# European honeymoon.....



## sudsy9977 (Apr 11, 2012)

ok so i am getting married......some of u know this...most don't but.....anyway my friend planned a trip to hawaii......holy cow! it's expensive there!.....so she asked me to plan a trip somewhere id like to go but there are a few things to consider:

1)first class travel....she really wants to go first class.....we both have roblems on planes(long story) and first class would benefit us both to make it worthwhile

2)i was thinking europe?...we are getting married in december but i thought about planning it for the springtime

3)she loves beaches and i love exploring cities and different food and cultures etc....


any ideas of the top of anyones head.....this is is starting to get very stressful and it shouldn't but we have such different vacation philosophies i knew it'd be trouble....thanks for any ideas....i'm gonna call a travel agent in the am and see way they say....ryan


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## ecchef (Apr 11, 2012)

Congrats, Ryan! :biggrin:
Spain. Barcelona & St. Sebastian. You won't want to come back home.


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## Eamon Burke (Apr 11, 2012)

Portugal!


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## sachem allison (Apr 11, 2012)

Over thinking it. Go to Greece, best of both worlds she gets the beautiful beaches and warm water she wants and you get the culture, cities and food you want. There is always Turkey also, amazing place to vacation with the same features as Greee.. Both places can be just as or more affordable than Europe and Hawaii.


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 11, 2012)

Spain, France, Italy...all great choices.

Never been to Greece, Turkey, or Portugal, but I would like to visit them all someday.

Mexico would be much less expensive and make for a shorter plane ride. Good beaches and good food too.


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## sudsy9977 (Apr 11, 2012)

she said the one place she wouldn't go is mexico....have no idea why......we r two of them most undeceive people u'd ever meet....ryan


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## 99Limited (Apr 11, 2012)

You want a cool place to go that's close? Costa Rica should be at the top of everybody's list. They do have a rainy season that runs from May to mid-November so December would be perfect.


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## El Pescador (Apr 11, 2012)

Belize, Puerto Rico


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## apicius9 (Apr 11, 2012)

It can still be a bit chilly in most places in Europe in the spring, often hard to tell. Your best bet would be the Canary Islands for the weather and you can explore the Spanish hams while your wife is getting sunburned  Barcelona and S. Sebastian were the first cities that popped into my mind also, both are beautiful and have halfway decent a city beach. Don't know S. Seb. that well but along the Spanish North-East coast you have tons of little beach towns and it's an easy train ride into Barcelona from most of them. Portugal may be a bit cheaper than Spain, I would go to the Algarve region there. Greece is an economic mess right now, I have no idea how that will affect the tourism industry a year from now. Never have been to Turkey but I hear it's nice, a bit more exotic than many other European places, reasonable in cost. Especially interesting if you like old cultural/historical things. But no matter where you go, first class treatment will hurt financially. Definitely in Hawaii, just the hotel costs are ridiculous. 

Stefan


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## rahimlee54 (Apr 11, 2012)

My coworker travels out of the country once a year or so and he is in love with the Dominican Republic. He said it was way cheaper to go there than alot of other places.


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## Chef Niloc (Apr 12, 2012)

Noooooo Runnnnn dont do it!!!

All kidding aside I loved Rome but if I had it to do over I think I would goto Alexandra! Beaches, ancient runes...beautiful place...and Egypt should still be a cheep booking! Air Egypt was 10000000 times better then Alitalia !


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## Lukas (Apr 12, 2012)

You'd love Spain, If I were you, I'd go to Barcelona and then the South, Granada, Seville, Málaga, etc. If she wants to go to the beach, April is probably too cold, June is your best bet. If you want to go to St. Sebastian (I spent most of my childhood summers there) July is the soonest you can enjoy the beach. On the other hand, remember that topless sunbathing is legal, make sure that's not an issue with the wife-to-be...


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## mr drinky (Apr 12, 2012)

International first class fares are pretty steep these days. I priced one recently and and it was 10k per ticket (that's a lot of knives). One of the best ways to go is to purchase miles when airlines offer discount buy programs. It can knock the cost down from 10k to 2.5k (for instance). You may want to pony up the $100 and subscribe to First Class Flyer for this year as it may end up saving you thousands and bump you up to 1st class for the special time. 

I just noticed this month that they were talking about using Alaskan airlines to fly first class to Hawaii. 

k.


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## stereo.pete (Apr 12, 2012)

My best friend spent his honeymoon in the Greek Isles and pretty much wanted what the both of you wanted. Amazing food, beaches, scenery and history, so I second what Son said.


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## RobinW (Apr 12, 2012)

Congrats!

Not sure that many airlines (except Lufthansa) do real first class anymore, most seem to be business only. Will get you across at $3-4k EWR-EU per seat depending on if you can get a deal. Well at least thats what my company pays when i travel. I am cheap...
If you have an issue with flying then you might want to consider if there are any interesting places you'd like available direct from the US. The first class availability does not apply to a significant degree inside EU.

Springtime can be really nice but as some said it can be cold. Aim at least for the med coast.
France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain all will have beautiful places.
Portugal is one of my favourite countries but it may be too cold from the Atlantic water still in spring.


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## Shinob1 (Apr 12, 2012)

Just a thought, would you be interested in a cruise? It's a great way to see multiple locations. My wife and I took a cruise, (we got engaged while on vacation), and it was fantastic.


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## add (Apr 12, 2012)

sudsy9977 said:


> 3)she loves beaches and i love exploring cities and different food and cultures etc....
> 
> 
> any ideas of the top of anyones head... ryan



Get Canadian ID's and go to Cuba ? 



Congrats Ryan.


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## mr drinky (Apr 12, 2012)

I definitely would second Greece. There are tons of great islands, and I really liked Santorini when I was there. I love Turkey too, and Belize was fun. It is close and there are some nice places to stay for honeymooners. Francis Ford Coppola has a couple resorts there with good restaurants. The sand flies suck though on the coast.

RobinW is correct that a lot of domestic airlines have only business. Some routes have them others don't, but it depends upon who the code share is with. I think KLM and BA also have true first class, but maybe business is good enough. A lot of Asian routes have real first class too. 

k.


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## oivind_dahle (Apr 12, 2012)

Why not some completely different?

Go to Scandinavia for 2 weeks. Fly to Iceland, and have a one day stay at Reykjavik and explore the city. I recommend "Laugar Spa" for fitness and "heiturpottir" enjoy a night in the city and leave for Bergen, Norway the next day. Have a day there and go to "kjerag" for a walk: http://www.google.com/search?q=kjer...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1245&bih=606

Be in Oslo at 17th of may, bring some nice clothes:
http://www.google.com/search?client...A&biw=1245&bih=606&sei=BTiHT7rVOvTa4QSizf3sBw

Go from there to Gøteborg and to Copenhagen, go by plane from Copenhagen back to USA.

Sample of places you will see:


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## Johnny.B.Good (Apr 12, 2012)

Lot of nice beaches in Scandinavia for his wife to lounge on Oivind? (I believe you may have overlooked one of the prerequisites).


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## apicius9 (Apr 12, 2012)

Not necessarily


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## ecchef (Apr 12, 2012)

See....Spain! I told ya!

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2012/04/10/elena-arzak-named-worlds-best-female-chef/


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## Crothcipt (Apr 12, 2012)

When I was the first post the first thing that poped in my head was Greece. Has both of what you wanted. Love all the other places that was mentioned, I have always wanted to go to the Canary Isles.


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## jmforge (Apr 14, 2012)

The Rhine valley is pretty. They don't call it the Romantic Road for nothing. Also, the Spring or Fall are the IDEAL time to go to Paris as the regular people are there as opposed to being on vacation like they are in July and August and the tourists and beggars are not. It is a totally different experience out of season. the downside is that you will be married and on your honeymoon, so you can't gawk at all of the college girls on the Left Bank. :biggrin: Both of those places are also served by two of the three biggest airports in all of Europe, CDG and FRA. Munich is always nice. The problem with some of the resort areas that people have talked about and places like the French Riviera is that they can be pretty dead in spots outside of the summer season and when I say dead, I mean some businesses not open, including some of the fancy eateries that you may want to check out.


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## oivind_dahle (Apr 14, 2012)

If you wanna have beaches I don't recommend Europe, you should rather go other places 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea is starting to get polluted.

Spain: Touristtraps all over. Food is normally bad or even worst. If you go, find out where the locals eat and go there. But most restaurants are tourist traps. Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca is full of old people moving there from other european countries when they retire. If you choose Spain, I recommend Barcelona. Lovely city. 

Portogal is a far better choose than Spain, but the atlantic is cooler than the med. Cheaper than spain, better food, less tourism. Nice people

France: Food is ok, expensive, people are rude. Nice and Cannes are ok, but I don't recommend france unless you speak french and choose to explore the country. Along its coastline to the med its a lot of tourists. 

Italia: Best place to go around the med. Italians are laid-back and a calm people. English is getting better, but the older people only speak italian. Rome is perfect, in italian and other european countries its named ROMA, that means AMOR. The city of love. Beautiful city, with lots of history. The food is very good, so is the wine. I recommend Italia

Alabnia, slovenia, croatia = Vel these places might be heaven. Never been there, but Croatia is highly recommended by friends of mine. Cheaper than other places and polite people.

Greece: If you wanna go island jumping its probably a nice place. My brother and his family does this every summer, but I still have to find the fun about it. Greece is not my place of choose. Other countries around the med: Ive been to Tunisa, however muslim countries do not allow very much, and you are chased by sellers. I traveled around in Tunisa and stayed off the tourist traps, and loved it. However not famous for wine and dine 


I would however not travel around the world to spend my days on a beach. Then I would recommend you spend you honeymoon on bahamas or something like that. Shopping: If your GF like expensive things like Chanel, LV, Dior the cheapest place is Heathrow. One of the airports in London, UK  London is probably the best shopping place in Europe


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## mr drinky (Apr 14, 2012)

oivind_dahle said:


> Alabnia, slovenia, croatia = Vel these places might be heaven. Never been there, but Croatia is highly recommended by friends of mine. Cheaper than other places and polite people.



Frankly, I think Oivind is right on this one. I have been to Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Voyvodina, BiH, Croatia, Slovenia, FYROM, and Northern Greece (Macedonia). This is a beautiful area. I have been talking to my wife to go to Dubrovnik and she is very keen on it. There are some really great places on the Dalmatian Coast and then drive up to Svati Stefan in Montenegro. Albania is tricky, but if you get to Lake Ohrid it is very beautiful. FYROM, Greece, and Albania all border the lake. 

k.


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## jmforge (Apr 14, 2012)

Albania? Why not go to southern Italy and try to hand with the N'dragetta boys or maybe San Salvador on the MS13 plan? LOL I don't know when the last time Olvind was in France, but in my experience, it has changed drastically in the last 25 years, at least as far as how they treat English speaking tourists. It may have to do with that fact that the Brits have taken over large parts of Normandy and Brittany in the last 20 years or so and the French now realize that us Americans aren't so bad after all.:doublethumbsup: I recommended Paris because, well, it is Paris, but the rest of France is VERY different., just like the rest of the US is different from New York. As for Heathrow, is is actually one of the more expensive places to fly into for Americans because they automatically hit you with about $100 more in fees than what I pay to go to Brussels, Amsterdam or the German airports.The only thing that Heathrow has to sell any more is the number of flights they have from the rest of the world. Any of the duty free places can be cheap. The best in Europe is still supposed to be Zurich, but I got some good deals in Brussels and at Gatwick. As for fragrances, etc, i found that when I was in Paris in 2007, I was able to get Creed perfume for less at the Creed store than what they charge over here, IF you can even find the stuff.
If you are worried about the language barrier and don't want to go to the UK, I would recommend the Netherlands, the Flemish areas of Belgium and Luxembourg along with the German Lander where a lot of the people had to speak some American English for many years in order to do business like Bavaria, Baden-Wurttemberg, Hesse and Rhine-Pfalz.:biggrin:


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