Italy - Italy honeymoon itinerary help??

First of all thanks for reading this and any help you can offer.

I'm trying to plan a honeymoon in Italy for the start of July. We're both aged around 30 and are looking for a combination of relaxation and culture. We need to fly in on a Monday evening and need to be in Sorento for a wedding the following Friday (e.g. 11 days later). Whilst at the wedding we'll effectively cover off seeing Sorento and also head out to Capri for the day.

The first thing to say is that we're not interested in visiting Rome on this occasion. Whilst it's an amazing city, it kind of screws up most itineries, is pretty hot/busy in July and also is a place that we can visit relatively easily as we are based in Europe most of the time. We'll be back there in September seperately in fact.

The rough Itinery I was pulling together was:

Mon (eve) - Friday: Glying into Milan and then heading straight to the Italian Lakes.
Saturday and Sunday: Florence
Monday travel down to Naples and then through to Ravello on the Monday.
Tuesday/Wednesday: Ravello and Positano - basing ourselves at one of them.
Thursday: Vesuvius arriving into Sorento in the evening.

A couple of places that I don't have included but am aware are pretty amazing are - Tuscany, Marenello, Portofino and Cinque Terre (to just scratch the surface). If anyone can suggest if it's worth fitting these in and if so where and how I'd be really grateful!

I suppose questions I've got are:

1.) I've only ever been to Milan, Rome and the Amalfi coast before so it's the lakes/florence part I'm struggling with the most. Does this seem sensible or are there any major things I've overlooked? Would you allocate more/less time to places listed above?
2.) Can anyone make any suggestions for places to stay in the Lakes.
3.) Is it better to drive or train between the Lakes and Florence - would this allow us to take in somewhere like Portofino/Cinque Terre perhaps?
4.) Anywhere else people would suggest in preference to this?
5.) Can anyone recommend any hotels/restaurants for the trip?

The budget for the honeymoon is relatively flexible and was probably looking to spend an average of about EUR350/night for accomodation although I'm more than happy to blow that out if there's somewhere really special or unique.

Any other suggestions would be most welcome as well.

Thanks again!!

I know very little about Italy, in fact going in three weeks. However I was in Sorrento for a week about 7 years ago. We hired a driver and he took us up the Amalfi Coast. We went to Positano, Ravello, Capri....stopped in a wonderful village for lunch. He also took us through some private gardens that looked like they came out of a magazine. It was a magnificent day.
If you're going to go to Capri anyway, why not make a day of it. It's beautiful.

Bellagio or Varenna are good bases for your time on Lake Como. You are wise to start your honeymoon in a beautiful, romantic and relaxing location.

Ravello is a personal favorite on the Amalfi coast, and a good place to stay there. Positano can feel overrun in July.

Cinque Terre towns are essentially car-free, so a train is a better option if you head that way.

As for places other than those on your list, I would nominate Venice, especially for a honeymoon.

p.s. I've done business with a good, reliable driver who can take you from the Naples train station or airport to your destination in Amalfi. You probably want to leave the driving to others there. PM me if that is of interest.

My personal preference would be to spend less time in the Lake Region and take more time getting to your ultimate destination. If food is of importance to you, then some time spent in Emilia-Romagna would be adviseable, as many consider its cuisine the finest in Italy. Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna are in this region. The SO and I stayed in the outskirts of Brisighella at the hard-to-find Torre Pratesi (http://www.torrepratesi.it/Eindex.html) which was quite an enchanting property. If art is a paramount matter to you, then you might want to try to take in the Piero della Francesca Trail (http://chiavediarco.com/excursions/piero-della-francesca-trail/) which Passes through Arezzo, San Sepolcro, Urbino. A key figure in the Early Renaissance, these works are seldom loaned for exhibitions. Travel slow and enjoy the areas you haven't visited previously.

Agree with donlind. Stay in Ravello. Very easy to take the bus to Amalfi and Positano. Make sure you visit the gardens in Ravello. Very enchanting.
In Florence, I can highly recommend the Hotel Davazanti if you do not want to go really high end and stay at the Four Seasons. The Davazanti is a great family run hotel. Large rooms for Europe, but best of all it is located just off a side street in the heart of everything.

i'd skip all that. it will be hot, sticky, and full of tourists. go to some mountain towns. maybe montalchino, or montepulchano(i've never been there). the country side is a delight. the mountain towns are great. there are a bunch of them running down the east side of the mountain range down the middle. the west side is popular, the east side not so much.

Thanks everyone,

After much searching we've decided to simplify the trip somewhat - ultimately deciding that we're on honeymoon and want to kick back rather than try and see "everywhere".

I think we've now decided on a week in Tuscany including two days in Florence and then a week on Amalfi split between Positano and Sorrento (we have a wedding at the later).

Just trying to finalise hotels in Florence tossing up between St Regis, Westin and Savoy so any tips on that front would be great and additionally any restaurant recommendations in either Florence, Positano/Ravello/Amalfi would be grat.

Thanks again everyone. Obviously getting fairly excited on the honeymoon front now!

Final itinerary looks great.
I was about to recommend saving the Emilia Romagna area for a later trip as some of it has been hit pretty badly by the recent quakes and aftershocks are still on strong.

the 3 hotels are a tossup. i have stayed in 2. don't know if you cah get rooms at €350. as i said earlier, it is really hot in italy in july. worse in aug. as to the earthquakes, make certain the train service is normal. that quake was close to the milan-balognia line. other than that i would not worry about the quakes or effects.

the 3 hotels are a tossup. i have stayed in 2. don't know if you cah get rooms at €350. as i said earlier, it is really hot in italy in july. worse in aug. as to the earthquakes, make certain the train service is normal. that quake was close to the Dilan-balognia line. other than that i would not worry about the quakes or effects.

Thanks for the thoughts Slawecki. They're all rouhgly coming in at the same price around the EUR400 mark. Which two did you stay in which would get the nod from you?

Thanks everyone1

Thanks for the thoughts Slawecki. They're all rouhgly coming in at the same price around the EUR400 mark. Which two did you stay in which would get the nod from you?

Thanks everyone1
the two starwoods, but go to starwood site and see what starwoodies think, the st regis has been changed.

I have to say it - my wife and I went on our anniversary last October and Castello di Velona in Montalcino was the most amazing place that I've ever stayed in my entire life.
http://www.ehc.it/castello-di-velona-montalcino/it/. My wife and I were close to cancelling the rest of our itinerary and just staying there for the rest of the time.

Downside is that you need a car but you can get a prepaid rate on booking.com for around EUR330.