Ohhhh, our honeymoon! It was the most perfect honeymoon!! I guess by spending three weeks in Italy and Greece after you’ve just gotten married, how could it not be? But honestly, to this day, we constantly refer back to our honeymoon, saying it really was the best trip we’ve ever done to date, hands down! It was truly a trip of a lifetime!
Choosing Italy for a honeymoon destination was easy for us. While Italy was somewhere we had always wanted to go, we thought it had everything we wanted for our honeymoon – a wonderful combination of romance and culture, gorgeous scenery, warm weather, and delicious food. What’s not to love! If you’re thinking of considering Italy for a honeymoon or even just a vacation getaway, then I can’t recommend it enough. There’s something for everyone, and you can certainly make it the vacation you want it to be and love.
Planning our honeymoon was a different story though. Deciding on a three week itinerary was a little overwhelming, and we constantly questioned whether we were planning it “right”. We wanted to see all of the things, but we also wanted it to be relaxing, fun, and enjoyable, especially since it was our honeymoon after all.
The hardest part was narrowing down where to go, because there are a million places in Italy that look and sound so appealing, and it’s sooooo hard knowing you’re going to be so close to all of them. We had to keep reminding ourselves that hopefully one day we’d be back, and that it was more important for us to enjoy ourselves in fewer places than it was to overload our itinerary. I think we planned it perfectly, and I honestly wouldn’t have changed one single thing.
Capri – 2 nights
Naples (flew out of) -1 night
Planning a cruise right in the middle of our three week itinerary was probably the best decision that we made. Having that week in between where we didn’t have to really think about where we were going next or what we were going to eat was amazing (first world problems, I know!). It also helped us feel more settled in one place, especially since for the other two weeks we had to do a little bit of city and hotel hopping (again, real first word problems!).
–> We left for our honeymoon Monday afternoon, two days after our wedding. We were supposed to fly St. John’s -> Toronto -> Venice, however due to thunderstorms in Toronto we got diverted to Ottawa instead. Since we missed our connection, we could only get out on a flight to Rome. Unfortunately when we arrived in Rome, the airline had no record of our booking to Venice (true story), so we had quite the hard time trying to get that flight to Venice. But, after several more hours (and almost a day and a half of travelling), we had finally arrived in Venice, and our honeymoon had officially started!
VENICE, ITALY
–> Venice was small enough where you could wander the streets all day, and two full days was perfect for us! While obviously more time would have been lovely (I mean, who would turn down more time in such a beautiful place?), two days gave us time to relax and see the items on the Venice bucket list.
–> We did plenty of wandering in this city and it was my favourite thing to do. Exploring is my favourite thing to do in any new place, but the size of Venice made it so easy to do so. We explored the canals, sat and relaxed at many cafes, and did lots of people watching.
–> Our honeymoon started the very end of June and the summertime is when it gets the busiest and the hottest in Italy. I do remember Venice being hot and busy (the bridges were always crowded), but not so much that it would ever stop me from visiting this time of the year again. I can actually say this about every place we visited in Italy.
–> Two fun things we did here: danced in the pouring rain with other people in the street, and we got one of those fish pedicure things (so weird!!!).
–> Things we saw/did: St. Mark’s Square, St. Mark’s Basilica, Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto), a gondola ride down the Grand Canal.
ROME, ITALY
–> We left Venice in the afternoon by train and it took about four hours to get to Rome.
–> We stayed at the Hotel Santa Maria, located in the Trastevere neighborhood (fun fact, this neighbourhood is considered the ‘heart’ of Rome). This was the sweetest hotel and in the best location. The staff were so friendly, and we swooned over the beautiful courtyard and orange trees. Everything was within walking distance, and bars and restaurants were plentiful outside of the hotel. When you stepped inside the gates of the hotel though, you were quickly transported away from the busyness. It was the perfect mix and everything you would want on a honeymoon stay. We would go back to this hotel in a heart beat, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone. The Trastevere area is a must!
–> Our first impression of the city was that it was busy and also a little overwhelming because it felt so large. While Rome was probably our least favourite place during the day (maybe because all of the sightseeing we did), it was by far our favourite place at night. I think a lot of this had to do with the area where we stayed because the Trastevere area literally came to life at night. We loved Rome at night and had so much fun exploring little streets, people watching, stopping at random cafes, and listening to the many beautiful performers. It also felt very romantic at night – a major plus when you’re on your honeymoon!
–> We had four nights in Rome and I’m so glad we didn’t do any less because, trust me, you need time to really see a lot of the sights and to actually enjoy the city. We didn’t book any tours and did all of the sight seeing on our own time.
–> A special moment that stood out here was buying my YSL designer bag. To this day, I’m so happy I made that larger purchase, and every time I wear it I’m reminded of our amazing time in Rome. We also bought a painting from a local man in Rome of the canal in Venice. We framed it when we got home and, again, I’m so glad we have something to cherish from our honeymoon and where it all started.
–> Things we saw/did: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Arch of Constantine, St. Peter’s Square, Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Ponte Sant Angelo, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Venezia, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.
After a busy week in Venice and Italy, we were excited to start the next week of our honeymoon – a cruise through the Greek Islands.
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