Romantic Venice

Another year, another Valentine's day, another month or so of marketing messages full of diamonds, flowers, chocolate, luxury. The idea is of course to impress your loved one by showering them with the most expensive gifts you can find, or they won't love you back (or so I understood.)

On a seemingly unrelated, yet-emailed-on-Feb-14 note, Fodor's Travel Wire "found" a good deal: a 3-night package at some upper class hotel in Venice for €1,450. While this might appeal to some, I am a big fan of good value for your money. (on a secondary note, the hotel is ranked 64 out of 358 on TripAdvisor; ouch.)

Luckily, our friends at EuropeanDestinations have somehow listened to some complaints regarding overnight train travel in Europe, and put together the ultimate romantic package: Paris and Venice by air. For $859 (plus taxes), you can fly into Paris, spend 3 nights, fly to Venice, stay 3 more nights, and then fly back to the US.

Call me a cheap-o, but that's how you impress your loved one: by saving them $1,000 on a trip to Europe.

However, if you have never traveled by train (in Europe,) you should at least try. The same city combination (plus one night on a train from Paris to Venice) is available for $819.