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Honeymoon in France Help

bananasplit472001bananasplit472001 member
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in Honeymoon Discussions
We would like our Honeymoon to be in France.  Our wedding is in June 2015 and we need a ton of help choosing where to go and what to do in France.  We would like to start in Paris and make our way to the countryside/beaches throughout the rest of the trip.  Any suggestions are welcome :)
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Re: Honeymoon in France Help

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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    How long will you be there?  You should try to spend at least 2-3 nights in each location, otherwise you'll spend more time traveling around than actually seeing things.  I spent a full week in Paris last year, and it wasn't enough, i'm dying to go back already.

     

    What type of activities are you interested in?  I love a good museum, palaces, and shopping (i was there with my mother, who has similar interests), so Paris had more than enough for us.  We did day trips to Versailles and Paris Disneyland (i love Disney - but i'd advise against doing this...it in no way rivaled the US parks and I'd never go back).  If i went back, i'd also want to go to Champagne and probably the Loire Valley to see the Chateaux.

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    alithebridealithebride member
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    well first you need to figure out a budget and then see what fits into it. keep in mind that june is high season-very pricey and extremely crowded.

    have you been to the library to take out books or videos or been online? have you talked to friends/family asked for a TA rec who knows france well? i would suggest you start there.

     

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    bananasplit472001bananasplit472001 member
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    We are hoping to go for 12 days (10 full, 2 travel to and from the US)  Our budget is flexible as we have already started saving and have until june 2015 to do so.  We will pay a little more since it is our honeymoon.  We like the going to museums and are big into visiting wineries.  we would also like to get to the French Riveria but do not know that it is enough time.  We wanted to start in paris for 2 days then travel to regions to visit the Chateauxs and vineyards.  We do not know anyone who has been to France and think that we will need a travel agent.
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    AprilH81AprilH81 member
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    dianammobilio said:
    We are hoping to go for 12 days (10 full, 2 travel to and from the US)  Our budget is flexible as we have already started saving and have until june 2015 to do so.  We will pay a little more since it is our honeymoon.  We like the going to museums and are big into visiting wineries.  we would also like to get to the French Riveria but do not know that it is enough time.  We wanted to start in paris for 2 days then travel to regions to visit the Chateauxs and vineyards.  We do not know anyone who has been to France and think that we will need a travel agent.
    You need more than 2 days in Paris.  I did a 3-day weekend when I was in college and studying abroad.  It exhausted me.  I would do an absolute minimum of 5 days in Paris and the immediate surrounding area. 
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    emmyg65emmyg65 member
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    I've found that it's more enjoyable to spend more time in fewer places, rather than try to go everywhere in one trip. You'll definitely want at least three days in Paris. I was there for six days and didn't get below the surface. 

    When I went, I bought a vacation through Air France. It looks like this is now Delta Vacations (link). It included airfare and hotel and then I could add on day trips and longer trips. I added on a day trip to Mont St. Michel in Normandy. All I had to do is sign up and they arranged everything.
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    Lauderdale PinkLauderdale Pink member
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    I have seen advertisements for Insight Vacations on The Knot and definitely recommend them
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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    I would do at least 5 nights in Paris.  If you love museums and good food and wine and desserts, 5 nights won't even be enough.

     

    The Loire Valley Chateaux and Champagne are close to Paris, and there are some specific wine regoins, like Burgundy, that aren't terribly far either (you can get great wine basically everywhere) which is nice - the riviera is further and would require long travel.  I would only do the riviera if you are able to book your tickets as into Paris and out of Nice or the other way around, so that you only have to do that trip once if you decide to do it.

     

    It sounds like you would have 11 nights, as one would be the overnight flight from the US.  With that I'd suggest 5 in paris, 3 in the Loire Valley, and 3 in either in the wine region of your choosing or Nice.  Keep in mind too that there are a lot of wineries in the Loire Valley that you could visit there, and also that it's not out of the question to day-trip to Champagne from Paris if that interests you (look into a bus tour for the day so you don't have to drive).

     

    Definitely talk to an agent if you're not comfortable doing all of the planning yourself - look for someone with a lot of knowledge of the area and who has been there before, preferably multiple times.  Someone with personal experience is going to be your best bet.  Europe is really easy to navigate on your own if you are willing to do the research before hand - I never used an agent for any of my trips to Europe, though I am using one for my honeymoon in South Africa.  I tried to do the research myself but it wasn't as easy as I was hoping.

     

    If you want to research on your own, go first to your library to grab some travel guides and rough out what you think you'd like to do - the good travel guides issue annual updates, so don't actually buy anything until the 2015 versions come out in late 2014/early 2015.  But you can do beginning research using any reasonably recent version.  Get a few brands (Frommer's, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, and Rick Steves are the most popular I'd say) - they all offer something different, and that way you can decide which one you like the best before you make an actual purchase.

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    mellyD2014mellyD2014 member
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    I would recommend basing yourself out of Paris as well. I lived there and even 6 months is not enough time in my opinion :) But the wonderful thing about France (and mainland Europe in general) is that everywhere is easily accessible by train. I'd recommend spending 4 days just hanging in Paris (there are plenty of affordable hotels - try looking in the 12th and 13th arrondissements as they are not typical tourist areas but are close by to a lot of main attractions/metro stops). You can then take day trips to other parts of France if you want to see vineyards or castles or whatever else you're interested in seeing. A Eurorail pass is a good idea, as it's about $350 for 2 people for 3-4 days of unlimited train travel (literally unlimited!). You will be going at peak time, unfortunately, so you'll want to budget a little more than you might otherwise. You mentioned you'd like to see museums - Paris opens all of its museums free of charge on either the first or last Sunday of every month (I've forgotten which - will have to look it up), so if you can make that work with your dates, you'll save some money!

    Agree with a previous poster - definitely look into the Loire Valley. It's easily a day trip from Paris and you can see some seriously gorgeous castles. Loire wines are seriously underrated in my opinion :)

    You can also take day trips out to Normandy; they have to-die-for hard cider and you can see some incredible WWII locations.

    If you're into more glitzy beaches, if you head down to Cannes, but that's definitely not a day trip.

    Happy planning! :)

    My fiance and I are also staying in Paris for 1 week for our honeymoon before heading down to Spain for a Mediterranean cruise, and we'll be there in September of 2014. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Paris - it's my favorite place in the world and I've spent a lot of time there so I'd love to help out!
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    AnaelseaAnaelsea member
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    Youll want 2-3 days in paris, and 2-3 days on the south coast, Marseilles maybe, and 2-3 days in wine country small towns. Remember, the exchange rate is 1.18 in winter, and then it rises again to 1.34 in summer, so youll want to check with your bank and get euros in the winter 2014 at the lower exchange rate, of course now that the government shut down the euro is still 1.37 in december, so maybe we messed that up. But def keep your eyes peeled, bc once you exchange you lose anout a 1/3 to the rate. Also, youll want to see if you can get a visa with a chip in it (european cards have this electronic chip in the corner) because I went without one, and couldnt use 90% of the ATMs or buy train tickets from automatic machines in France because i had my american cards. Dont buy a train pass from some website ahead of time, its only trouble, buy one there at the train station from their machines, or at the booth that sells tickets at a train station. Also- they may close all businesses for holidays we dont take into account (saints days) so check the french calender before you go. Also, funnily, smiling at service people, or smiling at strangers, is considered a sign of lunacy/idiocy, and eye contact is considered an invitation. Friends of mine had alot of trouble at a restaurant, their waiter kept asking them if they were crazy, and it turns out they were smiling the whole time, thinking it would help them be nice. 
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    hoffsehoffse member
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    Read up on TripAdvisor.  It's a great resource.

    You definitely need more than 2 days in Paris.  Day 1 is going to be rough no matter what because you will have come off an overnight flight with an 8+ hour time change.  You will be seriously jetlagged and probably need to take it easy that day.

    I would spend at least 4-5 days in Paris itself, 1 day in Versailles, 1-2 for other day trips based out of Paris (Chartres, for example, is amazing) and then maybe 3 in the Loire Valley if you want to do the wine thing.  Bordeaux is pretty far south and you will spend more time on trains than I would want to do on my honeymoon.  Same with Marseilles.  Paris and its immediate surroundings have years worth of stuff to do - you will not get bored in 10 days, and I personally think it's a better use of time than spending hours on trains to drink wine... when you can do the same thing right outside of Paris.  If you want to visit southern France someday (I do - so I totally get it), make it a separate trip for an anniversary or something.

    FYI you can get a museum pass for Paris which is usually a pretty good value if you like museums and chateaus (Versailles is included on it also).  DONT buy the "Paris Pass" - that one is a rip off.  Make sure it's the Paris Museum Pass:


    Also, don't buy Eurail tickets.  Unless you are taking long train trips every single day it almost never pays for itself.  Just buy individual tickets as you go.  It's really NBD.

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