kbmtravel

I am starting to plan my 3 week honeymoon in September 2016 and have begun doing research online, however, would love some guidance on which countries to visit! I'm sure this is the first of many posts as I begin my planning process but if anyone can steer me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it!

We are 24 and 26 and just got back from our first trip to Europe a few weeks ago. I did a TON of research and we visited Italy for two weeks: Venice, Rome, and the hilltowns of Tuscany (Siena, Pienza, Montalcino, etc.) We loved Venice, liked Rome (because of all of the options of stuff to do, but we aren't huge city people), and we didn't care for Tuscany. We didn't find much to do in Tuscany and found all of the hilltowns to be very similar. We did like Siena, however.

For our honeymoon, we are looking to visit either 2 or 3 countries. I am open to suggestions of which countries would fit what we're looking for, but so far I have been considering Spain, the Amalfi coast of Italy, Sicily, Croatia, France (I heard southern France is beautiful), Prague. My fiancé is not a big seafood lover so I'm not sure if someplace like Portugal would work out too well. I am not too interested in England, Ireland, Scotland for this trip, and I heard Switzerland can be very expensive.

We enjoy eating, drinking, general sightseeing, history, and just finding fun activities to do. Good food is a must! We are not interested in seeing art, churches, or (most) museums. In Venice, we loved going kayaking and participating in a free tour about the history of the city. We spent a lot of time on the go in Italy, and this trip we would prefer a better mix of activities/sightseeing with relaxing in a beautiful place. We don't want to spend a lot of time on the beach, but a few beach days here and there would be okay. We don't enjoy big cities, but small walkable cities or big towns would be great, places with stuff to do and plenty of restaurants.

Our budget is moderate. I believe our Italy trip was about $6k for two weeks and that was fine. We would be okay with renting a car, taking a train, flying between countries, etc.

If anyone has any suggestions of countries that would fit what we're looking for, it would be much appreciated!

HappyTrvlr

You can always order non seafood dishes for example, on the Amalfi Coast and in Sicily which feature lots of seafood. Your dislike of Tuscany makes me wonder if you'd like the south of France either.
I recommend that focus on Spain this trip. It is varied in every way possible and you should find a godd mix there.

kbmtravel

Thanks! I was wondering the same about southern France, I'm not sure what there is to do there. Ultimately, if we could find a place that has the activities of a city with the beauty of the country that would be the best, I'm not so sure that that exists though...

pariswat

Sicily will be the same. Hills, churches, old temples.

So yes, Prague or Budapest or Amsterdam...

Christina

I'm not clear on what kind of things "to do" that you would be looking for in a rural area.

City activities don't exist in the country, that's contradictory IMO. Of course there are beautiful cities, though. I think Prague is very beautiful, although some people complain there are too many tourists. It is certainly not undiscovered, but it doesn't seem any different than lots of other main tourist destination cities in Europe. Paris is a beautiful city, also.

Spain sounds like it could work for you. Given your wish list, I don't see Provence being a good fit in particular.

Katie2

Our son was married 4 years ago. He and his wife took a 2 week honeymoon.
They don't like big cities like you. This is where they went. Flew to Paris and the next day they took the train to the Dordgogne area which they loved. They rented a car there. Went canoeing, hiking,etc. .They traveled around Northern Spain and flew out of Barcelona.

Good luck with your planning. I know it can be overwhelming.

Michael

We probably ate more meat than fish in Portugal, so I would not rule it out for a dislike of seafood.

The Dordogne is said to have one castle for each day of the year. It also has cave art and canoeing/kayaking for a day down the Dordogne river and one of its tributary might be feasible, depending on when these activities close down at the end of the tourist season.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623282383670/

His_Dudeness

I don't think you could go wrong with a honeymoon trip that included the Croatian cities of Dubrovnik and Zagreb along with Ljubljana Slovenia which is very charming and romantic and a trip to Lake Bled.

We just went to Croatia and Slovenia and Ljubljana has everything you want and the vibe there is right in your age group.

Travel_Nerd

I guess I'm confused. You aren't big on cities. But yet, you find a lot of the country limited (i.e. Tuscany) because there isn't "as much to do."

So...? I guess what DO you like to DO? While you state: <<We enjoy eating, drinking, general sightseeing, history, and just finding fun activities to do. Good food is a must! We are not interested in seeing art, churches, or (most) museums>>

"Eating and drinking" - well, you can do that anywhere. Other than dislike of seafood, what KIND of food do you like? What kind of drinking? Beer? Wine? Neither?

"General Sightseeing & History" - again, you can do that anywhere. So WHAT kind of sightseeing and history? Not fans of art or churches. So what else would strike your fancy? Castles? Ruins?

"And fun activities to do" - Like what? You mentioned kayaking in Venice. Okay, so do you like more "active" activities?

I'm not trying to sound harsh or rude and I'm sorry if I come off that way. I'm just having a hard time providing suggestions based upon the information you've provided.

nytraveler

Well if your 2 week trip to Italy was $6K the you should allow $9K for a 3 week trip if you want to live at the same level (you don;t sound like budget travelers).

Also I'm kind of confused by your wanting to avoid large cities but also not liking Tuscany - unless the problem there was that you hadn't arrange more activities.

Are you looking for places with biking, hiking, canoeing and ballooning? Do you want a villa in the countryside - or inns in towns that you can make trips from?

Christina

In theory, Provence probably could work as you could cmobine some beach time with smaller citiees for something to do (Avignon, Aix and Arles are all fairly small cities, smaller than Venice, around same as Siena). And you could arrange plenty of activities if you want like biking, probably some kind of river/water sport, and vineyards. But a lot of those small touristy villages will seem alike wiht not a lot to do, I bet.

The OP actually likes cities, loved Venice and liked Rome. But is convinced she doesn't. So maybe just something huge like Paris, London, etc. would be out. Even Seville, Spain is fairly large, though, compared to Siena or even Venice.

kbmtravel

Wow, I thought I provided a ton of information but I guess I'm not clear. I find it hard to believe that there's no medium between big cities and the countryside, such as the hilltowns of Tuscany. Siena, as I mentioned, was a great place. I guess to put it into perspective, we don't enjoy New York City, but don't mind Boston, if that helps? I think I might get yelled at for saying that though since some might consider Boston to be a big city... so I'll say that even smaller than Boston would be okay.

It sounds like I'll add Dordogne, Slovenia, and Ljubljana to my list of places to look into, thanks!

We both like wine, he likes beer. We both loved the food in Italy. I would say that we're not looking for a ton of active things to do, but a few would be fine (canoeing or other water activities mostly, maybe jet skiing?). Sightseeing, castles would be great, we saw the Coliseum and liked that. We took a night "ghost, history, myths, etc" type tour in Rome and that was fun. We took a free tour in Venice that we loved that had interesting facts about the history of Venice. We took a cooking class. We went to the Capuchin Crypt and enjoyed that. We like to walk around, shopping, etc. We loved walking around Trastevere in Rome. In Tuscany, all of the hilltowns had the same stores, sold similar things, and generally looked the same to us, that's why we found it to be boring.

I think a town/small city would be better for us so that there's more options of things to do. Although, we did love the agriturismo we stayed at because we got to meet other travelers from all over at the family-style dinners, so if there's other places that offer similar accommodations closer to or in a town where we can have meet other travelers, that would be great.

I think so far it sounds like 2 of the 3 places will be Spain (although not sure where in Spain as I don't know much about it yet), and the Amalfi coast would suit us. From the Amalfi coast, I thought we could relax, see Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento,take day trips to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri.

So now the question is, where for the third place? It seems like there's mixed reviews on Croatia. And France, I still can't tell whether we would like it or not based on what you're saying, whether we would love it or be bored. Paris I've heard from some people is a filthy, awful smelling city, but then other people say it's the most romantic place on earth, so I honestly can't tell if we'd like it or not. Portugal sounds great, but I've heard that it's similar to Spain, so if I see Spain maybe Portugal should be skipped. Prague sounds great, but I don't think we could spend a whole week there.

kbmtravel

Thanks Christina! We do like smaller, walkable cities, I think I said that in my original post. Rome we found somewhat intimidating at first and weren't as comfortable there as we were in Venice, but we found a lot to do there and enjoyed it more as time went on. Especially Trastevere. I'm going to add the places you mentioned in France to my list of places to look into, thanks!

jtpj777

Paris is one of the world's greatest cities; ignore people who say it's filthy,awful smelling!

I would also disagree with the people saying that the South of France might not suit you if you didn't like Tuscany. The South of France is a huge area and very diverse, with access to quaint villages through to largish cities. With some research you should easily be able to find enough to do there.

AJPeabody

I can't tell you where to go, but some ides may add to your considerations. Capri on a honeymoon should not be a day trip. The island is lovely, you can walk, hike, take a boat around the island, swim, do the Blue Grotto, eat well, and there is shopping. Stay over at least one night. The south of France includes Nice, city, for sure, but the interesting parts are in a small area. You can got to Monaco, drive into the hills, visit the many varied sites by driving from place to place. A guidebook will help decide if you would like places as varied as Les Baux, Avignon, a perfumerie, Orange, le Pont du Gard, Carcassonne, Rocamadour, caves such as Peche Merle, the Tarn Gorge. the isle of Porquerolles, and more.

Michael

For the Provence, the Dordogne and places in between, ask StuDudley for his itineraries.

kbmtravel

So many people rave about France that I think France may be a great third place. That way we can decide whether we like Spain or France and pick either of those to do a separate vacation in. I think we might also spend a night or two in Paris, we may decide we love it.

AJPeabody, I think you're right. We will stay a night in Capri.

I like these suggestions, thanks everyone!

StCirq

If you found all the towns in Tuscany to be boring, same stores selling the same stuff, etc., I doubt you'd enjoy the Dordogne. We specialize in villages with a certain uniform beauty. And we don't do much beer.

As for not knowing whether there's "anything" to do in " the south of France," well, it's a huge swath of territory and of course there is everything imaginable to do.

Sassafrass

There is a great variety of things to do and see that might appeal to you in Southern Spain (Andalucia) and coastal areas - everything from Flamenco dancing to diving. For most people going to see major sights, I suggest taking trains. You, however, might enjoy renting a car and exploring. It is a rather large area geographically and 10 days there would be filled easily.

These are places that all offer a great variety of experiences.

Crete. Food, history, natural beauty, hiking, boating, etc.

Croatia and Slovenia. Small, beautiful cities and natural landscape, islands, etc.

Coastal Turkey (perhaps a gulet cruise) and Cappadocia for ballooning. Major archeological sites like Ephesus. Great food. History.

The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous and so much to do and see, a week to ten days would pass quickly.

kbmtravel

Beer isn't a main draw, but wine is.