Goonies86

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post on this site, so sorry if I don't follow protocol . I noticed how much excellent advice everyone is able to offer here from other posts and I was hoping for some help.

My fiance and I are travelling to Europe for our honeymoon in September. We are hoping to do 2 weeks in France (my fiance has always wanted to see Paris) and 2 weeks in Italy (studied classical history at school - my dream to see Rome and Pompeii!). Ignoring the Italy portion for now, I really need help with the France part of the trip! We will be flying out a day after our wedding on September 12, 2011 so that will land us in Paris it seems 8am on Tuesday, September 13. We were going to do 5 days/4 nights in Paris (one of those 5 days is the day we arrive), the last day spent at Versailles on Saturday so we can see the fountains running and then head out of the city that afternoon/evening. That leaves us about 8 days (we could add one more if needed) to see another part of France. I am someone who always treats every vacation like it could be my last and I want to see EVERYTHING, but since you don't really want to run around like mad on your honeymoon, I'm trying to rein myself in and be reasonable so we can have a nice relaxing time. I am a lover of history and my fiance just likes to go with the flow, but really doesn't like to pack too much in to one day as he really likes to relax on vacation. I would really like to experience more than one region (I don't want to settle into just one) but don't want to try and squeeze in too much too fast. Romantic experiences would be a plus (a cooking class, great picnic spots etc.). Normandy, the Loire, Dordogne, Provence and the Riviera all sound amazing. Any suggestions for what to do in 8 or 9 days in France considering it will be the latter half of September? If moving the Paris part of the trip would help in anyway, I would be willing to do so. I hope I didn't give too much or too little information. Any help at all would be really appreciated.

Best Regards,
Jessica from Canada

qwovadis

HiJessica

First congrats and welcome

No clue about your budget

Probably would fly into Paris then beaune.com

Arles lecalendal.com Carcassonne if you like castles

sunfrance.com Nice on into Italy

seat61.com train is wonderful there

booking.com for romantic hotels everywhere

Chateau d'Esclimont, Chateau Hotels in Val de Loire. Château d'Esclimont was built for the Archbishop of Tours in 1543 and, since then, has been the home of aristocrats ...

www.allchateaux.com/chateau-esclimont.html

one of my favs spent some quality romantic time there...

Happy Planning,

qwovadis

Just to help you with Italy a bit

San Remo

Portofino/Cinqueterre www.metropole.it

Lucca.info Rome Pompeii/Sorrento/Amalfi

www.hoteldelfino.com Orevieto Florence Venice

sirmione.com bellagio.info stresa.org Simplon Pass

Interlaken Geneva back to Paris by nice train

for your flight home.

Fodors Gold Guides great for planning.

StuDudley

I think you should give us some ideas about your Italy plans, because getting to Italy from France is more time consuming than you may think - depending on where you depart France & where you are going in Italy.

However, as a start I would do:

- 5 nights in Paris

- take the train to Brive la Gaillard, rent a car, visit Colognes la Rouge, then drive the short distance to the Sarlat area & spend 4-5 nights in the Dordogne.

- Drive to Provence, stopping in Carcassonne for a 3 hr visit & stay in St Remy or the Luberon in Provence for 4-5 nights.

- Fly from Marseille or Nice to Rome - if you want to see Rome & Pompii.

Stu Dudley

Goonies86

Hello!

Thanks so much for the speedy replies! In response to some of your questions, our budget is low-moderate (we're not going to hostels but nothing like the Ritz either) but willing to splurge for a great experience (nice dinner, great tour etc). In terms of Italy, I have mostly been focusing on France so far so I only have an idea based on what I know I'd like to see - Rome, Naples (Pompeii and Herculano) and Venice. I'm sure after reading more I might readjust to see a beautiful scenic area that's not too far out of the way.

I've been looking into flights or trains out of Marseille but it seems to be a bit tricky, especially if I go to Venice as a first stop - all the flights seem to connect in Gatwick/Heathrow? It seems a bit easier if I go directly to Rome but would it be strange to go south and then back north again?

Also, do you think it would be possible to do perhaps 2-3 nights in the Loire, 3 nights in Dordogne and then 3 nights in Provence? Then fly out of Marseille. Or Provence, to Dordogne, to Loire - then train to Paris, fly out of Paris to Italy? Flights seem to be a lot cheaper when you fly out of Paris.

Thanks once again for your advice qwovadis and Stu Dudley!

Best Regards,
Jessica

StCirq

Of course it's possible to do 3 nights in each of those places, but I would recommend against it. Skip the Loire. The Dordogne and Provence are far more interesting and scenic, and I can't imagine wanting to pack up and zoom somewhere hours away every three days, on a honeymoon especially. You already have enough on your hands trying to get from France to Italy.

If you want to fly from Paris to Italy, then go directly from CDG when you land to the TGV and take it to Avignon. Spend 4 days in Provence, then rent a car and drive to the Dordogne and spend another 4 days. Ditch the car, take the train back to Paris and spend your 5 days there. Then fly to Italy.

kevin_widrow

I'll second StCirq suggestion to switch things around and do Paris just before Italy. You'll find loads of cheap flights from there, so logistically, it makes good sense.

-Kevin