The_honeymooner

Hello there,

We are Rookie travelers. We are from Canada and are currently planning our honeymoon trip in this late October 2012 for a 16 to 17 nights in France and Italy. We have never been in Europe before and therefore, we desperately need a lot of help!

Tentative Itinerary: Arrive in Paris, stay for 5 nights
Fly to Florence, stay for 5-6 nights
Train to Rome, stay for 5-6 nights

I checked on Booking.com that if you check in on a weekend, they charge you more for the night! That's why we are not sure if we should stay for the extra night to avoid the weekend.

We are not big beach people and rather the Arts, Architecture and History of the places. Do you think this is adequate? Or should we add another location on the itinerary?

We are also on a budget and hope for accommodation for less than US$140 per night. No hostels. Again, it's our honeymoon... Any recommendation on accommodation on these places?

We want to travel smart and have a good vacation. Any tips on food, passes, tours, and transportation? And is it possible to spend less than US$250 (including food) per day?

Your help is much appreciated!

ira

Hi TH,

You are skipping Venice?

The_honeymooner

Hi,

Thanks for your response! My fiancee is very price- conscious. He thinks Venice is a money gobbling place! I personally like to go if it fits in our budget.

ira

>Do you think this is adequate? Or should we add another location on the itinerary?

We are also on a budget and hope for accommodation for less than US$140 per night. No hostels. <

Given your constraints, this is what I would do:

Fly into Venice - 4 nights.
Check these hotels: http://www.alcampaniel.com/, http://www.hotelbernardi.com/en/, also look at www.venere.com.

Train to Florence - 3 nights - See www.trenitalia.com.
Stay at www.bedinflorence.it (I can highly recommend it).
(Some people prefer Rome to Florence.
Fly from Florence FLR or Pisa PSA ( or Rome) to Paris - 5 nights.

Reducing the number of nights will enable you to enjoy your visit instead of worrying about money for each day.

Enjoy your hooneymon.

ira

Hi TH,

>He thinks Venice is a money gobbling place!<

No worse than Rome.

Check http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_...untryCode=1092 for comparative costs of cities.

bilboburgler

Welcome to Fodors

Cost savings: An appartment should be cheaper than a hotel and if staying for 4 or 5 nights they become very sensible. You will find that during the week there are good cheap 3 course meals in restaurants (basically office worker meals) at around 13 Euro with wine. Public transport in europe is normally cheap and generally clean and safe, so use the underground/local buses/trams and but the 5 day or 24 hour savers if appropriate. Do not drink fizzy sweet drinks in bars, stick to alcohol it is cheaper and it does you less damage. Water in Europe is drinkable (what did the roman's ever do for us?) you don't have to buy bottled water.

Many of the cities have one day a month when the museums are free. Surf this site to check when and see if they can coincide with your trip.

Paris, Rome, Florence AND Venice are money gobbling places. The trick is don't stay in the main square go one block back and prices become sensible, don't stay in the top city go to the second best. Still how many honeymoons do you get?

nytraveler

It really doesn't matter if yu like the beach or not - the time of year you are going is too late for beach in europe - except southern Spain - it just won;t be warm enough.

And your hotel budget means you will be staying in quite basic places - this is only 100 euros per night. I would start looking for places as soon as possible so you have the best choices at a budget price. And do realize that in europe many hotels are in very old buildings (as in hundreds of years) and that rooms are typically quite small - often not much bigger than a double bed

When you are looking do check on 1)location and 2) confirm that the room has a private bath and the building has an elevator versus just stairs.

I think the plan you have is fine - and will give you a chance to see much a reasonable amount of these cities - with possibly a day trip if you want.

mama_mia

Given the length of time you are talking about spending in each city, you might also consider apartments, at least for part of your stay. There are some very charming ones that would fit in your budget. You could pick up breakfast supplies but eat lunch and dinner out and possibly stick closer to your budget.
We have used Sleep in Italy but other good agencies have been recommended on this board.

jamikins

Your plan is definitely good. For budget hotels check out www.eurocheapo.com

shutdown

Venice! You definitely need to visit them for honeymoon. A romantic place to visit.

About accommodation, I am pretty confidence you'll get several list of place under your budget in October. For honeymoon, I would recommend to stay at short term apartment rental instead of hotel, this can give you more privacy . Check out this one
http://www.lodjee.com. With your budget you can rent a decent studio on appropriate area in Paris and Rome.

Restaurant in Paris is pretty expensive as well as Rome. If you want to travel smart, go to local grocery market. This option can save your budget although you might spend some times to cook your own food if you prefer to stay at short term apartment rental.

Here is good sources about food cost in Paris :
http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_cafes_cost.html
http://www.numbeo.com/food-prices/ci...nce&city=Paris

Paris have great public transportation system, you can take Metro/REM instead of taxi, there are available one way ticket for about 1.7 €

http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/tourists/

The_honeymooner

Hi Ira,

Thank you for your tips! I'm really hoping o include Venice in the trip. The accommodation links you provided are great! The only concern I have for flying to Venice is it's a longer flight (about 15 to 16 hours) and 12 to 13 to Paris and the flight costs a bit more this way.

Do you think if flying to Paris first and them fly to Venice and take the train down to Florence and to Rome would be ok?

Thks!

The_honeymooner

Thank everyone for all your suggestions! I'm so touched to hear so many great responses! You have no idea how stressed I've been for researching information in a complete foreign continent!

I think you are right about staying in an apartment. I looked some up and they actually look quite decent and you can also cook there! Any idea if they supply cookwares, plates and forks? And if they charge a clean up fee?

Also, just curious, what is your favorite and most romantic place to visit in Italy and France?

jamikins

Yes apartments should come with utensils and plates etc - they vary in quality but you should be able to cook and eat there. Just ask the owners or agent what is supplied as you may get a cooktop but no oven.

Most romantic places - PARIS!! Rome, Venice - well pretty much anywhere in Italy. What I like about your plan is you are not trying to do too much! So don't be tempted to add a bunch of places, a lot of newbies try o see everything but that just adds to your cost and you end up spending more time in transit and less enjoying the places you are at.

Happy planning!!

mama_mia

The apartments I have stayed in with Sleep in Italy have been well supplied for our purposes: Expresso maker, toaster, strainer, dishware and cutlery, pots, etc. You can read reviews which may give you an idea of how well stocked a particular apartment is.

The website says there is a separate charge for clean up based on size of apartment. You will get the information before you finalize your arrangement. If you do decide to look for apartments, you can check out other posts here. There have been some nice Paris listings, but I have not been to Paris in years.

I find it fun to shop in the outdoor markets and small stores for groceries and consider it a part of the vacation experience. The selection can be very different from the States (and I assume Canada, too). I had the most marvelous humongous figs from an outdoor market in Italy that I still dream about today.

denisea

What Jamikins said!

Good luck with your planning. I love Paris and Venice both and will travel to Rome for the first time later this year.

While the apartment will help you be able to eat less expensively (do take advantage of that), avoid the places immediately around big tourist attractions, and avoid places that show photos of the food or where menus are mostly in English...usually targeted to tourists with awful, overpriced food!

Read trip reports on the forum to get great suggestions for food in the cities you will go to...those recommendations are life savers!

The_honeymooner

Thank you so much! I'm so glad I found Fodors! And thanks for all the great ideas like shopping in the outdoor market and not going to places with only English menus.

I would recommend this site to anyone who wants to go to Europe!

nytraveler

For best local food go tosmaller restaurants used by locals - not full of americans. If you see a place with menus in many languages or pictures of the food or someone at the door encouraging you to go inside - run the other way. Look at the menus posted outside and you will know what the costs will be.

Michael

In Paris, take the <i>formule</i> that is offered at noon. It is usually cheaper than any other option. As an alternative, pick up lunch items at a market and picnic in the park.

Apres_Londee

I haven't been to Venice, but I really like your original itinerary of Paris, Florence, and Rome, and the amount of nights you've allotted for each.

In Rome I stayed an apartment in the Jewish Quarter, and I absolutely loved the location. Realrome has quite a few budget oriented properties- not dirt cheap but certainly on the budget end for Rome. They're a very easy company to deal with, it might be worth checking out their apartment list (this is one I rented)
http://www.realrome.com/apartments/portico-reginella/


In Florence, I can recommend this company for apartments, which are well priced (there is no elevator so you'd have to be okay with flights of stairs)
http://www.sleepinginflorence.com/fl...nt-to-rent.htm

Also these apartments for Florence (I haven't rented myself from here but they get good reviews, are well prices, and in a wonderful location- I love the Oltrarno)
http://www.residenzailcarmine.com/e_1.htm

In Paris you'll have a pretty wide choice of budget apartments and hotels, there are lots of threads about them so you might want to do a search.

On saving money- if you are museum people, a Museum Pass would probably be a good bet in Paris. Food is where you can save (or spend) a lot of money- apartments are great because you can have your coffee and breakfast at home, and have most of your dinners at home too. If you're willing to live on mostly cheese, salad, yogurt, fruit, bread, and water from the grocery store, you can save a lot and you will still eat well. Even a hotel room with a minifridge (as long as it's not a minibar with a laser and you're allowed to use it) can go a long way to helping you save a few dollars.

mama_mia

I have only stayed in larger apartments. Here is a thread from a recent post with recommendations for smaller apartments.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-feb-2012.cfm