jalanc30

I'm planning a 3 week trip around Europe for our honeymoon on March. It's going to be our first time to visit the continent, and would welcome suggested itinerary. We would like to be able to visit Italy( Rome, Florence,Pisa and Venice), Spain ( Barcelona, Madrid ), Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium and Switzerland. Is this too many places to visit in 3 weeks? Any suggestions on which places to omit? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

StCirq

Six countries in three weeks?? Yes, it's too much. I should think on a honeymoon you'd want/need to relax. I'd narrow it down to two countries (for me it would be Italy and France, but up to you), with maybe 3-4 destinations at most within each.

StCirq

Oh, and there's no need to go in and out of Rome. You can fly into one place and out of another and save travel time on the ground.

Viajero2

Three weeks honeymoon? Max of 4 cities. Fly to the easternmost and work your way back west. BTW, there are travel consolidators that already have packages where the intra-city flights, hotels, etc.. are already arranged, i.e. Go-Today.com, evacations.com, gate1.com, etc....

Another suggestion? Take a week cruise out of Barcelona. I took a cruise out of Barcelona that stopped at Monaco, Florence (Livorno), Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples, Palma de Mallorca. While it is a "Touch & Go" approach, I think it is ideal for honeymooners who can leave all the logistics to the experts and juts relax.

Another suggestion is a weekly apartment in Rome, a weekly apartment in Paris, and a weekly apartment in Seville. March is iffy weather in most of Europe, but Southern Spain in March is usually pretty balmy, so make your last week in Seville.

CONGRATS!

janisj

"<i>Is this too many places to visit in 3 weeks? </i>"

Oh God, YES!!!

3 weeks in Italy, or a week in Paris and 2 weeks in Italy -- now THAT would be a wonderful honeymoon.

Or 2 weeks in Spain and a week for Rome and Venice.

Something like that.

bardo1

Goodness me! Yes, way, WAY too much.

Choose 4 cities and plan 5 nights in each.

The larger cities (Rome, Paris) really require 7 nights each but I can see by your opening draft that you'll want to cut even these back to 5 nights.

Also, if you haven't not already purchased airfare, ABSOLUTELY fly into one city and home from another.

<b>You</b>, of course, need to decide what most appeals to you and what you can save for next time (and the next, and the next).

However, to give a rough idea of something workable, I'll throw out just one practicable possibility:

Fly into Rome
6 nights in Rome (with a day-trip to Florence)
high-speed train to Venice (4-1/2 hours)
4 nights in Venice
high speed train to Paris (4 hours)
6 nights in Paris (with a day-trip to Versailles)
high speed train to Amsterdam (4-1/2 hours)
4 nights in Amsterdam
Fly home from Amsterdam

annhig

hi jalanc -

anything special you like to do? places you REALLY want to see?

think of a couple of those, then plan the trip round them, limiting yourselves to 4 or so actual destinations.

another consideration is the weather - if you decide on seville, for example, you might want to put it first as it's likely to be warmer there in March than any of the other places you are thinking of. from there you could fly to venice, train to Rome, and then end in Paris.

please resist the temptation to try to cram everything in - europe will still be here in years to come.

jalanc30

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! It looks like it's unanimous - we will cut down on the places to visit.

jalanc30

StCirq, unfortunately (or should I say fortunately), we are getting a very good deal on our tickets, but we have to fly in and out of either Amsterdam, Paris and Rome. Since we want to travel a few weeks after out wedding, this leaves us with either Feb or March. We were thinking of starting somewhere more southern and that's why we thought that starting in Rome and then working our way north.

jalanc30

Viajero2, Bardo1, we were actually thinking of max 3 nights per large city, and maybe just 1 night in the others. Of course we would like to stay longer per city but now we're re thinking everything. Initially, we thought of this visit to Europe as an opportunity to get a feel and visit first the major sites. And then maybe just work our way down on any future visits.

jalanc30

annhig ,
We are both very interested in musuems, both art and historical as well as visit as much world heritage sites as possible. Also interested in seeing architecture and design.

janisj

"<i>we were actually thinking of max 3 nights per large city, and maybe just 1 night in the others.</i>"

In working out your itinerary -- consider that 3 nights in a city does not equal 3 days and 1 night does not equal 1 day -- free time.

By the time you factor in travel/checking in/checking out you will lose from 1/2 to often a full day. so 3 nights will give you AT MOST 2.5 days to see things, and usually less.

One night will give you 1/2 or 3/4 of a day.

bardo1

<i>"we were actually thinking of max 3 nights per large city, and maybe just 1 night in the others</i>"

I understood that - it is a common first-timers error. Yes, it seems to work on paper, but in the real world it is simply not a good plan for enjoying oneself. I am glad you are seeking the advice of the crew here that have been to Europe countless times. We simply want others to benefit from what we've learned from our past "mistakes". Take our advice or not but do have a wonderful time on your honeymoon.

annhig

ok Jalanc - here we go:

Day 1 - fly into Rome - stay 6 nights.

Day 6 - fly to seville stay 4 nights.

Day 10 - train to Barcelona. stay 5 nights.

DAy 15. Fly to Paris. stay 6 nights. go home happy.

you could rent apartments in each place to cut costs/increase space and privacy.

jalanc30

ok. Thanks everyone. We've now decided to just get tickets to Rome and then out via Paris since it is now quite obvious that we will be short on time. Will keep on researching and deciding on places to visit in France, Italy, Spain and post back again here.
Again, thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Viajero2

A rushed itinerary is no way to get your :"feel for a city". Stop pondering about doing 15 cities in 3 weeks. Once again, max of 4 cities and day trip from these. Choose your four and stop the dilly-dally; once you choose your plannning has ONLY started....

nytraveler

In 3 weeks I would do no more than 4 stops - for a honeymoon - considering 2 of them are Rome and Paris. You do need to consider the weather though - since Switzerland is right between and has some wonderful stops - but March is still winter in the upper mountains and is mud - chilly mud - in the valleys.

You need to consider the local weather in your planning - as wwll as if you will do air, train or car from one to another.

kybourbon

Fly into Rome (at least 4 nights), train to Venice (3 nights), train to Florence (2 nights), train to Livorno (stop in Pisa on the way if you must see the tower)and catch overnight ferry to Barcelona (3-4 nights), fly to Paris.

Ferries:
http://www2.gnv.it/it/gnv-home/gnv-h...home-page.html

http://www.grimaldi-lines.it/

Budget flights:
www.skyscanner.net
www.whichbudget.com

Graziella5b

When planing an itinerary one must keep into account the time it will require getting there, maybe waiting for the room to be ready, getting settled, being a little tired from the trip, finding your bearings, unpack even a little, etc etc three days for a big city as Paris are totally insufficient because two will be partially used for settling and unsettling like on the last day paying the hotel bill, packing, getting to the train station or airport and so forth.
My advice is to follow all the good advices written by fodorites before me who have experience and have travel many times back and forth. As for one day in a small town or village , it is some kind of a waist of time and energy, and best you will end up knowing a restaurant or a church or a museum and having
a bird 's view of the place. Personally I feel this is not enough, but since there are not two persons alike may be it is fine with you.What I means is be realistic and visualize all you need to do to settle and unsettle from a new place.