I would change the Italy part to 4 nights in Rome, 4 or 5 nights in Florence, and either zero or 1 night in Venice. Venice is spectacular, but not worth staying, while Florence exceeds all expectations, plus there are great day trips from Florence (Sienna, Luca, Montepulciano, Montalcino). Take the high speed train early in the day from Florence to Venice spend the day there, then travel at night to Amsterdam. Venice is small and expensive. Do not get suckered into a boat ride to a glass factory.
We're thinking of making it a mostly Italian trip. This will consist of Rome (4-5 days) - Naples (2-3 days and a day or overnight trip to Capri) - Florence (3-4 days) - Venice (1-2 days). I'm using europeandestinations.com to help with all the planning, it seems pretty useful! It's kinda like kayak where it compares plane prices and gives you the cheapest, but it also does 3-4 star hotels and transportation between cities. Any advise on what areas to stay in the cities listed above?
Oh man, I honestly don't have a sound number... In places like Rome, location is more important than the view and how luxurious it is. I figure in Rome we'll be site seeing more than relaxing at a hotel. Now, in Capri and Florence, a nice view and maybe a balconey would be worth spending a little more. I don't want anything like $400+/night. Probably max $200 unless it's something spectacular. Some of the hotels I've been looking at are under $100 and look fine. But Im willing to spend a little more to get a little more.
Hey guys, still working on this. How much should I expect to spend on food each day? We plan on staying in b&b's, so we have breakfast taken care of. We don't plan on eating much for lunches, maybe a sandwich, some fruit and granola bars, etc. But, we'll get some nicer dinners and of course wine with it. Would $100/day (small lunch and nice dinner) be a good estimate? I'm sure some dinners will be 2x as much as others, but $100 sounds about right to me.
Per person or total for 2 people? Of course, it depends on the kind of restaurants you go to, but of course one can survive on that amount.
honeymoon... so two... unless I can convince the wife to pay for her own food.... haha. I guess my question was, for 2 people, assuming some nicer dinners and some cheaper dinners, is $100/day a reasonable estimate?
That's about 76 Euros. It should be ok, but it's not a whole lot. In Switzerland, it would not be enough. But if you eat/drink for like 13 Euro each for lunch, that leaves about 25 Euro each for dinner. That will not buy you dinner in a restaurant with a Michelin star or something, but in a regular pizzeria or pasta place, you should be ok with that. What about breakfast? You can't automatically assume that it is included. You might actually want to consider getting Hilton Gold status (sometimes there are giveaway promotions, like this here: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2011/12/22/hiltons-new-instant-free-gold-status-offer/) and then going to, e.g., the Hilton Sorrento Palace. Gold status gives you breakfast included and usually lounge access (which might cover your snack for lunch). If you tell them you are on your honeymoon and you are lucky, who knows, might get an upgrade, too.
Staying at most B&B's.... I assume bed and breakfasts do all include breakfast. haha. Yeah, when you put it that way, you're probably right, that doesn't leave much. Especially when you start to include a beer or two and wine. I'm hoping to spend less than 20 euro total for lunch. Which leaves 56 euro dinner for two. While at some nicer places that wont cover it, i assume we'll be eating pizza often, and i cant imagine pizza and 2 glasses of wine costing more than 30 euro (not a 5 star pizza). So a couple nights at 30 euros and 1 night 108 euros sounds reasonable... Maybe I better bump it up to $125/day just to be safe.
Sounds about right. Keep in mind, you don't need to add 20 % tip in Europe, and the prices quoted include tax. 10 % will be just fine.
Make a point to go by a grocery store and you can make a few lunches for very little money. And then you can use the extra money to splurge more on dinner. Any hotel, hostel, or bed and breakfast will let you use the refrigerator to keep thongs cold also. And also the dollar is at I think 19 month high vs euro hope for you it stays that way.
Do London (over Amsterdam) for 2 days / nights then go to Rome / Venice / Florence (not Milan) for the remainder. Amsterdam is a great city, but not for a honeymoon. London will surprise you by how awesome it is.
There are books specifically geared to Europe for $100/day. When I was poor and (no joke) on my honeymoon in Europe I used a few of the suggestions in those books for cheap eats.
When I was in the Navy, my Med Cruise was one of the best experiences eva. Women in Italy, oh wait, honeymoon. Greece. Cyprus. Hmm i cant give you any tourist, married couple things to do there though, single...... Ooohlala
Planning a Europe trip is getting pretty pricy pretty quick. Would it be worth it to go for just 7 nights, maybe 4 in Rome and 3 in Florence? Or if I'm going to spend the 2k (2 plane tix) getting over there, I should really stay longer than 7 nights in 2 cities?
