Honeymooon in Europe

[squiggs96]

I'm heading to Europe in May, with a similar travel itinerary.

Fly to London. Stay at Hilton London Hyde Park for five nights.

Fly to Rome. Stay at H10 Roma Citta for four nights.

Train to Florence. Stay at Hotel Davanzati for four nights.

Train to Venice. Stay at Hotel Panorama in Lido.

Fly to Paris. Stay in an apartment rental for five nights. Check them out here: http://lovingapartments.com/Paris-apartments-home.html

Fly home.

I wanted to go to Cinque Terre in Italy, but they had a big mudslide in November 2011. It should be fine when you're there, but do some research first.

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

It's a honeymoon - presumably, you want to spend more time on top of your wife than at train stations/airports. For only 2 weeks, I would limit it to 3 independent locations max or stick with a limited area that you can easily tour by car or train. To properly appreciate the "great" European cities you need more than 2 days.
You can, for example (not suggesting this itinerary - just a "what if"), do 4 days in Barcelona, 5 in Paris and 5 in Rome or 2 of those and a Med cruise. Alternatively, go to Italy and do a tour heading north from Rome. Don't pack in too much, enjoy each locale, plus it's your honeymoon - you can save the 12 cities in 12 days tour until you are 65...

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I guess I was being a little too optimistic on how many places i can travel.

[Flabbibulin]

We did our honeymoon in Europe- although we went with the advantage of having lived and visited there several times before. We will be heading out there again this summer for a cousin's wedding.

Either way, you already have the most important step in your trip taken care of- going in September. August in Italy is awful. The crowds are insane and so is the heat. By late September, the temperature will have cooled down at least a few degrees, and thanks to school, the crowds will be much more manageable.

Because it is your first trip to Europe, my recommendation is that you do in fact go for the popular sites. European vacation vets often get in the habit of recommending more obscure destinations, which are great, but should always come after you have seen the top 5-10. After all, if you don't get around to Europe again for several years, you don't want to look back and say you missed the most important sites.

That said, the number of destinations you visit will depend on how much time you have. With 2 weeks to work with, and considering that you don't want a stressed out honeymoon, I would recommend nothing more than Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice. Depending on what you are into, I would divide that up into 4 nights Paris, and 3 nights each in Rome, Venice, Florence. Even then, some may argue that is pushing it. Sure, backpackers can do that easily enough, but you want a relaxing honeymoon. If you decide to only stick with one country and travel around, France can easily be turned into Paris-Nice-Monaco, while if you stayed only in Italy, you could possibly add some of the gems like Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast.

If your trip stretches into 3 weeks, my advice would be that there are other places as equally good as Germany- Vienna and Prague are incredible, although Greece is fantastic as well.

Flying into Paris is easy enough, but Im not sure I would take a train from there to Rome unless you have the extra time. Trains between Rome, Florence and Venice are a piece of cake. I always tell people not to forget Versailles when they are in paris- absolutely amazing day trip.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

I'm heading to Europe in May, with a similar travel itinerary.

Fly to London. Stay at Hilton London Hyde Park for five nights.

Fly to Rome. Stay at H10 Roma Citta for four nights.

Train to Florence. Stay at Hotel Davanzati for four nights.

Train to Venice. Stay at Hotel Panorama in Lido.

Fly to Paris. Stay in an apartment rental for five nights. Check them out here: http://lovingapartments.com/Paris-apartments-home.html

Fly home.

I wanted to go to Cinque Terre in Italy, but they had a big mudslide in November 2011. It should be fine when you're there, but do some research first.

Ha, I stayed in the Hilton Hyde park a few years ago- very good. We were upgraded for free to a suite on the top floor.

[Northendzone]

are you thinking of going to euro-disney?

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

are you thinking of going to euro-disney?

Nope. We've been to Disneyland/world quite a few times already.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

are you thinking of going to euro-disney?

It's just like Disneyland, except everyone is smoking.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Ha, I stayed in the Hilton Hyde park a few years ago- very good. We were upgraded for free to a suite on the top floor.

Does the $20 Vegas handshake work there as well?

The Hilton was cheap compared to anything else near it. $800 for five nights including all taxes and fees. The hotel looks nice and is in a good area. I'm pretty excited.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I have a general rule, which I try to stick to, where a travel day ideally takes no more than 5 hours in transit. This way you're always relaxed and energetic. Nothing ruins your your week like sitting on a bus or train for 24 hours. I would really limit the amount of time in transit, especially for something like a honeymoon.

With 2 weeks, maybe do Paris, French Riviera and then make your way into Italy for Cinque Terre for a few days?

That is a first class recommendation.

To the OP - you really need to think about the type of vacation you want and then prioritze your choices, because as it stands, your wishlist is far too big for the duration you have available.

Best wishes.

[The Big Chill]

For me, I enjoyed 2-3 days of Paris. Any more then that and I wouldn't have been enjoying myself any more. I found it too loud and busy to stay for too long. However, I'm the type that prefers middle-of-nowhere towns in Germany to the big cities of London/Paris. I've been to Europe a couple of times and I find that London is a great way to start a trip. There is a ton to see, yet enough side-street pubs for me to duck into when I need to get away from the traffic for a few hours. It is also smart to have at least 3 or 4 days at the first destination to deal with any jet-lag.

I think a great trip would be 2-4 days in London to start, 2-3 days in Paris, then either a week in Germany or a week in Italy depending on your preference. As long as you don't over-fill your itinerary then it is basically impossible to go wrong no matter what you choose. Two of my favorite countries I've visited were Ireland and Finland, although those don't really seem like honeymoon type destinations.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Does the $20 Vegas handshake work there as well?

The Hilton was cheap compared to anything else near it. $800 for five nights including all taxes and fees. The hotel looks nice and is in a good area. I'm pretty excited.

I think it had something to do with the room they put us in originally- something was bad about it so we complained and they set us up with the new room. I really can't remember what the price was- it was a trip over there to meet up with my parents (who were living in Europe at the time), so the 'rents covered the bill

Either way, 800/5 nights for that part of London is bloody good guvna.

[Flabbibulin]

Without hijacking the thread, any past visitors of Cinque Terre know how it compares to Sorrento or Taormina? We went to Taormina and Sorrento last summer instead of Cinque Terre (mostly because of the mudslide damage) and Im wondering how they compare. We have no complaints though- Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast is the greatest spot Ive been to in Italy.

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

That is a first class recommendation.

To the OP - you really need to think about the type of vacation you want and then prioritze your choices, because as it stands, your wishlist is far too big for the duration you have available.

Best wishes.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I think we will probably stick to France and Italy, and leave Germany and mediterranean cruise for another trip.

Ideally we'd like to stay longer, but we are also going to Hong Kong and South Korea this May for 3 weeks, so vacation time is pretty much gone.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Without hijacking the thread, any past visitors of Cinque Terre know how it compares to Sorrento or Taormina? We went to Taormina and Sorrento last summer instead of Cinque Terre (mostly because of the mudslide damage) and Im wondering how they compare. We have no complaints though- Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast is the greatest spot Ive been to in Italy.

I think you'd find the scenery similar. Cinque Terre is alot sleepier, smaller villages. The Cinque Terre has tons of tourists dont get me wrong, just not busy like Amalfi is.

I really enjoyed the Cinque Terre hike, some of my favourite photos I 've ever taken were on that hike.

That was an insane mudslide, I think it was Furnaceface sent me some videos of it. You'd def. Want to check on the recovery.

[afc wimbledon]

Italy is great, the country is beautifull, the food is great and the people are friendly, for a honeymoon Venice is lovely but expensive. Rome is cool but basically a big city.

I also find the first 3 days of the trip to europe is a bit of a write off as I am so screwed up by jet lag and the time change.

[3 Justin 3]

Forget going to Venice, what a dirty and filthy city. If you want a cool city thats built on water go to Amsterdam, much nicer.

If you go to Germany you have to go to Berlin, amazing place. Forget Frankfurt (literally nothing to do unless you're there to do business).

[IliketoPuck]

If it was my honeymoon, my itinerary would be: Greece, then to Italy, back to Greece, head up to Germany and then back to Greece. Cost effective and fun for you and the wife.

Edit: I should have put a trip to the Hawaiian Islands in there somewhere.

Itinerary should be: Greece, Italy, Hawaii, Germany, Hawaii, Greece.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by troutman

It's just like Disneyland, except everyone is smoking.

so it is more sophisticated - sort of like Duffland?

instead of folks gnawing on an over sized turkey leg as they walk around, they walk around with an extra-large dart in their mouth?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Forget going to Venice, what a dirty and filthy city. If you want a cool city thats built on water go to Amsterdam, much nicer.

If you go to Germany you have to go to Berlin, amazing place. Forget Frankfurt (literally nothing to do unless you're there to do business).

I spent part of my honeymoon in Venice and didn't really enjoy it either. It's so friggin' busy. The Venice you see in movies isn't the one that exists in reality. To me, it is the opposite of romantic there. It's hard to even find somewhere to stand. I also found the merchants very rude.

I couldn't wait to get back to Rovinj and relax after just a few hours in Venice.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I spent part of my honeymoon in Venice and didn't really enjoy it either. It's so friggin' busy. The Venice you see in movies isn't the one that exists in reality. To me, it is the opposite of romantic there. It's hard to even find somewhere to stand. I also found the merchants very rude.

I couldn't wait to get back to Rovinj and relax after just a few hours in Venice.

Oh my god, there was nothing about Venice that was nice. Everything was sketchy, it smells like crap everywhere, its busy, dirty, small, and everything of note you can see in like 2 hours.