Honeymoon in Europe 2018

[tvanlint]

Shortly to embark on a honeymoon in Europe, business class flights booked using points.

Outbound Brisbane to Zurich via Perth and Dubai on QF/Emirates
Return Milan to Brisbane via Abu Dhabi and Sydney on Etihad/VA.

A330 to Perth
A380 all the way to Zurich

Then visiting Zurich, Lake Como, Florence, Cinque Terra, Monaco, Nice, Provence and Milan...

B777-300 Milan to Abu Dhabi
A380 Abu Dhabi to Sydney
B737 Sydney to Brisbane.

Do these flights or this itinerary inerest anyone?

Anything to look out for?

T

 

[Jacques Vert]

Shortly to embark on a honeymoon in Europe, business class flights booked using points.

Outbound Brisbane to Zurich via Perth and Dubai on QF/Emirates
Return Milan to Brisbane via Abu Dhabi and Sydney on Etihad/VA.

A330 to Perth
A380 all the way to Zurich

Then visiting Zurich, Lake Como, Florence, Cinque Terra, Monaco, Nice, Provence and Milan...

B777-300 Milan to Abu Dhabi
A380 Abu Dhabi to Sydney
B737 Sydney to Brisbane.

Do these flights or this itinerary inerest anyone?

Anything to look out for?

T

I'm settling into JohnM's seat of 1A and following along. Enjoy the trip.

Yes, we are all interested

 

[drron]

Of course we will tag along.This is AFF so most of us want to read about travel.

 

[VPS]

Of course we're interested. Lots of photos please

 

[RooFlyer]

Architecture, history for me, please. There's often questions about Lake Como on AFF - details on how it 'works' - getting about, accommodation options & quality etc would be good.

 

[LadyC]

Congratulations on the nuptials! Look forward to reading about your honeymoon travels.

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Boarding pass scanned - sounds like a good trip.

 

[craven morehead]

On board and ready for some great photos

 

[Major]

Good honeymoon choices

 

[Straubs]

Ready and waiting ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Hoping for an update soon, @tvanlint

 

[tvanlint]

ok, so we're back, and will spend the next little while adding some detail and photos...

Recap on the itinerary;

QF: BNE-PER (business booked on FF points) departed Sat afternoon, arrive Saturday night
QF/EK: PER-DXB, 3 hour wait, DXB-ZRH, departed Sunday night, arrived 1pm Monday, Emirates chauffer drive to hotel
2 nights
Zurich to Chur by train, overnight Chur
1 night
Chur to Tirano (Italy) by Bernina express train
Tirano to Varenna (by Lake Como) by local train
Varenna to Bellagio (Lake Como) by ferry
2 nights
Bellagio to Varenna by ferry
Varenna to Milan by local train
Milan to Florence by high speed train
3 nights
Taxi to airport hire car collection, pick up hire car
Drive to La Spezzia, park in central station car park
Train to Vernazza (Cinque Terra)
1 night
Train back to La Spezzia central station car park
Drive to Bra (Barolo region of Itali)
1 night
Drive to Avignon, France, passing through Monte Carlo ont he way
5 nights
Drive Avignon to Milan, return hire car
1 night
EY: MXP-AUH, Business, booked on VA Velocity points, 3 hour wait, AUH-SYD, 2 hour wait, VA SYD-BNE

Total time away = 18 days.

So, flew out Emirates, home on Etihad. Emirates service a cut above Etihad, food on Etihad, better than Emirates. Overall I'd prefer to fly Emirates business over Etihad business next time. Alas I have a lot of Velocity points....

Comments about cities/towns;
Zurich
very clean, interesting, smaller than I expected, expensive
Chur
oldest town in Switzerland, wish we'd had more time here, quaint cobbled narrow streets, friendly people, expensive
Bellagio
just absolutely delightful... the lake is a beauty, a week would pass by in the blink of an eye, lovely food, apart from accommodation, very affordable
Florence
loved it, dirty, the Duomo pops up everywhere and is gorgeous, Ponte Vecchio is a waste of time
Vernazza
stunningly beautiful, extremely busy, you need more time than you think here, check the state of the walking track sif you plan to walk
Bra
random overnight destination, delightful, clean, foodie lovers delight
Avignon
so much history, so delightful, walked and walked and walked, just amazing place
Milan
busy, interesting architecture, expensive around the major tourist zones, get a little bit away and bargains are to be had


Next I am going to move on to commenst about transport, but that will be the next post... and will start adding some photos

 

[tvanlint]

Transport

Emirates limo service, home to airport, between hotel and airport in perth and airport to hotel in Zurich

Pretty much as you would expect every step of the way. Nice clean luxury cars, prompt service, friendly staff. Definitely a nice benefit of Emirates business.​

Trains

Bought all train tickets prior to arriving in Europe. Based on on-line research, used local ticket (to the destination) sites not .au sites.

Switzerland

Cog wheel train to the Junfraujoch...
Intercity train from Zurich to Chur. A great fast train ride, mostly running right beside lakes, with mountains on both sides. Very clean train, running to the minute on time. High speed, expensive ($70pp for a 1.25 hour trip)
Bernina Express Chur to Tirano (Italy). This is a (mostly) glass roofed train traveling through the Swiss Italian Alps into Italy. The journey takes about 4.5 hours and runs each way twice a day. We took the morning train departing Chur at 8.32am. There are first and second class carriages, and tickets go on sale about 12 weeks before each journey, and fill quickly. We went 1st class, it was great. You get to see glaciers and snow on the top of mountains and they stop for 20 minutes at just about the highest point for you to get out and enjoy the air. They serve prosecco on board (extra cost). It was our honeymoon, so why not, even at 10am!

In the 2nd shot below, you can see the front of the train as we round a bend. The front of the train has the 2nd class carriages, which have standard windows. The 1st class has windows which curve up into the roof for a more panoramic view, as you can see from the 3rd pic.
​

Italy

"Local" trains are noticeably dirtier than in Switzerland, but they are oh so much cheaper. About a quarter of the price. 1st adnd 2nd class are basically exactly the same, but in different areas of the train. Maybe, if the train is very busy you can't be certain of a seat in 2nd class.
The intercity trains (e.g. Milan to Florence) are of the bullet variety, are clean, and very fast (~300km/h). I liked these.​

Hire cars/toll roads

We hired a car to go from Florence to Avignon (France) and then return it to Milan.
Ordered a "VW Golf or similar", we got a Citroen C3 Aircross, a mini-SUV. We declined all the extra insurances as we had travel insurance that should cover anything. We had no issues. Diesel was about AUD $2.70 per litre, so that was a surprise. Not our first left hand drive car, but our first manual left hand drive. That's different. Loved that people actually know how to drive on highways - they move to the right (the slower lanes) whenever they are not overtaking. Most of the time the fast lane is empty!
​

Next... not sure... what do you want to hear about? Or maybe a hunk of pictures? Let me know with a reply!

 

[kermatu]

We want to hear about everything! And pics are always good.