25 Days Honeymoon Europe Trip 2017

Our 14 hours direct flight from Singapore to Paris departs at 2.30am and we got a pretty good deal from Singapore Airlines, at only $1250 per person. We arrived in Paris on the same day at 9.30am and the timing is good as we are able to immediately start the day since we were well-rested from the long-haul flight.

First, we head over to our Airbnb to check-in so that we can keep our luggage before exploring Paris. Nadzirah wasn’t feeling well so we had to tweak our itinerary and take it slow on Day 1.

The places we visited in Paris include:

• Arc De Triomphe (best during sunset)
  You will need a ticket to go up to the top of Arc De Triomphe and it cost about S$20 per person.
• Eiffel Tower
  The queue to purchase a ticket to go up the Eiffel Tower is super long and we are glad that we had booked it way in advance with a tour guide. The total tour cost us about S$293 and it includes 2 tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower (with guide), Cruise by the Seine River, and entry to the Louvre Museum. The guide was informational and the only information that I can remember is that someone climbed up the Eiffel Tower by stairs in just about 7 minutes. Well, there are some other takeaway information like the “middle finger” of Paris which is their skyscrapers, and the history of Napoleon. After the tour, we were allowed to stay as long as we want at the top…which means lots of pictures!
• Cruise by the Seine River
  Right after the Eiffel Tower, we went for the cruise ride at Seine River. It was pretty cold and as it cruises below Alexandre III Bridge and we got a glimpse of Notre Dame.
• Champ De Mars
  This is just the “long” park near Eiffel Tower. Great place to have a picnic but we went in December, so it is kind of windy and cold to have a picnic :/
• Louvre Museum
  All we ever wanted was to find Mona Lisa. We didn’t really take our time to appreciate every art pieces and head straight to find Mona Lisa upon entering the Louvre Museum. When we finally found her, there was a huge crowd surrounding the portrait. You have to make your way to the front to take a picture of her. Fortunately, we Asians are small so it is easy for us to squeeze our way in 😛
• Champs-Élysées
  We went to Champs Elysees a couple of times during our stay here in Paris. Mainly because it is a shopping paradise, just like our Orchard Road, but way longer and filled with lots of designer brands like LV, Gucci, Prada, and Longchamp.

I fell in love with Venice since secondary school where it was one of the social studies topics and seeing the beautiful pictures in the textbook got me thinking that I have to go here for my honeymoon! Yes, I thought of it way before I had any relationships…please don’t judge 😛

We spent a total of 3 full days in Venice and it is kind of long stay for a small city. And of course, when you are in Venice, you have to take the Gondola. It was a fixed price but you can bargain a little if you’re lucky. Be sure to ask the route to make sure you are not being ripped off (just to be sure and not feel cheated after the ride)

We took a 2 hours train ride from Venice to Florence. There are lots of shopping here especially with designer brands like Coach. And you and never miss Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London) and was the largest church in Europe.

Another great spot to go is the Piazzale Michelangelo. Best time to go is during sunset. It was an easy hike up to the peak and the view is just amazing. You have to see it to experience it.

There isn’t anything much to do in Pisa except for the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which opens from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm. Be sure to book your tickets in advance if you want to go up the leaning tower. You can feel that the tower is leaning as you climb up, like duh obviously! If I’m not wrong, they limit the number of people to climb up and they have various time slots for it. So do book it online to avoid any disappointment.

We found out about Cinque Terre towards the end of our planning stage and decided to go for it. They have 5 villages and the train will stop at different villages. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily and we didn’t get the chance to visit any villages. I guess it is best to visit it during the summer or autumn seasons. I guess we will be back to visit Cinque Terre if we ever visit Italy again.

We spent 10 days in London and we met my brother, who happened to be in London at that time, for dinner.

We went to Tower Bridge and Tower of London. We got to know that if you bought one of any attraction ticket, you’ll get the another one at a discounted rate.

She loves Harry Potter so much so we booked tickets to the Harry Potter Studio Tour where all the magic happens (pun intended). You got to pre-book this a few months in advance. Tickets usually sold out fast. It doesn’t stop there, because we also took the train to Oxford University to visit the actual filming set such as the library, the stairway, and the grand dining room.

My brother surprised us by giving us a pair of tickets to the Chelsea Football Club tour. We are not a fan of football but since our Airbnb is right behind the stadium, so why not right?

Other places we visited includes London Eye, Big Ben (was undergoing construction at that time), Primark (which is great for cheap shopping spree), Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace (where Princess Diana’s used to reside), Camden Market, and not forgetting Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland, which is their carnival for winter.

We then took the express train from London to Paris and stayed in Paris for another 2 nights before we depart back to Singapore. And of course, when we were in Paris, we did another round of last-minute shopping at Champs-Élysées.