France, Italy or Carribean

stephanie1212 · December 2010

Hi everyone! I am not new to the knot, but I am new to this board. My fiancee and I are having a destination wedding in Puerto Rico (we live in NYC) and are debating about our hm. Part of me would like to save money and stay in the Caribbean, but neither of us have ever been to Europe and would love to do that also. I would love to go to Paris for 5 nights and the French Riveria for 5 nights. He would like to go to Rome, Venice and the Amalfi Coast. Any suggestions? Our budget is approximately $6000-$6500. Is that enough for 10 days in Europe?

Thanks for any advice!

Chasity08 · December 2010

I think that if you plan your trip right then your budget is enough. We are taking an 11 day trip to Europe (5 1/2 days in London and 4/12 days in Paris) and our budget is 6k. For London we found a nice apartment rental for around $150 a night, and in paris we found a hotel that is a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower for around the same price. The hotel is not a super fancy chain hotel (and of course the apartment isn't either, although I find the apartment to be extremely nice, and both the apartment and hotel have great reviews on trip advisor) but they're nice enough for us. I also looked at some great B&B type places in both cities which would keep us around the $150 a night range. For the hotels, trains between cities and flights it's going to cost us a little under $4k which leaves us $2k for spending cash. Just do your research on hotels and find the best deals so that you have plenty of spending cash. HTH! GL! =]

woodsandminkin · December 2010

I look at it this way- if you can afford to go to Europe and you both want to go, you might as well. Going to Europe is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and you might as well seize the moment. Plus it is super-romantic.

sister2groom · December 2010

I would compromise and go somewhere he wants and somewhere you want.

I spent a lot of time in London, but I wouldn't suggest it for you because it's probably not "foreign" enough and while I love it, it is probably too close to NYC for a first trip to Europe.

I think you will have a wonderful time in any combination of the cities (I don't really have anything to say about either of the more rural places you mentioned because I've never been).

The most important thing you need to do on your trip is decide you won't try to see too many touristy things. I would also think about trading some tourist traps for less obvious attractions. I did it that way because I was a student on a budget, but climbing the steps to Monmartre instead of going up the Eiffel tower to view the sunset required us to do a little more searching and forced us to see little nooks and crannies I wouldn't otherwise have experienced. Do things you don't plan on, stop in that little bakery you come across.

The Vatican Museum is the most magnificient place I've ever seen, but there was a lot of walking in Rome because metro system is so limited. I actually preferred Florence more because it had more variety, and it felt a little more intimate, more of it felt untouched by modern tourism.

I learned to correct a lot of my travel mistakes by the time I went to Paris, so that probably colors my appreciation for it, but anyhow. I loved how foreign the little side streets of Paris felt. Oh, and the metro system is supposed to be the best in the world. But the most amazing thing we did there was buy some cheese and bread from a market and make an impromptu picnic in front of some awesome Palace. I probably could have done something similar in Italy (if I hadn't gone in December).

sunshine_day_dreams · December 2010

I may be biased b/c I have no desire to visit France and we went to Italy for our HM - but I would choose Italy. The Amalfi coast is so beautiful and amazing we never wanted to leave. Rome is an amazing city with so much to see and do - shopping and history. Venice was really charming in its own way as well.

H and I took a month long honeymoon through Europe and spent less than $10k, so I think you can definitely do 10 days on $6k. One good way to save is to look into renting apartments instead of staying in hotels. You get better amenities and a lower price.

IMO, it's a lot more likely that you will be able to visit the Caribbean again - it's closer, flights are cheaper and companies are always running promotional deals to the Caribbean. If you can afford Europe, I'd say go for it!

wiwicaty · December 2010

I think you can combine the two countries. You could do Paris and the riviera and then take a train down to Rome or straight across to Venice. It depends on how inclined you are to sacrifice visiting time in each place to move to the next. Personally, I'd rather visit 2 places at the most and minimize travelling time between the two to make the most out of the trip. JMO though

phillychica85 · December 2010

I agree with others that if you have the time & money, def do Europe. The Caribbean is so much easier to get to, and often less expensive.

You should be able to go for that amount of time for the budget you have. We went to Paris and Belgium on our honeymoon for around the same amount of time you're thinking. I haven't been to Venice but I have been to the other cities you and your FI want to visit. The French Rivera is wonderful but I personally like the smaller villages (Eze, Antibes) more as I wasn't the biggest fan of Nice. For 10 days I would do like what you were thinking-5 nights in one, the remaining time in the other. I think if you'd add another city to it, it will be a bit rushed/ you'll spend a lot of time just getting there. I like your idea about France namely because there are direct points from A to B (there's a TGV high speed train between Paris and Nice). Your FI's idea for Italy would def. involve more traveling, especially to include Venice as it's somewhat in left field. You could also do Paris, fly to Rome and then spend the remainder of the time on the Amalfi Coast. There are night trains btw. Paris and Rome/Paris and Venice but train travel is just not as glamerous as it used to be.

Do your research on what makes the most sense to you guys logistically and choose from there. Both countries are fabulous and will reward you with a wonderful honeymoon! Good luck.

Snippylynn · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_france-italy-carribean?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:b67c553e-ae9b-418d-8bf0-7cde5db11837Post:77663b8c-5b48-48e5-95c5-ee2d40a6d790">Re: France, Italy or Carribean</a>:
[QUOTE]I look at it this way- if you can afford to go to Europe and you both want to go, you might as well. Going to Europe is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities and you might as well seize the moment. Plus it is super-romantic.
Posted by woodsandminkin[/QUOTE]
Yes. No one could ever go to Europe twice. Ever.

Snippylynn · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_france-italy-carribean?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:b67c553e-ae9b-418d-8bf0-7cde5db11837Post:29df461c-c8a7-4d9c-8da9-5cb06e1c803c">Re: France, Italy or Carribean</a>:
[QUOTE]I think you can combine the two countries. You could do Paris and the riviera and then take a train down to Rome or straight across to Venice. It depends on how inclined you are to sacrifice visiting time in each place to move to the next. Personally, I'd rather visit 2 places at the most and minimize travelling time between the two to make the most out of the trip. JMO though
Posted by wiwicaty[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't. Do you know how long it takes to get to Rome from Paris via train? I used to live 4 hours north by train from Rome, and it would have taken me 14 hours. That sounds like a super fun trip.

There is much more to a country than one or two cities.

hckaczyn · December 2010

We're going to Italy and Switzerland for about $6k. (Positano, Rome and Luzern with a side trip to Pompeii.) We're spending about 2 weeks there. 5 nights in Positano, 3 in Rome, 4 in Luzern. But we're staying with friends in Luzern for free, so that helps lessen the cost. Plane tickets can cost so much that I want to do as much as we can while we're on that side of the Atlantic. We've never been, and we figure if we don't go now, we might never go.

I'm not sure if I would want to go to so many ciities in 10 days, but I'm not the most adventurous person and I get tired easily. It'd probably be kind of a headache to keep packing up and lugging your suitcases around to so many different places. Especially for the first time around Europe. I'd talk with your FI and see if you can narrow your choices down a little. It would help on cost and probably make your trip a little more relaxing.

Good luck!

KatieJL121 · December 2010

I've never been to France or the Caribbean, but I loved Italy so take this FWIW. 10 days is a good amount of time to visit a couple of cities, but IMO I absolutely would not attempt 2 countries like the PP (wiwicaty) suggested, especially if you want any downtime or rest....unless you're only adding a very small nearby city on, which doesn't seem to be the case. Rome and Paris, for example, are not close and are 2 very large cities with LOTS to do. Like SnippyLynn said, the amount of travel time would basically take over your honeymoon. Think of it this way...if you have 10 days and you're flying from the U.S. that automatically knocks you down to 8 days to tour and that's not even including the time change or how long it will take you to adjust from being so tired. We spent 12 days in Italy and I gladly could have stayed more...I still felt like I missed some things!

Anyway, if you choose Italy you can definitely do it for your $6000 budget. A large chunk of your money will go towards airfare obviously, but there are plenty of hotels to choose from with a wide range of prices. You can most definitely find someplace nice within your budget. Just don't forget to factor in costs for transportation -- trains, taxis, etc.

GL and I hope this helps!

sister2groom · December 2010

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, in 8 days I did Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice. That was WAY too much, and that was in Decemeber which is super off-season.

stephanie1212 · December 2010

Thanks so much for the advice!

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