Honeymoon Planning

Honeymoon Planning

October 8th, 2008 @ 12:40 pm by Mrs. Spring Roll
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In high school I took three years of French. Consequently, I fell in love with the language, culture, and cuisine (even escargot!). While I spent my time dreaming of visiting France, Mr. Spring Roll lived the dream; his aunt took him on a tour of Europe in 1996 with her church group.

Mr. Spring Roll in Scotland

There was no doubt that Mr. Spring Roll and I wanted to visit France and England for our honeymoon. However, money caused many doubts that it would not be possible. To make our dream honeymoon a reality, Mr. Spring Roll and I have had to make some tough financial decisions. Decisions such as having a smaller wedding and living separately with our parents until a couple of months before we wed.

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Mr. Spring Roll and I will have saved enough money by the end of this month to book our honeymoon. I am a little nervous about planning such a big trip, as he nor I have ever done so. We have started the planning process by getting our passports and browsing travel websites. I even purchased the book Paris for Dummies, which has some helpful tips. Nevertheless, I am unsure if we should book our trip through a travel website or through a travel agency.

Any suggestions or advice? How did you book your honeymoon?

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28 Responses to “Honeymoon Planning”

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Guest

Emily

You can plan your honeymoon yourselves- I have always found that using a travel agent makes everything more expensive unless you know one personally or are related to one. It will probably make more economic sense to fly round trip to London and take the eurostar train to Paris. In terms of guidebooks, I recommend Rick Steves. You should look at tripadvisor.com for booking a hotel, and browse chowhound.com and egullet.com for restaurant recommendations. Have a great time planning your honeymoon. How exciting!

10/8/08 @ 12:45 pm (reply)

Guest

Turtle

We just got back from our French honeymoon– we went to Paris, Alsace, the Loire and Normandy. We absolutely loved Rick Steve’s book France 2008. You should get next year’s– it’ll come out soon. It was really helpful– gave very helpful advice about how to save and when to splurge. Also all of the restaurants and hotels we used from it were very good. RIck really has a perspective– sort of everyman travel, not super luxury, but really interesting. If you’re interested in eating where locals eat, seeing a lot of great sites and learning on the way– it’s a really good book.

10/8/08 @ 12:47 pm (reply)

Guest

Katie

I definitely second the Rick Steve’s suggestion. Good luck!!

10/8/08 @ 12:49 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Meatball (message) 624 posts, Busy bee

I REALLY recommend the Hotel Avenir in the Monmartre district of Paris. The rooms are nice, affordable, and if you call and request a corner room with a view, you can see the Eiffel tower from one window and Sacre Coeur from the other. We loved staying there and it was TRES romantic!

I also really recommend Wood Norton Hall in Evesham outside of London… its where the BBC broadcasted from during WWII and its the dreamiest most british hideaway.

You have to have to have to do high tea at the Lanesborough Hotel in London.

And any show at the National in London is awesome. You can stand in line early in the morning for cheap cheap tickets. We sat front row for an amazing Henry V for $10 each!

Congrats! How exciting for you

10/8/08 @ 1:06 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Meatball (message) 624 posts, Busy bee

I also really recommend Wood Norton Hall in Evesham outside of London… its where the BBC broadcasted from during WWII and its the dreamiest most british hideaway.

You have to have to have to do high tea at the Lanesborough Hotel in London.

And any show at the National in London is awesome. You can stand in line early in the morning for cheap cheap tickets. We sat front row for an amazing Henry V for $10 each!

Congrats! How exciting for you

10/8/08 @ 1:09 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Meatball (message) 624 posts, Busy bee

I also really recommend Wood Norton Hall in Evesham outside of London… its where the BBC broadcasted from during WWII and its the dreamiest most british hideaway.

You have to have to have to do high tea at the Lanesborough Hotel in London.

And any show at the National in London is awesome. You can stand in line early in the morning for cheap cheap tickets. We sat front row for an amazing Henry V for $10 each!

Congrats! How exciting for you

10/8/08 @ 1:11 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Cookie (message) 795 posts, Busy bee

First, I’m jealous. I used to live in London and miss it soooo much! And Mr. Cookie proposed under the Eiffel Tower.

1. I agree you can plan the trip all by yourself.

2. Rick Steves will become your best friend.

3. Fly into roundtrip into London and chunnel it to Paris. Oh, and buy your round trip Eurostar before you leave the US! I like using http://www.raileurope.com.

4. I used http://www.hostelworld.com to book all our accommodations. We stayed at the Le Regent Montmarte http://www.leregent.com in Paris. I can’t recommend it more highly. Also, pay a little extra to get a room with a view of The Sacré-Cœur.

5. Buy the Paris Museum it is soooo worth it!

I’ve got a million pieces of advice, so PM me if you have any questions.

10/8/08 @ 1:11 pm (reply)

Guest

another Katie

My husband and I have used Rick Steves to plan trips to Ireland and to Italy and he’s absolutely wonderful. Your local library may also have DVDs of his show (you could also catch it on PBS); he’s just the best for budget travel.

10/8/08 @ 1:12 pm (reply)

Guest

ellekay

There is awesome fondue restaurant in Montmarte area… Les Refuges. Its two long tables and I can almost guarantee you’ll meet some interesting people

10/8/08 @ 1:24 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

Xangeleno

Just to give you a shot of confidence on your upcoming travel purchase: I have NEVER regretted spending money on travel. I am sure you will be happy with your decision to save elsewhere!

10/8/08 @ 1:26 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

ellekay

I don’t know how long you’re going, but if you have the time shoot out to Cambridge on the train from London. Its a beautiful area to see! The colleges are quite impressive especially their greens and their “backs”

10/8/08 @ 1:27 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

ellekay

I keep thinking of things… I miss Europe so badly… check ryanair and easyjet… the chunnel is great too, but sometimes you can find flights ridiculously cheap between Paris and London. I scored one once that was $25 for two of us to fly round trip.
I 100% second Xangeleno… don’t skip going to Louvre or to the top of the Eiffel tower bc its costly. You’ll regret it later — take full advantage of where you are… spulrge and go to the Globe and eat fish and chips that night!

10/8/08 @ 1:31 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Taffy (message) 3,104 posts, Sugar bee

Congratulations on saving enough money for the trip!!! You are going to have such a wonderful time.

10/8/08 @ 1:51 pm (reply)

14.

Member

rerun (message) 34 posts, Newbee

i booked tickets to Paris through STA travel they have great youth and student discounts.
sounds like an awesome trip congrats!

10/8/08 @ 2:06 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

Suzie

As Ellekay said, if you have time definitely try not to restrict your England experience to London, there is so much beautiful countryside to see just 40min out by train! It’s up to you where you fancy going, but I would recommend where I live, Buckinghamshire, as being one of the most beautiful shires in the country (I’m not biased at all, I promise! :p)

10/8/08 @ 2:17 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

Sarah

I studied abroad in Paris and had an awesome experience.

A lot of people who visit say that French people are rude but if you learn a little French and try to speak it, they’ll usually be pretty nice.

Also, Americans wearing jeans, college sweatshirts and white sneakers stick out like sore thumbs and become targets (for homeless people and scam artists) so try to blend in. Most Parisians aren’t super rich and don’t walk around in designer clothes but they still dress up. Black pants or a skirt and non-sneaker comfy shoes are essential!

Everyone has their favorite place in Paris but my favorites are the Luxembourg Gardens, L’Orangerie (Lots of impressionism and Monet) and the Rodin Museum.

Enjoy!

10/8/08 @ 2:32 pm (reply)

17.

Member

budgetbeautiful (message) 1,191 posts, Bumble bee

I second the STA travel reccomendation. Since you are both young (I believe the age restrictions cut off at 26) you should be able to take advantage of some discounts, especially on your train tickets.

In London, I stayed at the Ceasar Hotel. Not in the most fashionable neighborhood, but the rooms are pretty chic and close to two metro stops.
http://www.caesar-hotel.co.uk/

I stayed at a hostel my first time in Paris, that would be something worth checking out as there are some very cool hostels, just make sure you don’t end up at one of the “party” ones if you want to get some sleep after a hard day’s touristing!

10/8/08 @ 2:36 pm (reply)

18.

Member

Jayme-Lyn (message) 71 posts, Worker bee

so much i want to say and so little space. i lived my dream this summer and went to both england and france.
but to major pieces of advice:

stay close to a major train station–especially in london. i was there this summer and being so close to paddington station was great—5 or 6 major lines go through there, along with trains to windsor, etc. and they also have direct lines to heathrow airport. plus quick lunches and dinners are so easy there.

also, VISIT VERSAILLES while in France. so so worth it.

pm me if you have any questions.

10/8/08 @ 2:43 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Elizabeth H.

We went to Rome and then Paris for our honeymoon and I highly recommend Paris! We did all the research and booking on our own. I say next time I’ll go thru an agent but I am glad we did it our way the first time because it made it our trip - every detail - even the crazy cab drivers!

Oh http://www.parisby.com is a great site!

Go for it!

10/8/08 @ 3:27 pm (reply)

20.

Bee

Miss Spring Roll (message) 716 posts, Busy bee

Thanks to everyone for the great advice I am going to purchase Rick Steve’s guidebook and begin to browse all of the websites. I appreciate everyone’s input immensely.

10/8/08 @ 5:13 pm (reply)

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