4-5 weeks in Europe

Old Aug 23rd, 2001, 09:12 AM
  #1  
Joe
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4-5 weeks in Europe

My wife and I are plannning a 25 wedding anniversary trip to Europe in 2002. We would like to avoid very busy seasons. Possibly June or September. We have between 4-6 weeks of vacation time. We both want to go to Italy, France, Spain, Swtizerland. Prefer not to drive a car. How are trains and other means of transportation. Airfare is covered (frequent flyer). Some nights covered (Marriott rewards 200k). Want to be economical but willing to spend for the experience. How much should we budget? Where to stay? Any help would be appreciated.
 
Old Aug 23rd, 2001, 12:10 PM
  #2  
Rex
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<<Airfare is covered (frequent flyer).>>

Does this mean that you have already booked specific dates and destinations? If not, it would behoove you NOW to start checking into what you can get, in comparison to what you want.

Frequent flyer award seats typically open up 11 months in advance (thus, June 2002 has already been picked over for a month now - - and a surprisingly large chunk of the "award inventory" gets snarfed up VERY, very fast).

Marriott has four properties in France, and I would NOT recommend Paris (at La Defense - - few people would choose this location unless on business there) - - the Marriott Cap d'Ail (5 miles from Monte Carlo) is a massive, classy-looking place. Maybe not my cup of tea, but hey - - it's the Riviera, and some variety of lodging is good.

Italy has but two (Milan and Rome); the Rome property looks "just" acceptable. Spain has only the Marbella Beach resort (splendid, no doubt, if you're into that kind of thing - - but can you get award nights there?) - - plus Mallorca (can't comment on this). And two in Zurich. I am prejudiced against Switzerland, but on a 4-6 week trip to Europe, I think that Zurich would merit about 4-6 hours.

Trains are an excellent means of covering distances of 100-400 miles; above that, there are numerous cheap air travel options withIN Europe that didnt exist just 5-10 years ago.

But I am also a big advocate of the need to rent a car and get outside the cities to see "the other half" of Europe.

How much should you budget? How much can you afford? Seriously, what is your idea of a pleasant (but affordable) three day weekend here in the US (6 meals and 2 nights lodging - - transportation excluded)? Some people would spend $200; others would spend $800. I would take that figure and multiply by 2-3 for a weekly budget. You really can do 7 nights in Europe for the price of 4 in the US (especially on a trip this long) - - if for no other reason than you will want to "dollar-cost-average-down" a good chunk of the time. It's boring NOT to do this.

Keep coming back here and asking more questions as your plans evolve; get a ton of books from the library, and read, read, read. You can turn this into an entire year of excitement, planning and (trying to cope with) choosing.

And you'll get lots of opinions and information here!

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Westerville, Ohio
 
Old Aug 23rd, 2001, 11:45 PM
  #3  
Leslie
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Joe - congratulations. My husband and I will also have our 25th next year. Congratulations, also, on having 4-6 weeks of vacation time. I'm envious. Your questions are very hard to answer at this point. Rex gives good advice..So I'll limit my suggestion to one: do include Paris in your plans. It is truely the most romantic city I've ever been to. I don't know who invented the notion that Venice is for lovers, but if you go in June or Sept you'll still be sharing it with a zillion other lovers. Not romantic in my book but definitely worth seeing. And yes, do spring for a gondola ride!

Best of luck.
 
Old Aug 24th, 2001, 06:13 AM
  #4  
BOB THE NAVIGATOR
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Hello Joe, What a great idea. We did something similar in 1999, spending 2 months following the spring flowers across southern Europe in celebration of our 40th. If you want to miss the crowds then I suggest April or May. You need to decide a general geographic orientation---north or south--before you pick the timing. If you want to do Spain, France, Italy, Austria as we did then spring is wonderful. If you decide on the north--UK,Benelux,Germany--then May or Sep is good. As for budget, you can do it on $150/day for food and lodging plus transport and tourism. I have some ideas for you if you contact me directly.
I agree that you need to lock in the FF booking ASAP. Start there and see what your feasible options may be for an open jaw booking. We did into Madrid and out of Munich for our 8 week sojourn. You may want a car for portions of your trip. It is hard to see Provence or Tuscany without one. Holler if I can help.
 
Old Aug 24th, 2001, 08:49 PM
  #5  
Art
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Joe, having that much time to go is great. Congrats on your 25th. My suggestion is to shop around for good fares that you can use to upgrade to business, unless you already have enough for business class. I did a lot of traveling for business for a few years and have been able to upgrade to business class for the last 4 years. By doing this I still have enough for 2 more trips. Bus class is definitely worth it for the comfort and being able to sleep and arrive refreshed.
Regards,
Art

 

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