|
London-Paris-Rome Itinerary Draft
I have attempted to draft an itinerary of my whirlwind honeymoon to Europe. Could you please critique?
I am wondering if the schedule is doable at a somewhat relaxed pace. If not, what would you cut out? Any illogical pairings? I admit I have not done my very best due to being distracted with planning the wedding, but I want the honeymoon to be wonderful, too. I appreciate any suggestions you can provide. Transportation is all booked, but I am flexible on other items. London (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, 1/2 Fri) Day 1. Monday Arrive London Gatwick – 8:30am Transportation from Gatwick to hotel Check-in/drop baggage at hotel Westminster Abbey Thames River Tour Day 2. Tuesday Tower of London & Crown Jewels British Museum British Library London Walks – evening pub tour London Eye Day 3. Wednesday St. Paul’s (90 min. + climb the dome) Cabinet War Rooms Buckingham Palace (2 hours) Afternoon Tea Evening Tickets to Wicked at Apollo Theatre Day 3. Thursday Victoria & Albert Museum Shakespeare Globe tickets for Loves Labours Lost Day 4. Friday Shopping Depart to Paris Paris (Sat, Sun, Mon, 1/2 Tues) Day 1: Saturday Louvre Musee D’Orsay Seine River Cruise Day 2: Sunday Notre Dame mass St. Chapelle Day 3: Monday Montmartre/Sacre Coeur Day 4: Tuesday Shopping Easy Jet to Rome Rome (Wed, Thurs, Fri, 1/2 Sat) Day 1: Wednesday Pick up tickets for Papal Audience Papal Audience at Vatican Galleria Borghese Walk through the city - Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain Day 2: Thursday Palatine Hill/ Forum/Coliseum (maybe doing a Context Rome tour) St. Peter’s in Chains Pantheon Dinner near Piazza Navona Day 3: Friday Vatican and St. Peter’s Day 4: Saturday Shopping Depart in the Evening |
When is the trip. It seems too structured to me.
|
My eyes glazed over by the time I reached "Thames River Tour".
I need a holiday to recover from just reading this. Day 2 would kill a native Londoner let alone anyone whose body was still trying to work out if it's Tuesday or Monday |
I love the structure. If you like structure when you travel, go for it. It is a lot for your honeymoon, I guess, but as long as you won't be devastated if you decide to sleep in and skip something, you will be fine.
I can't comment on London...never been there. On Paris, I wouldn't do the Louvre and Orsay on the same day. You will get a headache and not enjoy whatever is last. I recommend doing the Louvre and St. Chappelle one day, and then do the Orsay on Sunday after mass. It is convenient to do St. Chappelle and Notre Dame on the same day, but the great transportation makes it easy to split them up also. Rome looks fine! Definitely do a tour of the ancient areas, as there is virtually no signage at the Forum or Palatine. Enjoy! When is the wedding? I'm getting married in August and going to Australia/New Zealand for the honeymoon. Lucky for me, my fiance is taking care of all honeymoon arrangements. There is no way I could manage both that and the wedding...haha. |
That is quite a bit to jam into London, but you could do the London Eye on day 1, which will give you a little more breathing space on day 2.
Even at that, you won't have much time for the British Library and British Museum - but you should be able to see the Treasures room at the British Library, then walk to the British Museum and carefully select what you want to see. We rented the audio highlights tour, which took us a couple of hours. Lee Ann |
structure is OK if you are "structured sort of people" - but realize by about noon the 2nd day in each city your entire schedule will be out the window.
It takes longer than you'd think to get around and there are always "discoveries" that delay things. Your days 2 and 3 in London are crazy busy and Sat in Paris will make your head spin. IMHO it is MUCH better to space out major sites/miseums so you don't get glassy eyed. The Louvre and Musee d'Orsay on the same day is trance inducing. On Wed in London you really can't tour St Paul's, climb the dome, do the cabinet War Rooms, tour B'ham Palace -- all before tea time. Well you <i>could</i> but would have to run like mad to manage it. You London Tues is also a bit crazy - the Tower takes at least 3 hours, the British Museum as long as you can possibly devote, the British Library at least 1-2 hours. And that doesn't even account for lunch or travel times. |
We arrive in London on Monday, Sept. 10, following our Sat., Sept. 8 wedding in North Carolina. The comments were great from everyone and really mad me laugh. You are correct that we probably won't be able to meet the demands of the "schedule" and would be completely miserable if we were somehow able to do so.
Anything you would delete from the itinerary altogether? Of course, we want to see it all and aren't sure when we'll return, but it is our honeymoon and we don't want to feel like we are on the "Amazing Race". I welcome further criticisms if you have any. Thanks so much! |
Congrats on your wedding! I laughed when I read your itinerary and the comments on the "structure" b/c I planned our honeymoon to Italy the exact same way and was glad I did (and so was my husband!). I think it was a side effect of the wedding planning :) And, heck, if you are going to travel that far you might as well see all that you can! Enjoy!!
|
I would drop British library. Not that it isn't great but the British museum will be enough for that day. Also, don't feel like at the big museums or sights that you have to "do" the whole thing. Within them such as British museum or Louvre pick one, two or three things from the map that particularly interest you, or take a one hour guided tour to get the highlights. Those kinds of institutions are easily overwhelming but it doesn't mean that in an hour or so you can't get a good taste and appreciate them.
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 04:18 AM. |