Honeymoon in Italy

emmarbos

Hi guys bit of advice would be welcome.

We are getting married June 2016 and are researching our honeymoon.

We are looking at 3 weeks in Italy.

Our budget is £7500 including spending.

Our plan fly from Birmingham to Milan, spend a few nights relaxing in Lake Como then heading to Milan, then Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and finally a few relaxing days in the Amalfi Coast like Capri etc before flying home from Naples.

We plan on renting a car and driving which is cheap enough at £400 for 3 weeks. Looked at fuel won't cost more than £200 and flights £800 max.

We ideally would like to stay in boutique honeymoonesque hotels and see all the sights like Vatican City, Sistine Chaple, Pomppii, The Colluseum, etc. and have a budget of apx £150 a night b&b and £150 per day spending money.

I'm unsure on whether to book everything myself doing online research to find the best hotels at the best prices and email the hotels directly to let them know we are on honeymoon to see if we can get any freebies or upgrades. Or, to book through a boutique travel agents who can look after our itinerary and have special deals with hotels and can recommend places.

Also how long would you recommend in each city etc to get the sights in but still have the relaxation of a honeymoon.

Emma

browneyedbazzi

I'd think it'd be worth calling an agency like Trailfinders that do bespoke holidays and see what they can offer you - it might cost a little bit more than doing it all yourself but it will be a lot less stressful if you don't have to worry about sorting everything out yourself and having lots of different booking confirmations etc with you. Also, if there's a problem whilst you are away they're really good at sorting things out - which would be nicer than having to do it yourself (if for example one of the hotels you've reserved ends up not having a room).

I usually plan trips myself, but for a honeymoon with a healthy budget I think I'd go for the stress free option (or at least check what I could get that way!).

Great choice of destination by the way - I love Italy! Rome is probably my favourite European city

lostinrates

Very personally I would ditch the relaxing by the lakes and take the relaxing time at Saturnia.

I would not try and cram in so many places, but rather go at a slower pace personally. ( I've done whistle stop weekend tours of Italian cities when we lived there and found them unsatisfactory.)

Also, although i drive in Italy i heartily recommend trains. It means you can relax and have wine at the wonderful places you'll want to have lunch and supper, and you'll avoid the roads at some of the more exciting places to drive! I am a cool headed driver and I get flustered in some places there.

MrsC....tobe

We got married in Cortina D'Ampezzo last year and visit there every June. A beautiful area for tourists as much in the summer for cycling, hiking, of just chilling out, as it is in the winter for skiing. We stay in hotel Menardi when we travel for a curling competition which I'd recommend, 15 mins walk (stroll) from the centre and is one of many that have a wellness centre. Treated like family there.
If you're going o Lake Como first I'd recommend taking your time up through the mountains and visit Venice. Research parking outside Venice itself as it can be very expensive to park on Venice (29euros per day or part, no hourly rate) and it's very expensive to stay in Venice. I wouldn't waste much time there, we spent one night and it was more than enough in 40c in June and we did St Marks Square, Rialto Bridge etc including a nice meal in 6 hours! I'd also use a hotel as close to the train or bus station as u can to save hauling luggage over a huge number of bridges, very few of which have ramps.
I'd price everything yourself as you can get great deals through the likes of Trivago if you know what you want. You have plenty of time to do your research and can make it more flexible that way with hotel bookings if you change your mind as to where and when you want to visit.
Sorry I can't help with other areas.

SavingPennies_2

Id see less places and spend more time, do maybe do 3 nights each for Milan, Venice, Florence (+pisa) and Rome, then a week in Capri for the relaxing bit.

bagby

We've just been to sorrento with day trip too amalfi. I would not say either place was relaxing. Thousands of people and lots of traffic, especially in amalfi. Striking scenery in amalfi looking up to the cliffs but actually near the sea is like a big car park with buses and Vespas all round the front. Not very pretty. Went to positano hour bus ride from amalfi on the way back to sorrento.which was much nicer but again thousands of tourists but it is traffic free zone on the front with lots of traffic on the outskirts.
Went to Herculaneum near naples very interesting. Day in Capri, nice.

Much preferred lake garda gorgeous. Love Italy but sorrento and area just did not do anything for me. Hth.

SavingPennies_2

I agree with the poster above about Sorrento, Capri is lovely though. If it were me I'd stay longer in Venice as that's my favourite and there's so much to see and do see despite being a small place, it's also really romantic at night! Though you might get a better response regarding booking on the overseas travel board.

BitterAndTwisted

I'd be giving Milan a miss and spend as little time as possible in Naples.

meritaten

Italy is a great choice! they love 'honeymooners'.

Cant help with your sightseeing choices. Venice is VERY expensive. so is Milan and Rome. The Lakes aren't too bad price wise and absolutely gorgeous!
Um - you are on honeymoon and planning all this sightseeing??????

Try around Lake Garda - the hotels are reasonable (for Italy) and there are various 'excursions' you can make from there. Venice is a day trip, so is Milan. I loved it - I wish I could live there!

merlin68

I wouldn't drive in Italy again france was a breeze compared to Italian roads. trying to find things was impossible as Italians don't put road signs up till your on top of somewere. also no one spoke English which in france they did.
Mount Vesuvius and herculaum took one day. We didn't do as much sightseeing as we wanted as it was 36 and so hot. we qued for ove ran hour to get into the Uffizi and you weren't allowed drink in there so daughter nearly passed out. Rome you really need a whole week on its own.

duchy

I'd think about train between the cities . Even in December Florence was crazy with traffic but still fabulous. There were some fantastic hotels ..my bathroom was bigger than my lounge at home and all marble but in July they'd be pricey.