If it were me, and I were visiting Italy on honeymoon, I would choose just one of the three and, as the trip would be for 9 days, I would choose Florence and take a day return trip via Frecciarossa train service to Rome - to visit Florence and Tuscany, as well as the Amalfi Coast and also Rome would, in my opinion, take a lot more than 9 days, 9 days between all of them would mean virtually no rest or time to enjoy either your trip or the culture and lifestyle that Italy, in its various guises, has to offer.

I would suggest that, since you have not yet visited the Amalfi Coast, why not explore the region around there? Florence is a wonderful, marvellous and very welcoming city but its attractions are so varied, and there are so many must-see places of interest that 9 days devoted to Florence alone are, in my opinion, simply not enough and it will take several visits to build an appreciation of what is on offer, but, as I say, my own personal choice would be Florence because I like the city, the people, the culture and the way of life, and most of all the feeling of welcome home every time I return - one day (in the not too distant future, I hope) I will up sticks and move to live somewhere close to her charms - che bello Firenze!.

IMO, Tuscany is the perfect honeymoon destination. I'd fly into Rome, spend a day....pick up a car, drive up to Tuscany and spend a few days relaxing, eating and drinking and exploring. Tuscany is just wonderful to poke around in all day.

This would be a great honeymoon destination there...it is a beautiful villa complex in the country near Siena....it is absolutely gorgeous...

http://www.foresteria.it/eng/index.php

Take the train from the Foresteria into Florence for a day...

Fly out of Pisa or Florence...or back down to Rome...

Sometimes less is more.

You really do have very little time. If you divide the time between two or more places, you will be spending that much more time packing and unpacking and getting from A to B, and you will have a whole lot less time to spend doing anything of any interest.

I love all three places. I don't see how you can go wrong picking any of them for a honeymoon. If it were me, I would probably pick Florence, spend all but one or two days there, and rent a car for a drive into the Tuscan countryside sometime in the middle of your stay, either for a day trip or for an overnighter to some place like Chiusi, or Montepulciano, or Arezzo, or Siena, or, or.

We are going for our honeymoon in April as well. We are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence & 2 in Venice.

We wanted to do all 3 and two of my friends accomplished this with the same amount of time and had an amazing honeymoon.

We fly in super early on a Friday morning so we have a full 3 days in Rome. And then taking early trains to get the most out of the other 2 cities.

Thank you all so much for your help! As I read other postings on this forum, I began to realize that this was probably too ambitious an agenda for that amount of time. It sounds like the general consensus is that we should either stay in Siena. What are the advantages of staying in Siena vs. Florence or vice versa (cost, things to do, etc)? I really know very little about either of those places. I visited Florence when I was very young but cannot remember much about it. My only concerns about renting a car are that a. I have read some things from other posters about getting tickets a year later and b.I have read that you should travel outside of the area to rent a car (for best prices) but not sure where we would need to go?

Also, Engred mentioned that the weather in the Amalfi Coast is iffy that time of year. Doesn't that mean that it's iffy in the other cities as well?

Thank you again! This is the first time that I've used the forums and this really is so helpful!

First off, get yourself a good guidebook - the two cities are different and offer different things to see and do - a guidebook will give you a good overview of destinations so you can choose based on your interests.

The issue of weather on the AC is that the AC villages are usually (not always, but usually) warm weather destinations because of the opportunities for swimming in the sea, laying on the beach, boat rides, etc.

Other cities, if it the weather turns lousy - there are usually many churches, museums/galleries/etc to duck into to explore.

Yes, iffy weather at a seasonal coastal area is very different from iffy weather in a city where there are (indoor) things to see and do, and also seasonal resort coastal areas take on a different feel during the low season when tourists would find many hotels and restaurnats closed.

Vagabonda

Thank you for clarifying the weather question. Here is an itinerary that I'm considering. Any specific thoughts about this?

Day 1: Fly into Florence- arriving in the morning, so take the rest of that day to wander a bit, shop and explore. Overnite in Florence.

Day 2: ½ day tour to Pisa/ rest of day to wander and explore.

Ovenite in Florence

Day 3- train to Siena- spend time exploring Siena Overnite in Siena

Day 4- winery and vineyard tour around Tuscany Overnite in Siena

Day 5- tour of San Gimignano? Or a tour of some other Tuscan towns. Overnite in Siena

Day 6- train to Rome Overnite in Rome

Day 7- Vatican City tour in the morning/ Rome city tour (including the Colosseum) in the afternoon. Overnite in

Rome Day 8- Naples/Pompeii tour – full day OR spread out the Vatican City and City tour to 2 days and use the rest of the time to explore Rome.

Overnite in Rome Day 9- return home from Rome

Still too much?

Also, what are some good guide books and can I just order them online?