grigos

Hi,

I'm starting to plan our honeymoon to europe for next April 15, 2007. I know we want to go to London, Paris and Venice. I really would like to go to a "fourth" place since I've been to paris and venice already (my fiance wants to go though). We thought about Switzerland... any comments?? We get good deals at Starwood Hotels and I was thinking we could do the ArabellaSheraton Hotel Seehof at Davos-Dorf... is this a good location to stay?

Also, is it easier to get to switzerland from paris or venice? I was thinking London -> Paris -> Switzerland -> Venice -> London

Last question, when is a good time to buy tickets to london for next april 2007 coming from Texas, US.

Any comments, links are appreciated. Thanks!

kleeblatt

Hmmm....the end of April is not really ideal for Switzerland. You'll still have snow in the mountains but you might run into rain and slush.

Now, if your hotel has a nice spa (which it should) and if you hit a few good days of weather, then Davos is a great place to be. You can take some day train trips or just go for hikes.

How many days do you plan on being in Switzerland? How do you want to travel? Train/plane/car?

Mimar

Also look into open jaws flights, into London, out of Venice (or Zurich?). It's usually very little more and saves you time and money backtracking.

suze

I traveled from Vevey which is outside Geneva (via overnight train) to Venice (overnight train via Milan transfer) to Paris, which made a perfect 3 week trip.

Heading from Paris to Switzerland (Geneva or Lausanne) you can do by high speed day train. It's only 4-5 hours, I think.

grigos

Thanks for your response. We're planning to be in Switzerland for two 3 nights. So, two full days. I was thinking we would take the train from paris to switzerland. I am a little concern about having rain all over the place... is weather in april just not predictable in europe? I can't do much about this since I already booked my reception site and my fiance would kill me if I try to postpone the wedding ;-)

So I guess Davos-Dorf is nice but it just depends on the weather? Would you recommend another place instead? Even another country? What are "must see" things there. Or is it mostly just "relaxing".

Oh! and the hotel does have a spa!

kleeblatt

Personally, I'd skip Switzerland. Not worth the two days in April. What about Asolo? It's on your Starwood Hotel list and not too far from Venice but still different than Venice.

grigos

Asolo?? mmmh I'll look into this. So I guess switzerland is too risky because of I'm going in April?

Any other countries / places to add to my London, Paris, Venice list? I really would like to visit one more place during this trip.

kleeblatt

You are on a real time restraint. I personally don't think it's worth racing around Europe, seeing one city in 1.5 days. Stay longer in one area and explore it. You are staying in wonderful hotels to make your stay more pleasant.

Still, I would love to go to Edinburgh and I saw that was on your list. There's even the word "spa" in its name.

gradyghost

Hello Grigos:

If Switzerland is still in the running, you might consider Lugano in the south. Moderate temps in April and a great view of Lake Lugano from the Spendide-Royal:

http://www.splendide.ch/English/summary.htm

Gradyghost

suze

For only two days and in April I also suggest you skip Switzerland. Seriously. London, Paris and Venice is plenty to see and do in one trip.

I wouldn't call the weather "just not predictable in europe". Most places I know get rain in the spring-time.

chicagolori

How long do you have? Also, April in Venice can coincide with the aqua alta - high water and floods. Just for you to be aware.

grigos

Thanks for your postings. I have 2 weeks for this trip.

Edinburgh?? Scotland right?? What's good to see there? Actually that was one of the places we had in mind. Any good places there? I guess the reason why we wanted to go to switzerland is because we wanted to see some snow and mountanins you know? I feel that we want to do more "city stuff" in London and Paris, you know shopping, theather and stuff like that. So we were looking for one place with more "nature" and relaxing feeling.

I'll look into Lugano too... I guess I'm getting the impression that April is not a good time to go to switzerland.

Now, I have a new question: I've been looking for tickets from San Antonio, TX, to london (LGW)... the cheapeast I found is $757 roundtrip... is this a good price? Should I wait a little longer? What would you guys say it's a good price?

Thanks again.. this has been very helpful

JN

There's a high chance of inclement/cool weather in London or Paris, not to mention Edinburgh, that time of year. I believe Lugano and Locarno in April would be much warmer than in Paris and in the other parts of Switzerland, but that is variable too.

If weather in April is a concern, why not hold off on taking your honeymoon trip until June? Many, many moons ago (1975) we did just that: Married in late March, honeymooned to Europe in June.

suze

That's only 4-1/2 days in each place, even if you do only 3 cities.

If you really want to add something, Switzerland is gorgeous. But that makes it now 3-1/2 days only at each stop (assuming one city in Switzerland).

I would not expect great weather in any of those places in April. Certainly you could get lucky but that's pretty early in the spring to hit warm weather that far north.

LLindaC

My husband and I postponed our honeymoon till the weather and prices were right. We enjoyed writing thank you notes, moving in, getting some rest and getting back to normal before taking a dream honeymoon. Who says you have to go after your wedding? Take a romantic weekend at a luxury Inn or B&B and take your honeymoon in Junewhen the weather's nice and the tourists aren't all in force.

grigos

Thanks again!! Lots of good ideas.

I'm not concerned about cold weather. I would love to see some snow actually. I am aware that london, paris and maybe venice might be kind of rainy/cold. Like I said, I don't mind the cold... I am not crazy about the idea of being wet but I'm sure it would work out just fine. My fiance and I wouldn't mind putting on our rain coats and grabing and umbrella to tour london or paris. But hopefull we'll get some "good" days. Venice might be different because of what someone said about the high water season.. that might not be so good. Anyway, the reason why I was concerned about the weather is because we kind of want to see some snow but we're afraid the rain might just make it "slushy" and/or the weather is warm enoug to melt all the snow So let me re-phrase my question:
Is there a good place to see some snow and mountains in this time of the year (April)? That's why we thought about switzerland in the first place.

Sorry if I'm confusing you!!

I sent this entire post to my fiance (e-mail) to see what she thinks about postponing the honeymoon.

Thanks again guys!

suze

I'm no expert on the mountains of Switzerland, but am guessing you need to get to a high altitude in the Alps to catch snow that late in the spring. Anyone?

altamiro

suze,

April is still deep winter above 2500 m - this year (although it was an unusually long one) skiing was still possible even at lower altitudes well into the early april.

At higher altitudes the winter doesn't end at all - but the you have to get up to Jungfaujoch, Klein Matterhorn or at least Titlis summit. On the Jungfraujoch you will look out onto a couple of billions of tons of snow and ice right before you.

grigos

Well, that's more promising !!

I was afraid to see slush instead of snow. This has been very helpful really. Thanks guys! If anyone has more suggestions about where to stay to see snow or close enough so I can take a trip to the snowy mountains please feel free to post your suggestions.