Honeymoon/Trip to Europe

[festa_freak]

I'm in Canada.

How much would a 1.5 - 2 week honeymoon in Europe cost, or any vacation there.

We would for sure do London and some of UK and probably hit the trains to various countries. France, Italy, but, probably Ireland and scotland for sure (our ancestry is from there).

We would probably do a few nights at upper scale hotels but besides that low to medium fare places. For us, the best part of being over there is the sights during the day. Seeing the castles and rolling hills and mountains. The architechture and culture.
We do not drink alchohol so finding a good night life isn't important.

I know the CAD -> Euro is a pretty steep exchange rate. Would $5000 CAD do it? I honestly have no idea what a typical trip over there costs!
How much are the trains to various countries?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Depends on too many factors. Buy a few Rick Steves books to get some ideas and you'll have to price it out yourself. That's what we've done our last two times there, including our honeymoon in 2009. We were there 13 days in 2009 IIRC (France and Italy) and spent around $6500, maybe a little more (give or take). We were in France for 10 days in May and it was between $5000 and $6000.

You can do it cheaper by staying outside of downtown areas, maybe renting an apartment, etc. You can also save on meals by eating breakfast/lunch using food you buy at grocery stores.

 

[senseamp]

You may be too aggressive for 1.5-2 weeks for all those places, especially considering the travel times involved. I would narrow it down a bit and take the time to enjoy your honeymoon.

 

[Gunslinger08]

We leave on a 9 day trip to Italy soon. $3500 USD/person, but that includes a $1500 flight (which may be cheaper from Canada/to western Europe), travel insurance (which you may not need), and tour fees (we're on a guided tour).

Just running some rough numbers, you can probably fly from the eastern part of Canada to London for $750 to $900 USD each. If you're not on a tour, you can find hotels for pretty cheap if you stay outside of the big cities. I don't see why you couldn't do a driving Europe trip for $200 USD/day per person, plus airfare. If you're comfortable with lower rated hotels or making some of your own meals, you can probably get by on less. I don't know how much it would cost to fly over to Ireland from England - and you'd have to rent another car as well. You can take a train or drive through the Chunnel to get from London to Paris if you want to spend a few days in France or make it a driving tour of western Europe.

I think a flight to Glasgow, then driving through London, Paris, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany could be fun. It's only a 14 or 15 hour drive from Glasgow to Frankfurt, so you won't be spending THAT much time in the car over the course of 2 weeks. It's like driving from DC to Florida in a 2 week period, but with much more interesting sites to see.

 

[edro]

We just went to London, Edinburgh, Dublin this fall.
I highly recommend London and Edinburgh. Dublin was blah.
Edinburgh was an very awesome city, but it is small, so you can do it in 2 days.
London needs 2-3 days minimum.

Flight: $800 each (Columbus to London)
Train Tickets to Scotland: $150 each
Flight to Dublin: $100 each
Hotels: $150/night avg (all were real nice. we used hotwire)
Food: nil (I didn't count that)
Rental car in Ireland: $250
Subway tickets in London: $60
Tickets to castles, soccer, crap: $300

We stayed 12 nights, so a rough estimate for both of us was: $4500 USD

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Way too much stuff to see - I spent 3 weeks there for work during the summer of 2010 (1 week in England/Wales and 2 weeks in Austria & Germany). I would make a list of the stuff you both absolutely want to see, would be nice to see, etc and go from there.

In the UK, the only two places I really had to see were Stonehenge & Abbey Road so I made sure I saw both of those. I did have a few hours to walk in central London so I got to see Parliament/big ben area, walked across the tower bridge, went to Trafalgar square, etc. foods sucks bad in the UK. The people I ran across were all pretty friendly.

In Hamburg the only place I really wanted to see was the Reeperbahn (for the Beatles connection not the hookers) so I saw that in the daytime. I was only there for one day working. good food & people were cool.

I spent almost two weeks in Vienna - now that is a great city if you get a chance to see it. Great sites, good food, friendly people.

 

[vshah]

Spent ten days in France earlier this year, came out to just under 10k including premium economy tickets and a penthouse rented through airbnb

 

[bignateyk]

That's a hell of alot of things to try to squeeze in to such a short trip. It really depends on the types of hotels you're staying at, where you're eating, and what you're doing.

My wife and I generally spend about $2000/week in Europe for everything. (not counting airfare)

 

[festa_freak]

Wow. The responses have been amazing so far! I thought I'd get responses like "google it."

It's good to know that I may be planning on seeing too much. I will for sure have a discussion with her and we will come up with a list. It's either Europe or the western Canadian rockies but we've both done the rockies numerous times.

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestions with all your experience!

 

[Ryland]

We toured Scotland for our honeymoon. Check the various airports in the UK to see which has the cheapest flights (flying into Glasgow was about 1/2 the price of flying into Edinborough). We stayed in B&B's which I had reserved in advance. Edinborough is really cool and has amazing history (and check out the ghost walks if you get a chance).

 

[Exterous]

Dublin was blah.

What?! What is wrong with you?!!! I've been to Dublin many times and love it.

I'm in Canada.

How much would a 1.5 - 2 week honeymoon in Europe cost, or any vacation there.

We would for sure do London and some of UK and probably hit the trains to various countries. France, Italy, but, probably Ireland and Scotland for sure (our ancestry is from there).

We would probably do a few nights at upper scale hotels but besides that low to medium fare places. For us, the best part of being over there is the sights during the day. Seeing the castles and rolling hills and mountains. The architechture and culture.
We do not drink alchohol so finding a good night life isn't important.

I know the CAD -> Euro is a pretty steep exchange rate. Would $5000 CAD do it? I honestly have no idea what a typical trip over there costs!
How much are the trains to various countries?

If you are doing London + Ireland + Scotland for sure than don't hit the mainland. You could easily spend a week in each one (Which we have done) and not see everything you want to see despite a break neck pacing.

One thing to keep in mind is that intra-British Isles flights can be very cheap. If you don't mind going through places like Ryan Air or Easy jet you can do simple flights from Glasgow to Belfast for under 25 Euro each (although there are charges for baggage). Virgin Atlantic flies form London to Edinburgh often for less than 80 Pounds and includes more baggage allowance.

There is also an overnight train from London to Scotland. Its a bit pricier but saves on a hotel night.

If you are going to do those 3 countries I would fly into London and fly out of Ireland. The UK charges a distance based fee for passengers leaving the UK which can get quite pricey for Trans Atlantic flights. If you are close to a certain major US cities or can get a cheap flight into one Aer Lingus often has very cheap airfare ($500USD RT from NY) and doesn't always show up on sites like Expedia. Another option which doesn't show up on those sites may be Icelandair. They run direct flights from some Canadian cities like Toronto to Heathrow and are in a bit of a fare spat with Air Canada

You'll have chain options in UK with IHG hotels being the biggest if you have any points or status although places like London and Edinburgh will have pretty much any option. In London itself I like the County Hall Marriott and the cheaper County Hall Premier Inn. Both are located almost directly across the river from Parliament and you have Westminster and Waterloo tube stations right there. Just an easy walk north of those hotels is a great food market called 'The Real Food Market' with a lot of fantastic food options

For Scotland and Ireland I would recommend looking into B&Bs as they are pretty much everywhere and fairly cheap for what you get.

I would think $5000CAD would be enough although that depends on the time of year you go which greatly influences hotel and airfare prices. Aside from rental car, airfare and hotel (which you will be able to find the prices in advance) we spent about $140USD a day for food, gas, entrance fees etc but we don't tend to buy too many trinkets

Some other quick recommendations:
-Look into getting a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees
-Grocery stores\gas stations have some good\cheap food options for breakfast. Their pastries are typically quite good if you are into that kind of thing and around 0.40 pounds each. It was quite easy to have breakfast for two for under 5Euro\Pounds total
-Consider renting a car and driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
-If going to Wales avoid Bristol and surrounding areas around rush hour at all costs
-Get to Stonehenge shortly before they open to avoid the mass tour buses
- Avebury circle is a 'henge' like Stonehenge. Not as well preserved but no real tourist congestion and you can walk right up to the stones
-If you love landscapes make sure to visit the Isle of Skye in Scotland
-Loch Ness is a tourist trap
-If you're in the area choose the Dingle Peninsula over the Ring of Kerry. Just as scenic if not more so and much fewer tourists (the big tour buses can't do the Slea Head Drive)
-Cost of wait service is included in food prices so many places offer a discount for take out. If the weather is nice get take out in someplace like Ft. William and eat it on the side of a mountain

 

[festa_freak]

What?! What is wrong with you?!!! I've been to Dublin many times and love it.



Some other quick recommendations:
-Look into getting a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees
-Grocery stores\gas stations have some good\cheap food options for breakfast. Their pastries are typically quite good if you are into that kind of thing and around 0.40 pounds each. It was quite easy to have breakfast for two for under 5Euro\Pounds total
-Consider renting a car and driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.
-If going to Wales avoid Bristol and surrounding areas around rush hour at all costs
-Get to Stonehenge shortly before they open to avoid the mass tour buses
- Avebury circle is a 'henge' like Stonehenge. Not as well preserved but no real tourist congestion and you can walk right up to the stones
-If you love landscapes make sure to visit the Isle of Skye in Scotland
-Loch Ness is a tourist trap
-If you're in the area choose the Dingle Peninsula over the Ring of Kerry. Just as scenic if not more so and much fewer tourists (the big tour buses can't do the Slea Head Drive)
-Cost of wait service is included in food prices so many places offer a discount for take out. If the weather is nice get take out in someplace like Ft. William and eat it on the side of a mountain

Wow, this is an awesome post Exterous! Thanks so much for your input. I think I'd like to do London + some other place in UK and perhaps one other location, either ireland or scotland. Man, I'm blown away!

 

[Exterous]

Thanks so much for your input.

You're welcome although its not exactly hard to get me to talk about vacationing

I think I'd like to do London + some other place in UK and perhaps one other location, either ireland or scotland.

I haven't spent as much time traveling around the UK but from our trips we wished we had spent a bit more time in Wales or the Cotswolds. Its a bit more decentralized so it might be tough to do without a car

As for Ireland vs Scotland we found the scenery slightly better in Scotland but the people were friendlier in Ireland. It also rains slightly less in Ireland than the western part of Scotland (The prettiest part IMO). I don't think you can go wrong with either one

 

[festa_freak]

Okay, so I talked more in depth with my fiancee last evening about everything now that I have all this new information.

We can leave Ireland and Scotland for another time. She's been to London but didn't see much of it. We are probably going to do most of the time in UK and maybe 2 days(?) in France to see the louvre and Eiffel tower etc.

We will probably stay in a fancy hotel 1 or 2 times but besides that we are fine with low to medium accommodations, preferably places that offer a breakfast in the morning so we don't have to buy that.

We are going to try to plan the trip ourselves but if we feel overwhelmed with this and other wedding planning, do you think a travel agent is worth it?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Okay, so I talked more in depth with my fiancee last evening about everything now that I have all this new information.

We can leave Ireland and Scotland for another time. She's been to London but didn't see much of it. We are probably going to do most of the time in UK and maybe 2 days(?) in France to see the louvre and Eiffel tower etc.

We will probably stay in a fancy hotel 1 or 2 times but besides that we are fine with low to medium accommodations, preferably places that offer a breakfast in the morning so we don't have to buy that.

We are going to try to plan the trip ourselves but if we feel overwhelmed with this and other wedding planning, do you think a travel agent is worth it?

My advice is to spend more than 2 days in Paris. It is a fantastic city and has lots to offer. The Louvre is also HUGE and you should probably dedicate a day (or parts of two days) to it alone. Even then, you won't see everything in it.

Pro tip: If you go to Paris and intend to see a few different museums, get the Paris museum pass. The Louvre generally has HUGE ticket lines and with a Paris museum pass, you can bypass the line and literally walk right in. There's a "secret" entrance on the Rue de Rivoli side of the Louvre and it is almost like people don't know it is there and you never wait to walk in.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Fly to Edinburgh and stay there 3 nights. Train to York and stay there 2 nights. Train to London and stay there 4 or 5. If you still have time you can train to Paris and stay for a few nights. Fly back from Paris (or London if you skip Paris).

Don't try to cram too much into 2 weeks or you won't have time to just soak it all in.