My Honeymoon in Europe!! Help!!

Hola Jesica, prepare for the onslaught of messages saying that you are doing too much and need to trim down your ambitions.

Is this your first (and probably last) trip to Europe (as if we couldn't tell).

Fifteen major cities plus travel time in between in 38 days!

OK, I'll say it, "you are doing too much and need to trim down your ambitions."

What months are you traveling? You'll get better advice if you tell us.

Are you seriously fitting Firenze and Venice into one day, starting in Rome??

I'd drop Budapest and Vienna - too far, too little time, and Vienna is boring anyway - to get some time for Firenze and Venice. Zurich isn't worth the trip either for one day there. Drop it.

Try the overnight train once, maybe from Paris to Rome; there are better ways to exhaust yourselves at night. You could fly from Venice to Prague or Berlin. Then head straight to A'dam. Add a day to Brugge if you can.

Jesica,

I have to agree with Lee in that your travel plans are a bit too ambitious. I don't believe you've allowed adequate travel times between some of the cities you'll be visiting.

As this is your first trip to Europe, my first suggestion would be to try and find a copy of the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door. If you have sufficient time before your trip, you can order a copy from this website. The book includes information on things like Itinerary planning, packing, currencies and especially "rail skills".

Keep in mind you'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes, and you'll be jet-lagged for a day or two after that. It would be a good idea to take things slowly for the first few days.

The route you listed is not the most efficient, and has some "backtracking". Rather than go from Barcelona to Paris and then back to Rome, my preference would be a budget flight from Barcelona to Rome check www.vueling.com) and then start working your way towards Paris.

I'd also suggest dropping a few days in Brussels and perhaps add at least a day or two in London. Also, what is the time frame for "Firenze - Venice"? If you're planning on seeing both cities, your plans will need to be revised. You might consider visiting Lucerne instead of Zurich.

Realistically, I believe you'll have to drop at least one (and maybe more) of the cities on your list. As Rick often says "assume you will return". If you could provide a slightly "leaner" list of cities, it would be easier to suggest a more realistic route.

What time of year were you planning to make this trip?

Good luck with your planning!

I would agree with everyone above who says you need to cut down your plans - WAY down (like in half). Also, I'd ditch the idea of overnight trains, not because of a lack of, um, romantic opportunities, but because for some people, they result in zero sleep followed by 2 days as a zombie. Some folks can not sleep AT ALL in a train, even under the best of conditions. If you're not sure you'll be able to get a restful nights sleep, beware.

I would disagree with one post above: I certainly would not call Vienna "boring" in any way. It's a great city with lots to see/do. But it may not fit in withy this trip.

First of all, congrats on your marriage!

I think that for all of the places where you've listed a 2 day stop (or shorter), you should take those cities and drop half. Make 1/2 as many 3-4 day stops. That's the easiest way I can come up with to make this itinerary easier to deal with. You'll have to take transportation connections in to consideration along with your personal reasons for wanting to visit each place when dropping cities from your list.

You'll definitely want some time to slow down and connect with your spouse! Our honeymoon was 3 days in Munich and 3 in Venice, not including travel days, and even that felt kind of rushed, looking back on it now.

Here's another question -- do you really want to spend a good portion of your honeymoon on overnight trains? You know those sleepers are singles, right?

Jesica, I think maybe you are posting here because you and your fiance need a better way to think about this trip.

I'm not going to try to advise you about destinations because aside from this long list you haven't said what sorts of things you and yours would like to see and do. You also don't say when you are going.

Many first-time travelers like to cover a lot of ground, even at the expense of rushing things. That's especially true for people from my country, because we don't get much time off from work.

However, a long trip like yours has a very different dynamic. I think you will find the pace you propose to be exhausting and unsatisfying.

Instead, vary the pace. Do some intense city-hopping for a week or two (if that is what you like), but then settle down in one place for a whole week.

Similarly, I notice your destinations are all cities. Mix things up with some time in the countryside. Plan a few breaks someplace pretty to recharge your travel batteries and break up what will otherwise be a gray blur of cities.

Once you have figured out that part you can revisit the logistics to minimize time between destinations.

Thanks everybody for your opinions and advices!! I'll review my itinerary and post it for more help!!

Adam,

"That's especially true for people from my country, because we don't get much time off from work"

Rick has also commented on the issue of "short holiday times" in the U.S. Why is that? Hopefully it will improve in the near future.

Cheers!

Jesica, I'm so excited for you to be able to travel for 38 days. Congrats! In ref to your itinerary. You are probably buying the max Eurail pass and want to see as much as possible. However, you are doing some "zigzagging". If you want to see a bit of Switzerland, I would go from Barcelona to somewhere in the Swiss Alps (do Paris later), such as the Berner Oberland (Murren, Gimmelwald). Then go to Italy. You might consider dropping Vienna and Budapest so that you could add a few days to Florence and Venice. From Venice, go to Salzburg--a smaller city in a beautiful Austrian setting. Then on to Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris (drop Brussels), then London. Was day 32-26 in London--I got a bit lost there in the days. Anyway, spend at least 3 nights in London. As others have said, get in a few smaller cities/towns. The Swiss Alps, Salzburg and Brugge might satisfy that. Also, Orvieto, a hilltown that is a one hour train ride from Rome would be wonderful. Just some thoughts.

Wow!! You have planned to visit too many cities I would eliminate Vienna - Barcelona is fabulous with its wide boulevards, Gaudi art, good food and Catalan people. I would also skip Zurich and add more to Italy, skip Amsterdam and do Brugge, which is charming. Budapest is awesome - the Paris of the Danube. Don't even try to understand the language - sound somewhat like Finnish. The Buda Hills are wonderful and be sure to go to a spa and buy those wonderful Helia D facial creams which are quite inexpensive. I have not been to Berlin but I understand it is crazy...lots of artists and high energy. Happy travels!!

Congratulations! My husband and I spent 2 weeks in France for our Honeymoon-- and started our planning with a very busy itinerary. We decided to cut it down and spend one week in paris and one week traveling in the country. It was the perfect pace and let us really enjoy the people, culture, and each other! I would highly suggest you pick one or two of your cities and spend a longer amount of time there, and then pack in some traveling in between. You'll always have things you wish you could have seen, but you'll remember all the things you DID see so much better if you aren't exhausted and always on the road. Good luck and congrats!

Ken,

Regarding vacation time in the US. When I first started working, (30 years ago) most people got 2 weeks paid vacation each year. After 5 years seniority at your company, you would get 3 weeks paid vacation. Most companies maxed out at 5 or 6 weeks vacation a year. You would have to have at least 20 years seniority to get the 5 weeks paid vacation. If you changed jobs frequently, you might never have over 2 or 3 weeks of vacation a year.

Over the past few years, I've learned that American workers have less time off and fewer rights as employees than workers in many other countries. For years, the powers that be have praised us for our 'work ethic'. The same powers that be take multi-million dollar bonuses while cutting the pay of the rank and file. I think there would have to be a drastic shift in the political climate for this to change.

I'll get off of my soapbox now. :-)