Honeymoon

[dickdarlington]

Now then

As you might have guessed from the title, my fiancé and I are getting married early next year. We can't decide what we want to do for the honeymoon, and so I put the idea of a multiple trip to her, and she liked the idea a lot.

We're considering a trip from Scotland to Venice, with the following route...

Fort Bill Sleeper to London. Eurostar to Paris. Two nights in Paris.
TGV to the cote d'azur/Monte Carlo (might be too expensive), 2 nights on the med, Train to Rome, three nights there. Italian Eurostar to Venice...fly back.

Has anyone any idea a) how much this will cost, and b) how feasible is it? I've done my fair bit of inter-railing when i was younger, but it was a long time ago, and i had a ruck-sack rammed with clothes, this time we'll be a bit more civilised.

Thanks in advance

 

[Greenback]

I like the look of that itinerary, though I would try and spend a night or two in Venice as well.

The only difficulties I can foresee would be dealing with the luggage and finding hotels within whatever budget you have. Depending on how much you can or want to spend, it may be a challenge finding romantic hotels at the right price in Paris and on the Med.

Also, when needing to get to Venice last year we found it cheaper to fly to and from Verona, which is only a little over an hour from Venice. You may be able to save a little there to put towards better hotels!

As a rough budget if I was planning this holiday, I would forecast on

£49 each for the London sleeper
£59 each for the Eurostar
£50 each for Paris to the Cote D'Azur
£30 each onward to Rome
and £20 each for Rome to Venice

I would be hoping to pay less than £100 each in total to fly back to the UK.

If I could get the travel elements for less than I forecast, that would be a bonus! Of course, if I overspend on one particular journey, I might be able toc law it back on another sector!

I am sure it is feasible. My advice would be to check train times at Deutsche Bahn's journey planner. You can then do dummy bookings on the various websites to fidn fare information, as DB won't show that unless there is a German Rail element involved in my experience.

 

[30907]

Depending on time of year, and assuming you can book well in advance (which I imagine you can!) you should be able to get one-way Eurostar for £39 and Paris-Nice for EUR30 if you are flexible with times.

If time allows I would consider doing at least part of Venice-Scotland by rail too, through the Alps. Which is what my wife and I are doing next month (30th anniversary not honeymoon though!).

Also, if time allows, I would add a day to each stop to slow down the trip, as weddings can be pretty tiring.

All sorts of suggestions on www.seat61.com, of course.

 

[reb0118]

Don't forget Germany for a romantic destination! You would be surprised. I've not had a bad hotel in Germany yet & all at a decent price. (in comparison I've paid shedloads for some right mingpalaces in Paris, Brussels, & other francophone destinations).

As to route, you could travel via London, Brüssel, & Köln to any station in Germany from 59€ single as long as you stick to the DB ICE train from Brüssel. This ticket is called a London Spezial.

You could then travel via Bavaria to Innsbruck in Austria & then via Bozen in the Süd Tylol, & Verona to Venice. Euro Spezial tickets should be available. This trip would be spectacular through the Alps - There are also the lakes in northern Italy - spectacular.

Check out seat61 for more details.

Don't get me wrong I like France & the French but it seems to be well expensive these days.

Wherever you go have a great time!

 

[30907]

I agree entirely re Germany - but the OP was talking Paris, Cote d'Azur, Rome and Venice so I think it's up to them.

A couple of afterthoughts
- TGVs Paris-Nice are often v good value in 1st Class; in either class sit upstairs for the view.
- Fridays and Sundays (and Saturdays, if we're talking high season) are always the busy days unless a public holiday confuses the situation and that's when trains are likely to be clogged with passengers and baggage.

Talking of baggage - wheelie suitcases are a menace but very convenient, and easier to stow than a backpack, and mean you can consider a 10-15 minute walk to a hotel (otherwise, you're talking places with decent public transport). Unless you are going very upmarket, neither of you needs more than smart-casual clothes, so you can cut down on the packing a bit! I've done a 2-week trip by rail, and that was OK.

 

[Bald Rick]

Try staying in Nice rather than MC; quite a bit cheaper and a lovely city.

MC is 30 mins away on the train, roughly 2 an hour, and you can see all there is to see in a day.

 

[Greenback]

Try staying in Nice rather than MC; quite a bit cheaper and a lovely city.

MC is 30 mins away on the train, roughly 2 an hour, and you can see all there is to see in a day.

I agree. We visited Monaco/Monte Carlo for a day and it was more than enough time to have a good look around. It's pretty small!

I would definitely try and spend two weeks on this itinerary so that there are a couple of quieter days as a break from the travelling.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Don't forget Germany for a romantic destination! You would be surprised. I've not had a bad hotel in Germany yet & all at a decent price.

I'd avoid Nordhausen then, place I stayed, the room was as hot as a Sauna, even with the window open (it was Easter so not too hot/cold out), and the plumbing banged all night. It was cheap though

 

[dickdarlington]

Thanks for everyone's input so far. Really interesting, and not as expensive as i thought.

I love Germany and we will probably end up their for my stag do.

My other half has never been abroad before, which is why i am keen to try adn take in as many places as possible. But at the same time, I'd quite like to keep is as romantic as possible (hence the locations chosen).

I would never consider staying in Monte Carlo. Nice all the way, or somewhere smaller perhaps.

Wedding is in Feb, but honeymoon probably won't be straight away.

Main concern is the accommodation now. But that's a consideration for another day.

I know what you mean about Paris. I would be tempted to miss it altogether, but you have to change there and it would seem stupid for someone who has never been, not to at least spend some time there.

 

[Greenback]

Main concern is the accommodation now. But that's a consideration for another day.

I know what you mean about Paris. I would be tempted to miss it altogether, but you have to change there and it would seem stupid for someone who has never been, not to at least spend some time there.

I always use the Hotels Combined website to research hotels, both their locations and prices. If you are unfamiliar with it, the site is basically a price comparison website. Prices fluctuate so its worth keeping an eye on it every week or so until you find a hotel and a price you are happy with!

I use this site in conjunction with TripAdvisor, so that I can have a look at what other travellers have thought of a particular place.

I agree, I think it would be madness not to spend a little time in Paris, as you have to go through it anyway! We stayed in a lovely little hotel called the Touraine Opera a few years ago - very quiet and secure at a reasonable cost, at least by Paris standards!

 

[eastwestdivide]

Not sure what your budget's like, but check for 1st class prices which can be not much more than 2nd for some routes. Bit of luxury? It is a honeymoon after all.
Maybe someone can advise on which of your routes would offer best value for 1st class - which have freebies etc.

I'd also echo the other comments about taking your time and not rushing from place to place.

 

[gazthomas]

I agree. We visited Monaco/Monte Carlo for a day and it was more than enough time to have a good look around. It's pretty small!

I would definitely try and spend two weeks on this itinerary so that there are a couple of quieter days as a break from the travelling.

I'll third that! Also don't discount Florence, much more romantic than Venice.

 

[Greenback]

Also don't discount Florence, much more romantic than Venice.

We actually disliked Florence (yes, I know this flies in the face of the majority of popular opinion!) and preferred Venice!

I thought at first that it may have had something to do with the very hot weather in Florence when we visited in 2008, but if anything it was even hotter when we were in Venice last year.

 

[30907]

Maybe someone can advise on which of your routes would offer best value for 1st class - which have freebies etc.

The only freebies I can think of are Italo offering a snack and drink.
They compete with ES-Italia on Turin-Rome (go Nice-Col de Tende-Cuneo-Turin through the French Alps instead of along the coast to use it) and Rome-Venice.

TGV-Lyria to Switzerland and Thalys have meals included (so does ES but at a price!) - but neither are on the OP's route.

As already mentioned, TGV 1st is often very economical, but no freebies.

Germany (and connections from it) can be reasonable value, the plus there is that you can get snacks and drinks at the DB Lounge on main stations.

 

[gazthomas]

We actually disliked Florence (yes, I know this flies in the face of the majority of popular opinion!) and preferred Venice!

I thought at first that it may have had something to do with the very hot weather in Florence when we visited in 2008, but if anything it was even hotter when we were in Venice last year.

Crikey. Did you stay there overnight? I've stayed in both Florence and Venice and you get a much better experience than those who just turn up for the day!

 

[Greenback]

Crikey. Did you stay there overnight? I've stayed in both Florence and Venice and you get a much better experience than those who just turn up for the day!

No, we disliked Florence so moved on. We did stay in Venice overnight, as there was more that we wanted to see there!

Everyone is different, as they say!

 

[johnnychips]

Also, when needing to get to Venice last year we found it cheaper to fly to and from Verona, which is only a little over an hour from Venice. You may be able to save a little there to put towards better hotels!

If there is a considerable saving - and I wouldn't bother unless there is (it's about €23 walk-up second class IC single Venice-Verona) - you could take time off to see the Casa Giulietta in Verona, which is currently being done up, if you and your lass are incurable romantics. Verona airport is only 15 mins by bus from the station (€6); however Venice Marco Polo is pretty accessible too (€6 by bus, bit dearer by public boat). Venice Treviso isn't in Venice, it's in...erm...Treviso and about fifty minutes bus ride (€7), so I'd try to avoid that unless Ryanair have some spectacular offers.

 

[Essexman]

The sleeper back from Venice to Paris is more romantic than the plane - but not as cheap.
Or you could travel back by train through the Alps, stopping a night in Switzerland, perhaps at Luzern.