Babymoon Holiday in Europe – I’m back!

October 7, 2018 by Jeann @ Happy Indulgence | Features, Indulgence Insider

Hi everyone, I’m back from my epic European adventure! From 9 September – 2 October, we spent an epic three weeks in London, Paris and Italy (Florence, Venice and Rome). This was something that we wanted to cross off our bucketlist for our babymoon, before we meet our new member of our family in January.

What were the highlights?

This was definitely a trip of a lifetime for us, wanting to visit these iconic places that we’ve only dreamed about! Here’s what our holiday looked like:

  • London for 4 days – visited Harry Potter Studios, did a London walking tour, watched Phantom of the Opera on West End, went to Tower of London/Buckingham Palace/Churchill War Rooms
  • Paris for 5 days – saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the royal palace of Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, climbed the dome at Sacre Coeur (it was SO STEEP)
  • Venice for 3 days – had lots of pizza, pasta and gelato, toured the Doge’s Palace, got lost in the Venitian alleyways and went to Murano island
  • Florence for 3 days – walked around the historical city centre, went on a day trip to Tuscany where we visited San Gimignano, Siena and Pisa
  • Rome for 5 days – chilled out at the Colosseum (AMAZING), saw the ruins at the Roman Forum, the artwork at Vatican City.

It’s hard to pick a few highlights, because the whole trip was a highlight for us! Seeing these monuments in person is definitely nothing like seeing it in photos. One thing the Europeans do well is making their monuments big and impressive, and they definitely didn’t disappoint. There’s so much history behind all the places that we went and absorbing it, along with the culture, was a wonderful experience.

How was the flight from Australia?

The reason why you don’t see many Australians travelling to Europe (often anyway) is because we’re such a long way away! Our flight to London took about 27 hours of transit time and check in – 14 hours from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi, 1.5 hour stopover, and another 8 hours to London. It’s tiring, it’s long and it’s exhausting, but the end goal was definitely worth it. Our flight home was even more hectic – 6 hours from Rome to Abu Dhabi, 15 hour stopover and 14 hours back home.

So how was travelling while pregnant?

In hindsight, I would’ve probably picked a more relaxing holiday for us, especially with the amount of walking, stairs and general crowds around the places that we went to. I knew it was going to be busy, but I didn’t anticipate the shoulder to shoulder crowds in some of the areas that we went to. When you think about it, it makes sense – the Colosseum and Eiffel Tower, etc. are some of the most popular tourist attractions in the world – accompanied by the amount of tourists from all over the world. It was busy, overwhelming and at times, stressful and hot.

The upside to travelling while being pregnant, especially in Paris and Italy, was they allow you priority access into the tourist attractions as you have limited mobility. This was amazing, as we got to skip some lines that looked like they were hours worth of waiting (in the sun)! I felt very special and it was great to walk right in, but it’s still pretty crowded inside and I was worried about people bumping into me/knocking me over (especially at the Vatican and Versailles)! As my belly got bigger as my trip progressed, I had to sit down and rest a lot, and there were days when I was absolutely wiped out and needed to sleep all day too. I was glad to come home afterwards to my own bed and routine.

Summing up the experience

I’m so glad that we went, particularly since I don’t know when my next holiday will be, and it was so incredible all round seeing all these places in person. Definitely one for the bucket list that you have to visit once in a life time! I’m glad we made all these memories as well before we start our new family. Definitely lots of stories for our child when they are older!

Would we go again? As much as we loved Europe, we probably won’t be making it out there anytime soon simply because of the tiring commute and I feel like we visited the main highlights. One thing about travel is that it does give you a greater appreciation for what you have back home, like not paying for public toilets, having your own bed and all the amazing food options and coffee that I’m used to.

I have an upcoming vlog about our visit to Harry Potter studios in London, so make sure you’ve subscribed to my Youtube channel!

What did you think of my travel experience? Have you been to Europe before? Let me know in the comments below!

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Jeann is an Aussie YA blogger and mum who loves to read and recommend books! You can usually find me fangirling about books on my various social media channels including Twitter @happyindulgence, Instagram and Youtube.

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12 responses to “Babymoon Holiday in Europe – I’m back!

  1. I just. 27 hours EAcH WAY while PREGNANT!?!??! You are my hero, everyone’s hero, basically. HOW dude!? I basically complained if I had to move from my bed to the couch bwhahah. That said, the trip looks amazing! I love your pictures- and it will be so, so fun to look back on! ANd you look fabulous! (Once again, hero.)

    It is so interesting to see how different life is in other cultures! My parents are in Italy right now, and my mom’s biggest gripe is the toilet thing too hahah. I remember in France, they had a lot of those like, toilet-tube things? Where you paid a euro, and then got to go in some creepy tube. Which, I will say, was better than being in Morocco where they told us to bring our own toilet paper and that sometimes there weren’t actually toilets but just holes with wooden seats! (Actually- my parents were in Florence- well, they are now, and Tuscany, and Venice and all those places you mentioned- you honestly like, just missed each other I bet! They got there on October 1st!)

    That was a very toilet-heavy comment. I also feel kind of bad that you didn’t get to drink all the wine and cocktails. Like- after 27+ hours of flying… let’s just say I would have needed sedatives by that point. Tranquilizer darts, perhaps. And hey- at least you’ll now have no reason to ever drag a baby to Europe
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    • Oh my gosh Shannon it was definitely a “book it and think about it later” sort of trip. The flight was the most difficult flight of my life, we’ve done the long haul before to America but OMG I can’t imagine wanting to go through that again.

      Thank you so much for the compliments! It was amazing, definitely a trip of a lifetime for us! OMG we had to pay to use public toilets, they were few and far in between and no one cared that I was desperate because I was pregnant! It was definitely difficult, and there were huge lines to the restroom everywhere we went. As soon as I landed, I was glad that 1) I could go to toilet whenever I wanted and 2) I didn’t have to stress about crowds everywhere I went! And yes I do not intend on dragging a baby to Europe lol.

  2. Aww this looks AMAZING THOUGH!! I’m so happy you had an amazing time and Tiny Future Jeann Junior has been cultured already with all these amazing sights. :’) I’d very desperately love to go to Europe (says me who hates crowds and travelling lmao, but I can dream) and it’s so awesome that it was worth it. Except that travelling part does sound a bit hellish. Still!! YAY for the Harry Potter studios and the Eiffel Tower and gelato.

    • I have a feeling I won’t know what’s hit me when the baby comes, so I’m definitely glad that I went on the trip! It took me a week to recover from jetlag but I think I’m good now 😀 Thanks Braine, I hope you’re well!

  3. That flight journey sounds long and exhausting for any person – let alone someone who is carrying an extra person around! I think it’s so great though that you guys took this opportunity to go exploring and make new memories before your family grows. It looks like it was such a varied and jam packed trip. Out of the few things you did in London, was there a favourite? I’ve done half of the things you mentioned but am curious if I’m missing out on anything.

    I’m glad you made it there and back again safely, and I’m sure your pup was so glad to see you. (And thanks for taking time out of your busy trip to sign up for The Bookish Games! It’s always so fun when you’re involved <3)
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    • I know, I’m not sure how I did it but omg it was long and exhausting. We were really busy in London but we loved just hanging out and checking out the parks and walking around to be honest! We tried to fit everything we wanted to do inside but it just seems to be a nice city to walk around and chill out. Thank you Asti!

  4. I’m so happy to hear you’re back and that you had such a fantastic time, Jeann, I loved following your adventures over on Instagram too. I’m so happy you got to explore Europe and some of its treasures, but I completely understand you not wanting to make that long journey again anytime soon – it’s such a long commute. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us and welcome back!! <3 Take good care of yourself xxx

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