Honeymoon Discussions

Advice...Cut a city? (kind of long)

Hello ladies!

Well, I was talking to my work this week, and I realized that there was a problem with how my vacation would work out next year, and I will actually have to cut down my honeymoon. The original plan was to visit London, Paris & Bruges on our honeymoon, but now that I have to cut down the number of days I'm gone, FI and I feel as though we need to cut a city out in order to make it so we have enough days in each city. We're the king of people who like to spend more then 1-2 days in a city so that we can really EXPERIENCE it.

So here's my dilemma: FI and I definitely want to keep London in the mix. I've been there twice before, and I cannot wait to share it with FI. out of all the places I've been in Europe, this is my favorite by far =] However, that means we either have to cut out Paris or Bruges. I have never been to Paris and have always wanted to go and FI really wants to go...but Bruges was what we decided we wanted at the end of our trip as kind of a "cool down" period, since London and Paris are both such busy cities, and we know we'll just be "go go go." But should we cut out Paris or Bruges?! We have sat down and tried to figure it out...weighed the pros and cons...and we're stuck. We're not sure what to do!

The plan is to spend 5 1/2 days in London (1/2 a day because the day we get off the flight from the US we'll spend in London and then 5 more) and 3 1/2 days in either Paris or Bruges (the 1/2 day here comes from the train ride there from London). And then we'll have the first and last day be flying, as well as the 2nd to last day being our day of getting back to London from Bruges and getting on our flight home.

Can anyone give us suggestions as to what to do here? Do you think we should still go to all 3 cities and just have 2 days each in Paris & Bruges and 4 in London (we want to spend the majority of our time in London)? Should we cut Paris? Should we cut Bruges? Help =[

Re: Advice...Cut a city? (kind of long)

  • I love London, so can definitely see wanting to spend time there. I've never been to Bruges, but I have been to Paris so I say go there. I would guess Paris would be more expensive, you'd have to look into exactly how much, but if that's not as much of an issue.

    Actually one of the most amazing and relaxing days I had in my European travels was in Paris, we decided we'd had enough of gilt decorations and famous art and just bought food from a street market and had a picnic. Also, you could tone down your London trip if you're worried about getting too tired, it's a little longer so you can still do a lot without cramming everything in. I loved London Walks tours, they were guided tours, and they were more intimate than the big red bus tours.
  • Thank you so much for your response! I suppose it's kind of hard to sit and think about the fact that we could MAKE our days relaxing in these cities because there's just so much we want to do! However, my brain was reeling at work all day and I figured we could do London and Paris, but do a day trip out of London to places like Stratford Upon Avon and such which are smaller and would be more intimate.

    I do think we will end up cutting Bruges, I just wanted some other people's insights to make sure we were making the right decision! haha =]
  • I haven't been there, but I don't think there is ANY way you could keep yourself occupied for 3.5 days in Bruges. I would take one day away from London, transfer it to Paris, and only go to Bruges for like 2 days. I know there is a ton to do in London and it might be hard to cut a day, but there is just as much to do in and around Paris and you might appreciate the extra time there since you haven't been.
  • I don't think I'd do either Paris or Bruges. I do them both together, but not put one with London.

    My husband and I did a trip to London (4.5 days) and then Edinburgh (5 days) last year and it was lovely. Edinburgh would be great for a 3-4 day "cool down" because it is much smaller than London. Good luck!
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  • I would keep Paris. I should say that I haven't been to Bruges, but if I'd never seen either I think I'd just rather do the bigger, better known city just because otherwise I'd always be wondering what I missed. You'll also be able to take the Eurostar directly into Paris and have a shorter total travel time, which with only 3.5 days I think is a decently big positive.
  • Thank you for all your responses ladies! I really appreciate it.

    I do think you put it best Emilyinchile that I would be wondering what I missed out on by cutting the big city. I just made FI promise he has to take me back another time to do Bruges. Maybe Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges or something of the sort. Anniversary trip maybe? haha ;]

    Thanks again for all your help ladies! =] =] =]
  • I've been to paris and bruges, and I would recommended paris out of the two, but what time of year are you going?  THat would really influence my recommendation.

    But yes, it is tough to fill 3.5 days in bruges.  Its a 2 day town.
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