Honeymoon in Italy

lostinrates

Grumpygit wrote: »

Driving is not too bad (ok riding) but the state of some of the roads is a nightmare!

I first drove into Italy in rain where i learnt the lack of proper camber on the major roads at least performed the aesthetic function of concealing the potholes. :rotfl:

The lanes on this major route were extremely narrow, and it winced as I watched commercial vehicles bounce off each other in the dodgy driving conditions.

The prang wasn't the scary bit, it was the lack of reaction from any one , including my ( Italian ) husband, who winces like an old woman at someone going over thirty in uk. In fact, people sped up in this situation and were all undercutting and overtaking each other like loons.

It was probably the worst driving I saw all my time there, but it set the tone! Not many cars without dents

Cottage_Economy

We had our honeymoon in Italy. Three weeks, but we camped to keep the cost down.

Started off flying into Milan, the first two nights in a hotel on Lake Como ~£150 a night + breakfast, then down to Pisa and Florence for a few days, then five days on the Island of Elba. We were going to go to Capri, but opted to stay longer on Elba because we liked it so much.

Skirted around Rome but didn't go in as we wanted to have a much longer holiday there at some point, then drove down to Naples (mad drivers) and the Amalfi coast (drivers still mad, narrow roads, one nearly forced us into a cliff wall), saw Pompeii which I loved as I'm an aspiring archaeology buff (awful place to stay though, packs of roaming dogs everywhere).

Then we did one massive drive across the country to get onto the main coast road (already done Bari and Brindisi on a previous visit so didn't do it this time, and also wanted to save Sicily for another holiday) and headed an 8 hour drive up to Venice, which was wonderful, romantic and very easy to get lost in as you meander down small narrow passageways.

Thoroughly loved it all apart from being followed by a pack of dogs one evening while trying to go for an stroll in Pompeii. Quite frightening.

I suspect booking things yourself may be cheaper. We found as soon as we mentioned we were on honeymoon the prices went up, and hubby was pressured into paying for 'romantic' things for the 'beautiful lady'. Tried to get about 80 euros out of us for a gondola trip, and that was 10 years ago. We had a choice between that or having a meal and ice creams all evening - I picked the latter as I don't like water!

Our flights were very cheap, as some of the budget airlines fly into Milan. It is such a short hop I would get the cheapest flights so you have more spending money while you are there.

Where possible we did three nights in each place (apart from Pompeii, we left early as the area around the ruins is quite seedy). We found our days panned out something like: day 1 to get our bearings and have a nice relaxing evening meal, day 2 to do a good bit of sightseeing of the main places, day 3 to either do some sightseeing of smaller/more out of the way places or to just relax somewhere scenic with plenty of coffees and gelatas before heading off to the next place.

Saying that, be prepared to be flexible. Elba was supposed to be 1-2 nights and turned into 5. Even then I didn't want to leave. Fantastic atmosphere. Sightseeing or beach during the day, and at night lots of promenading and long lazy evening meals. We were there towards the end of July and there was a street market every night.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother with Naples apart from to see some great scenery and to get to Pompeii. Other than that, not very interesting.

meritaten

I have to comment on Italian roads and drivers too. The speed limit is apparently the minimum allowed. The roads are mainly dreadful. some very very good ones, but they are never the ones you want to take.
Drivers - oh dear - car drivers are convinced they are immortal! they take risks like overturning on blind corners as a matter of course. they throw away the rear view mirror I think. and a little side swipe or prang? not worth stopping and exchanging details for.
Scooters - are everywhere! the riders (usually teens) don't wear helmets or protective clothing and I am sure they don't have to take any sort of test because they don't follow any rules of the road! (hmmm - but car drivers are the same). and I THINK they have a game going where they score points for scaring the sheet out of pedestrians! they like to buzz up beside you or behind you and sound their horn very loudly! and swear at you. then laugh like loons when you react.

but, its part of Italian 'culture', and I love Italy.

AmyTurtle

OH and I did Venice, Rome and Florence in a week last year. Flew in and out Southend-Venice Marco Polo and got trains in between.

We stayed on the mainland close to Venice in a lovely hotel (Park Hotel Junior in Quarto D'Altino) with car parking, huge rooms, beautiful gardens and an amazing breakfast buffet! They run a shuttle car which takes you to and from the train station then it's about 15 mins on the train into Venice. Remember you can have relaxing beach days in Venice - the beach on Lido Island is gorgeous white sand and the water was beautiful. I would say 2 or 3 full days for Venice.

Florence is exceptionally compact so I would say spend 2 days max there unless you are interested in art and want to do the galleries - although the food there is to die for, much better than in Venice or Rome! Make sure you walk or get the bus up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the amazing views over the city.

Rome is gorgeous but obviously a lot bigger then the other 2 with more sights more spread out so we had nearly 3 days but could have done with 4 really. We did have a beach afternoon at Ostia Lido near Rome but I wouldn't recommend it, most of the beaches there are private and you have to pay for sunbeds so the public beach is packed with hardly any facilities.

When it comes to food, cheap food in Venice (except Antico Forno which is dirt cheap and amazing! http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187870-d1547688-Reviews-Antico_Forno-Venice_Veneto.html )
and Rome was quite frankly pretty !!!! at times, but the food in Florence was all amazing, cheap or expensive.

The trains are pretty much all air conditioned, can be booked cheaply in advance and weren't too crowded except at rush hour.

Kynthia

We honeymooned in Italy and loved it! We were there thirteen days and went to Venice, Rome and Sorrento. I wouldn't feel comfortable driving abroad so we took first class trains between locations. I do wish we'd spent more time relaxing as we crammed in so much sightseeing we were exhausted. Also we found food was very expensive, particularly in Venice and Rome, so much of your daily budget could be taken up with eating. I've heard that Italy gets less expensive as you travel south.

We spent three days in Venice and really enjoyed it. As it was our honeymoon we treated ourselves to a gondola ride and dinner on the Grande Canal. We could have done it in two whole days if we'd dropped visiting the Islands of Murano and Burano (famous for glass and lace).

Then Rome, which is so packed full of sights it's impossible to see them all. We did the Vatican (which is unbelievably busy), the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevolli Fountain, etc etc. We were there a little over two days and after Venice it broke us, we were so exhausted.

Then we caught the train to Naples and a local train to Sorrento. We stayed at the Grande Hotel Capodimonte and had a stunning suite overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. We did try to relax more here but there was so much to see. Sorrento isn't stunning like other places but it makes a great base for sightseeing as we could get a boat to Capri, a local train to Pompeii and Vesuius, and hired a driver to show us the Amalfi Coast and Positano. We were there six nights and I still didn't get to see Herculaneum.

So my advice is pick less locations, four or maybe five at most, and alternate somewhere hectic and then relaxing such as Milan and then the Lakes then Florence followed by Sorrento/Capri. Don't go to Naples as I've only heard bad things. Travel by train, they're nice and you can book ahead on Raileurope. Remember you can go back so take some time to relax, we went to Sicily the year after and had an amazing time.

belfastgirl23

What a lovely thing to do!

I would agree with the others that driving can be stressful. Could you pack light and decide to buy anything else you need out there? You can find launderettes easily enough in most tourist places. Or you could hire a car for a week if you want to go to some places that are off the beaten path (though the places you mention are all fairly easy to get to by train). Having done it both ways with DH who is a very confident driver and is very used to driving a LHS drive car it has still been stressful and difficult a lot of the time. If you do decide to drive, look at insurance for car hire.

Of your list, my must sees are Florence and Pompei. Allow a day for venice but personally I wasn't that fussed, I'm glad I saw it but I won't be back. Rome is a great city but very busy, you can allow any amount of time and not feel like you've seen it all. For Naples you could consider some of the beach resorts outside for a relaxing time and then just travel into the city for a day trip. There are things worth seeing but it's probably not a place to spend a lot of time if you're on honeymoon

For pompei, there isn't a lot there but the ruins, but there is a benefit to staying overnight. First of all it's very cheap but secondly you can either go into the ruins later in the afternoon or evening (they do moonlit tours that are worth checking out) or in the morning first thing, thus avoiding the tour groups. Also it's so dusty it's nice to have somewhere to shower before you leave. This is probably my top 'must see' on your list. It's also a pretty good place if you want to pick up small gifts for people, you will find prices in Florence etc are quite high.

I hope you have a lovely time

marywooyeah

firstly congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding! :beer:

We too had part of our honeymoon in Italy before moving on Belgium, where we got caught in a hurricane and pretty much ruined our honeymoon! (google Pukkelpop 2011)

We spent about three days in Rome and took in The Vatican, The Sistine Chapel, the Colleseum and a big museum, although I can't remember the name of it.

There is a metro but we walked most of it, we found it nice to walk and talk and it didn't take that long to get from central rome to the sights.

You can do the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel in a day as they are right next to each other, but we had to queue for ages for the Chapel. although it was well worth it.

There is a nice bit under the Chapel which has all the Popemobiles so that's worth checking out too. Also, if heights don't bother you check out the Cupola on top of the Vatican Cathedral - you can see for miles it's really beautiful.

The Colleseum takes about two to three hours at most but be careful of people dressed up as gladiators around it as they offer to have a photo with you then try to charge you for it.

The Trevi Fountain is beautiful and well worth checking out - we sat by it and had gelato in the early evening, it was lovely and romantic

The Spanish Steps are nearby the fountain and there is often music and stuff going on there, there is also a little shopping district with some posh shops like Prada which is nice to walk round.

We also found that everywhere we went there were little churches that don't look like much from the outside but inside they are really ornate and very beautiful, definitely worth sticking your head round the door as you pass them.

If you need a good hotel, we stayed at Hotel Mondial and found it to be reasonably priced, central and a lovely clean and comfy hotel.

Hope this helps, enjoy your wedding and honeymoon!