Italy has been very popular for honeymoons this summer, and many of my clients have been open to exploring more than just the usual Rome/Florence/Venice itinerary. Here’s a trip report I just received from Alex and Lauren, who enjoyed an amazing honeymoon in Chianti, Rome, Ischia and Naples:

Ann,

It’s been a while and we’re still somewhat settling into our new house and we wanted to provide you with some feedback on the trip, which we still think about. Such a wonderful time. Below we’ve outlined a few things and I hope they are helpful. We’ve included a photo of us and one photo of Ischia – the view at the hotel across the board was amazing!

Radda in Chianti was unbelievable. Such a wonderful location where all the restaurants, small shops and intimacy of the town were great. Having the car was great to have here, because we got to travel around to some other towns nearby and in addition have a day trip to Florence. It was a great time here.

o  Wine and Dine Package – This was great. Having the planned dinners at two restaurants gave us a good opening to further explore other restaurants in the area as we familiarized ourselves with the local foods. The wineries were great as well where we got to  learn and taste a ton of red wine. In addition,  having the car, we got to just drive into other wineries that were open without having a reservation which further enhanced the experience.

o  Florence Day Trip – Great city. We would’ve loved to have stayed there longer, but managed to hit up most of the historical spots. Good thing we had a GPS with the tiny streets!

o  Cooking Class – The cooking class we took at Leopoldo was great as well. We had an enthusiastic aunt and nephew team that cooked for us a 5 course meal where we got to experience some different cuisine when compared to the restaurants.

Rome was a definite change of pace compared to Radda. It was great to see all the historical sights and we both felt that 4 days there was the perfect amount of time. We really enjoyed the Campo D’Fiori and Piazza Navona portion of Rome. Much of our time was walking around the historic city and at times maneuvering our way through some tourists.

o  Dark Rome Tour – The visit to the Vatican was a great experience.

Ischia was a beautiful island. We stayed mainly on the Mezzatorre resort because it was pretty secluded from the rest of the downtown area, but it didn’t matter much because the spa and pool there were unbelievable and the staff was impeccable.

o  Boat Tour – Went around the island and stopped off at the port town Sant Angelo. This was a really fantastic spot on Ischia. Small winding streets and some great views from the port. If we ever went back there we’d love to stay in this spot for a couple days. Once back at Lacco Ameno, which was the port closest to Mezzatorre, we walked around and peeked in at some local shops. This felt more Italian than any of the locations we went on our trip.

Naples was too quick. We walked around the for about 7 hours seeing some of the sites the city had to offer and by that time it was time for dinner where we had to start to set our minds back to reality. Maybe next time!

Our hotels:

·        Palazzo Leopoldo (Radda) & Capo d’Africa (Rome): Both had great staffs and were extremely attentive to any questions we had. They provided great restaurant suggestions during our stay and were extremely helpful, especially while in Radda they provided some guidance on where to park in Florence, which would’ve been a nightmare if we didn’t ask.

·        Mezzatorre (Ischia): Took it to another level, the staff across the board – concierge, spa facilities, restaurants etc – was just top notch. Absolutely great place to go.

·        Hotel Grand Parkers (Naples): Of the 4 hotels we stayed at this one was at the bottom of our list. The concierge was okay and was not as welcoming as the others but the hotel itself was nice.

Thanks for everything!