Europe honeymoon

[onomatopoeia]

Hi!

I need help! We didn't get to go a honeymoon and we've decided to go in April to Europe.

Most importantly I want to go to Paris. Spend a couple of days there visiting the tower and the museums. Anyone have hotel recs??

2nd - we want to visit Amesterdam.. any recs for hotels?

3rd - we want to go to London for a day or two. Again I need hotel recs

and if you know any places we should see in these 3 locations, please let me know!

Also we were planning on taking the train from paris to holland. How are the trains in Europe? did you have any problems getting from point a to point b?

Any and all advice would be MUCH appreciated!

[SusieQ]

Hey, if you go back a couple pages in this section (Travel) there is a great, really detailed trip report of someone who did Paris and some outlying areas, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Bruges for her honeymoon. The tip review is very detailed with tons of great info andphotos. That would definitely be a good place to start. Hope that helps.

[SusieQ]

Me again:) Here's the direct link to that thread: http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=10130

[boilermaker]

We went to both Paris and London in May of 2004 (and Scotland...). For hotels, I used Hilton points to stay at the Waldorf Hilton. I thought it had a great location and the service was wonderful. Very contemporary rooms. However, it was very American.
Waldorf Hilton (http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=K5A404NWMQ2VICSGBIWM22QKIYF C5UUC?ctyhocn=LONWAHI)

In London, we did all the normal tourist stuff you read about but our favorite day we spent walking the south side of the river, all the way from Big Ben to the Tower of London. We saw so many neat little artsy boutiques and restaurants. The Globe Theater was really cool, but we realized too late that we could have seen a show rather than take the tour. I'd recommend the show if you are into theater at all.

In Paris, we stayed at a little hotel in the Embassy area, within walking distance of the Eiffle Tower called the Tryp de Saxe. I just randomly picked it off Expedia and we liked it but the shower was really tiny!!! There were some local bars close to the hotel and we had a great time meeting and talking to local Parisians. Again, in Paris, we did all the typical tourist stuff. But we did get our restaurant recommendations from locals, so they were not touristy at all. We preferred this and thought we got better food for our money.

We used public transportation in both cities and between them (took the train through the Chunnel). I am pretty familiar with public transpo though, so it was no big deal to me.

One thing I wish someone would have told me before going was that beef in Europe sucks :) So just don't order it. We ate a lot of ham and pork, which is unusual for us but it was the best meat. We also found people to be generally friendly and helpful so long as we weren't rude or arrogant.

Hope that helps..

[onomatopoeia]

susie ~ thanks for that link. That honeymoon journal is very helpful.

boilermaker ~ I am assuming you don't speak French, perhaps you do, but if you don't, did you have any trouble getting around in Paris??

My SIL told me I shouldn't act or dress American. She claims I will be treated poorly.. was that your experience??

Thanks for the info on beef. I almost always order steak when we dine out, but if it's bad, I will stick to chicken.

[tlew12778]

I am going to totally disagree on the beef here. I think most of the beef I eat in America sucks. Most of the better restaurants in Europe will import their beef from Argentina. The reason I would avoid beef in England is bc of the mad cow disease. I know it's no longer got the same hype it did a couple years ago, but it's still around. I will ONLY eat beef from Argentina bc they do not feed animal biproducts to the cows there.

Re: chicken... no guarantee that's any safer either. People in Italy are avoiding chicken now bc of the avian flu issue.

You can get around Paris with English but rudimentary French would be useful.

[MSH]

I've been to London, Amsterdam and Paris several times (I'm European) and I love to stay at small unknown hotels or with locals to better get a feeling of the country. First of you can usually get a hotel for a lot cheeper, in a good area (we stayed in Kensington when we were in London the last time a few mins walk to Princess Di's palace. Also we stayed right around the corner from the Opera house in Paris). The local transit systems are great in both cities and very easy to navigate, which is why we didn't mind staying outside of the downtown areas.

As for French, I don't speak a word ... well that is not true I can say 'Merci'! DH and I had no trouble getting around at all. We did find if you go outside of the tourist areas in Paris people may not understand Paris. Now neiter of us are American but I have heard the French aren't always polite if they know you are American. I can only suggest to greet in French, look up the general greetings online. This may warm them up, however I think as long as you are polite there shouldn't be any problems.

The first time I went to either city with DH we did all the touristy stuff, however I really love just walking around and seeing where I end up. Found lots of great little areas that way.

Oh and I have a recommendation for a great restaurant in Paris, will have to get the address when I get home. It is a little hard to find but of so good. It is in the Latin Quarter somewhere near the Cartier store.

[Peppy]

I am not sure exactly what you are looking for in terms of hotel price/quality, but I recently stayed at a hotel in Paris called the Hotel Muguet. The price was great ($130 a night, which I thought was really inexpensive) and the location was perfect--it was in the seventh arrondisment, right in a cute little neighborhood that had a lot of little shops and restaurants. I loved the area so much, I would definitely return. It was also close to a few different subway stations, and within walking distance of almost everything we wanted to see, tourist-wise--the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, the Louvre, Rodin's museum, the Champs Elysees. The hotel was also very, very, very clean. It was somewhat bare-bones, however--I wouldn't have wanted to spend a lot of time in my room. So I guess it depends on whether you are looking for a room to luxuriate in, or if you are looking for price and neighborhood.

[Rosebud]

Here's a link to my trip review from France, Belgium and Amsterdam. We honeymooned there in Oct. 2005.

European Honeymoon Review & Photos (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=10130)

We stayed at a friend's apartment in Paris, but before that came up we had considered Hotel Madison (http://www.hotel-madison.com/), which we heard good things about at tripadvisor.com and on the message boards at Fodors.com. Both of those sources are really helpful for Europe, so you'll definitely want to check them out.

A friend of mine honeymooned in London in July 2005 and he raved about the hotel where they stayed, The Cranley (http://www.thecranley.com).

We took the train from Paris to Belgium and then on to Amsterdam, as you'll see in my trip review. It was less than 2 hours to Brussels on the high speed train. We stopped in Brussels/Bruges for a day and then continued on. It was a nice way to break up the trip. I believe it was another 3 hours to Amsterdam, but we took a commuter train that made stops instead of the high speed train that time. Definitely go for the high speed.

Also, I run "The Honeymoon Bio" over on that other site and there are a bunch of trip reviews from Paris there that should give you more helpful info. Here's the link to the reviews section of the bio.

Trip Reviews from The Honeymoon Bio (http://www.angelfire.com/oz/honeymoonbio/)

Good luck! You will love all these places. :)