Honeymoon in Europe - city passes/transportation

This is my dream honeymoon, so I'm tagging to read along.

Generally, Public transport in Europe is quite effective and you don't need to book anything ahead if you are moving within a city. For your travel from London to Bath I would book your train ahead. Try the website Trainsplit. They have cheap tickets for train connections in GB. From Rome to Pompeii you don't necessarily have to book it ahead, but it might make things easier. There is a train station in Pompeii close to the entrance to the ancient city, so you can either walk or take the bus. As I said unless you are leaving the city area you don't have to book your transportation ahead of time and can just do it there.

London: get an Oyster card. It works on all London public transport except ferries, and it caps your travel costs daily. The Tube is incredibly easy to use and central London is very walkable anyway. Bath is easy by train; Stonehenge not so much - you might want to take the train to Salisbury and then get a tour from there.

Paris: again, the Metro is insanely easy. They don’t have a system like Oyster but you can get daily travel tickets.

Rome: the ancient city is extremely walkable. The trams and buses are great, the Metro is not massive but still useful. The one thing to remember on the trams and buses is that you have to validate your ticket (you buy the ticket before boarding - there are little tobacconist stalls everywhere that sell them) once you’re on board. Take the train to Naples from Rome Termini Station, then get the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii Scavi from there - the entrance to the site is right next to the station. Pickpockets are rife on the Circumvesuviana so keep your wits about you!

Generally we’ve found that those city passes aren’t really worth it - they tend to always have one thing you don’t really want to do which kills the value, pretty much.

For getting around cities in Europe I would probably just use the tube/metro and buy daily tickets. It differs by city but most make it incredibly easy to buy passes, for example you simply tap your contactless card entering and exciting the tube in London and it charges your card. I would probably look into the prices of a city pass vs just buying individual tickets or day passes. Also think about if you’re going to be spending a lot of your time in a walkable area maybe the more expensive bulk pass like an Oyster doesn’t make sense.

With city passes a lot of the time you get discounts on local attractions so it may end up being worth it. I’ve personally never bought them because I don’t like the feeling of needing to use it at certain destinations to make it cost effective (basically because I never plan my trips too much and end up exploring when I’m there ha!) Additionally all of these cities will 1000% have the hop on hop off buses if you’re into that so that would be super easy for travel from spot to another but not exactly “off the beaten path” travel. For day trips out of the city I would look into transport links but also there will most likely be tour buses departing from the major city to attractions.

I'm also trying to figure out what would be cheaper for transport to/from the airport/train terminals. We fly into london first and got our passes using the Heathrow Express, but I'm not looking forward to the cost of a taxi or uber to the train terminal. We take the train to Paris next, so it's getting to/from the hotel that concerns me. I used to take public transportation all the time, but lately I've been leary due to thefts/assaults. I'm thinking the Oyster card would be perfect for London at least. Paris seems to be simple, yet I don't know how I feel about taking the train to/from the airport/station with our luggage. Rome I saw has bus routes to/from the airport that you could buy for cheap, but wasn't sure if it was more practical another way.

All of the above suggestions are great. We got one of the city passes when we visited Paris that had admission to four different sites (we could choose from a list) and allowed us to skip lines. It was super helpful, but didn't include public transportation.

If possible, consider flying to Paris and Rome instead of taking the train. The train from London to Paris ins't bad because of the Chunnel (it's kind of neat), but Paris to Rome is a pretty long distance by train. If you're not doing lots of rail travel, book the tickets in advance rather than getting a Eurail pass.

Enjoy! I've been to every place but Pompeii and I studied in London for a semester in undergraduate. I LOVED everything about those areas and would go back in a heartbeat!

View Quoted Comment I’ve found bus links from the airport to the city centre most reliable because they generally go right into the city with no changes required. I don’t think you have much to worry about with the Heathrow express. It’s been years since I’ve been to Heathrow but I believe you leave from the terminal itself and you go straight into London. I wouldn’t be too worried about your luggage, it seems like everyone has a suitcase on the tube haha. If getting to your hotel from train stations is really stressing you out maybe Uber is your best option. It’s your honeymoon so you should be enjoying yourself, spending a bit more to be stress free could be worth it. I’d just be a little weary of fake cabs so maybe stick to Uber or MyTaxi to book them.

We recently visited London and booked a "Lunch in the Cotswolds Tour" through viator. It was excellent. They also offer day tours to Bath and Stonehenge (separate or in one day). However, I would HIGHLY recommend spending at least a day, if not a night in the Cotswolds. They are absolutely beautiful and the towns are so quaint and romantic.

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Yes definitely get the Oyster card in London. You can start with a small amount of money on it and keep adding as you need through the app. Super easy. Technically you can request a refund for anything left on it but you'll get a snail mail check in British pounds, we didn't think it was worth it for the leftover $5. Also, if you don't have one, get a credit card that doesn't charge international currency conversion fees so you don't have to constantly carry and exchange cash (I used a Venture One).

Try the app Viator. I used it a lot while in Europe (I was traveling alone so group excursions were my preference). They have a lot of different tours- booked my Pompeii trip through them (it stopped in positano also which is gorgeous).

may I make a suggestion? If you’re going to be in Rome a day trip to Capri would be amazing- we did a boat tour all around the island and it was one of my favorite days on my trip (also booked through viator).

Can only speak to London but buy an Oyster card. There are machines at the airport that will dispense the card and you can load/refill at the machines and stations. There are different rates for different times of travel e.g. rush hour so keep that in mind.

In general when going to EU, transportation is well connected between the countries. Some countries offer discounts if you buy the train tickets in advance. I would NOT recommend buying any of those touristy common packages.. You can do and see a lot of things for free or at a discount. Some of the packages are marked up. Lastly, consider how much time you both will actually spend in each place and abroad. That really guides the decision process.. lets say if you were in UK for a month then get a transit pass instead of loading increments of GBP daily. That kind of thing.

Rome also has an express train from the airport, the Leonardo Express I believe, that goes right to Termini station, and not too expensive. Depending on where your hotel is from Termini, you could walk or take a cab. We just flew into Rome for our honeymoon in March. Our hotel had an offer for car service from the airport, that wasn't a ton more than the train, and I thought we could splurge for our honeymoon. Traffic there is crazy! I've taken the Leonardo express before, and the Heathrow express many times, and that will always be my preferred way for getting into a city. Beyond that, we mostly walked Rome, except taxis in the mornings to get to our tours and train station when we were leaving. I found an app like Uber (that I have since deleted from my phone) but when I searched taxis in Rome, it was cheaper, but worked the same way. MyTaxi maybe?

Definitely an Oyster card in London. And everyone travels the Tube with suitcases, so you can transfer to the Underground from the Heathrow express. You just might have to drag your bags up stairs to get to street level, not every tube stop has elevators. Its manageable, hubby and I did it 2 years ago in London, Heathrow express to Paddington, to Tube to Trafalgar square. And if you do need a taxi there, the black cabs are reliable and amazing in how the drivers know exactly where you ask them to go every time.

We also booked several tours in Rome through TripAdvisor, and especially loved the food walking tour we did around Campo de Fiori/Jewish quarter/Trastavere!

Just remember the tube and other public transport closes shockingly early in London. I think it's something like 10 pm, or was when I was in London in 2013? Not sure if they changed it since then, but I'd double check on that if I were you.

The tube is quicker BUT you should get the bus in London. Its only £1.50 if you get the same bus within the same hour. Download the oyster app - add your card and pay contactless with your iPhone on the bus/tube as you go. I believe it automatically charges you the cheapest ticket ect depending on your journey.

The bus is amazing as they are every 5-10 minutes and they drive by the landmarks ect so your kinda getting a tour of the city whilst reaching your destination.

The cotswolds are really cute but also very rural so you may need to hire a car. Bath is fine to visit via train we have done that a few times. Id say 2-3 days is plenty. A nice Bed and breakfast right next to the bath spa and cathedral is Three Abbey Green. Its located in a little square and has a quaint pub opposite which do lovely home cooked meals (or loads of restaurants within a few minutes walk). Im sure the b&b do tours which include the stone henge too? Im not sure.

We got engaged in Paris and believe we stayed in the Sofitel hotel between the arch de triumph and trocadero. We walked everywhere except to go to the louvre. We pre-booked a taxi and walked back from there. You can book a meal at the Eiffel tower restaurant and watch the sunset over the trocadero. The food and views were great!

(we live in the UK so no idea for the rest of your honeymoon!)