Honeymoon in Europe

FutureMsAlexander

Has anyone done this? We're dying to go. But, we have about two weeks max. Not sure the best places to go in that time period. Also, would want to do this as cost efficiently as possible. Tips, anyone?

KatieJL121

Hi!  We didn't go for our honeymoon but we did go to Italy about a year ago in Dec. of '08.  We went to almost all of the major cities (except Pompeii) and some of the smaller towns as well.  Not sure if you're interested in Italy but I HIGHLY recommend it even if you could only visit a couple of cities...it was amazing!!  I don't have much time right now because I have to be somewhere, but let me know if you're interested and I can give you a few tips.  We also went to Spain at the end of our trip but we only had time to visit Barcelona.  It's another unique city if you're interested in it as well.  I'll check back later! 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I've been to several places. Berlin and Prague can be pretty cheap, especially compared with other major European cities.

I adored the trip we took to London and Edinburgh, but with the exchange rate, the UK is more expensive. However, I've done both of those trips in 2 weeks or less. Just realize it takes about 2 days to get there (overnight flights) so you'll really have about 12 days to explore. I agree that exploring an English-speaking country on your own (assuming you aren't fluent in another language) is very easy.

Being able to cook your own meals (staying in an apartment or apartment-like hotel) can be a big plus.

Also, I like gate1travel for tour package options.

Sue-n-Kevin

We are thinking of Europe as well.

I'd recommend searching on this honeymoon board for "Europe". There have been several prior posts with websites. I've found them very helpful. The one site that I got out of it was:

www.europeandestinations.com . They appear to have the best packages and you can see as many or as few countries/cities as you want. It doesn't appear to include any planned tours anywhere, but I'd bet you can add them on.

cmkuno

Like PP's said, I think your best bet for keeping costs down is to not move around too much within Europe.  I would even suggest just picking 2-3 cities to see within one country.  We went to Italy about 2.5 years ago and only saw Rome and Florence and that was more than enough to keep us busy!  We also saved money by staying in apartments rather than hotels and cooking a few meals ourselves rather than eating out all the time.  We're actually planning to go back to Italy for our honeymoon, and this time we'll see Venice and the Amalfi Coast, possibly the Cinque Terre if we have time and money.  Also, if you can be flexible about your travel dates you can hunt for good deals on air fare.  PM me if you have any more questions about Italy - it is so romantic and magical, you'll have a great time if you go!

cmkuno

P.S., the travel board on the Nest is full of great advice on traveling to Europe!

sunshine_day_dreams

Definitely, definitely look into apartments rather than hotels.  I'm in the middle of planning our European HM right now, and I can't even tell you how much $$ we're saving just by booking apartments.  They are SO much cheaper, and have the option to cook your meals to save even more.

I've heard TONS of recs for Rick Steve's guidebooks, which are supposed to be pretty full of good budget-friendly travel advice.  I've never read one, so I can't comment...

I would suggest picking one or two destinations and then picking up a guidebook on each place and going from there.  My personal preference is Frommer's Guides, and then I cross-reference with TripAdvisor. If you search a city on Trip Advisor and then click on hotels, there's another option to the left to choose "Vaction Rentals" and that's where I've found all of the apartments.   I've also sent quite a few places e-mails saying it's our HM and asking if they offer any deals for HM couples.  So far I've gotten 10% off at two of the apartments we're staying in.

Good luck! :-)

FutureMsAlexander

That's awesome! Great tips! Thank you all so much!