Suggestions needed please
 

Hello everyone -

My fiancee and I are getting married in mid Oct 2016 and heading off on our honeymoon a few days after the wedding. We are kind of at a split between France (Paris possibly a few other cities) or Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, Palermo?) We have 10-11 days to play with and our interests include good food, culture, sightseeing and the like. I am also thinking of *maybe* getting a two day trip to Iceland to start things off and scratch a city off the list.

I am looking for any personal recommendations and/or suggestions to either country pros/cons, etc. I have read that it will be generally warmer in Italy than France at that time of year however the weather is not a deal breaker.

I appreciate anything you can share and thanks for reading!

Cheers

This question is too vague to answer meaningfully.
I suggest you look at some guidebooks to see what draws you about each of these places, and then come back with more specific questions.
With 10-11 days( does this include flight days?) three places is tops.
Remember you must include travel time between destinations.

You may well want to make open jaw flights so as not to backtrack.

10 or 11 days (if you mean in total from home and back home) will only leave you 7.5 or 8.5 days free 'to play with'. Taking 2 days out of that for Iceland leave you a lot less time than you may think.

And the 7.5 to 8.5 days doesn't take into account the basically 1/2 day you lose every time you move from city to city. That means if you include Iceland, you'll have time for only one or (at most) 2 cities.


Even without the Iceland detour, you won't have time for Venice, Florence, Rome, and Palermo. Even just Venice, Florence, Rome would be a hectic rush.

If it was me I'd do JUST Paris with possibly a couple of days in the Loire or in Normandy or somewhere. Or JUST Venice + Rome or Venice + Florence or Rome + Florence, something like that.

It's your honeymoon, therefore, I am thinking you are young -- you have plenty of years ahead to "scratch off a city" and see Iceland another time. I would do Paris & Rome (by plane, as it'd be a very long train ride) and enjoy 4-5 days in each of these magnificent cities. That is plenty. Pick a Paris hotel in the 6th arr., perhaps the Aubusson, and pick a Rome hotel near the Piazza Navonna. From these locations, you can easily walk to the cities' best sites. If you are not so inclined, there are tours offered everywhere. Paris is the most romantic city on the planet (we think) and Rome is lovely. In October, you need not worry about crowds or extreme heat. Lightweight jackets & pants should cover your wardrobe needs. Rome would be warmer, yes. I would save Venice-Lake Como area for another trip.

Weatherwise, there is no difference between France and Italy but a difference between the North and the South. You will encounter the best weather on the Côte d'Azur in France which would make a perfect region to spend a honeymoon. The sea will still be warm enough for swimming (23-24°C).

On the Italian side, Tuscany will be warm while Venice will get cool spells. Given your limited time, you may spend 4 days on the Côte d'Azur, 2 days in Tuscany and 2 days in Rome, especially if you can get a multi-city flight.

Forget Iceland for this trip unless you want that to be your focus. You need to make a plan that gives you time to see/do/experience rather than spend most of your time in transit. Each time you change locations, you will lose at least half a day and perhaps most of s day. You have to figure from the time you check out of one lodging until you are checked in at the next (so transport from the hotel to the airport or train station, wait time, transit time, transport from the airport or train station to your next lodgings).

If it was me - and it isn't - I'd spend the whole time in Paris. But in any case, choose not more than two cities. You can always take a day trip if you'd like. We found we couldn't tear ourselves away from paris to do a day trip, even though we had 10 full days in Paris.

How about Paris and Venice, the 2 most romantic cities in the world? (I'd put Venice first on the list.)

If you're coming from North America, fly into Venice, fly to Paris, fly home. I put the cities in that order because transatlantic connection flights out of Venice are very early; you lose time from your trip. And check for open jaws flights (multi-city on the airline websites). Should cost about the same as round trip.

And wherever you go first, allow an extra day or two to recover from the combination of post-wedding fatigue and jet lag.

Always choose Italy over France.

Agree this is one of the times when less is more.

If it were me I would probably do Venice and Paris - and just have a nice relaxing time - seeing some of the major sights but also leaving time just to sit in a cafe and watch the world around while sipping an aperitif or glass of wine or having a picnic in a quiet spot.

The places you want to go would involve a lot of early morning starts, a lot of travel rushing from one place to another, lining up to see some sights, missing others and not really much for just relaxing and enjoying.

Wow, thank you all for the replies! This is great information. We are thinking of leaving the US (Midwest) on 10/18 or 10/19 and returning on 10/29 or 10/30. I am leaning on either keeping it all Italy or all France. However, I will admit that the idea of Paris and Venice is super intriguing!