michaelpearce

O.K about two months ago I posted a message with the title "Can it be done?" Basically, I got slammed by everyone. I was trying to fit almost all of europe into a three week jaunt. On our Honeymoon at that! I was simply trying to do way to much. I have drastically reduced my itenerary thanks to all at fodors, yet, I still have a pretty agressive schedule. Let me know if this sounds like a dream or a nightmare to you.
Fly out of Chicago on june 2nd. Arrive London June 3rd early am. Night of 3,4,5 in London. Take chunnel to Paris. Night of 6,7,8 in Paris. Renting a Car for the rest of the trip. We love to road trip. There are so many small towns and villages that can only be visited by car. We will drive the 5 hours to Amsterdam. Night of the 9,10th in Amsterdam. We will then drive the 5-7 hours to Wethiem, Germany. I was stationed here for two years and it is the starting point for the romtischer road. Night of the 11,12th in Werhiem. We will take the romatischer road at leasure staying one night a city of our choice, most likely augsburg, the 13th. Night of the 14,15th in Munich. Five hour trip to Venice. Night of 16,17,in Venice. Across to Pisa Night of 18th,19,20,21st. Final drive to Rome 22,23 and 24th fly out on 25th from Rome.
Total budget $12,000. Driving hours 22.
Big cities London, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich,Venice,Tuscanny,Rome.
Opinions!!!

tomboy

Would you be interested in a gasthaus near Lauda Konigshofen as an alternative to Augsburg?

easytraveler

Great trip!

Got any room in the trunk of that car of yours? I don't eat much!

Happy honeymoon!

easytraveler

flanneruk

You didn't get slammed by everyone on this board. From memory, at least two of us couldn't see what all the fuss was about. It was the kind of itinerary hundreds of thousands of northern Europeans do every summer.

The only criticisms I'd make are:
- only American tourists talk about the "Chunnel": the English for what you're doing is "Eurostar". If you were driving it'd be "the Tunnel"
- you seem to be assuming you'll be driving at American speeds. Keeping up with the locals will cut your driving time down further.

uuhhhh

any reason not to run this by your wife-to-be?

AlanM1

Sounds great, but why so much time in Pisa? Not much there beyond the Tower... I would spend more time in Venice, especially on your honeymoon, or stay in Florence instead of Pisa.
Congratulations and good luck!

NYCFoodSnob

I would cut Pisa unless seeing that tower has been your life-long dream and remain in Venice for a truly romantic portion of your trip. (You'll need extra cash if you decide to do this.) Or, you can add a day or two to Rome...or, really stay in Tuscany and base yourself near Florence, Siena, or Montepulciano instead.

I plan my driving time on U.S. speed limits and always make better time in Europe. I love driving fast.

allovereurope

Yes, I agree that too much time is being spent in Pisa--I wouldn't spend more than 1 night there. Better to add nights to Rome or Venice (less packing and unpacking) or in a better Tuscan town (I think Siena is the town of choice on this board).

But it all still sounds lovely. This is just some fine-tuning.

mamc

Agree that Florence would be a better place to stay than Pisa. Pisa can pretty much be done in a half day trip from Florence. Aside from that your trip sounds a lot like one we did when we were very young. A fantastic trip which, most of all, gave us the wanderlust and the encouragement to go back when we could stay longer. Good luck!

SAnParis

Still doesn't sound lik much fun too me. I have been to all of the places you have mentioned but it took me 5 trips equally about 60 days. That being said, more time in Venice &/or Florence. As mentioned prior Pisa ??? Make sure you know where you are going to put your car while in Venice. For time constraints I would leave Amsterdam out as well. It certainly doen't fit well w/the rest of your trip. Instead perhaps Maastricht &/or the Mosel River area ?

ncgrrl

The bride to be will be stressed planning for the wedding. You'll get stressed trying to help her. By the time the wedding rolls around, the idea of taking a cruise will appeal to both of you.

However, Europe is a wonderful place to honeymoon. I wouldn't want to travel as much as you are doing, but to each his/her own.

I would make a slight change and go from London to Amsterdam to Paris then pick up the car. You don't want a car in Amsterdam.

michaelpearce

flanneruk is correct. He and one other chap were very gracious and helpful. I had Berlin and Spain in this plan and cut both of them out thanks to thier suggestions.
What about this going into amsterdam first and then on to paris thus having the car in paris as oppossed to amsterdam..I am totally open to this. The cost of EUROSTAR to Paris one way is around $87.00 what price am I looking for to get to Amsterdam. And is driving from paris to amsterdam the same distance as amsterdam to paris..Yes that was a joke..I would have to look at the distance from paris to wertheim as oppossed to amsterdam to wetheim. I will look into this. Regarding Pisa. I was going to use either Pisa or Florence as a base for tuscanny. The only cities I will have actual reservations in are London and Rome all other cities will be calling ahead from the last city we were in. So i am totally open to better cities in the tuscany area.
I am also fighting one last thing. Open jaw or in and out of london. Open jaw will save me time but not money the best price I have gotten from chicago to london then from rome to chicago was 870 per person. chicago to london london to chicago best price 450 per person. Would require Rome to london train ride at the end then a plane topper back stateside. Opinions.

cristiana

I agree with ncgrrl. After my wedding, I was still having nightmares with seating charts and song selections. We kind of expected to be exhausted, so we took a relaxing trip to Maui and tried to recover from all the stress.
If we had your budget, we would have gone to Bora Bora and gotten an overwater bungalow.
To me, the amount of driving does not sound fun, but the locations do sound good. But couldn't you take different trips for each of those major cities for half of the price? Maybe not. I would feel overwhelmed, but you are probably more adventurous and energetic than myself.

JoeG

ncgrrl,
There are two things that set my wife off 1) when I threaten to buy a big screen TV, 2)the mere suggestion of going on a cruise. We've been married for 31 years, she keeps saying we're too young to have to settle for a cruise. Hey they're young, they're in love. I say go for it!
JoeG

ira

Hi Michael,

Still more traveling than I would do, but much better.

For your travel beyond Venice, why not spend the time driving through Tuscany, seeing Florence for a day and night and then dropping the car in Orvieto? It is then an hour by train to Rome.

You might want to look for cheap air fares from Rome to London rather than the train.

I would skip Pisa.

How important is Amsterdam?

www.viamichelin.com says that it is 414 mi from Paris to Wertheim and takes 6:15 hr. About $25 in tolls.

michaelpearce

problem with going from london then train to amsterdam as oppossed to paris. I am going to wertheim after these cities and it is a full one hour Longer from Paris than from amsterdam.

Each time I post this I always get somebody asking what does she think?? Like I am not including my soon to be wife in these decision.. We have been together six years, we live together, work together and play together.. She is totally involved in all of my decisions but we also delegate. She is the one that wants to do europe, I would just as well sit my rear on some beach in greece for three weeks..I am the one tasked with making sure this thing goes as well as possible.

Michael

If you drive to Amsterdam in 5 hours, you won't be seeing too many small villages. This is just an example of a possible contradiction between the amount of time you allocate to travel and what you think you will see during that travel time. If you want a base in Tuscany, Siena might be better than either Pisa or Florence. From what I hear, Florence is a traffic nightmare and might represent a considerable amount of loss time each time to drive out of the city. I think that for car touring a smaller city as a base is better than a larger one.

michaelpearce

For us the getting there is sometimes the most enjoyable part of our trips. We are taking a full month off from work..We plan to take our time from city to city..I simply put down the estimated driving time to give an overall idea of the actual road time. I tried to make no distance longer than 5 hours, just so we could enjoy the full day traveling..

ncgrrl

JoeG I had a good laugh at that. I'm single own a 20" tv and have been on a cruise (well, it was the only way to see SE Alaska).

After my brother's wedding (by the way, he bought the giant tv before the marriage) I thought <u><i>I</i></u> would need a vacation. Or end up in prison after killing one of my SIL's sisters.

Michaelpearce, I wouldn't worry about 1 hour driving difference. Good luck with married life!

Thyra

You know, this does seem quite doable to me, my husband and I rarely spend more then 3 nights in a single location, though we often make lists of things to see at a later date and return years later. I agree with all others, Pisa is kinda blah.. Venice is magical, particularly for a honeymoon. Instead of Pisa, you might try for Tuscany and Florence. Have a great honeymoon.