HM in Italy... help..

Has anyone done a tour of Italy? FH and I are going for 2 weeks in June for our HM but we can't decide if it's better to do it on our own or take a tour. We definitley want to explore both the north and south.

Any suggestions or tour company recommedations would be great. Also, what travel agents did you use, tour or no tour?

Thanks.

We wanted to do Italy for our HM, it was just too expensive for us in June. Unless you can afford that.

Good Luck.

I went to Italy 2 years ago on a Trafalgar tour. It really is a great way to see both the north and south - and you can't beat the cost!

The only annoying things were:

You stay at hotels which are a little 'out of the way', which makes it hard to see the actual city at night, unless you cab it back to the hotel, which can be quite $$$.

The food that they give you was mediocre. It wasn't really very authentic, so definitely make it a point to enjoy the Italian cuisine in the cities you visit!

The 'side-trips' the tours advertise for, but weren't included in the cost. I guess this happens with everyplace though, but I wasn't really fully prepared for it. Read the brochure very carefully. They word it as if it's included, when it's not.

Honestly though, I want to make the trip again, this time with my FH. It's a great way to see all the major sites.

FM me if you want any additional info.

We took a Trafalgar Tour. There are definitely pros and cons of being on a tour. In our case, I just didnt want to have to plan out a complicated trip after all the planning of the wedding. I wanted to see a lot without having to do anything but enjoy it. So for us, it was great. Other benefits are that its a very good value and you see so much more with a tour than you would on your own.

Cons are that you are with an older crowd. There was one other honeymoon couple and a few younger people but most people were middle aged. Wasnt really an issue for us but if you like to go out and party every night, this is not for you. Also, you spend a lot of time on the bus travelling from place to place.

Hope that helps. Here are some photos of our trip if you are curious:
http://www.lukeandstefanie.homestead.com/Honeymoonphotos.html

I would have a travel agent customize your trip. Our travel agent customized our trip so we could just take the train b/t cities we went to Lake Como, Florence, Venice and Rome. We stayed in walking distance to the train in each city which was right in the center of town except in Rome where we took a cab to our hotel which was pretty central to everything.

A friend of mine took a tour on her honeymoon and she hated it because she felt she spent to much time on the bus.

We are going to Italy for our honeymoon as well. We are going to rent a car and drive down the coast for two weeks. We are flying into Milan, spending the night at lake como, then heading over to Venice. From Venice we are going to the country-side then Rome. Last but not least we will head down to the Amalfi coast and then fly out of Rome. My folks did this over 30 years ago on there honeymoon and they still are talking about it. It was the trip of there lives. We are even going to stay at one of the hotels that my parents did.

I can't wait. We are not tour type people. We like to have our freedom to do what ever we want. But hey, too each it's own. Good luck planning.

Thanks girls.....

What travel agents have you guys used? I have never used one, I usually do our trips online but for this I want to make sure its perfect. Any recommendations? Can you book the tours through the agent?

How much time do you really spend on the bus compared to using the train? I did a tour to Norway several years back and I love everything but the bus ride, my FH and I slept most of it away and missed the country side. But we only did the southern end of Norway so the time spent in each city was decent.

I can wait to book this....

We went on a CIT tour. Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento
and the cities in between.
We loved it !
We decided that a tour was best. We didn't want to waste time wonder where
things are, what we are missing, waiting on lines ( you get in faster when you
are in a group tour)

We got some meals included WHICH IS A BIG PLUS.
If you want more ifo feel free to FM me

We booked through our regular agent. Any agent can do it for you. From what I gather, there isnt much wiggle room in the price. I called a bunch of agents and the prices were all the same.

The thing with the bus is, it is waiting for you outside your hotel whenever you need to go. So while its probably a bit less luxurious than the train, it also saves you from having to drag your luggage around or figure out where the train stations are, etc.. If you want to see a lot of Italy, you have to spend a lot of time traveling. At least with the bus, it was ours all the time so we could leave things on it and get comfortable without having to worry about being robbed or taking everything with us. We also got to stop on the highways to see certain attractions without having to book a whole day there.

I don't think you can go wrong either way - tour or not. Its a great place.

Below is a list of the cities we want to visit. I know some of them can be day trips from another city.

Are any of these places in your opinion not worth going to or say, not for a HM?

Rome
Naples
Pompeii
Sorrento
Capri
Florence
Pisa
Padua
Venice
Milan
Como

We'll be doing our honeymoon in Italy in September and are very excited!
We are not planning on doing a tour, but just because it is a bit of a hobby for us to buy 'italy guides' and read about interesting and cool places we want to see. FH is very into this, so he's doing a lot of planning. My best friend also honeymooned in Italy about 3-4 years ago and said must sees are: Amalfi Coast (especially Positano(sp??)), Venice, Florence
Other friends have raved about these same places, so I think looking into them (or if tour includes them) would be good idea too.

Good luck!!1 The HM is the fun relaxing part!!!!!

We're going there on our HM in June, too!
We are not taking a tour. I really wanted to be able to go where I want, when I want. Also, I was there in college and was able to get around by myself just using the guide books. One thing...you are going there in high season, so you should have everything booked before you go, even your train tickets (if you're not renting a car). I am going through American Express travel-Mary Ann Morehead is the agent. She specializes in honeymoons and Italy. The office is located in the building in front of Roosevelt Field mall on Stewart Avenue (where Ruth's Chris is). Honestly, it sometimes took her a little longer to do things than I would like (I annoyingly like to get things done now!), but she has been a lot of help, and worth the time. So far, I would recommend her.

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Posted by m&m2005

Below is a list of the cities we want to visit. I know some of them can be day trips from another city.

Are any of these places in your opinion not worth going to or say, not for a HM?

Rome
Naples
Pompeii
Sorrento
Capri
Florence
Pisa
Padua
Venice
Milan
Como

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You should def add Positano to that list! The Amalfi coast is so breathtaking and a pleasant change from city sites!

Thanks... I know where that is. My FH is right in Westbury. I will stop in and see what they can do.

I think I might lean towards doing it on our own, I guess since we are there for 2 weeks we could also so a 1 week tour and then focus in on our must do places on our own.

Just talking about our HM makes my work day so much better. I just wish I could be focusing on planning that instead of doing work .

Hi- my FH and I did a 10 day trip in Italy this summer and we had a blast! we arranged the whole intinerary ourselves, based on a friend's reccomendations that lives in Europe. this way, we cut out the cost of the travel agent and was able to spend more $ on visiting places and the yummy food! we had the most AMAZIG time and really feel like we saw alot.

here is what we did:
flew into Florence
3 days in Florence-took a day trip to the Chianti region just outside Floorence-beautiful!
-then we went to Bellagio on Lake Como- A MUST!!!!!!! it is one of the most gorgeous places on earth and perfect for a HM.
-one stop in Portovenere, a beautiful seaside town of the rich and famous
-then we went to the Cinque Terre, 5 little villlages on the coast and so romantic
-then we went to Pisa, and flew out of Pisa.
so we got a great tour of Northern Italy

The trains are really easy to use-that is how we mostly got around. I actually have all of the info saved from our trip-all hotels, etc. we were so supreised b/c we booked all of our hotels on line and they ended up being in perfect locations!

FM me with any questions or if you want some of my information
-Allison

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Rome
Naples
Pompeii
Sorrento
Capri
Florence
Pisa
Padua
Venice
Milan
Como

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Pisa and Pompeii are definitely day trips. More like a few hours at most. Stop on your way to something else.

We stayed in Assisi and totally loved it. Its a very small town that hasnt changed for hundreds of years (at least not in its appearance). It was a great contrast to the larger cities.

We spent an afternoon in Milan and I think that was enough. Its a business capital but not much in the way of tourism aside from a few things.

I absolutely loved Venice. I could spend a week there. Ive heard it smells in the summer..but we were there in October and it was amazing (even though it rained one day there).

I was not in love with Florence. Iknow many people whose favorite city in teh whole world is Florence but maybe it was because it was at the end of the trip but I did not enjoy it as much as the other cities. Of course, some of the worlds best art is there so if you enjoy museums then you must go there for a few days at least.

My FH and I toured Italy a year ago. However, we did not visit the Northern part (where Milan is). We used Trafalgar Tours. They have a brochure for Europe and it has different agendas. You can basically pick from what they have. I think the price is really reasonable depending on the type of tour you want to have.
We did Pompei, Sorrento, Assisi, Naples, Isle of Capri, Positano, Venice, Verona, Rome, Florence and more.

Definitely do your visit with a tour guide to see what's out there, since you might miss some other cool stuff.

Good luck