European Tours Thread 3

[mama squeak!]

New home! Just a reminder to please keep to the topic. No subscription posts. No PM call outs.

Please try to backread on the previous threads before posting your questions as these might have been discussed already.

Links to the European Tours 1 and 2: 

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,196695.0.html

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,236192.0.html

 

[melodymedley]

How's the routing of the KLM flights nowadays? May stopover pa rin ba yung mga MNL-Amsterdam flights nila? I am doing some mock bookings and ang lumalabas, MNL-Amsterdam, then Amsterdam- *insert another Europe airport*. So they haven't stopped the direct flights to AMS? Maski yung 2013 flights, may MNL-AMS pa rin. 

[mama squeak!]

^they no longer have direct flights to AMS. They still stop in TPE, no change planes though. So, we're thinking of taking CX na on our next trip. Unless KLM will come out with a very good promo fare.

[hulawho]

Do you need to book your flight and accommodations prior to applying for a Schengen Visa? Thanks!

[mama squeak!]

^Yes because that is a requirement. But you don't have to buy your tickets just yet, a booking will do. You can backread on the separate Schengen Visa thread for your other concerns and post additional Qs there if any:

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,250928.0.html

 

[melodymedley]

@mama squeak. I see. Thanks. Oo nga, KLM  indicates pala na may stopover yung trip from MNL-AMS. Nyaiks.

CX has some really good rates for Europe - $1,100-$1,200. The thing is, they do not have flights from MNL going to Prague/Spain/Portugal/Greece. I am primarily looking at a MNL-PRG; LIS-MNL route. Mock booking in KLM reveals it will cost $1,500. The target is to hit Spain and Greece in the same trip.

Etihad and Emirates have relatively long stopovers in DXB. Ehhh... I can't get out of the airport and explore Dubai if the stopover is long. If the stopover is in Amsterdam, I am thinking I can explore AMS during a long stopover. 

Mag-iipon na muna ako. 

[melvel]

How do I get good deals on open jaw tickets?  Our plan is to take Manila to London, then go back Paris to Manila.

[mama squeak!]

^Check the multi-leg option of the airline website or call the airline of your choice directly to do the computation for you.

[maddie_girl]

@mama squeak. I see. Thanks. Oo nga, KLM  indicates pala na may stopover yung trip from MNL-AMS. Nyaiks.

CX has some really good rates for Europe - $1,100-$1,200. The thing is, they do not have flights from MNL going to Prague/Spain/Portugal/Greece. I am primarily looking at a MNL-PRG; LIS-MNL route. Mock booking in KLM reveals it will cost $1,500. The target is to hit Spain and Greece in the same trip.

Etihad and Emirates have relatively long stopovers in DXB. Ehhh... I can't get out of the airport and explore Dubai if the stopover is long. If the stopover is in Amsterdam, I am thinking I can explore AMS during a long stopover. 

Mag-iipon na muna ako. 

hi sis! i had a long stopover in Dubai enroute to the US once. something like 20 hrs? kasi i stayed overnight at a hotel pa eh. but Emirates arranged the hotel and visa for me. no additional charge. i think kasama sa tickets nila na if your stopover is longer than 8 hrs they will provide you with hotel and visa in Dubai.

i choose my ticket to have a long stopover para may rest ako from the very long flight. at para narin makagala sa Dubai.

[foxymom]

hi ladies! planning season again

hubby and i are planning to visit london and prague around apr-may next year. what 1 other city can you recommend? i plan on visiting prague first, london last. so a city in between those 2 is barcelona / santorini a good option? or vienna?

thanks in advance for the help!

[mama squeak!]

^There are so many cities to choose from since magkabilang dulo yung London and Prague!  Of the three cities you mentioned, I'll do Vienna. It's the easiest and nearest city you can get into from Prague. It's only a four and a half hour train ride. Then from Vienna get Easyjet to London.

 

[foxymom]

hehe, i haven't even checked the map yet! LOL

i also checked rates of CX for next year and omg, their fares can go as low as $935 round trip!

im so tempted to go to paris/monaco, then prague, then london (or the other way around)!

[d_zialcita]

hi all

hi mamasqueak

seriously planning our march or april 2013 honeymoon now,

i wanted to do spain, greece, italy and france, but as mamasqueak suggested, if we wanted a relaxed honeymoon, we need to just stick to 2.

so we chose italy and france. (thanks mamasqueak!)

i hope you can help me again...


we will do paris  (and near cities by train/bus) : suggestions please?

italy- will be staying in my aunt's house (via del poggetto57 pieve a nievole pt 51018): where is that?
she says it's 30 mins away from florence... where else can we go?

am interested in venice and verona: is it possible to go there from my aunt's house tas balikan?
we'll just rent a car and drive?

so manila-italy-paris-manila...
what airline is best kaya na openjaw ticket?

also, from italy to paris, how long is the travel time if we do it by train? how much?
if by airplane, how long and how much?


(i also posted in the Schengen visa thread, i hope you can answer my question there. )

thank you!!

[mama squeak!]

^Hi sis, advance congratulations on your wedding!    Sure, I can help with your IT. How many days are you planning to stay in France and in Italy?

[d_zialcita]

^

hi mama squeak, got married last January 28.

late honeymoon because no more vacation leaves this year.



we only have 16 days, that's including the travel time from manila and back.


thank you so much for replying again.

[mama squeak!]

^Oh! Belated congrats then! 

If you have 16 days less two days travel time, that leaves you with 14 days or two weeks to go around.  From your post in the schengen thread you plan to stay longer in Paris? How long will that be?

Re Italy, I googled your aunt's place and it's in Pistoia pala (Tuscany area). That's pretty convenient to day trip Florence, Siena and Pisa. If you plan to go to Verona and Venice, I'm afraid that will be too far. Approximate train ride time will be 3.5 hours one way longer if you plan to take a car. Probably, you can spend a day or two in Venice then day trip to Verona. If you plan to go to Rome that's another 3-4 hour train ride from Pistoia.

Let me know and I can help plan an IT for you and your hubby.

[d_zialcita]

^ hi mama squeak, no need to stay in paris longer, i just thought it would be easier to get a visa in the french embassy so dun nalang mag stay longer... 


but ok lang din if italy [textspeak!] longer, what do you think is better ba?

basta my husband is tamad kc, so as much as possible, relaxed pace lang the trip. 

since sa tuscany pala un, i guess our italy itinerary will include tuscany na...

so tuscany, florence and pisa day trip (how much kaya to rent a car?), anong meron sa Siena, do you think it would be worth it to go there?

i really want to bring my husband to venice so i guess overnight kami there, tas day trip tp verona if masisingit pa.

for france naman, honestly ang want ko lang dun is mag eiffel tower. my friends suggested the following: Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo. but am ok with any, we're renting an apartment though, so i need at least 3 nights in paris to make a booking.

thank you again!!


 

[mama squeak!]

^It would be a good idea to stay longer in Italy since malaki din matitipid nyo sa accommodation. Aside from the airfare one of the biggest expense of a trip is the lodging and shopping of course

I'm looking at my Michelin road map now and your aunt's place is a little bit north-west of Florence. I'm not sure lang how the train connections are but location wise your aunt's place is a good base to do day trips to the following cities via train:

Florence (to the south east), Lucca (to the west), Pisa (further west), Cinque Terre (to the north west). Some cities to the south of Pistoia that can be easily reached via train too would be Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano to mention a few.

So if you try to plan your day trips pwede ganito yung IT mo:

Day 1 - Florence. Get there early and leave late to maximize your time. Here's a website that you can read to check out the places in Florence that might interest you:

http://www.visitflorence.com

Day 2 - Lucca and Pisa. You can spend the morning and have lunch in Lucca then head on to Pisa right after. Lucca is a walled medieval town that is less touristy compared to Florence. You can walk the ramparts and see the city within. While Pisa is well everybody knows about Pisa 

Day 3 - Siena. Same with Florence spend the whole day there just walking around and enjoying the city. Don't worry marami kang makikita dito baka bitin pa isang araw. Here's a good website about Siena:

http://www.discovertuscany.com/siena

Day 4 - San Gimignano and Volterra. These two towns are near each other. I really haven't explored the train connections between these towns since hubby and I are planning to rent a car when we do our Tuscany road trip. You can refer again to the above website about San Gimignano and Volterra.

Day 5 - Cinque Terre. Once again spend the whole day here. If you're tired na to DIY there are tours offered to the 5 towns originating from Florence. Otherwise, madali naman yung train connection here. If you're planning to rent a car, park your car in La Spezia and hop on a train to CT. The 5 towns in CT from La Spezia are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, Monterosso and Corniglia. You can hike the trail from Riomaggiore all the way to Vernazza but not sure yet if the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso and Corniglia will be open by the time you get there because of the recent flood that damaged most of the place. Here's a website that can guide you on CT:

http://cinqueterreonline.com/

Day 6-8  Venice and Verona. You can either go to Verona first and overnight then proceed to Venice to stay two nights or do the reverse Venice first then Verona. But if you're planning to fly to Paris after this then do the former which is more logical since Easyjet (cheapest LCC so far) flies out of Venice Marco Polo airport to either Orly (ORY) or Charles De Gaulle (CDG).

Days 9-14 France. I'll post the IT on the Paris thread na lang later.

Now it's up to you to decide how you want your trip to be. If you want it really relaxed, drop a town or two. Then of course there's shopping! There are hourly shuttle buses from Florence to the outlet malls for EUR5/person one way. The outlet malls are 30-45 minutes by bus from Florence. Here's their website:

http://www.themall.it/en/

Okay, yan na muna. Discuss mo muna with your hubby how you want your trip to be then you can just tweak it hanggang ma-perfect mo IT.

 

[little_princess]

how's the weather in london so far? checked yahoo weather and it's still pretty cold for summer or am i just analyzing it too much?

london is about 19C while Cornwall is about 16C. I am doing an engagement shoot in Cornwall and our planned outfit is a short summer dress and a light cardigan or a suit jacket if its too cold.. i'm pretty scared that i'll freeze to death haha

[foxymom]

19C is hot already right? a little like tagaytay weather?