European Honeymoon - where to start

ohwhynot85

My fiance and I are looking to have a 2 - 3 week honeymoon in Europe. Possible locations are: London, Paris, Barcelona & Madrid (possibly, not a must see location). Our dates are very flexible as we are not having a traditional wedding. Just having a JOP wed us. We would rather spend all that money traveling Europe.  

Any suggestions for great websites to check out/hotels to stay in/blogs to read? 

What are some of your must see attractions? We are thinking of staying 4 nights in each location. 

Thank you in advance

JoanE2012

I find it helpful to look at the itineraries of tours that have similar destinations as those I wish to go to.  I look at Trafalgar, Gate1, etc.  It gives me ideas about things do and see and sometimes is helpful in hotels (though some guided tours stay don't stay in central locations). 

Also, I know it might not be the most romantic, but I highly recommend guided tours.  My FI and I did a guided tour to Italy last year and it was one of our best vacations.  We didn't have to worry about logistics of getting from city to city (or even handle our bags at each hotel).  Because we were with a tour, we never had to wait in line for attractions (where others often waited 1-2 hours).  And we found we had plenty of free time on our own.  We loved it! 

swanrat

Definitely check out some travel books from the library, so you can see all the sites in each city!
I agree that a guided tour might be worth looking into. I did a Trafalgar tour to Italy a few years ago and it was great! There were 2 honeymooning couples in our group.

hoffse

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_european-honeymoon-where-to-start?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d12409af-030c-406e-a872-630010179844Post:85594264-466b-4d29-8dfc-6fac79ad0272">Re: European Honeymoon - where to start</a>:
[QUOTE]I find it helpful to look at the itineraries of tours that have similar destinations as those I wish to go to.  I look at Trafalgar, Gate1, etc.  It gives me ideas about things do and see and sometimes is helpful in hotels (though some guided tours stay don't stay in central locations).  Also, I know it might not be the most romantic, but I highly recommend guided tours.  My FI and I did a guided tour to Italy last year and it was one of our best vacations.  We didn't have to worry about logistics of getting from city to city (or even handle our bags at each hotel).  Because we were with a tour, we never had to wait in line for attractions (where others often waited 1-2 hours).  And we found we had plenty of free time on our own.  We loved it! 
Posted by JoanE2012[/QUOTE]

<div>All of this advice is good.  I think the first thing to decide is whether you want to be touristy or whether you want to relax/deeply explore a particular place.  I have an art history degree, so I wanted to see some things on our honeymoon, and FI really wanted to just chill on the beach somewhere.  So we compromised and have been looking into cruises in and out of Venice.  We haven't booked anything yet, but that is sort of the best of both worlds, and we'll each get to do what we want.</div><div>
</div><div>As far as those four cities, keep in mind that staying in London and Paris will be VERY expensive.  If you really want to blow all of it on the honeymoon, then your London/Paris idea should take care of that without any problem.  I've never been, but FI has been to both several times and loves them.  From an art perspective, the one thing I recommend seeing in Paris is Sainte Chappelle - it supposedly housed the crown of thorns and was built to pay homage to that relic.  It has some of the best stained glass windows in Europe, and many are original (though some were destroyed in WWII).  Also, I could probably skip the Louvre - though there are a couple galleries that are worth seeing - but I couldn't skip the Musee d'Orsay.  That has all the impressionist and early 20th century art.  Versailles is also amazing, from an art perspective.  Everyone I know who has seen it says it's worth the trip.</div><div>
</div><div>If you go to Spain, don't skip Madrid.  It has some really amazing architecture, and it's centrally located so getting to other parts of Spain would be easy.  Honestly I would probably stick with UK/France/Scotland or Spain/Portugal instead of trying to combine the two.  You'll spend more time seeing and less time travelling.</div>

JoanE2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_european-honeymoon-where-to-start?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:d12409af-030c-406e-a872-630010179844Post:ddb14e13-2ff0-4628-8a85-007effc424ab">Re: European Honeymoon - where to start</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: European Honeymoon - where to start : All of this advice is good.  I think the first thing to decide is whether you want to be touristy or whether you want to relax/deeply explore a particular place. <strong> I have an art history degree, so I wanted to see some things on our honeymoon, and FI really wanted to just chill on the beach somewhere.</strong>  So we compromised and have been looking into cruises in and out of Venice.  We haven't booked anything yet, but that is sort of the best of both worlds, and we'll each get to do what we want. As far as those four cities, keep in mind that staying in London and Paris will be VERY expensive.  If you really want to blow all of it on the honeymoon, then your London/Paris idea should take care of that without any problem.  I've never been, but FI has been to both several times and loves them.  From an art perspective, the one thing I recommend seeing in Paris is Sainte Chappelle - it supposedly housed the crown of thorns and was built to pay homage to that relic.  It has some of the best stained glass windows in Europe, and many are original (though some were destroyed in WWII).  Also, I could probably skip the Louvre - though there are a couple galleries that are worth seeing - but I couldn't skip the Musee d'Orsay.  That has all the impressionist and early 20th century art.  Versailles is also amazing, from an art perspective.  Everyone I know who has seen it says it's worth the trip. If you go to Spain, don't skip Madrid.  It has some really amazing architecture, and it's centrally located so getting to other parts of Spain would be easy.  Honestly I would probably stick with UK/France/Scotland or Spain/Portugal instead of trying to combine the two.  You'll spend more time seeing and less time travelling.
Posted by hoffse[/QUOTE]


Not sure if you've already been, but we found southern Spain to be a nice mix between beach and sightseeing. We stayed right on the beach (the beaches are beautiful!) and we did day trips to Seville, Gibraltar, Morocco and Granada. I often say I will not visit a place twice (as there are so many places on our list), but Costa del Sol is the one exception.

Lilshell812

www.tripadvisor.com is wonderful. You can read TONS of reviews/forum posts about cities, hotels, etc.

TravelingJen

Since you mentioned you had up to three weeks, would it be possible to increase the number of days you spend in London and Paris? I've been to most of the large cities in Europe and those two (plus Rome) by far have so much more to see than the other cities. I've been to Paris a total of three times (totaling nearly 2 weeks) and I still haven't seen everything. Spending extra time in those cities would also enable to you potentially do a day-trip or two (i.e. Windsor, Versailles, etc). 

So my recommendation is 5 nights each in London and Paris and then 3 or 4 nights in Barcelona. I spent two weeks in Spain a few years ago and Madrid was my least favorite city (not to say I didn't enjoy it but I liked other places more). My favorite places in Spain were Seville, Barcelona, and the white hill towns of Andalusia. So instead of Madrid I would recommend spending the remainder of the trip (5-7 days) down in Andalusia, visiting Seville, Granada, and the white hill towns.

I've got a listing of all my Spain blog posts here. 

In terms of itinerary suggestions, I recommend that you check out RickSteves.com and possibly check out a few of his books from the library. I am not personally a fan of guided tours (unless it's just a one day thing) especially for a honeymoon; I wouldn't want to spend that time with so many other people. Europe is very easy to tour on your own so please don't be intimidated. 

ohwhynot85

Thank you all so much for your responses.

@TravelingJen - We are very flexible with how many days we will spend in each location. I'd love to take in as much as I can....who knows when I'll be back

I've looked into Rick Steves' as well as Frommers books. Very insightful. 

@Lilshell812 - I just started reading the TripAdvisor forums. Thank you for recommending them to me. 

@JoanE2012 - I will look into Southern Spain. Thank you for the recommendation. 

@hoffse - my fiance went to London for work a few years ago, but was too busy to go sightseeing. He's all for going back to take in the sights. I've found some really great hotels for less than what we anticipated spending. So I'm hoping we can get away with spending no more than $1,000 in each location for lodging. 

Any recommendations for places to stay? I've checked out Adrian Leeds website and there are some gorgeous apartments on there for around 100-150 Euros a night. I'm getting more and more excited  

Thanks again everyone. 

hz80408

London, Paris and Barcelona were part of our first trip to Europe in the spring.  We spend 4 nights in Paris and Barcelona and 5 nights in London area (didn't stay in London, but visited).

We had a wonderful experience booking our lodging for 3 cities (Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona) via vrbo.com and homeaway.com

4 days is the minimum amount of time I'd recommend in London and Paris.  Barcelona you'd be fine with 4 days and I haven't been to Madrid.

If you're itnerested in my experience, check out my blog.  I haven't finished posting on Barcelona or London yet, but they're coming and I have our days in Paris blogged about.

One suggestion I'd have it to try to go during the 'off season' to save money. (IE- avoid May-Aug)

ohwhynot85

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_european-honeymoon-where-to-start?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d12409af-030c-406e-a872-630010179844Post:097061de-c0e1-427c-aafa-9ed5f93c8d54">Re: European Honeymoon - where to start</a>:
[QUOTE]London, Paris and Barcelona were part of our first trip to Europe in the spring.  We spend 4 nights in Paris and Barcelona and 5 nights in London area (didn't stay in London, but visited). We had a wonderful experience booking our lodging for 3 cities (Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona) via vrbo.com and homeaway.com 4 days is the minimum amount of time I'd recommend in London and Paris.  Barcelona you'd be fine with 4 days and I haven't been to Madrid. If you're itnerested in my experience, check out my blog.  I haven't finished posting on Barcelona or London yet, but they're coming and I have our days in Paris blogged about. One suggestion I'd have it to try to go during the 'off season' to save money. (IE- avoid May-Aug)
Posted by hz80408[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I've actually checked out your blog (its great!)....probably 3 or 4 times hehe. It's actually one of my tabs that I have open right now. You have a lot of great information. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't waiting for your post on Barcelona :) </div><div>
</div><div>We are thinking of going next September. Our wedding is going to be in May. </div><div>

</div>

hz80408

Thanks! More motivation to work on the posts! They're coming, I promise!! :O)

ohwhynot85

I have to ask as I've been reading a lot about it on trip advisor, have any of you encountered pickpocketers while in Europe? I guess mostly Paris it seems from what I'm reading. It's making me so nervous and I'm not even there yet. I actually had to stop reading, go in my closet and stare at my purses to see which one would be the safest to bring and the hardest for someone to access the inside of. Needless to say I came up short on that one.

TravelingJen

I've traveled to Europe eight times in the last six years and have never once experienced pick pocketers. They are out there but as long as you use common sense (i.e. keep your purse zipped at all times and keep it close to your body) you should be fine! Don't let it detour you!

mica178

tripadvisor is the best site for hotel reviews.  Sometimes I will check frommers or ricksteves to get an idea of a suggested regional itinerary.

It'd be nice if you could break up all that big city travel with a visit to a smaller city or town, just to slow down the pace and get to see that country's more ordinary culture and taste some of their regional food.  Personally, I'd only visit two of the big cities you listed and then try for a smaller town or two, for example, London and Paris and a few days in the Loire valley or the south of France.  Or Paris and one of the Spanish cities and Basque country.

I'm a big fan of tours in places that are not tourist friendly, where you don't speak the language, like inland China.  I don't think a tour in Europe is necessary at all, and I can't imagine anything less romantic than having to be on someone else's schedule.  I feel like most tours try to cram too much in, so they take you to the lobby of the Louvre but don't let you wander the museum, drinking in the works of the masters.  I'd be sad to lose those slow moments of exploration and immersion.

Meegles4

Regarding pickpocketers, I only have experience traveling Italy and that was several years ago...BUT...I didn't ever feel threatened. We were warned about it, so I actually bought a waist pouch to carry my passport, credit cards and cash. It's slim and I just wore it around my waist, under my pants. They also make them to wear around the neck (under a shirt), and my friend had that. We found that was harder to manage because you were reaching down your shirt all the time to get $$, whereas the waist version, you were just kind of dipping under your waistband to access it.

I didn't carry a purse while in Italy. I carried a light fleece jacket that had interior pockets for bottles of water, etc., my waistpouch for valuables, and then I didn't carry a phone or anything big like that. My friend carried a purse/tote for our travel books/maps.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

Gate1 Travel is a good place to look. If you are in a country where you don't speak the language or have never been to Europe, guided tours are great. I did a planned trip with a group to Berlin and Prague and it was definitely the way to go. That said, in London and Edinburgh, my husband and I planned our own trip and that worked out great.

The two must-see things to do in London are the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. Pay extra at Westminster for the guided tour. We also did St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tate Britain, the Tate Modern, the British Museum, Kensington Palace and an exhibit at the Royal Academy of Art. We walked past Buckingham Palace and the Globe Theater as well. We also planned to hit up a lot of great restaurants and went to neighborhood pubs every night. We were there for 4 nights the first time, which was a little rushed. I literally walked about 12 miles the first day, and that's even with taking the tube. My feet were KILLING me by the end, because we were just so busy and saw so much. Also, most things are not open or close early on Sunday.

I have never felt threatened by pick pocketers in Europe, though I have seen them. Don't give money to small children who ask for it.

hz80408

We never felt threatened about pickpocketers; but we were always conscious of having our belongs closs to our body.

I recommend taking a messenger style/crossbody bag, that will stay close to you but allow you to have your hands friends.

However, for your H, I'd have him keep his wallet in his front pocket or wear a bag with his wallet in an interior pocket of the bag.  We have had family members get their wallets stolen out of their backpockets in London and Barcelona.

hoffse

I've seen pickpocketers steal successfully, and I've had a guy try to pickpocket me before on a bus in Rome.  I felt his hand on my a$$ after the bus lurched forward and I turned around and told him that I didn't have cash in my back pocket so don't bother.  He got off at the next stop.

Agreed with pp: just don't give money to small children (or "pregnant" women), and you'll be fine.  While travelling on buses and things just keep your bags in front of you with your arms wrapped around them and don't let your FI keep his wallet in any of his pants pockets.  You'll get used to keeping your valuables close pretty quickly and will start to do it without thinking.

Joan, I'm dying to go to Spain for that very reason - that's honestly my first choice for a honeymoon, but FI is convinced that if we're not on a cruise ship we'll be stressed by travelling.  He's started to look into it a little more, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!