alpha0meqa

Hello all,

I'm from North Carolina over in the US. I want to plan a trip to Europe for our honeymoon, we(29M, 31F) are getting married April 23, and expect to do the honeymoon shortly after. I'm thinking around 2 weeks will be the duration. There is a lot I want to see and do, and unfortunately it sounds like 2 weeks isn't very much.

She wants to visit London, and I want to visit Rome. --Paris is in the middle as well as Venice, so if at all possible I'd like to see all 4....Although I'm sure I'll be recommended that it's just not doable. I know that you could spend all 2 weeks in London or Rome, and etc. But I want to get my experience in as who know's if/when I'll ever return.

I've literally watched hours of videos of all the high speed trains, seems like travel is fairly quick to be honest, which is fantastic. I'm not sure if it's cheaper or not for this particular itinerary, but I'd imagine flying is more expensive.

I'm not sure for a budget, I definitely don't mind spending a bit to get all of this accomplished as it's our only honeymoon . I'm honesty clueless and not sure what to expect, so if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. --I did get in contact with a few travel agents, and just awaiting their responses.

Anyone have an idea at some nice places to stay in those 4 cities, I'm not a millionaire but I don't want to stay somewhere that is so so either...

Thank you !

nytraveler

OK - 4 cities in 2 weeks is pushing it - but it really depends on how many nights you will have. If you can leave on a Fri night and return on a Sun (or possibly Mon) you can see more than if you really have just 12 nights on the ground.

All of the places you have picked are deserving of more time but you can get a taste in:

London (5 nights - 4 days but the first will be jet lagged)
Paris (4 nights - 3 days)
Fly to Venice (train will take forever)
Venice (3 nights - 2 days)
Rome (4 nights - 3 days)

All train except Paris to Venice.

As for hotels, you need to give us a nightly budget in $ or euros - and what you expect for that. Be aware than in europe many hotels are in older (sometime VERY old - hundreds of years) buildings, rooms are small and amenities can be limited. Think of prices in NYC plus.

janisj

>>I've literally watched hours of videos of all the high speed trains, seems like travel is fairly quick to be honest, >Anyone have an idea at some nice places to stay in those 4 cities, I'm not a millionaire but I don't want to stay somewhere that is so so either…

janisj

we were posting at the same time . . .

nyt's itinerary is good but would require the whole trip be 18 days home to home.

RonZ

Paris, Venice and Rome, with day trips, would be workable. E,g., Venice is close to Verona, Vicenza and Padova just to name 3. Hotels on booking.com.

janisj

But Ron . . . the OP's fiancée/wife to be wants to see London.

RonZ

I should have said London, not Paris as that is her preference. Numerous flights to Venice from London taking a couple of hours.

alpha0meqa

Thank you very much everyone. I honestly don't know what a budget would be for hotel. I need to craft it ALL together and see, oh hey it's 50k, heck no! I just don't know. It depends on what I see as to whether or not I think it's worth it.

Funny that you mention leaving on a Friday, I think that's exactly what I was thinking as well, that way we get more time. It definitely seems like Hotels will be a large bulk of what's needed, with flight taking a second step to that. I know I'm not doing a 350$ a night hotel that's for sure, but I def can do more than 150$ I think. --I believe it's 1.11$ > 1Euro currently. Sorry I didn't convert.

I tried to get away with the trains as I absolutely hate flying and am scared to death. But not more terrified that I'd stay at home.

You both mention a lot more time in London, and I'm curious as to why? Sorry I'm a little clueless

Scootoir

Congratulations! How wonderful to be planning your honeymoon.

Others have cautioned about trying to see too many places in a short time and that is very good advice. If you can give up Rome on this trip London, Paris and Venice can make a lovely trip. Even flying from Paris to Venice will eat up the better part of a day.

The Hotel New Orient in Paris is a lovely place for under $200 a night however it's not as convenient a location to major sights as other places we have stayed. It is close to the Parc Monceau and Musee Jacquemart Andre, two of my favorite places in Paris.

I love to travel and like you I HATE to fly so my doctor recommended a short acting tranquilizer. It helps a great deal. I am still anxious during take off but can manage with a moderate amount of wimpering and not full on crying. You could look into an overnight train from Paris to Venice but for your honeymoon spring for a private compartment with the money you are saving on a hotel that night. http://www.seat61.com/thello-train-f...o-italy.htm#1-, 2- or 3-bed sleepers

And post next year to tell us about the trip!

alpha0meqa

Scootoir, very funny! HAhaha. I need to check into these tranquilizers. I kind of wish someone would just hit me with a bat when I walk on, and then I wake up in my destination. I really don't want to cut Rome out, that's my favorite part of the trip. I love history and am very much looking forward to that. And then she really wants London, which is the total opposite direction. We are just difficult!

I will definitely check into your suggestions though, and thank you so very much for the kind words. I'll be keeping you all up to date on this of course!!

nytraveler

London is a much bigger city than any of the others and has more sights than you can possibly imagine. The other cities - esp Venice - are much smaller (London is about 8.5 million people while Paris is about 2.5 million and Rome about 4 million) and you can get at least a taste in a few days. (For comparison NYC is about 9 million, although the metro area is about 20 million.)

If it were my choice I would say any first trip to London should be 7 nights (6 days with one a half jet lagged) but you just don;t have the time for that.

If you have to cut something Venice - while romantic and the most unique - is the easiest to cut.

Lexma90

Some generalities to think of as the both of you starting planning your trip:
- As a rule of thumb, each time you change locations, it takes about 1/2 day of your time, what with packing up, checking out of hotel, transport to train/plane, travel time, transport from train / plane to new hotel, check in, unpack, familiarize yourselves with the new location.
- What have your travels been like previously, in the U.S? Do you like sun-filled sun on the beach vacations, or urban explorations in NYC? Visits to historic locations like Gettysburg or the nearby amusement parks? That will help you gauge what you might enjoy in Europe
- Watch travel videos, whether on youtube or checked out from your local library. It will give you a feel for those locations and what you want to see / do.
- All of your potential destinations are in big cities. Are you good with that - or maybe would you want to break up the urban time with a couple of days in the countryside?

alpha0meqa

@nytraveler -- Duly noted. I need to check out all of the sights, as I honestly had no idea there was so much to see and that it's so big. Thank you for the advice on that and information

@Lexma90 -- I understand. Lugging around luggage will probably get old quite fast, but all I can see in my head now is smiles and happiness. ---We are okay with beaches, but not all that hot on them. We've done two cruises in a year and a half and are all beached out. Our trips have mostly been to Las Vegas and to the mountains. We like sightseeing as a number one, exploration is very key.

I will most certainly look for some travel videos, I think I'm all done with airplane and train videos -_-

janisj

>>You both mention a lot more time in London, and I'm curious as to why? Sorry I'm a little clueless

bilboburgler

Great advice above

April, good time to be here, London weather might still be a bit meh but the other ones should be good. Try and stretch to 15 16 days as suggested.

London is way big, good public transport and has the benefit that it is Euro lite, that is we speak English and more focused on the customer. Accomodation in London is probably the biggest cost, local transport is cheapish and most museums are free though shows can hurt the wallet. Jet lag is a pain but get out in the gardens on the first day and you'll be fine. Basically you have to decide to pay more than $150 a night or stay in a Hostel, (actually the yhs http://www.yha.org.uk/ type hostels are pretty good value but you have only just got married and maybe not got both your minds around what to spend etc), either way use booking.com and trip advisor to get an idea of costs then work out what you actually want to see in London (ie Harry Potter or the biggest Hindu Temple in Europe...) and come back to us to advise best options. NB UK uses the Pound, best go from the ATM at the UK airport.

Train to Paris needs booking 20+ weeks out to get a deal, very easy city centre to city centre. Suddenly you now have the Euro to contend with and French (though most people you bump into will handle English pretty well.

Fly to Venice, I'd try for 2 nights, it is magical and again book early for the best prices, train to Rome which has a very small ancient centre surrounded by a bustling noisy Italian argument, great fun, lots of walking, gelato, shopping here the public transport is not so good, selection of where to stay is probably a bit trickier as you have to balence cost, transport and zone a bit. I'd have a search on this site for general Rome advice before coming back with questions.

Sassafrass

Check out flights and costs to go into different cities, and look at multi-city or multi- destination, meaning fly into one city and home from another, not two one way.

If flights work out cost wise and time wise, I suggest you start in Venice because it is so small, walkable, romantic and a good place to get over jet-lag. I would probably depart from Paris because due to departure taxes from London, it may be cheaper.

Arrive Venice
Venice: 3 nights, 2 &1/2 days, first 1/2 day jet lagged
Train to Rome
Rome 4 nights, 3 & 1/3 days
Fly to London
London, 5 nights, 4 & 1/2 days
Train to Paris
Paris, 4 nights, 3 & 1/2 days
Depart Paris

These would be minimum days/nights. If you have less time, cut one place.
Don't book flights until you have your itinerary set.

pariswat

Hello

Book your trains as muhc in advance as possible :
Eurostar is best booked at 120 or 90 days in advance (I guess it is on the site).

If you fly to Venice be wary of Ryanair, not that the company is not good (I consider them inhuman bastards but they fly on time and safely) but they take off from Bauvais, whihc is NOT Paris, but will eat you a lot of time to go to - can be done, just pay attention and book the shuttle with ticket) - they land in Treviso, not Venice intl airport, but that one is closer to Venice.

Perso I would drop Rome and do it later, my opinion.

In Paris I always recommend 'Montmartre mon Amour' as a romantic hotel - go on their site, they are located nuder the Sacré Coeur, so not in 5-6 ('St Germain' that seems to be the recommandation to all US tourists).

For Venice, I recommend hotel Flora, also very nice, with a small garden and is very close to San Marco plaza, in a small alley - quiet.

London : I find the hotels so expensive ... no rc there...

And congrats for your wedding !

emilya4

It's true about Ryanair not really going to Paris. I think the bus to Bauvais from Paris was maybe 17 euros? If you add in your time, I wouldn't bother with Ryanir from Paris unless I was saving a good $100 or so. But it also depends on how much you figure your time is worth and whether you mind spending some time on a bus.

welltraveledbrit

Go with the Open Jaw flights as Janis suggested. Pay the extra money to take a real airline from the real destination, as the others have explained RyanAir doesn't exactly fly into Venice from Paris. You don't have the time for this stuff particularly if anything goes wrong.

You got lots of good advice already but here' my two cents.

Make sure all the hotels know it's your honeymoon, have the travel agent (TA) tell them if you go with a TA -or let them know yourself. Try to plan some special experiences, for example a food tour in Rome (Eating Italy) or the scavi tour of the Vatican (google it) a small group walking tour (Context is one I like). In London I like the the view from the Sky Garden (free tickets book in advance) or breakfast at the Duck and Waffle.

Don't try to do too much. travel can be very stressful especially when it's meant to be really great, like a honeymoon. Plus weddings are exhausting and while it's all great stuff sometimes you're tapped out afterwards so don't run yourselves into the ground.

Even two nights in Venice would be worth it but I'd suggest staying in Dorsoduro or Cannaregio, NOT right near ST Marks Sq.

Don't expect great weather, it can still be quite cool even at the end of April in the UK and Paris, but it's very changeable and it could be warm, just make sure you have reasonable expectations.

Hotel prices vary with season and date so it's hard to unequivocally recommend particular places. I think the reviews on booking.com are pretty accurate so it's a good place to start. I think you'll have a great time if your attitude is that you're having a quick look and you don't have to see everything this time around because you will be back,

Lots of recommendations for Rome, Paris and London on my blog
www.somuchmoretosee.com

neckervd

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