Honeymoon Suggestions
Hi there,Apologies if this post is repetitive, but I've been searching around and haven't been able to find the info I need.
I will be spending my honeymoon in Western Europe in April/May of 2013. I have already booked a return flight to Heathrow as I was able to get it for free with points.
We'll stay for a night on either end in London, but otherwise, we'd like to go travelling.
We know that our first leg of the journey will involve taking the Eurostar to Paris and staying there for about 5 days, but after that, our itinerary is much more open to suggestion.
I would very much like to travel to Spain and Italy. Our initial thought was to fly from Paris to Rome and stay there for 5 days, and then fly from Rome to Barcelona for another 5 days. We'd then go to London, spend a night, and return home to Canada. Can anyone suggest whether there is a better way to do this - i.e., should we do Barcelona before Rome, or should we skip those places and go somewhere else like Milan or Madrid? We're very much open to suggestions - I've never been to Europe and would appreciate advice from those more knowledgeable than myself.
We are both city people and would like to spend our trip walking around exploring cities - visiting museums and galleries, experiencing local cuisine, and just generally exploring and enjoying the ambience of a place. Our major concern is to not waste too much time in travel since our trip is so short. Any suggestions on closer destinations or more sensible itineraries are welcome.
Thank you!
Edit: Budget isn't a major concern - we can afford 300 Euro per day (including travel and accommodations) - it's a once in a lifetime trip so we'd rather not scrimp!
Edited by: antheridia
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So you're flying into London, but only doing it for 2 days... London could effortlessly occupy you for 5 on its own, but it's your honeymoon so never mind. 12 nights for a honeymoon isn't much, I dunno how you guys cope with so few hols.Paris could be done in 3-4.
Rome could be done in 3-4. Perhaps a day trip to Pompeii might suit.
Barcelona could be done in 2-3. With squeezing in elsewhere you could buy enough time to stick in Madrid as well - take the AVE train.
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Most of your questions and concerns are pretty common on this forum. Just about every itinerary post could have been made by you.The problem is that for the people trying to give advice, most of us don't understand what's bothering the poster. Especially considering that it's your honeymoon, I'd have thought you'd rather plan something personal, using your knowledge of each other to tailor make an enjoyable trip.
For example, a question such as
should we skip those places and go somewhere else
is for all practical purposes utterly meaningless. There's no obligation to go anywhere. In the absence of a strong driving interest on your part to visit a particular city, anywhere will do.I've been living in Europe for decades and I still haven't been to some of the so-called big city musts that foreigners crowd to. Understand? It doesn't make any difference to anything.
Right , so much for 'expert' opinion ... it's nothing that anyone wants to believe.
A question like
I would very much like to travel to Spain and Italy.
really means that there's a big empty space in the poster's mind when it comes to information. This is what makes giving an answer almost impossible. These are countries, huge, you can spend years travelling around these countries and a lot of regulars here have that kind of detailed knowledge. So, you need a focus, such asfly from Paris to Rome and stay there for 5 days, and then fly from Rome to Barcelona for another 5 days
OK, now you're at the level of cities, which is better from a practical point of view.But, again, if your interest is in this direction and want to fly to these places, why not?
The question regarding order may have a marginal effect on time and costs. Other than that, the order of flying between points isn't too relevant in your case.
Your major concern
to not waste too much time in travel
is commendable. On the other hand you're dealing with a one day in 5-6 travel which is a slow pace considering some of the itineraries posted here. With flying, hopping to cities closer together isn't going to simplify. You'll just end up with a fixed investment of getting to from airports etc, but with maybe less time in the air. At some point trains will become quicker .. and it's still a loss of a day to travel.The one practical way I can see to save time is to drop one destination and give more detailed attention to the others -- including day trips or 1-2 days out, eg Loire from Paris. If you like exploring cities, any one on your list could fill a week easily.
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Thank you for your help. We have taken trips in the past where we have travelled too much in order to maximize the number of destinations, and it just wasn't fun. I suppose the point of my long post was to ask whether 5 days in Paris, 5 days in Rome, and 5 days in Barcelona seemed like a reasonable amount of time considering the amount of travel required between destinations. We're not counting travel days in the "5 day per city" total which I am hoping will allow us to feel as though we have the chance to explore a bit more of the cities but still in a relaxed fashion.Will definitely look into adding a day trip to Pompeii and Loire and maybe cutting Barcelona in half and popping by Madrid for a couple of days. Any other suggestions along those lines? I have never been to Europe so all these suggestions are extremely helpful to me!
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If you do a search on here for "Pompeii day trip", you will find many people advising against a day trip from Rome. It takes several hours to get there, several more to get back and Pompeii itself has a lot to see. If you just want to spend a few hours roaming around a Roman settlement, take a quick commuter train ride from Rome to Ostia Antica. Fewer people, cheaper, easier and faster access. Lots to see as well.The same with the Loire valley and its castles. It's a long day trip and if you are really interested in seeing old castles or that specific historical period, it needs more than a day. If you are not all that interested and any castle will do, you could go to Versailles or Fontainebleau.
Have a look at a guidebook or three and get an idea of somewhere you would really like to go. But if you are city people, then I think 5 days each in Paris, Rome and Barcelona are fine.
