Copy My Italy Honeymoon Itinerary (+ Paris!)

As someone who has been to every country in the world, I was UNDER PRESSURE to make my honeymoon amazing for my wife. Jaa is also a big traveler, and a former flight attendant. She’s now been to 52 countries, all with an awful Thai passport and endless visas. My Bora Bora proposal and Thai wedding had set a high bar too. That had just doubled the anxiety for me during the planning process.

That combined with the fact that I could think of nothing worse than sitting on a beach for 2 weeks in the Dominican Republic or somewhere similar with nothing to do. I know some people love it, and good luck to them, but when I see a beach with endless sun-umbrellas, elbow-to-elbow with strangers, I have no idea how people find that fun. Or relaxing. That would not be our honeymoon for sure! And so the interrailing Italy Honeymoon itinerary was born.

All-in-all I hope this blog post helps you plan a honeymoon in Italy, one that is pretty luxury, but with an eye on not spending ALL your money on one trip. We spent where we thought we should, but we were smart with our choices to allow us to have such an epic, and quite long, honeymoon.

The Concept: Flashpacking and overlanding through Italy

So that left me with the quandary, how can I make a romantic honeymoon but still have fun and a little touch of adventure?

For the Romance, Europe was an easy choice – Paris, and the Eiffel Tower, Venice and the Gondolas, the Amalfi coast etc etc. So I decided on Italy mostly, but I didn’t want a resort, and I wanted us to experience a lot of different energies, cultures, foods etc along the way. So I put together what I think was an epic ‘flashpacking’ Honeymoon.

Flashpacking is like backpacking, but without the budget. We had backpacks, and we overlanded between places etc, but stayed in nice places, and didn’t worry too much about our spend.

Interrailing

So now I started identifying the most beautiful spots in Italy that we could see and experience together, and they were all over the place. I didn’t want our honeymoon to feel like it was entirely spent chasing local airports and flights, so I booked Jaa and I a 1-month, first-class, Interrail ticket.

What is interrailing?

It’s an OPEN train ticket for Europe. You choose the duration of your trips, and what countries you want to travel through, and pay for an open ticket. From there you can use it freely for all the trains.

Our Ticket Cost

I booked Jaa a EuRail ticket (because she’s non-european) and myself an Interail ticket (for Europeans), but it’s the same company and pretty much the same price.

I choose 10 travel days (we can use trains ‘for free’ on 10 days within the month) across France, Uk and Italy. It was about $1200 for 2 people. $600 each.

Our Italy Honeymoon Itinerary (plus Paris)

Ok, so that was the idea. Fun, travel-vibes, and romance. Now I had to actually make a plan for our Italy Honeymoon itinerary. This is what we did, and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

I won’t go into crazy detail for each destination, that would bore you to death. I’ll write the length of time we stayed, what we did, and if I think that it was correct. So here we go:

TLDR? The 7 stop, 3 week Italy honeymoon itinerary is like this: (Bangkok to):

1. Paris
2. Lake Como (Bellagio)
3. Venice
4. Florence
5. Rome
6. Amalfi Coast (Positano)
7. Sicily (Taormina)

STOP 1) Paris

We live in Thailand, and although I think Paris is a bit overrated, for Jaa it represents something else. The Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the Arc De Triomphe. I completely get it. Also, in my past visits I was either a) broke, or b) doing it with my mates, so a whole different energy.

I found a great deal for a one-way flight from Bangkok to Paris, via Bahrain with Gulf Air in Business Class for about $1500 total ($750 each). A great start!

How Long We Spent in Paris:

Right with a travel hack here! We landed at 8am on April 9th in CDG airport in Paris. And we left from Paris Central Train Station at 8am on the 11th. So that gave us 2 FULL days in Paris, and 2 nights.

What We Did in Paris:

We had 2 days. But we were also on Honeymoon. So we didn’t want to be running around from 8am to 6pm sight-seeing, on a tight schedule. So during the 2 days we did:

Early check into our hotel then straight to brunch. I had a hot-tip from my sister about ‘Angelina’s Paris’, home to the best hot chocolate in the world! We went, queued up and had brunch there. And yup, the hot chocolate was pretty spectacular! But not cheap.

After brunch, we went on a mini-walking tour. From Angelina’s, through the gardens of Tuileries to the Louvre (home to Mona Lisa). Then across the Seine River via the ‘Bridge of Love’ (Pont des Art). It’s a lovely walk along the river. Stop for a cake and watch the world go by.

Another 10 minute walk and you’re at the Notre Dame cathedral. Wowzer. We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and late afternoon made our way to the Eiffel Tower.

Go up the Eiffel Tower?

Make sure to go to the Trocadero stop for the Eiffel Tower, it’s a lovely walk with amazing views from there to the tower. You can go up it if you want, we didn’t bother (€10-€27 depending on lift vrs stairs and 2nd stop vrs top).

We had nothing organised when we arrived. Jaa’s only request was a boat trip on the Siene. So last minute we scrambled with Headout. They had loads of options for cruises so we sorted out a gorgeous 2.5 hour champagne dinner cruise (about €100ish each). The boat was beautiful, and watching the sunset on Paris from the water, as they lit up the architecture at night was beautiful. The 2 whole bottles of wine as part of the package helped too! You can book that here:

https://www.headout.com/dinner-cruises/25-hour-sightseeing-cruise-with-dinner-e-5728/

Day 2.

Lazy morning after flying all the night before. I organised our accommodation for Florence (Airbnb) and Sicily (watch this space!). The plan was to go to Sacre Coeur, so do that if you’re not lazy like us!

Brunch was coffee and cookies. We found this insane cookie shop the Les Enfants Rouge (Scoop Me a Cookie), if you’re ANYWHERE near it go here! We then hopped in the metro to the Avenue des Champs Elysees. The most famous shopping street in the world! We meandered down to the Arc de Triomphe. Again you can go up (€10 or so), we went for wine nearby instead. A common theme for the weeks ahead.

The perfect end would be back to the hotel and get ready for a show at the Moulin Rouge BUT it was sold out. So we had to make do with Liverpool vrs City and pints of Guinness! Late evening we chilled at a local bistro with French wine and a cheese platter. A great end to 2 days in Paris.

Getting around? We bought a book of metro tickets at the airport tourist information. 10 for €20, and we used the metro easily in Paris. You can also get 30GB SIM card for €40 at tourist information at the airport, AND the ticket to get from the airport to the city (bus, 45 minutes, €14, leaves you at Opera Metro stop in the city centre).

Where We Stayed in Paris:

We stayed in a 3* hotel in Paris, called the Hotel Vieux Saule. A hotel on a quiet street in the 3rd arrondissement, 15 minutes walk from Centre Pompidou, Notre Dame Cathedral. Why this hotel? Luxury hotels are RIDICULOUSLY expensive for just an average room in Paris. And we’d be out exploring. So this room for about $140 a night was perfect.

What We Spent in Paris?

2 days, 2 nights. The hotel was about $300, river cruise $250 for both of us. 2 brunches, 2 dinners, lots of snacks and wine was about another $200. Then metro tickets, sim cards etc another $50 or so.

Total? About $500. Remember, we didn’t bother going up the Eiffel Tower (way overrated imo) and we didn’t enter the Louvre. Because museums bore me to death. We walked around, ate and drank. And tried to feel the city. Lovely couple of days.

Lake Como

And Paris was done. Now, off to Italy! As I mentioned, I had booked Interrail tickets for Jaa and me and today (April 11th) was our first ticket. We booked tickets from Paris to Milan, and then from Milan we swapped trains to Varenna (free with our interrail pass, 1 hour), ferry to Bellagio (15 mins, €5).

From there a boat ride to Bellagio. Lake Como has various towns but if you come here once, you probably want the most picturesque town of the lot. That means Bellagio! So we based ourselves here for our 2 days. One of the most expensive and beautiful spots on our planet, and home to George Clooney’s holiday home.

How Long We Spent in Lake Como:

2 nights. We arrived by boat after a lovely train ride from Paris, around 4pm on April 11th. And left on the 13th morning on the train to Venice. So 2 days.

What We Did in Lake Como:

Food, wine and snacks! We can’t cheat here. Pasta, pizza, gelato and wine galore. Each meal was about €30/$40. We had a picnic Lake side on day 2 for lunch that was cheap and lovely (€10!).

There are plenty of activities. You can take private boats, wander around, wine taste, or just soak it up. After years of sightseeing on my ‘every country in the world’ trip, we went for the latter. We did take the cute tourist train around Bellagio though (€5). That was lovely.

Where We Stayed in Lake Como:

We went for a cute Bed and Breakfast. It’s a 15 minute (uphill!) walk from the main town, but it’s a gorgeous walk so although it’s hard work with the suitcases, after that each journey is pretty dreamy. And rooms with lake views for £95 ($115) is a wild deal for Lake Como! (Miralago if you want to check)

How much we spent in Lake Como:

We have some luxury spots coming up in our flashpacking honeymoon trip so what Jaa and I normally do is cut costs in one spot to go crazy somewhere else. And that’s what we did for Lake Como, and it’s been a winner. So less than $400 for 2 people for 2 nights/2.5 days.

Bargain! And so, so beautiful. The place really exceeded my expectations.

Venice

It’s so, so, so beautiful. Like a movie set. And riding a Gondola through the canals, despite being a cheesy cliche, is an absolute bucket list item! The only tips I’d suggest would be these:

1. Pay the extra and get a hotel in the ‘real Venice’, amongst the canals, not Venice Maestre. It might be tempting because the hotels are cheaper outside. But if budget is an issue, it’s better to spend a day less but stay in the thick of it.

2. Be a tourist and ride a Gondola, you’ll regret it if you don’t. I was here 10 years ago and didn’t do it (couldn’t afford it!), and it haunted it. That wrong was righted

3. Buy the overpriced 2 day water bus pass (€30) and ride the canals, even if you have nowhere to go. It’s the best way to ‘see’ Venice, from water level.

4. Shoulder season! As always, try to come in shoulder seasons (either side of high season). April is the best time to visit in my opinion. Lovely weather and less than half the tourists

How Long We Spent in Venice:

We choose 2 nights in Venice, and I think that’s perfect to be honest. April 13-15.

What We Did in Venice

The beauty of Venice as a destination is you don’t feel obliged to run from famous church to gallery to museum. Apart from the Gondola ride, just being there is what it’s about. Coffees in the little piazzas, wine in the evenings, and watching the world go by.

But yeah, obviously go on a gondola ride!

Where We Stayed in Venice:

We use the $699 Tinggly Voucher for our Accommodation in Venice and stayed here at the Palazzetto Madonna, about $300ish a night. An ancient Venetian building that houses the Palazzetto Madonna dates back to Medieval time. I really wanted a hotel ON the canals, so this was perfect for us. You can check it out HERE.

How much we spent in Venice:

Venice isn’t cheap, that’s a reality. But who cares, it’s worth every Euro. Thankfully we had some wedding and honeymoon presents to cash in. Tinggly Experiences vouchers are gifted and then you can choose how/where/when to spend them.

We used 2 of our 4 vouchers here. 2 nights in a hotel with the accommodation voucher, and a private Gondola ride. So, so good! If you want to request a gift, or you need to give a gift to a travel-addict, this is it.

So we actually spent almost nothing in Venice due to our vouchers! Just Aperol Spritzs and Gelato all day. Maybe $150 on food was our total spend here.

Florence

Beautiful Florence was up next. A direct train ride with our tickets from Venice to Florence. We pulled into the city around 7pm. Checked in to our AirBnB, and the went for sunset at the Florence Duomo. UNREAL.

How Long We Spent in Florence:

We spent 3 nights in Florence. One day was a day-trip to Pisa.

What We Did in Florence:

We had 2.5 days. So evening one was a lovely city walk for sunset, with drinks and dinner right by the Cathedral, couple of glasses of wine at local spots on the way home.

Day 2 was a day-trip to Pisa, to see the leaning tower. It’s about a 90 minute train, no need to prebook anything. About $20 or so. We hadn’t prebooked to go up the Leaning Tower. All good.

Last day I went for a long run all morning, 20km or so. Lovely way to see the city. In the afternoon, we check out of the Uffizii, wandered across the famous bridge (Ponte Vecchio). We planned to check out
Michelangelo’s David but the queue was massive, I had thankfully seen it before. And a pit-stop with some wine in the Bobli gardens. What a day.

Where We Stayed in Florence:

I stayed in a quaint 2 bed right in the city centre, walking distance to the cathedral. It was about $600 for 3 nights. You can see it here.

How much we spent in Florence:

Hotel was $600, day trip to pisa probably $100 with food. Pizza and wine for 3 days, another $150. So all-in probably around $750/$800.

Rome

Italy honeymoon itinerary Stop 5. Honeymoon stop 5: Rome. A lovely first class train from Florence to Rome this morning. We arrived around midday, too early to check-in so we use the hotel gym.

How Long We Spent in Rome:

3 nights in Rome. That’s the right amount of time I think tbh.

What We Did in Rome:

Day 1: Arrive and wander around. Pizza. Pasta. Gelato. Wine. If you want an historic coffee and cake, near the Spanish steps is Italy’s oldest coffee shop, Caffee Greco, one of the oldest in the world. €10 for a coffee, €15 for cake! Cool place though. Famous ice cream at Giolitti was a highlight too.

Day 2: Tourist mode. Book your tours for the Coliseum and Vatican City in advance and skip the queues. That meant 8am for the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.

For the Coliseum, we used @liv.tours. We wanted access to the coliseum underground and these guys are the best in the business.

Day 3: Self guided walking tour. Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, the Pantheon. Get your steps in, and at your own pace. If you want to see the Trevi Fountain WITHOUT 10,000 people, be there at 5am.

Where We Stayed in Rome

‘Hotel The Building‘. We used our Tinggly Vouchers for our 3 night stay here. Normally around $200 a night.

How much we spent in Rome:

Birthday, wedding, honeymoon gift? We asked for Tinggly vouchers. We use them for 3 nights hotel in Rome, and our final one for a early morning queue-skip for the Vatican City. So that saved our accommodation.

Metro passes, Colosseum Tour ($50 each), Vatican ($50), e-scooter around the city every day. Wine, pizza, pasta, gelato. Probably another $250. So for us, it was probably around $400.

Here’s the trevi fountain in the middle of the afternoon FYI…

Amalfi Coast (Positano)

The expenses start to rise! This time we travel to the Amalfi Coast by train. Stopping in Salerno, then boat to Positano.

I had heard of ‘the Amalfi Coast’ a million times. But couldn’t quite work out how to visit it! So if you’d like to know, here’s how it works… The Amalfi coast is a length of coast near Naples with a handful of gorgeous towns dotted along that coast.

The most beautiful of those towns is said to be Positano (and that’s where you’ve probably seen all the gorgeous photos and fallen in love with the idea of visiting, same as me!). So if that’s the case, you wanna stay in Positano like us!

To get there, we took the train to Salerno, you can also take the train to Naples too. But from Salerno, you can take a 1 hour ferry, with beautiful views, right into Positano town (or a 3 hour winding bus, no thanks).

How Long We Spent in Positano:

We choose 3 nights in Positano, and then one last night back in Salerno for our early train to Sicily, and that timing was pretty much perfect. So 4 nights total, 3 expensive, and 1 super cheap for our early train.

What We Did in Positano:

In terms of stuff to see and do in Positano, and the Amalfi coast, for me it’s all about how beautiful the views, the towns, the architecture (and the wine), so 3 nights was perfect.

If you’re keen to be active:

– Naples is just 2 hours away so you can hit up Pompeii.

– You can also take a boat trip along the Amalfi coast ($$$)

– And there’s a gorgeous hike called ‘Path of the Gods’ too. I ran this, was beautiful.

– But for me it’s all about being there! So the best activity you can do is save your pennies and get a hotel with a Positano view from your room.

– Oh and check out Franco’s bar in Positano. Go line up 20 mins before it opens for the best seat!

Where We Stayed in Positano:

Some destinations, cheap hotels are a winner. Paris, Rome etc. But others, the hotel can make the destination. Where you can soak up just where you are. Maldives is like that, Santorini too, and so is Positano.

We went for one with a hot tub on the balcony, overlooking the famous town and it was perfect (Hotel Sovoia for those asking after seeing our IG stories!)

How much we spent in Positano:

A lot. I wanted a room with a balcony that overlooked the Amalfi Coast. And they don’t come cheap. In the end, I paid almost $1350 a night with a hot-tub on the balcony. It was spectacular. That’s $4000. Then food and drink each day was another $500 minimum. And our cheap last hotel night in Salerno. Probably $4600 all-in. But it was our honeymoon, right? Erm… right?!

Sicily (Taormina)

Honeymoon stop 7. The FINAL STOP! Taormina, Sicily.

We took the train from the Amalfi Coast allll the way down to Sicily. Here we choose to spend our 4 days in Taormina and it was gorgeous. I had splashed out on the Four Seasons, which I now know is where White Lotus was filmed. Because it was such a big spend, we decided to be strategic on night 1, where we stayed in Catania and did a free self-guided walking tour. And Day 4, where we’d stay somewhere cheap and explore Taormina from that base. So as not to waste our honeymoon-mode in the Four Seasons for our 3 days there. And it went really well like that.

How Long We Spent in Taormina:

4 nights. 2 super luxury, and the one before and the one after, super cheap.

What We Did in Taormina:

Sicily is famous for both Mount Etna, which forms the backdrop for most of the island. And you can spend a day trip to climb it. And also for the Mafia (eeek), they have some cool bars that featured in the Godfather movies you can visit for day tours.

But we’re on honeymoon, and we spent a fortune on the Four Seasons so we were in pizza, champagne and a little walk or 2 each day. The perfect chill end to a great 3 weeks of flashpacking.

Where We Stayed in Taormina:

We stayed Night 1 and 4 in the city of Catania. Lovely city and where our train dropped us from Amalfi Coast. Then 2 nights in Taormina.

How much we spent in Taormina:

Ouch. Night 1 and 4 were about $100 a night. Night 2 and 3 at the Four Seasons was $1650 a night. So that’s $3500 on hotels. Then food and drinks, a day trip in Taormina and the train to Taormina and back, all added up probably another $500. So $4k.

The length of our Honeymoon:

We left Bangkok on April 8th, Jaa got back to Thailand on May 1st. So 24 days, but that includes 2 night flights. So 22 days, or about 3 weeks total.

We flew from Sicily to Paris, stayed one night in a cheap hotel. I took Jaa to the airport where she flew back to Thailand. I had one travel day left on my interrail card, and to my surprise it inclucs the EuroStar. SO I took a first class ticket all the way to Newcastle, England to see my mum. From there I flew to Alaska, USA to climb Denali, North American’s highest mountain. The 5th of my 7 summits at the time (I’ve now thankfully finished!).

My Italy Honeymoon TOP TIPS:

1. Shoulder Season. We went in April. Weather was lovely but without the CRAZY tourist numbers. And not too hot. And the hotels are a little cheaper.
2. Tell EVERYONE it’s your honeymoon. I told every single operator, hotel, restaurant. And ended up with endless wine, and deserts, and little perks. Thanks everyone!
3. Prebook the main tours only. Skip the queue at Vatican. Coloseum, Eiffel Tower and Louvre, David statue. These book out. So book those if they’re must-sees for you, but leave everything else to chance.
4. Interrail! Going overland on train together was a lovely extra layer of fun. We got to see the whole country, it was also chaotic, running for trains, lauging at our mistakes. It was the perfect honeymoon style for us.
5. Honeymoon vouchers with Tinggly. In an era when couples live together already, these vouchers are great. You can use for activities, or accommodation, on your honeymoon. Saved us well over $1k.

The total cost of our Honeymoon:

Flights: Our business class Bangkok to Paris, and Jaa economy back to Bangkok was about $2k.

Interrail Tickets: $1200

Hotels: $8650. But Amalfi Coast and Four Seasons, Sicily made up over $7k of that. And equally Benice and Rome were ‘free’ thanks to our vouchers. Without vouchers, and staying in a ‘normal’ place in Amalfi and Sicily, you could do these 3 weeks for $3500 on hotels I think.

Other transport: Our train passes don’t include boats to Lake Como, Amalfi coast. Pisa day trip etc, so this was probably another $500 or so tota.

Activities: Jaa and I were on honeymoon, so we didn’t go crazy with a packed schedule. And we don’t love Museums so that helped many times during our Italy honeymoon itinerary. We much more prefer to walk around, feel the city, eay and drink locally. So we probably spent about $600 or so on activities. Maybe up to $1k max.

Total budget? Roughly speaking, I’d say $11k or $12k. So, maybe $5500 each per person for 3 weeks across Italy (and France). With a lovely sprinkling of uber-luxury along the way.

My Italy Honeymoon Itinerary Map

You can see the route we took here in an image, and below in a google map:

Thoughts on our Italy Honeymoon Itinerary

That was so lovely for me to re-read and remember my Italy honeymoon. I’m sure many experts will say we missed this and that, but for us, it was perfect. All the hotspots, and in April when the crowds weren’t too crazy. Jaa and I talk ALL the time about this trip. Legitimately, one of the best 3 weeks of my life. And I fell in love with Paris again after hating it for years.

This just makes me want to go Round 2! Time to save another $11k perhaps?!