Second Honeymoon in Italy

Italy exceeded our hopes and dreams. Our two week vacation in Italy was a celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. In 14 days, we visited 5 locations in central and northern Italy, including the regions of Lazio (Rome), Emilia Romagna (Riccione), Toscana / Tuscany (Torrita di Siena, Firenze / Florence), and Veneto (Venezia / Venice).

Here, we share photos and commentary. You can click on the photos to enlarge the view. We'll go into some detail about the background of the trip and planning. People have been asking for a list of recommendations. We are happy to offer our Italy vacation itinerary.

Here are the five spots - each of which we highly recommend.

Rome

The Sofitel Roma

Riccione

Belvedere Bike Hotel

Torrita di Siena

Hotel Residenza d'Arte

Florence

Hotel Ambasciatori

Venice

Hotel Carlton Capri

How We Planned our Italy Vacation

You've heard of the "six degrees of separation?" It's the idea that everyone is connected to everyone else in the world through no more than six connections...a friend of a friend of a friend. That's how we planned our second honeymoon in Italy.

Ok, so Rich is on the phone in Indianapolis interviewing a job candidate in Germany. Anja's CV indicates she speaks multiple languages, including Italian, and she has an Italian last name. So Rich says to her at the end of the interview, "Sally and I are planning our 25th anniversary in Italy and we don't want to use a tour group. Do you have any suggestions for us?"

Anja tells us her best friend owns a hotel in the seaside resort town of Riccione. Marina is like a sister to Anja, and she's sure Marina will help us. Between Marina, Daniela, and Eleonora at the Belvedere Hotel, they lay out 14 days of incredible fun. We tell them the types of places we want to visit - mixing big cities and site seeing with small towns; big hotels with small hotels and bed and breakfasts.