Verstrepens

Hi I am trying to plan our 2 week honeymoon and have come up with the following itinerary. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

June 15 - Fly from Canada
16 - Arrive Paris 8.30am - Half day Paris
17- Paris
18 - Paris
19 - Flight from Paris to Munich arrive munich 1.40pm Evening in Munich
20 - Munich
21 - Munich
22 - Munich
23 - Flight from Munich to Venice arrive venice 1.50pm Evening in Venice
24 - Venice
25 - Train from Venice to Florence arrive Florence 12.50pm Evening in Florence
26 - Morning in Florence train from Florence to Rome arrive Rome 8.30pm
27 - Rome
28 - Rome
29 - Flight Home

This is my 2nd time to Europe and Fiance's first. Are these timelines realistic? I have confirmed all train and flight times but not bookings yet.

jent103

How attached are you to Munich? All your other destinations could use at least one more day, I think, and right now you have the most time in Munich, which seems unusual to me.

TexasAggie

Hello and welcome to Fodors,

I found the forum myself when planning my honeymoon back in 2004

Looking at your proposed itinerary, it is a lot of moving around for just a two week trip... Especially one that is theoretically supposed to be relaxing, like a honeymoon! Every time you change cities (especially when flying) you typically lose at least half a day to the hassle of travel.

For two weeks, I'd stick to just Italy. You could see your three places mentioned above and perhaps add one more. What time of year will you be traveling? If it is summer weather, the Cinque Terre is beautiful (though quite popular) and it is easily reachable via public transport (trains) from Florence.

Happy planning,
TA

ahiddenbird

I'm sure you have Munich in there for a reason, but I agree with jent, if I had to cut out anything (and I really think you probably should) Munich would be it.

I'd definitely add at least one more day to Paris, Venice and Florence each, and even that seems kind of rushed to me. Or if you're set on Munich, maybe save Venice and Florence for the next trip and just add an extra day to Paris from the allotted Munich time.

Ideally, I'd cut two locations out completely. airplanes are boring, and there's lots to see and do in each of these places, so don't feel like you'll be losing out!

nytraveler

Sorry - too many places in too little time - esp for a honeymoon. Don;t know what time of year yuo are going - but looks like too much Munich and not enough Paris or Rome. I would cut something out and make the entire trip more relaxed versus a forced march.

bobthenavigator

I see 3 destinations for this trip:
Paris---5
Venice--4
Rome ---4

You will thank us later.

StCirq

I'm not sure I'd show up at the altar.

msteacher

I agree that you will spend a large amount of your time on this trip traveling, rather than enjoying each location. So please consider cutting something. Seems like Munich may be important to you; if that's the case, then perhaps cutting the Venice/Florence section might work, giving you more time in Paris and Rome. Or you could cut either Paris or Rome... only you know what would be the best choice for you. Regardless, I think we all want you to have a wonderful and romantic honeymoon that allows you to really experience each of these great cities, and not just seeing airports and train stations. Have fun!

Michael

Cut out one day in Munich and skip Florence.

Delaine

I really like Munich, but I would skip it in this case and divide the extra time between Venice and Florence. With your current plan you barely have time to see either.

If you don't have a particular attraction to Florence, I also like BobTheNavigator's suggestion.

Verstrepens

Thanks for all the replys. We have our flights booked into Paris and out of Rome so those two ciities will not be changing. It sounds like we have too much going on which is what I was worried about. Below is a revised itiniery (actually our original) thoughts?

June 15 - Fly from Canada
16 - Arrive Paris 8.30am - Half day Paris
17- Paris
18 - Paris
19 - Paris/ Night Train to Munich
20 - Munich
21 - Munich
22 - Munich
23 - Munich/Night train to Venice
24 - Venice
25 - Venice
26 - Train from Venice to Rome
27 - Rome
28 - Rome
29 - Flight Home

msteacher

Much better. In Munich, consider a day trip that will take you up into the mountains. Since the rest of the trip is in cities, a day out in nature might be very enjoyable. And some people sleep peacefully on those night trains, but I never do. So just consider what type of sleepers you are and how much energy you might have in each destination. Happy travels!

Michael

I think that either Paris, Venice or Rome deserve the third day allocated to Munich.

TexasAggie

I've done the night train from Munich to Venice and managed a few hours of sleep. Definitely book a couchette or bed. A day trip from Munich is a good idea. Ludwig's castles of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein are popular. Busy in high season, though Linderhof is less so (and my fave of his 3 "fairy tale castles"). The Secret Itineraries tour is interesting in Venice (book in advance). Even more so than in Paris in my opinion, one could spend a month in Rome and not see everything... So 2 days seems very rushed for the Eternal City, but with proper planning you should see some of the highlights.

Congratulations and happy continued planning!
TA

jent103

I agree with Michael - taking out Florence was a good move, but you still have a lot of time in Munich compared to your time everywhere else.

Aramis

You are pretty cheeky to keep allotting more time to Munich than to the the preferred cities of most of the responders. Really, who could possibly want to spend 4 days in Munich versus Paris, Venice or Rome?

We have, among the responses so far;

-the condescending; "Sorry...."
-the insulting: "forced march"
-the arrogant: "I am not sure I'd show up at the altar" and "You will thank us later"

They are, of course, just trying to help and you did open the door by saying "any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated" so that makes the assorted rudeness all okay.

Your timelines look fine especially since you know what you want to see and have obviously done the research on travel times.

The overnight train from Munich leaves at 23:40 and arrives at 08:34, which it seems you would know from your post. When I took it some time ago it left earlier, made more stops, and arrived in Venice around 07:00. I hope you have a glorious morning because walking out of that train station onto the plaza directly fronting the Grand Canal is a special experience.

If your plans are firm soon, the rail tickets, with a compulsory reservation, will be available for purchase on www.bahn.com on March 24 for your planned date of travel from Munich-Venice and March 20 for Paris-Munich. It is generally a 90 day maximum window for advance purchase.

Have a beauty time, eh!