European Honeymoon Itinerary
 

Hi there,
Fiance and I are thinking of going to the following places in September:
- London 3 nights
- Barcelona or Madrid 6 nights
- Prague 5 nights
- Paris 6 nights
We have never been to Europe...Do you think this is too much to see?
Also....what is your opinion....would Barcelona or Madrid be more interesting? We're both 29 years old.
Thanks!!

Well - I think London deserves many more nights and Barcelona or Madrid many fewer. In fact - if it weren't for the Prado (I'm past the age for clubbing until 5am) I wouldn;t consider Madrid at all. I found Barcelona much more interesting.

Also - might do one less in Prague - London should be 6 or 7 (since you lose much of the first day to jet lag).

But you are doing a lot of hopping around. Have you found the bargain flights yet (these cities are too far apart for trains except London and Paris). I would base the order of cities on available cheap flights and definitely do an open jaws ticket - that is into London and back from whatever the last city is.

You're not giving much time to London. Do you really want to go there? It's not a very romantic city, so if you'd rather be on your way to Europe, I'd skip London, especially since it is a very expensive place to stay, so adding on nights means adding to your hotel and food costs considerably. If you are simply looking for a place to take it easy for a few days after your wedding, consider doing that in Dublin, which is easy to get to and the epicenter of cheap flights to the rest of Europe.

If you do decide to add on to London, you might have to look for ways to economize elsewhere.

One way to do that is to consider renting an apartment in Paris or Prague rather than footing the bill for a hotel.

Even though I personally favor Madrid over Barcelona, I suspect you will want to be in Barcelona, which is truly a young person's city. But if you greatly love painting, 2 nights in Madrid (to see the Prado) and 4 or 5 nights in Barcelona would be reasonable.

I assume you are young--at least under 35. It seems to me that you may be happier not spending all of your time in BIG cites---Europe is so much more.
With 20 nites in Europe, I would start in Paris and end in Rome and hit 3 other destinations between--none of them big cites.

Hi P,

It's a doable trip, however:

You are not going to have much time in London. Is it really important?

How are you getting from Spain to Prague to Paris?

((I))

We found a cheap flight that takes us from Vancouver to London and the return is through Paris. For the other legs of the trip we're either taking Ryan Air or SmartWings which were extremely cheap. The reason for the short time in London is that many people have told us how expensive it can be. We are considering taking out one of the stops but not sure which one and London is not the easiest one to take out because of the initial flight that takes us there.
Thanks for all your great advice!! =)

Have you seen www.world-honeymoons.net
All the best.

Hi P,

>We are considering taking out one of the stops ....<

I suggest adding 3 nights to London and 2 nights to Paris and skipping Prague.

((I))

Is the honeymoon right after the wedding? Don't underestimate how tired you'll be after all the hoopla. Hopping around from city to city and airport to airport may not be the best idea. We went to Athens for 2 days, bus-ed it to Nafplio and the northeastern part of the Pelopponese and then hopped on a plane to Santorini all over the course of 10 days and, while it was delightful, we were exhausted. It looks as if you guys have 3 weeks. Why not pick a city a week and plan on day trips from your home base each week to see the countryside.

You heard correctly: London is expensive. While the advice about resting up after your honeymoon is very good, I wouldn't pick London as the place to do it.

I think it's a good idea to drop one destination. I think Barcelona probably offers you the most variety of enjoyment, plus the higher chance of pretty weather in September so I would keep that.

7 nights in Paris and 7 nights in Barcelona would let you rent an apartment instead of springing for hotel bills in both places. Cheaper. Take whatever is left over and give it to London.

Could you possibly afford this London hotel:

http://www.thezetter.com/

This one is cheaper:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...n_England.html

This one is even cheaper, but it is in a very charming part of North London that out of the center but has a good tube connection):

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_England.html

If you buy Time Out's Cheap Eats for London, you can save money.

Way too little time in London. The "many people" who told you it was so expensive probably did not tell you 1) that almost all of the museums and galleries in London are free, and 2) Priceline is amazing for London.

Paris is terrific of course - but you have to pay for every museum you enter, and priceline is the pits there. So w/ the free admissions and priceline hotels you can actually do London and Paris for about the same $$

Rack rate London is outragously expensive - but there are MANY ways to save money w/o scrimping.

Hmmm. I'm a great fan of London but restaurant bills are also shockingly high.

Perhaps the best advice is one week apartment rentals in all 3 places? They're original itinerary is 20 days. Perhaps they could make it 21 (or just eat the cost of one night at a apartment they'll end up not using). In that case, I'd make it London 7, Barcelona 6, and Paris 7.

Hey there Pippy! Just wanted to add a few comments! Went on my Honeymoon last year, 3 weeks, 6 places. People on the board thought I was nuts. But, the time was perfect! If you're young, hopping off and on planes won't be a burden! We're going to Europe this yr. and spending only 2 nights in London. We'll go back if we love it... My suggestion to you is:
1) USE PRICELINE - just booked:
a) London Hilton Kensington 4* - $67 USd per night.
b) The Westin Paris - 5* -$150 USD per night.
I'm Cdn. too - so the exchange rate is great now to book in USD.
We saved a whole lot of $$ and stil got great hotels. Use Priceline.

2) How about Italy? Florence, Rome & Venice are incredible. I would cut Prague and add Italy'

3) Definitely Barcelona.

Hope this helps!

B

I don't think it's age as much as it is temperment and how much effort someobody just put into their wedding. Some honeymooners want 3 days in each place, some want 6.