European Honeymoon - 2021 -

I planned my own trip while in Europe. I usually would tour attractions and stay at hotels that were top rated according to tripadvisor.com

I always plan my own.

i find the most helpful thing is to google itineraries. for instance, "5 day itinerary in paris" would give you a lot of really helpful resources as to what people did and how they planned things out such as their time, the locations of places, tips, etc.

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Helpful tip, thank you!!

I always plan our trips from A to Z. Word of advice Venice is small so don't worry about staying near the square. You can walk anywhere fast. The opposite is true of Paris, stay near the attractions you are wanting to visit. If you want some help I live in Paris and have travelled around Europe. Plus since lockdown, I've planned at least 10 trips for when we are finally free. 😂DM me if you like.

Been to both, both are gorgeous! Obviously do a gondola ride in Venice (that’s kind of a given). As far as museums go, we didn’t really do any in Venice but in Paris we did the Louvre. They have TONS to choose from though. One tip I will give...you don’t need to climb to the top of every tall building Paris offers, the views are basically the same!!! We went up EVERY stairwell we came across, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, obviously the Eiffel Tower....and lastly, in Paris most of the restaurants around the touristy areas are more catered towards tourists, so travel a little bit out and experience some authentic cuisine!

I was born and raised in France (not Paris though) and there are so many other cities to visit if you’re interested in taking a little trip around France.
If you like wine there are so many regions with cool wineries to visit, my favorite being Alsace if you like white wine or Bordeaux if you like red wine.
Also highly recommend Nice and its surroundings (Cannes, Monaco) for a relaxing beach front.Unfortunately I don’t know much about Paris but pretty knowledgeable on the rest of France

That’s so on my bucket list of places to go!

We planned our trip to France (Paris and Normandy) then flew to Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome) on our own and used VRBOs in each place. It was cheaper, more authentic, (many had washers/dryers--a plus), and the hosts were amazing and gave us a low-down on local dining shopping that weren't "touristy". In Venice, instead of the gondola ($80+) , take the tragetto (local gondola) from one side of the Grand Canal to the other. It's what the locals use, it's authentic, and it's $2.00 opposed to the $80 tourist trap. It was the trip of a lifetime for us. Enjoy every moment!

They’re easy places to plan yourself - we had three weeks in Italy with a few nights in Paris tagged on at the end.

Venice - stay on the island, whatever you do. Staying in Mestre will increase your daily travel time, plus the island itself is utterly magical at night. As Samantha said, the city is pretty small so it doesn’t matter which area you stay in so long as you’re on the island itself. We stayed in an Air BnB which was amazing but it doesn’t seem to be listed any more. The magic of the place is wandering and getting lost in the alleyways and lanes, finding hole in the wall pizza places and just soaking in the atmosphere. The Doge’s Palace is worth seeing - we had the Secret Itineraries tour recommended to us but didn’t book in time (it sells out fast) so just did the self-guided audio tour which was excellent anyway. Oh and go into St Mark’s Basilica - it’s free but you do need to cover your shoulders and knees. Take the vaporetto (ferry) out to Murano and Burano - Murano is the glassblowing island and Burano was famous for its lace making which isn’t a thing any more but it’s also well known for its gorgeous multicoloured houses which are beautiful. And take the no.2 vaporetto from one end of the Grand Canal to the other - much cheaper than a gondola ride and you see all the sights anyway.

Paris - we loved the Musée d’Orsay, but I adore Impressionist art so it was probably a given that I’d enjoy it. Sacré Couer at sunset is pretty beautiful although overrun with hawkers trying to sell you beer and selfie sticks. You do get good views of the Eiffel Tower all lit up from there though. Montmartre (at the base of the hill where Sacré Couer is) is fun to explore - it was the nightclub and artistic district and is quirky. If the bike share system is still running, which I think it is (I know there were some issues after we visited) it’s an incredible system. We used it quite a bit - it’s a fun way to explore the city and very cheap. There are docking stations everywhere so you can pick up and drop off bikes as you like.

I lived 13 years in Germany and we rid a lot of road trips when we were living there. Been to Italy and France quite a few times and I understand why those 2 places are tourist-favorites. I mostly did the routes and lists what to see from travel books (smart phone wasn’t popular back then 🤣) and used maps. However, because of that we got lost, but we are very fortunate to be lost because otherwise we didn’t discover those gorgeous little villages we’ve been to. We never book hotel in advance, we just drove following my route and if we need more time we look for a hotel. We never not get a hotel room. I love the flexibility this way. Oh, and we always traveled with our babies/kids. We also did travel with the EURO PASS. It’s a train pass valid for most Europe countries. There are also cheap flight in Europe, but beware of the airport location because they are far from the city sometimes, so you need to spend more time to get to the city. Sometimes it’s 1 - 1.5 hrs by public transport. Nowadays everything is in internet. Everything! I recommend you to spend time look on internet for “What to see and do in Venice” and google image those places before you dig deeper. Check reviews with pictures from visitors. Beware of thieves in famous tourist areas in Europe. I can’t warn people enough about this.

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WOW!! You must've had great toned legs after all that!! Thank you for this, honestly it truly helps me with planning on where to go and what to see.

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Cannes and Nice are definitely on the list of places to visit in between our time travelling in Europe. I absolutely love wine so those areas will be on my look out list!

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This is what I'm looking for! I don't want to get caught in too many touristy traps out there - my goal is to blend in and take in the views. I'm not fluent in French but I can speak the common conversations and understand what's being spoken to me so I hope that when we do go to Italy we can blend in as well!!

Last time I was in Paris with my (french) fiancé, we stayed at the Hôtel Elysees Mermoz and really loved it. Great location and family owned for three generations.

Also, depending on how you're traveling (train vs flying) you should absolutely consider a stop in Lake Como. It's stunning and so romantic, perfect for honeymooning. Hotel du Lac in Bellagio was lovely, also family owned, with an unbelievable rooftop bar. Happy planning!

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Thank you!! This was so much more than I expected for information and I am so grateful! I will definitely keep all this in mind while planning - you are so sweet to take the time and write all this out for me

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I just looked at that hotel the other day actually and loved it. Thank you for that tip, I love family owned businesses - I always feel they take better care of their guests/patrons and I love supporting those businesses. Is going by train a better option to be able to sight see around the other cities?

View Quoted Comment Oh yay I’m glad you liked it! Plane vs train depends on how much time you have and which cities you’re wanting to see, because the train path needs to make somewhat logical sense or you’re just wasting time lol.


For example the train from Venice to Milan is like 2.5 hours, and Milan is beautiful. From Milan, the train to Lake Como is only about 40 min. But all this travel time can add up quickly if you don’t have a ton of days to work with. Taking the train from Milan to Paris is like seven hours. 😳 so you could do train venice -> milan -> lake como -> milan then fly to Paris! I planned our month long Italy/Croatia trip last august so seriously love doing this stuff haha