Help! May 'Babymoon' in Europe
 

I've been to Europe many times, but my husband has never been. With a baby due in August, I figured this is our LAST CHANCE (i kid, kinda) for a while to do a quintessential Europe trip. But, I'm already huffing and puffing pregnant so I know that I can't over-plan, either.

Can you help us with a 12 to 14-day itinerary? My biases are for my hubby to see Florence and Rome, and the rest to me is gravy. Because we'll be going in early May, I suppose it won't be quite warm enough to do Amalfi or Greek Islands, but those are both possibilities.

My two different ideas:

Itinerary 1: ARR London (2 nights) --> fly Florence (3 nights) --> drive Tuscany (1 night) --> drop off car Rome (3 nights) --> Amalfi Coast (2 nights)

Itinerary 2: ARR Rome (3 nights) --> drive Tuscany (1 night) --> drop off car Florence (3 nights) --> train to Venice (1 night) --> CRUISE 5 nights greek islands

Does anyone have any better ideas, or suggestions? Should we try for Salzburg or the Alps? Am I wrong to skip over France (I'm not the biggest fan of Paris)

Those are two fairly different ideas, so I think it's up to you to decide between them and then focus on the details. If you're already "huffing and puffing pregnant," I'd think about fewer destinations overall, less moving around, slower pace. Definitely book open-jaw flights into one city and out of another.

Why don't you JUST do Florence and Rome? You can do day trips outside the cities if you feel well, and if you don't you will have plenty of cafes and ambience to amuse you in the city. I think this gives you more flexibility to do things based on how you feel. I am pregnant also and going to London and Paris in June (I will be 5 1/2 months along then). I planned it this way on purpose so I can do as much or as little as I feel like and still get to go.

You might first look at what cruises to Greece out of Venice are still open for booking. You may find the shortest ones are 7 days.

With 12 - 14 days, why not see Florence (4 Days), Tuscany (4 days) and Rome (4 or 5 days). That way you have plenty of time in each place to see lots or see little and do it at whatever pace feels good to you. Should be lovely in May.

If you're hufifing and puffing already, I wouldn't recommend the Amalfi Coast, where exploring the hillside villages involves traversing up and down many, many stairs.

Given what you have told us, both of those itineraries look guaranteed to make you miserable.

I agree with others, why not just Rome and Florence with day trips as you feel up for it?

Florence and Rome OR Greek island cruise.

Of the two, I think the second would probably be better, if you can get a suitable cruise. It has less total travel time, because the destinations are closer together, and the cruise should be relaxing.

The thought of a cruise while pregnant makes me sick just thinking about it -- but then, I get seasick pretty easily.

For May, I would pick Lago di Como as the "gravy", and spend more time driving through the Tuscan countryside. I would fly Rome, go to Florence, pick up car, tour some of Tuscany, then drive to Lago di Como. Fly out of Milan -- or possibly Venice.

Keep it simple. You're going to be tired to narcoleptic. And you're going to be pukey too - that means the fewer take offs and landings the better. You'll need a prescription for a strong anti-emetic too.

I agree with above posters. If you're pregnant you may not enjoy the trip if you're constantly on the go (unless you enjoy doing that at home).

I'd rent an apartment so you have one home base and do a little day trip here and there. All that moving about with your luggage will be exhausting.

The Greek islands cruise could be relaxing, but I wouldn't visit 3 cities in italy beforehand.

Best of luck!

Thank you for bringing me back to reality! I think you are all right, need to tone it down a bit. Thanks for the ideas -- I still can't believe I'll be going there but no stinky cheeses, iffy meats, or wine :-(

I'd look at 2 stops, and in May the crowds will be smaller and I'd try to limit time on your feet, so, for example if in Rome you would use public transport a lot, find a hotel next to the stop. In Florence, there are these esp. narrow buses that let you get around down the tiny streets and if you swapped for Venice then stay near the water buses stop.

pinecone - the Amalfi Coast is not endless stairs and people do live there so lots of pregnant women get around without resorting to moving away or zimmer frames, lol.

I would not rule it out as it can be very relaxing. If you stay in Positano, the lower half of the village is all pedestrian and very few stairs. Villa Rosa is beautiful, as is the Marincanto, which has an infinity pool and great for floating around when pregnant.

http://www.marincanto.it/en/hotel.html

Maybe you should stick to just Florence and Rome. If you're already tired, you should relax and not travel around so much. There's plenty of things to do and it's easy to get around in each city.