Italy suggestions?

We went to Italy two years ago and it was amazing! Rome was our least favorite because of how busy it was. We really loved Tuscany and the Amalfi coast.

Some of the favorite things we did was a cooking class in Tuscany, a Segway tour of Rome (so fun and the only way to see a ton of the city in a short period of time), we spent a day at a vineyard in Chianti, and a boat tour out to Capri.

My best tip is decide what is important to you and make sure you do them. When I was planning I wanted to do a lot... you will not get to everything you want.... it’s just the nature of the size of the country. TripAdvisor forums are your best friend. Make sure to leave time to be able to be spontaneous and live in the moment. The worst thing you can do is over plan your time and not be able to go with the flow.

Italy is amazing. I think about that trip everyday. I left enchanted! I hope you have a great trip!

We will also be in Italy for our honeymoon next June on a Mediterranean cruise! From what I've heard don't spend too much time in Rome (it's very commercial nowadays) and I've heard the Amalfi coast is the best area for romance!

Pompeii. It was one of my favorite parts of my trip!

We love Italy! I took my FH to Italy 2years ago, and he loved it. We stayed in Venice [two nights] stayed by the Rialto Bridge beautiful well known touristy place. We then took the train from Venice to Pisa. We stayed in Pisa [one night] you can even leave your luggage at the airport. From Pisa we took the train to Rome [four nights]. And flew back to the states.

My recommendation to you is fly into Venice first. Because there are less flights into and out of VCE and more out of FCO or even Milan. You can then take the train from Venice - Florence - Rome or Milan and fly out of Rome or Milan. Happy Planning!

I've been to Florence before and did an excursion to see parts of Tuscany like Lucca and Pisa. I visited a vineyard in Tuscany and had a wonderful home cooked meal there while learning about how olive oil is made and did a wine tasting.

My fiancé and I want to go to Italy for part of our honeymoon and we're thinking about Amalfi coast. I heard Cinque Terre and Sorrento are nice too.

My mama was born in Trieste. It's a smaller area compared to Florence, Vience and Rome. Trieste has mountains/ocean with a castle that's beautiful with fountains/churches. See, do as much as you can and enjoy!

With nine days, I'd do Rome, Florence and Venice - don't try to squeeze any more in or you'll do nothing but race from place to place. If you can fly into Rome or Venice and out from the other, that will help maximise your time!

We spent three weeks in Italy almost a year ago and I loved it. My Rome recommendations would be:

- Climb St Peter's Dome. Get there early to beat the queues - we arrived at about 8am and didn't queue at all. When we left 90 minutes later, the queue was almost around the piazza. Once you've climbed the dome you get entry into St Peters itself too, without having to queue again. We didn't take the lift - if you do, it's about 200 steps; if you don't, it's about 500 steps. There's a 2 euro price difference I think, but the queue for the lift was long so we opted for the stairs.

- An off the beaten track museum that we went to was the Villa Farnesina - it's a beautiful house with incredible artwork within it. We only found it because we walked past it on our way from our Air BnB to St Peter's. It wasn't busy and it was well worth the visit.

- Poke your nose into every church you go past! They are all different and stunning in their own way. My particular favourites were Sant Andrea della Valle and the one at the top of the Spanish Steps (can't remember the name).

- If you don't pre-book Colosseum tickets, buy them at the Forum or Palatine Hill - all three sites are on one ticket. Forum and Palatine Hill entrances are way quieter and then you can skip the queue at the Colosseum.

- If you use the buses, VALIDATE YOUR TICKET! They are super strict about it. Validation machines are usually at each door.

- Audioguides at historic sites and museums will be your friend. We got them most places we visited and they were universally a good idea. The Forum in particular would just have been a pile of ruins without the guide to know what we were looking at.

- The water fountains which are everywhere in Rome are great. We didn't need to carry much water with us because it was so readily available.

Venice top tips:

- It's worth spending half a day visiting the islands - Murano, Burano and Torcello. Don't bother with a guided tour, just take the vaporetto.

- The Doge's Palace "Secret Itineraries" tour is supposed to be amazing - but it books out fast so book early. We missed out on it and I'm still annoyed! We did the self-guided tour of the Palace anyway which was still worth doing.

- The best thing to do in Venice is just wander. You'll get lost, you'll have to backtrack because the lane you were on ended in a canal, but you'll find all sorts of interesting things and places!

- Make sure you try an Aperol Spritz - it's famous for being Venice's classic drink!

Florence:

- Lots of stuff in Florence has to be pre-booked. The Uffizi, Galleria dell'Accademia, the Duomo dome climb. Otherwise you'll either miss out or stand in queues for hours.

- Catch the bus up to the Michelangelo Piazza for the best view over the city (again, validate your ticket - they're even stricter in Florence than they are in Rome!). It's a nice walk back down the hill along the river to the city centre.

- The Leonardo da Vinci museum is fun! They've built replicas of his machines from his plans and you can operate most of them.

Above all, eat ALL the pasta, pizza and gelato. The best gelato we found in Rome was at a shop called Fatamorgana which I think had several shops across the city (we were lucky that we had one right outside our door!). Avoid the restaurants and gelato shops directly on the big piazzas, as you'll tend to be hit with a premium for the site.

The other thing is that Italy in June is pretty hot. I was amazed at the number of people sightseeing in heels and summer dresses - how they didn't break their ankles on the cobblestones which make up every street in Rome I will never know! I found hiking sneakers to be ideal footwear - comfy, sturdy and they breathed so not too hot.

I love Rome. I did a summer semester of study abroad there in 2005 and never got sick of it and still feel like I didn't see everything. Ostia Antica right outside of Rome, it was the port city, was one of my favorite day trips. I think it was maybe an hour or less by train. I liked it better than Pompeii. All the ruins, none of the tourists. It may have changed since then but we were almost the only people there.

Hi Genevieve!! Italy sounds amazing and the food is to die for! WeddingWire has a whole section dedicated to Italy honeymoons located here where you can find more information about planning your dream honeymoon!

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Thank you for the suggestions! I'd love to go to the Amalfi coast but I'm worried we may not have enough time if we're doing Florence and Venice too.

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Great, thanks for the suggestion!

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Omg thank you so much for all the tips!

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I'll look into it, thanks!

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Thanks for the tips! Will definitely check out the Rialto Bridge, thanks!

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I've heard Cinque Terre is incredible, I wonder if we can squeeze that in too...

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Sounds great! Hope you have a great trip too, thanks

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Will check it out, thanks!

View Quoted Comment You won’t for sure. We didn’t go to Lake Como because (which I wanted to do) of time.

If you're Catholic, try and hit Rome on a Wednesday. If memory serves, I read something about how the Pope does newlywed blessings and as long as you go within 2 months of your wedding then you can go through your priest to get a reservation for it.

June is definitely a busy time to visit Rome as it is the peak season. There’s lots to see and do, especially if you are going to visit a few cities. Driving can be very challenging and a totally different experience from region to region as many of the roads are hundreds of years old.

I could go on about tips for Italy but probably my favorite and simplest is this: Eat where the locals eat. Many of the big tourist areas are filled with mediocre food. Don’t be afraid to make a friend and ask about their favorite spot.