Anyone ever do 2 trips in a row?

[Dr.Cinderella]

Hi everyone! I wondered if anyone had ever done 2 of these trips back to back? I am intersted in doing the Italy trip and the France/England trip with my hubby in a couple years, and thought it seemed like a good idea to do both at once instead of paying such expensive airfare twice to go to 2 places so close to one another. Has anyone ever done this? If so did everything work out ok logistically with the dates and everything? Thanks for your help! Have a nice day : )

 

[RSM]

Hi everyone! I wondered if anyone had ever done 2 of these trips back to back? I am intersted in doing the Italy trip and the France/England trip with my hubby in a couple years, and thought it seemed like a good idea to do both at once instead of paying such expensive airfare twice to go to 2 places so close to one another. Has anyone ever done this? If so did everything work out ok logistically with the dates and everything? Thanks for your help! Have a nice day : )

Hi Dr.Cinderella,

We were on Alpine Magic in June with Disfan10. They had done London/Paris and Alpine Magic back to back. You also can find that many do an ABD then do an additional city on their own. We did Alpine Magic, then went to Paris (on our own) for 5 days.

But, I'm sure Disfan10 can give you their thoughts on back to back ABDs.

 

[Bobo912]

I haven't done back-to-back, but I know someone who has. Her family did K&L and Viva Italia. It worked out very well for them and they saved a lot on airfare vs. doing the trips separately. I think it's a great idea and have thought about it myself, but being away from work that long could be a problem. They might realize they can live without me.

 

[PatriciaH]

We did Viva Italia and then Knights and Lights back to back in August/September 08. We needed about 3 weeks off. I had to search for a few dates that would work and also work out the air. We flew Orlando-London-Rome then Venice-London then Paris-London-Orlando back home on British Airways. Air was about $1,300pp total at the time. I also booked 2 pre nights in Rome and we took the train down to Naples and toured Pompeii and the coast. We also did 2 post nights in Paris and saw DL Paris. Took a lot of planning because I planned a lot of things on our own too (driver in Naples, Borghese Gallery, Boboli Gardens, British Museum, Musée d'Orsay, Siene River dinner cruise, places to eat when on our own, etc.) but it was an AMAZING trip. The best we have ever done!

 

[DisFan10]

Hi everyone! I wondered if anyone had ever done 2 of these trips back to back? I am intersted in doing the Italy trip and the France/England trip with my hubby in a couple years, and thought it seemed like a good idea to do both at once instead of paying such expensive airfare twice to go to 2 places so close to one another. Has anyone ever done this? If so did everything work out ok logistically with the dates and everything? Thanks for your help! Have a nice day : )

We did the Cities of Knights & Lights and Alpine Magic trips back-to-back in June. We also figured that doing both trips together would save us a ton of money on airfare, especially when we prefer to fly either Business or First Class.

We were lucky that AbD had an Alpine Magic departure that started only 3 days after our London/Paris ended. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to do it.

The biggest challenge was packing and doing laundry during the 3-week long trip. (We spent 3 days in London before the AbD started). While most of the hotels have dry cleaning/laundry services, they are really expensive, so we did not use them.

The flight logistics was simple for us. The London/Paris AbD ends in Paris, so we only needed to take the short 1.5-hour flight from CDG to MXP (Malpensa Milan Airport) for the start of the Alpine Magic AbD. Then, when that trip ended, we departed from Zurich for home.

We did have to deal with 3 currencies (Great Britain Pound, Euro and Swiss Francs), but we gave the unused monies to our guides for tips.

Which Italy AbD are you considering? We did Bella Italia last year and it was fantastic! Of course, ALL of the itineraries are fantastic, so that isn't saying much. LOL It just depends on where you want to go...

 

[Dr.Cinderella]

Thanks so much everyone for your help, and it is encouraging that some have done 2 trips and loved it, and that it is possible to coordinate the logistics. We would like to do either the Gateway trips for Italy and London/Paris or the Viva Italy and Knights & Lights trips. We would also prefer the Adults Only trips but I cant be too picky if I hope to find 2 trips where the dates coordinate! I dont really care in which order the trips are, any tips? Also is any time of year better to go? We probably will need to choose based on the dates they coordinate though, Im sure!

 

[DisFan10]

Thanks so much everyone for your help, and it is encouraging that some have done 2 trips and loved it, and that it is possible to coordinate the logistics. We would like to do either the Gateway trips for Italy and London/Paris or the Viva Italy and Knights & Lights trips. We would also prefer the Adults Only trips but I cant be too picky if I hope to find 2 trips where the dates coordinate! I dont really care in which order the trips are, any tips? Also is any time of year better to go? We probably will need to choose based on the dates they coordinate though, Im sure!

Yes, I think everything will be based on which 2 trips have the compatible dates that you want, and then go from there. For European trips, I think the summer months are best, although I'd avoid Italy during August...

 

[abdalums]

We have not done back to back ABD trips because we couldn't get dates to work for us. We did add five days in Paris on our own last year before Viva Italia. This year we are adding London on the back end of our Germany adventure. We try to make the most of our airfare dollars. There was a family with one young daughter in Italy with us who did London/Paris trip before Italy and loved it. I'm guessing from your initial post that you will be traveling without kids which I think would make it easier to do back to back trips. Our kids top out at two weeks away from home in Europe. If you can get two trips that give you a couple of days of down time between them I think that would be best. We had not planned to do laundry in Paris before heading to Italy but it was very hot and we had a few ice cream mishaps (Sadly it was the grownups who got messier than the kids...go figure.) We did find a laundromat around the corner from our Paris hotel. It made the rest of the trip more enjoyable. Anyway, it would be nice to take a break from the structure and just relax between trips. Another thing to consider: book a pre night before each tour. On our first ABD trip to Ireland, my luggage went missing for several days. With no pre night, I had to spend tour time buying underwear. We now book a pre night with every tour. BTW If this is for your honeymoon, try to book some non-tour days to just enjoy each other without sightseeing.
And if you are traveling right after your wedding, plan at least one if not two pre nights. I remember being so exhausted after our wedding that I crashed for the two days. You don't want to start your adventure tired. Also don't feel obligated to go to every group meal. We had honeymooners on own Italy trip who wisely craved out time alone. It may have cost them a little more to ditch a group meal but really it's your honeymoon don't spend every minute with the wacky family from NJ

 

[PatriciaH]

Oh I forgot about the laundry! Italy was very hot when we went-90's. We did laundry in Tuscany. We were lucky because there was a washer/dryer and we got to it 1st. Only one set from what I remember. Then there was a laundrymat in Paris down the block from the Hilton. We did a few loads there.

 

[Sharkbyte]

I've done 2 trips in a row with other tour groups and it worked out great! You first must call ADB and coordinate the 2-trps back to back...you might have a day or two in between which is nice to have some time alone when you first get somewhere. I would stay in the first ABD hotel for the second leg of the trip so you are already setteled in before the rest of the group joins you. Have fun!

 

[Praise2Him]

We did Viva Italia and then Knights and Lights back to back in August/September 08. We needed about 3 weeks off. I had to search for a few dates that would work and also work out the air. We flew Orlando-London-Rome then Venice-London then Paris-London-Orlando back home on British Airways. Air was about $1,300pp total at the time. I also booked 2 pre nights in Rome and we took the train down to Naples and toured Pompeii and the coast. We also did 2 post nights in Paris and saw DL Paris. Took a lot of planning because I planned a lot of things on our own too (driver in Naples, Borghese Gallery, Boboli Gardens, British Museum, Musée d'Orsay, Siene River dinner cruise, places to eat when on our own, etc.) but it was an AMAZING trip. The best we have ever done!

Wow, that is exactly what I want to do! I want to go to England & DD wants to go to Italy, and we both want to go to Paris, so this would be perfect - why didn't I ever think of it before instead of trying to choose just one? Although, we are also considering Egypt with a side trip to Israel...ooh, it's so hard to decide!

How long did it take you to plan it all? She graduates from college in 2012, so I've got plenty of time. Do you have a trip report? I'd love any help you can give me about planning (or you can just plan it for me! LOL)

 

[allforpooh]

We are doing Ireland June 2011, but going a week early to London and doing that on our own. We were able to use our Marriott Reward points to pay for the hotel and the airline tickets for the entire trip. Its a quick cheap flight from London to Ireland to meet up with the ABD tour. As said previously you can always try to tack on some days before or after the ABD trip, and you can always try the train to get where you are going. I noticed there were some really interesting train trips available in Europe.

Denise

 

[Ava]

As said previously you can always try to tack on some days before or after the ABD trip, and you can always try the train to get where you are going. I noticed there were some really interesting train trips available in Europe.

The train system in Europe is wonderful. If you have time in between trips, I'd consider taking the train between Paris & Italy. It will take the better part of a day, but you will see some gorgeous scenery. I traveled all over Europe by train the summer after I graduated from college & one of my favorite memories was riding past the fields of sunflowers in Tuscany - it really does look like all the paintings you see.

 

[redzinner]

We did two European trips back to back in Sept 2008. An adults only Viva Italia and then an Avalon Rhine River Cruise (not ABD).
The ABD Viva Italia ended in Venice, we boarded the train in Venice took it to Zurich, then changed trains to get to Basel Switzerland. The river cruise ended in Amsterdam and we flew back to the States from there.Absolutely no problems, logistic wise. The hardest part was schlepping our own luggage after the ABD trip. They spoiled us! European travel to the major cities is very easy with the train systems.

I think it would be difficult to arrange two Adult Only ABD trips back to back, since they offer so few of them.

Good luck with your planning and your trips.

 

[tinkangell]

Save the money on airfare and do the back to back. It sounds like people have had great success.