ITALY HONEYMOON ROME
Saturday, May 1st, 2010
We’re thinking of going on honeymoon to Italy. I’d love it if someone can please share they experiences?
We’re lookng for a hotel with a bit of luxury, opportunity to visit historic places such as Rome, great scenary, things to see/do within walking distance. We like visiting cities for the history, but would not like to stay IN a city. We’d prefer something more chilled out and romantic.
Not asking much I know. 
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Many thanks!
This past May we went and stayed two days in Rome and that was enough for one trip. It was great fun but very crowded. We stayed at the Hilton by the airport and rode their bus into town for free. It’s an hour from the airport so I don’t know if that was the best way but it worked for us. Then on the return home we had another night in Rome so we were able to catch the flavor of the city. Between we rented a villa in the small town of Farnetta and that was fabulous. It was a great jumping off point for day trips to Pisa, Florence, Sienna and Daruta. We rented the villa for a week and the Tuscan countryside is just gorgeous. You can tour a couple of wineries and see a great amount of northern Italy . I’m an old guy but I will drive a car almost anywhere and the only problem I found is you really need a good navigation system to help you get around the countryside. You don’t want to drive in Rome and cheaper car rental is at the airport (hence our stay at the Hilton). Economy Car Rental is a bargain but you’ll pay in advance for a car and then they tacked on a 1200 dollar deposit on my credit card. But we didn’t hurt the car so we got it back ok. It was a new Fiat diesel station wagon. Bad thing was it took 480 bucks to fill it up. Exchange lots of dollars in Rome at the airport or before you go in case you show up at the wrong time. We got there and didn’t cash in but a thousand dollars and were broke and in the country side and no where to exchange money for 24 hours. Credit card exchange rate is terrible so we didn’t want to do any of those except when confronted with no choice. Had to wait a day for banks to open. Men and women also are looked down on if you wear shorts. You’ll catch looks. We did it anyway, it was warm weather. We stayed at Villa Petrishio and they were wonderful people and I would highly recommend. The pottery shops in Daruta up in the town are fabulous and we ordered pottery and had it sent back to the states. Took three months to get here but was fine. Tuscany countryside is really gorgeous and I don’t care much for Italian food but it was really really good everywhere. Small restaurants cooking wondeful dishes. We took two guide books – Frommers and Steve & Ricks. Both were invaluable. As a clue to get into the Vatican, we went early in the morning (8) and walked right in. Then to get into the Sistine Chapel went to the Archeologial Museum two blocks away and bought tickets so we never stood in line. And the line was 4 blocks long. We go to the Caribbean two or three times a year but now Italy is on my list of places to see at least once a year. The whole trip is very romantic . The town of Sienna is fabulous place to visit. I know you could spend a week in Florence but we wanted to get a great view of Italy not knowing if we’d ever go back. Car rental is probably the best savings we had. The big chains are very expensive. #1 thing – get some Gelatto ice cream at the first spot you see someone selling it. To die for good! This is a pretty upscale trip that we were on and I really think it was money well spent. Have a great honeymoon.
5 Honeymoon-Rome, Italy