods.)
Being able to walk out your door in the mornings and immediately being the the heart of things is so amazing. Walking to sights saves you pocket money on local transportation (that’s more euros for gelato!), and being able to easily get back to your room when you need a break is essential if you’re cramming a lot in.
you’re going to have so much fun!
Ooo, I am so anti-Rick Steves it hurts!
I lived in Venice for several months, very recently, and did lots of traveling throughout the country while there. This is a totally doable trip, without the help of a travel agent. Plan it yourself! All you really need to worry about is finding hotels, plane tickets, and knowing where the train stations are in each city. Buying and using train tickets in Italy is quite simple.
In Rome, I recommend the Hotel Smeraldo. Afforadable, right in the center of things, good breakfast, etc.
If you’re willing, I also highly recommend staying at convents. It’s much cheaper, the nuns are charming, and they are safe and comfortable. In Florence I stayed at a convent in the Piazza del Carmine that I absolutely loved. There are so many to choose from in Rome, and several in Venice too. I never stayed at a hotel while living in Venice, but heard good things about the Agli Artisti. Also affordable and in a good location.
If you want to fly into and depart from the same city, you might consider flying back to your “flight city” from your last city. Ie - fly into Rome, go next to Florence, then to Venice, and fly back to Rome. There are a number of discount airlines where you can get flights for 20 euros or less. Ryan air is a popular one. You have to fly from and to the smaller airports of each city, but there are plenty of public transit options to get you there.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I’m a Philly girl myself with a serious love for Italy.
oh yeah also wanted to add to the avoid group tours like the plague group. traveling on your own is so much more satisfying! (when you’re stuck behind a huge group of loud tourists in some museum, you’ll understand why…)
Before I post this link, I’ll just add that I have not used this site before, they just seemed to have really great deals on some multi-city packages throughout Europe. I was considering using them for a trip to Italy a while back (which got scrapped for lack of funds) but it might still prove useful: http://www.europeandestinations.com/
Back again to add another qualifier to my plug for Rick Steves: don’t rely on him for information about the historical attractions of Rome. It’s mostly lame jokes. If you’re a dork like me and are interested in ancient history you’ll just get annoyed
Also, a big HECK YES to lauracare’s suggestion of finding a centrally located hotel. It may cost a bit more, but you’ll save on transportation costs and (most importantly) time. Pick the attractions you’re most excited about and figure out hotels that are close by. (Rick Steves is really good for this purpose.)
Hi Ms. CC,
I highly recommend looking up Contiki (www.contiki.com) It’s a tour company that gives you plenty of options. First off, it’s for ages 18-35. Second, the land packages are very affordable as they get group discounts to hotels, transport, and activities. Third, there are schedules but these schedules are options. If you feel like going off on your own, you are free to do so. Fourth, they provide excursion options in addition to what comes with your package. Fifth, if nothing else, Contiki will take care of your accomodations and transportation..which really is worth it’s weight in gold since who wants to hail a taxi at a forsaken hour just to look for the hotel or hostel you’ve booked? Contki is perfect for you especially if this is your first time travelling abroad.
I am a Contiki veteran myself. I went to their Simply Italy trip 7 years ago and liked it so much that just in May my fiance ( new to travelling) took a Contiki tour in Greece. He loved it. For our honeymoon, since he’s such a culture buff, we’re going to do the Simply Italy tour. I know I did it already but this is how mucch I love Contiki. I know he’ll enjoy the trip as much as I did.
Grace
I went to Rome, Florence and Venice for my honeymoon almost a year ago, and have traveled a lot, but for our honeymoon wanted something easier, so we traveled with Globus, and did a partially guided tour. It was perfect. We had the tour every morning, which got us in every where, then had the afternoon free, or had an optional tour with the group. For Italy I completely recommend the tour idea, which I normally don’t do tour groups, but places like the Vatican and most museums, mean very long lines, and you can waste your whole day in line. With our tour group, we were the first people in the Vatican, and were alone in most of the museums and chapels, since they let the tour groups in hours before the general public, so that alone was completely worth our money. Plus the partially guided tour still allowed us to go out on our own and experience everything. And I loved Globus, the guides were amazing! Also, Venice is really expensive hotel wise, but it is so worth it to get a hotel on the island part, mainland transport shuts down early and you miss out on Venice at night, which is just beautiful. I hope this helped, feel free to email me for anything else, I can give you our hotel names which were good locations.
Try europeandestinations.com they can customize a package for you anyway you like and it’s a lot cheaper than other websites I got quotes on. Good Luck.
Bummer! I just got back from Italy on June 7th and wish I could have read all of these posts when we were still planning. These are great tips for my second trip to Italy (some day).
If anyone wants to see the details of my trip, I’ve blogged about Venice and Florence, but am behind on Siena and Rome and plan to update this weekend. I’ve got a few restaurant tips and you can see what hotels we stayed in. Or just email me caryandkaty at hotmail.
We went on our belated honeymoon for 15 days and did Venice,Florence,Siena (amazing!), Rome, then one day in Milan because my frequent flier miles required it.
On my next trip to Italy (fingers crossed) I plan to do the coastal cities and maybe a little more Tuscany. It really was a dream vacation.
Forgot to mention that flying open-jaws can save you a lot of travel time. You could fly into Milan or Pisa, take the train to the Cinque Terre (definitely do the hike from the southernmost town, Riomaggiore, to the northernmost town, Monterosso), then train to Florence, then train to Rome (there may even be a high-speed train option for this leg) and fly out of Rome.
I think that like people are either tour-group people or non-tour-group people (Rick Steves, while he does have some faults, has a good take on how to figure out which type you are), people are either travel-agent people or non-travel-agent people. My family, my FI and i all LOVE travel planning so I’ve never wanted to pay the extra fees for a travel agent. (I was shocked at the price close friends paid last November for two weeks in Argentine — in my mind, that was all because they had a travel agent do all the work — which to me is not work, it’s all the fun stuff!)
Staying in convents can be good — but many only allow single women, no couples. AND be very, very careful about finding out what their curfew is. I stayed in several convents in Italy, and while they were all very nice and super reasonably priced, it drove me nuts that I had to miss out on concerts, late dinners (and everyone eats late in Italy), etc., etc., etc., because I ***HAD*** to be back inside before the doors were locked at 10:00 pm. 10:00 pm is ridiculously early for Europe — most people don’t even start dinner until then. And it’s not that fun to be the only person or couple in whatever restaurant at 7:00 pm feeling like dumb predictable Americans who can’t or don’t want to adapt to local patterns.
Someone may have mentioned this already, I didn’t read through them all since there are SO many! The bridge (Ponte Vecchio) in your picture is where many couples place locks on the bridge as a sign of their ‘eternal love’. Obviously they have to cut them all off once in a while but it’s nice to think that your love is ‘locked on’ forever! Kind of a nice honeymoon touch!
CC. My grandmother’s sister owns a bed and breakfast ON TOP OF THE SPANISH STEPS. She is American but has lived in Rome for 50 years, so you get an English-speaking hostess who knows Roma like the back of her hand. And the location — oh, the location! Lemme find the contact info to pass along to you!
It sounds like you’re getting some fabulous advice Ms. CC. I would just like to add that if you decide to go to Venice, be certain to be there after sunset. I found Venice at night to be absolutely magical (and I was chaperoning forty 16 and 17 year old kids…if there’s still magic at the end of a long day chaperoning students, the city has to be doing something right). I’m torn between advising you to go to CT or to Venice…both are incredibly memorable in completely different ways. For the sake of an easier trip, though, I’d lean towards CT. It’s getting more and more commercial, too, as more people learn about it, so now is a good time to go. Just note that you may have difficulty finding a place to stay if you want to stay for just one night (most people who have tourists stay require you to stay for two or even three nights).
I would also like to part from the crowd and recommend the Eye Witness guides. They have a general one for Italy, as well as ones specific to cities/regions. I found that the photos and diagrams got me even more excited about the trip and helped me recognize things once I arrived. The sections in the back are also really helpful in explaining things that others might assume you know (such as validating your bus/train ticket–just slide in into the stamp machine before you board).
Third, I definitely support reserving museum tickets in advance. I wasn’t able to do this, and spent much of my life (or so it seemed) in the insanely long lines. I met some great people at the Vatican and we bonded during those five hours, but still…
Finally, I know that many of us are concerned about saving, but I would urge you to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way when you’re there. Pay the 6 euro to climb to the top of the campanile (tower) or duomo or whatever. Italy is breathtaking, and the hard-earned views from a few stories up are so worth it. (On a related note–Have a plan for taking pictures, and do your best to transfer your photos at every opportunity, even if it means ducking into a webcafe. Having your camera stolen at the end of your trip would be sad, but losing those honeymoon photos would be heartbreaking)
*I promise this is the last tip–Send yourself postcards from Italy. The inefficiency of the post service ensures you’ll be getting them for several months after you return 
, and it will be great to have the postcards with Italian stamps, postmarks, and your thoughts in the moment as a keepsake.
My FI and I went to Rome last year for 7 days. We also had the same questions as you do..What we did was:
1) Looked on Trip Advisor for hotels in Rome. We did not want to stay at a Holiday Inn or anything like that, but we also did not want to spend a ton of money. We ended up booking our room at the Milton Roma Hotel in Rome. It was around a 10 minute walk to the Colosseum and the metro station is just across the street. The place was very clean and the breakfast in the morning was wonderful.
2) We checked out Kayak.com for flights. We flew out of San Francisco, had a layover in NYC for about 4 hours and then strait to Rome. I have to say Air Italia is not the best airline in the world, in fact it really sucked…but hey we made it safely and the flight did not break the bank.
I think buy your tickets first. After that everything will just fall into place. There is only so much planning you can do. I would say that there are so many things to see in Rome, maybe give yourself a good 3 days there.
hey miss candy corn!! i was beyond thrilled when i saw the picture of florence (partially because i have one just like it…i think everyone who’s been there does!) loved love loved it there! we actually went on a tour with globus…”best of italy and greece” with about 1 week in each country. they do have separate tours of just italy…you’re going to have SO much fun! you have so many great suggestions from all the other readers but if you happen to check out globus and need additional information, i’d be happy to help!
@Miss Cupcake: Could please (pretty please!) pass that info along to me too? It sounds amazing!
Lonely Planet and Let’s Go are my go-to guides for any destination. Great maps, and suggestions that range from seriously budget-conscious to high end.
How exciting!!!!
Some of this has been said but it’s worth repeating:
1) Get Rick Steve’s guidebooks. They’re the best, hands down.
2) Fly open-jaw.. so fly into one city (i.e. Rome), travel around, and fly out of the last city you visit (i.e. Pisa) or whatever they may be.
3) Skip Milan! If you want solitude and beautiful sites, go to the lake district of northern italy mmm
http://www.italianlakes.com/
4) Skip the convents! Not worth the trouble - you don’t want to rush back to your hotel when you’re out on vaca!
5) Not sure what time of year you’re gonna go, but know it’s HOTTT in the summer! I did it, and loved it, but expect to sweat!
P.S.
I really liked Erin’s itinerary suggested above. Except I would fly out of another city rather than having to travel back to Rome.
If you ARE going to Rome, I put together an EXTENSIVE (color-coded) spreadsheet on visiting Rome for my 4 or 5 day trip I did a couple years ago. Several friends of mine have used it since then, as it’s organized by parts of rome (so you don’t end up traveling back and forth across the city). Anyway if you think it’d help I’ll be glad to send it to you- just email me cambition (at) gmail.com
hi! I just went to Italy in December with the same itinerary - venice, florence, then rome…of all those places, the best recommendation i have is to stay at the b&b Hotel Fujiyama - the owners are super nice, speak english well, and the place is clean, close to a waterbus stop, and was $150USD! (100E). I stayed in swanky hotels in florence and romce, but none compared.
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I did all three of those destinations a few years ago and had a BLAST. If you are into art, Florence is amazing. The FI isn’t so much and enjoyed Florence the least. If you’re really looking to relax though, I would suggest ditching a few days from another destination (if it were me, it’d be Venice, which i love, but can be seen in a few days) and try staying at a little villa in a smaller town. We stayed at a wonderful little villa outside of Sienna complete with mountain/city view, and a very nice groundskeeper. We felt like it was the true Italian experience.
The food in Italy is amazing, the hospitality equally so, so I would stick to a great guidebook and forgo the travel agent.
Rent a villa in Tuscany and a smart car: plan from the tuscan countryside and drive into rome, florence and even pisa as you choose…good luck!
