Dear Fellow Fodorites:

Over the last several months with the help of this board, I've booked my hotel accommodations for our European honeymoon in October. Most of my time has been spent finalizing where we are staying...as such, I haven't spent as much time investigating what we will be doing. I've put together a rough trip plan with, and I would very much appreciate the following comments:

-Reality Check
-What big things are we not seeing
-What are some lesser-known sites we could squeeze in if we have the time.

Basically, our goal for this trip is to have a naturally paced trip (i.e., not cramming everything possible into every hour), while seeing most of the top sites, and a few not so top (but equally interesting) sites.



Tuesday (Day 1) Arrive Paris - morning
-Arrive apartment - Bastille area
-Musee d'Orsay
-Arc de Triomphe

Wednesday (Paris)
-Louvre

Thursday (Reims)
-day trip to Reims
-Notre Dame Cathedral (Reims)
-Champagne Tours (1 maybe 2, not sure which ones yet)

Friday (Paris)
-Napoleon's Tomb
-Musee Rodin
-Eiffel Tower

Saturday (Paris)
-Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris)

Sunday (Paris)
-??

Monday (Paris)
-*This is a tricky day, we have the apartment for the day, but our flight to Venice leaves in the evening. Not sure what we can squeeze in this day...maybe some shopping?
-Arrive in Venice late Monday night

Tuesday (Day 8 - Venice) - apartment near Rialto)
-Ponte di Rialto
-Basilica dei Frari
-Gallerie dell'Accademia

Wednesday (Venice)
-Piazza San Marco
-Basilica di San Marco

Thursday (Venice)
-Chiesa di San Giorgio

Friday (Day 11) arrive Florence by train, early afternoon (hotel on Arno)
-Piazzale Michelangelo

Saturday (Florence)
-Uffizi

Sunday (Florence)
-Duomo
-Accademia

Monday (Day 14) arrive Rome by train, early afternoon (apartment in Navona area)
-Piazza Navona

Tuesday (Rome)
-Forum

Wednesday (Rome)
-Colosseum

Thursday (Rome)
-Castel Sant'Angelo
-Santa Maria del Popolo

Friday (Rome)
-Vatican

Saturday (Rome)
-Pantheon

Sunday -Flight back to Paris (tickets are round trip from Paris). Stay night in Paris, back to USA on Monday.


I know this itinerary looks pretty pathetic, but my brain is so fried from planning the accommodations/logistics of everything that I have nothing left to plan what we're actually doing. I don't want to plan *everything* out, but I'm extremely nervous about just "winging-it".


Please fill in the gaps with any suggestions, I need all the help I can get. Any help anyone can give me is greatly appreciated.

-KD

I would add the Museo San Marco to your Firenze itinerary, and the scuolae San Rocco and dei Carmine to Venezia, but most of all I suggest that you just give yourself a break from planning beyond this thread. I think you will find that between the excitement of a honeymoon and traveling abroad that you'll be quite glad to have a schedule with blanks TBA. There are going to be some days when not facing a jampacked day when you open your eyes in the morning will be a god-send.

If you pack a Green Michelin Guide for Italy, it will not fail to tell you the major and minor sites, and give you a good map for locating them. Have a nice breakfast and decide between the two of you, based on the weather and your mood, what you might feel up for that day. Browsing in bookstores near the Seine, or perfumeries or food stores in Paris is quite a bit of fun. So is going to an open-air Italian market (Firenze would be my pick). Likewise, wandering through the Jewish ghetto (be sure to see the Portico d'Ottavio) and then across the river to the Trastevere for lunch or dinner or vice versa is great.

But nothing is fun if you don't feel like it, so leave you plans very elastic and enjoy the time you spend with each other, giving in to each other's interests about what to do each day.

I am overlooking the daily detail--such as the Colosseum and Roman Forum are next to each other and belong together---you will figure that out. But, I do like the overall plan. You are allowing enough time to see the best of these 4 great and historic cities. Get the DK books TOP 10 ROME/VENICE/PARIS and read those the last week. The gross plan looks fine.

Agree with Nessundorma's comments. Paris, I think, looks very nicely timed. I'd probably do stuff closer to Bastille the 1st day (Marais, Notre Dame and Ile Saint Louis, perhaps)) and D'Orsay and Arc de Triomph to another day.

In Rome, I'd see the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine in one day, taking in as much or as little as you like.

Visiting the Vatican can be combined, either before or after, with a nice walk about Trastevere. Depending on the time of day, you could have dinner or lunch somewhere or just a coffee and also see Santa Maria in Trastevere.

But mostly, it's your honeymoon so take your time, poke about and enjoy!!!!

Hi KD,

Nice trip.

Stop worrying about whether you will see all the important places - you won't.

You'll go back.

Enjoy your honeymoon.

As long as you have plane and hotel reservations, I don't consider it "just winging it". I never plan daily itineraries and I have enjoyed all my trips thoroughly.

Whether traveling solo, or with a companion, I plan my day in the morning over coffee and take it from there.

Or maybe for the next day as well if you need to take into account open days of something specific you really want to see (I don't have anything like that on my list so it doesn't matter). In Paris I'm just as happy walking by Notre Dame or Eiffle Tower, I don't need to go up them, for example.

I agree with everyone else. For a while - settle in, relax, enjoy the event of just getting married and all the fun (??) leading up to that so that you focus on that...
Your plans look good to me...and besides...that plane ride over is quite long ... you two can tweak your plans on the plane.
Just leave room for romantic walks, kissing on or under bridges... cafes, you know, honeymoon things...

Look for current information like a weekly entertainment guides after you arrive, or brochures in hotel lobbies. Sometimes that will prove more fun than the usual must-do list of tourist sites (or in addition to!).

Thanks for the comments so far...it's diffused my anxiety for the time being.

suze - I like your comment about weekly entertainment guides, as I tend to look for those in US states that I visit to get the more 'local' feel. I wonder - are there any guides in particular you remember that I might want to look for (I suspect it may take a while to translate with my pocket-guides, and I don't want to waste time).

I guess I should get away from planning out each day specifically, but just put together a list of places we want to go and group then together by general area. Then, based one what we feel like for the day, pick an itinerary, or just do someting else?

In Paris there is the guide "Pariscope", for sale at all news stands. It is in French, but it should be easy enough to figure out concerts and things. There are also posters all over Paris for concerts in churches, including Sainte Chapelle, which is a great place to hear a concert.

Sainte Chapelle is an incredible place to see during the daytime as well, and it is near Notre Dame so you can visit it the same day. From the inside it appears that the walls are entirely made of glorious stained glass.

On Sunday you might want to take in a market. There is a big one in the Bastille on the Boulevard Richard Lenoir. Or you could go to the permanent market street on the rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter, which has singing in the streets on Sunday.

Shops in most of Paris are closed on Sunday, but they are open in the Marais.

Filling in a tiny blank or two: While in Paris, add the Place de Vosges to your sightseeing agenda and consider dining at the near-to-your-apartment brasserie Bofinger, Petit Bofinger, C'Amelot or Square Trousseau. Congratulations! Have a wonderful time!

Thanks to Nikki. Because I didn't remember the name of a particular guide. But I do agree reading them in French should not be a problem when its a club or music event.

Also you can ask for help at your hotel front desk. Either to translate an advertisement, or find out if it's close by, or even to ask if they know of any free local happenings that might interest you (street performance or street music are always fun).

As already mentioned, I also keep my eyes open for posters showing events.

That's one challenge to staying in an apartment...there will be no concierge for guidance. The only leg of our journey that is in a hotel is in Florence (just 3 nights).

That's another reason why I think I'm trying to over-plan...We'll be living in an apartment as if we know what we're doing, but will have no clue. I've never *not* stayed in a Hotel on vacation before.

"We'll be living in an apartment as if we know what we're doing, but will have no clue."

That will be part of the adventure! You have chosen great locations for your apartments. Please come back and review them after the honeymoon.

Hey you are on your honeymoon. Relax. You might find that you will discover wonderful sights by just taking long walks around the city that you are visiting.

You may also consider:
Paris...St. Chapelle (as noted above)on Saturday (?) and Sacre Coeur on Sunday, and an evening boat ride on the Seine.
Florence...Reservations for Uffizi and Academia, to avoid waiting in long lines on your honeymoon.
Rome...reservations for the Vatican.
Keep it on Friday - Saturday it is really busy and the hours are shorter. You may wish to add Villa Borghese - also with reservations.
Very best wishes.

Behind Notre Dame (on the same island) in Paris is an underground memorial to the Deported. Beautifully done!! A very special experience that should not be missed.

I can make 2 suggestions for Paris. I was just there for the first time a few weeks back...

We really loved St. Sulpice church.. it was "featured" in Da Vinci Code and historically is very interesting. It's near St. Germaine Pres area, which is great for restaurants and shopping in small and unique boutiques. There is a Da Vinci code "guide through Paris" book we took with us.. we did not follow it.. it was just an interesting read.

The other thing I would recommend is the Batobus. It's a water taxi "hop on hop off" type of thing. You can get a 1, 2, or 3 day pass. It runs every 1/2 hour or so to popular destinations and is 11 Euro for a one day pass.

This was nice because we could hop on to get to another part of city leisurally... we did so much walking that it really helped.

Above all- have a great time!

KD - With respect to not having access to a concierge's advice (except when in Florence) you might ask the agencies you used for your apartments for help. I'd guess most of them would have some information that could be useful.

I agree with others about Ste. Chappelle. I agree that you should relax, get lost a little, wander a bit, have afternoon breaks at cafes with a glass of wine, and do NOT overschedule. In Florence, an open-air market you might like could be Mercato Centrale - a few blocks from the Duomo. Be sure to walk lots in Venice - it's a great place for walking slowly, drinking in the atmosphere. I'm NOT sure I'd use an entire day for St. Mark's square and basilica - you might want to add Doge's Palace and Secret Itinerary tour, possibly the campanile - they are all close together. And, you are avoiding the crush of tourists by going in October - lucky you.

Looks like you're going to have a great time - and it's a honeymoon to boot! How lucky.

KC