ahoyne9London & Naples, Italy: Honeymoon Begins 🇬🇧🇮🇹
October 1-4, 2025
Every great honeymoon needs a great send-off, and ours started with a reunion 13 years in the making. Before heading to Italy, my wife and I made a stop in London to meet up with my best friend from university, Si-Tae. He studied abroad at University Eau Claire for a year while we were both doing our undergrad in finance. We hadn’t seen each other since 2012, so this was long overdue.
✈️ Getting There: The Points Breakdown
To make this leg of the trip happen, we had to get a little creative with positioning flights. We flew from our home airport to Orlando using Virgin Atlantic to book a Delta positioning flight for just 15,000 Chase points plus $6 per person. In Orlando, we met up with friends Jordan and Maddy, which was a bonus win. We stayed overnight at a Hyatt using 6,500 points, rented a car with my Capital One travel credit for $75, then drove from Orlando to Tampa, which was about $20 in gas and tolls total.
From Tampa, we flew Virgin Atlantic Upper Class to London Heathrow for 29,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred to Virgin Atlantic plus $262 in taxes and fees. This was booked just before Virgin jacked up their taxes and fees on points bookings, so the timing worked out perfectly.
💰 One of the best perks of flying Virgin Atlantic into Heathrow is access to their Arrival Lounge, where you can shower and decompress without burning time waiting for an early hotel check-in.
The flight itself was just okay. Unfortunately our flight attendant was sick and managed to get both of us ill right at the start of our honeymoon. Not exactly ideal. We stayed one night near the airport at the Hyatt Place London Heathrow for 8,000 points before heading into the city.
🏙️ October 1: London with Si-Tae
We took the Heathrow Express from Terminal 3 to Paddington, one of London’s most iconic Victorian stations, which has been in operation since 1854. From there we headed to Over Under Coffee to meet Si-Tae and his wife. The coffee shop chain has a great reputation for specialty coffee in London and was a perfect low-key spot to catch up.
After Si-Tae’s wife headed off, the three of us spent the day wandering the city. Since I had been to London before, this was more about quality time with him and hitting the big landmarks for my wife. We ticked off the classics: Big Ben, the London Eye, and Tower Hill with Tower Bridge. Big Ben, officially known as the Elizabeth Tower since 2012, stands at 96 meters tall and is one of the most recognizable clock towers in the world. Tower Bridge, often mistaken for London Bridge, was completed in 1894 and still opens around 800 times per year to allow river traffic through.
That evening we met another mate from my time studying at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand for my master’s, Keiran. A great night all around. It was genuinely incredible to see Si-Tae again after so many years.
🍕 October 2: Welcome to Napoli
The next morning we flew out of London to Naples (Napoli) on British Airways, booked with Avios for just 9,000 points per person and $1 in taxes and fees. This was my first time in Naples and my wife’s first time in Italy, so expectations were high.
Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with a history stretching back over 2,800 years. Founded as a Greek colony called Neapolis (meaning “New City”), it later became a major cultural hub during the Roman Empire.
We stayed just outside the city at the Four Points Flex by Sheraton Naples Marigliano, using the remainder of my Capital One travel credit and paying about $200 out of pocket. Nice hotel, though they did double charge me for the pre-paid stay. They sorted it quickly and were polite about it, but it was a minor headache right at the start of the honeymoon.
One thing that stood out immediately: since my last visit to Italy in 2021, prices have jumped significantly. A taxi from the airport to the hotel was $120. To get around that, we took a $20 cab to Acerra, a charming small town just outside Naples, and caught the train from there.
🏛️ October 2-3: Pompeii (With Some Patience Required)
We had pre-purchased tickets to Pompeii at $27 per person, which I’d recommend to anyone visiting since it lets you skip the entry queues. Pompeii was buried under several metres of volcanic ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, and the site was only rediscovered in 1748. Today, it covers about 44 hectares and only around two-thirds of the city has been excavated.
Getting there was an adventure. The train was on strike, leaving us waiting nearly four hours at Acerra. We found a local pizza shop and grabbed coffee while we waited, which at least gave us a proper Neapolitan introduction to the food that would define the next few days.
On the return trip the train had scheduled maintenance, which meant getting off mid-route, waiting over an hour for a replacement bus, continuing to the next station, and eventually making it back to Acerra to meet our driver. The entire day took 12 hours. We spent about two hours at Pompeii itself, which was not ideal. The site is worth it, but plan for flexibility and check the transport situation in advance.
⛪ October 4: Our Last Day in Naples
This was our last full day in the city and we made it count. We took the same route in, car to Acerra then train to Napoli, though this time we were only delayed 18 minutes, which felt like a victory.
We visited the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta (Duomo di Napoli), which houses what is believed to be the blood relic of San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples. The cathedral dates back to the 4th century, though the current Gothic facade was completed in the late 13th century. Twice a year, thousands gather to witness the ritual liquefaction of the relic, which is considered a local miracle.
We also explored the underground tunnels beneath the city, which are part of a network of ancient aqueducts, catacombs, and WWII air raid shelters stretching for over 80 kilometers beneath Naples. Fascinating stuff.
Honestly, Naples as a city was not quite what I expected. It’s gritty, chaotic and not somewhere I’d rush back to. But the pizza? Some of the best I have ever had. Naples is the birthplace of pizza, with the classic Margherita said to have been created here in 1889, and the real thing does not disappoint.
🚆 Off to Bologna
The next morning we were on our way to Bologna by train, about four hours north. Quick tip for anyone doing the same route: sign up for an account with Italo Trains before you book. They send out promotional emails with discounted fares. I was able to book first class tickets for $70 per person, down from the standard $125. Worth doing.
This trip to Italy was always about the food: Naples for the pizza, Bologna for the Bolognese. Two destinations, one very clear mission.
📌 Cost Breakdown
- ✈️ Positioning flight (home to Orlando via Delta): 15,000 Chase points + $6/person
- 🏨 Orlando overnight (Hyatt): 6,500 points
- 🚗 Rental car (Orlando): $75 Capital One travel credit
- 🚗 Drive to Tampa: ~$20 gas and tolls
- ✈️ Tampa to London (Virgin Atlantic Upper Class): 29,000 Chase points + $262 taxes
- 🏨 Hyatt Place London Heathrow: 8,000 points
- ✈️ London to Naples (British Airways): 9,000 Avios + $1/person
- 🏨 Four Points Flex Naples Marigliano: ~$200 out of pocket
- 🎟️ Pompeii entry: $27/person
- 🚆 Naples to Bologna (Italo, first class): $70/person
Cheers!