Honeymoon trip to Europe

sann.tiro

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Hi All,

I've decided to start a new thread for advice on my honeymoon trip to Europe. We'll be travelling from 17 Apr - 3 May, roughly around 17 days, should be just nice to cover major attractions in 3 countries (Italy, France and Switzerland). Since this is our first time to Europe, I hope I can get some advice from you guys.

Tentatively, below are the places that I would want to visit:
- Milan (probably only for stopover)
- Rome (probably only for stopover)
- Florence
- Venice
- Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast
- Lucerne
- Interlaken
- Paris

We will get multiple-city flight which is SG - ROME/MILAN, and return: PARIS - SG. A few items that I need your advice on:
1. What is the best route to visit those places, and what's the best way of transportation between cities?
2. Is it good to visit Lucerne/Interlaken in April/May? Any other places in Switzerland that are better that can fit my itinerary?
3. Thinking to include Amsterdam in the itinerary, but not sure if it is possible. Is it advisable?
4. Is it better to fly in ROME or MILAN? Paris will be our last destination considering we will be doing plenty of shopping there :D

Looking forward to your advice :)

Thank you
 

beanstalk6

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This is what I'd do.
Rome-Florence-Cinque Terre-Venice-Interlaken-Paris
Rome-Florence-> train
Cinque Terre-> drive out from Florence
Florence-Venice->train
Venice-Interlaken->fly to Zurich, then a train
Interlaken-Paris->train to Geneva/Bern then a train or fly to Paris (via Geneva)
Amsterdam, not this time.
 

maxrebo

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Hi,

Some inputs. My personal opinion of course :)

Rome - Such a waste just for a stopover (I would give up Venice for a few more days in Rome. I find Venice boring)

Cinque Terre - Was there a few weeks back and was so disappointed. Visited only Monterosso & Vernazza. Not much to see or do and the place was so run down and in a state of disrepair (There was a flood in 2011 so maybe they have yet to fully recover). Maybe it's an area more for trekkers.


1. What is the best route to visit those places, and what's the best way of transportation between cities?
Trains - Reliable and comfortable.

2. Is it good to visit Lucerne/Interlaken in April/May? Any other places in Switzerland that are better that can fit my itinerary?
- Have been to Lucrerne during April/May many years back. Weather wise it's cooling. I find Swiss cities boring and normally won't spend more than half a day there. There are lots of nice places to visit nearby Interlaken. You should check up more on that.

3. Thinking to include Amsterdam in the itinerary, but not sure if it is possible. Is it advisable?
- Skip lah !!

4. Is it better to fly in ROME or MILAN? Paris will be our last destination considering we will be doing plenty of shopping there
- Rome of course. Then you can just travel north to Florence and then Milan. No backtracking.
 

sann.tiro

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Heya, haven't visited this thread for a while, and I haven't had time to finalize my itinerary due to heavy workload at office.

I have sort of finalized my itinerary, as below:
Rome (2 days)
Florence (3 days)
Venice (2 days)
Interlaken (3 days)
Luzerne (2 days)
Paris (3.5 days)

Is it enough to walk around Paris in 3.5 days? Or should I allocate 2 days to Florence and 3.5 days in Paris?

Also, what's the quickest route to travel from Venice to Interlaken? I searched via tripadvisor, people advised to go this way, Venice -> Milan -> Spiez -> Interlaken, that's about 6 hours of train ride. Any other suggestions?
 
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Hi All,

I've decided to start a new thread for advice on my honeymoon trip to Europe. We'll be travelling from 17 Apr - 3 May, roughly around 17 days, should be just nice to cover major attractions in 3 countries (Italy, France and Switzerland). Since this is our first time to Europe, I hope I can get some advice from you guys.

Tentatively, below are the places that I would want to visit:
- Milan (probably only for stopover)
- Rome (probably only for stopover)
- Florence
- Venice
- Cinque Terre or Amalfi Coast
- Lucerne
- Interlaken
- Paris

We will get multiple-city flight which is SG - ROME/MILAN, and return: PARIS - SG. A few items that I need your advice on:
1. What is the best route to visit those places, and what's the best way of transportation between cities?
a. Italy and Swiss >> train
b. Swiss Paris >> TGV


2. Is it good to visit Lucerne/Interlaken in April/May? Any other places in Switzerland that are better that can fit my itinerary?
Yes. cooling weather.
my suggestions
a. Interlaken
b. Zermatt
c. Bern
will attach some photos that i took, in May


3. Thinking to include Amsterdam in the itinerary, but not sure if it is possible. Is it advisable?
Why not, if you take KLM flight, can always drop by

4. Is it better to fly in ROME or MILAN? Paris will be our last destination considering we will be doing plenty of shopping there :D
a. Rome for photography
b. Milan mainly shopping


Looking forward to your advice :)

Thank you

a. Interlaken





 

sann.tiro

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Hi guys,

Need help with my travel arrangement. I have booked my train tickets within Italy, and now I need to book the train ticket for below:

1. Spiez to Wengen (I've booked my ticket from Milan to Spiez via trentitalia, now how/where do I book the ticket from Spiez to Wengen?)

2. I am thinking to get Swiss Pass for my time in Switzerland, is it worth it? I will spend 5 days in Switzerland, traveling between Wengen, Jungfrau region, Luzerne, inclusive trip to Jungfraujoch and Mount Titlis. Is it worth to get the Swiss Pass?

3. Lastly, planning to take TGV from Luzerne - Basel - Paris. Any idea where I can book the ticket from? Also, where should I stop in Paris. Looks like there are plenty of train stations in Paris.
 
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maxrebo

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1. From Spiez, you can take a train to Lauterbrunnen and from there, change a train to Wengen. Train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen is not operated by SBB so you'll have to purchase ticket even if you have Swiss pass. I think you'll get 25% ticket discount with the Swiss pass.

2. Again, your Swiss pass does not cover Wengen and the Jungfrau region.
 

sann.tiro

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1. From Spiez, you can take a train to Lauterbrunnen and from there, change a train to Wengen. Train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen is not operated by SBB so you'll have to purchase ticket even if you have Swiss pass. I think you'll get 25% ticket discount with the Swiss pass.

2. Again, your Swiss pass does not cover Wengen and the Jungfrau region.

In this case, Swiss Pass is pratically useless to me then?

For the train ticket from Spiez - Lauterbrunnen - Wengen, can I book online?
 

maxrebo

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In this case, Swiss Pass is pratically useless to me then?

For the train ticket from Spiez - Lauterbrunnen - Wengen, can I book online?

I think Swiss pass should cover you to Wengen but probably not beyond that.

From Spiez, you can get tickets from the machine or over the counter. You can book tickets online for Inter City but not for Regional trains.

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en
 
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sann.tiro

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I think Swiss pass should cover you to Wengen but probably not beyond that.

From Spiez, you can get tickets from the machine or over the counter. You can book tickets online for Inter City but not for Regional trains.

SBB: Online timetable.

Noted.

BTW, can anyone recommend which hotels to stay at Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan? I prefer to stay at hotels near to train station, but most of the hotels that I searched for are already fully booked for the dates that I want. Sigh.
 

sann.tiro

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1. From Spiez, you can take a train to Lauterbrunnen and from there, change a train to Wengen. Train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen is not operated by SBB so you'll have to purchase ticket even if you have Swiss pass. I think you'll get 25% ticket discount with the Swiss pass.

2. Again, your Swiss pass does not cover Wengen and the Jungfrau region.

My friend told me she bought the Swiss Pass 4-day pass in Switzerland. Is this a good alternative? Can I use this to travel from Spiez to Wengen? Also, from Wengen to Lucerne? Another thing, I will be traveling from Lucerne to Paris via train also. And from raileurope website, I was quoted to travel from Lucerne - Basel - Paris. So, if I get this Swiss pass already, can I just buy ticket for Basel to Paris? Assuming Lucerne - Basel will be covered by the Swiss pass.
 
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maxrebo

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My friend told me she bought the Swiss Pass 4-day pass in Switzerland. Is this a good alternative? Can I use this to travel from Spiez to Wengen? Also, from Wengen to Lucerne? Another thing, I will be traveling from Lucerne to Paris via train also. And from raileurope website, I was quoted to travel from Lucerne - Basel - Paris. So, if I get this Swiss pass already, can I just buy ticket for Basel to Paris? Assuming Lucerne - Basel will be covered by the Swiss pass.

There are various kind of Swiss passes so you have to work out which one is best for you. I got myself a 4 day Swiss Flexi Pass when I was there. Yes, it's good for travel anywhere is Switzerland (except probably for mountain top locations).
 

sann.tiro

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There are various kind of Swiss passes so you have to work out which one is best for you. I got myself a 4 day Swiss Flexi Pass when I was there. Yes, it's good for travel anywhere is Switzerland (except probably for mountain top locations).

I've decided to get the Swiss Pass for 4 days. However, on the 5th day, I need to travel from Lucerne to Paris. Understand that this requires transfer at Basel.

Checking via Rail Europe - Rail travel planner Europe - Train travel in Europe (Eurostar, seems like there is one trip available:

10:54 - 11:55 Lucerne to Basel
12:34 - 15:45 Basel to Paris

But if I check individual trip for Lucerne to Basel via SBB: Der grösste Bahnhof der Schweiz., there seems to be a lot of trips from Lucerne to Basel. As well as, when I check Basel to Paris, there seems to be lots of trips.

Should I get the ticket separately or should I get it together from raileurope. BTW, if I get together from raileurope, it's much more expensive, it's around SGD 212.

But if I get individual ticket, let's say Basel to Paris, it should be around SGD 150 only, however, the trip from Lucerne to Basel can only be bought one month in advance, and since my trip is in end of April, I can't buy it now.

Any suggestion?
 
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