European tours

[fabulosity]

^Wow! Must be tiring... Just the way I like it!

Hope this pushes through. Keep us posted! 

[traveltechie]

I am saving up 10% of my salary for my future Euro Trip.  I guess if I want to make it before turning 30, I better save more than that. But reading this thread, I am 110% sure that it will be all worth it! 

[Vera]

Cheaper pag winter kaso sobrang malamig na. Check out Trafalgar tours or the latest deals on Sherman's Travel.

[chinita8]

i've tried both coach and cruise travel around europe. i highly recommend Globus Coach Tours and for cruise travel, either Royal Caribbean or Princess Cruises.  best travel time for me is during the spring season - great sceneries matched with mild cool weather - perfect for sight seeing and sipping espresso al fresco. 

[Vera]

chinita8 where did your cruise depart? Europe na?

[chinita8]

^yup, in europe na ... the other one boards at venice and the other time, we boarded in london. 

[greengabby]

Good day to all! I', just new here and want to share my experience regarding euro tuor and i hope somehow po ay makakuha kayo ng ilang tips ang makatulong sa inyo.

Hubby and i have toured europe  2x and  we love it  so much. We've been to Greece,Netherlands(Amstedam) , Luxumberg(tama po ba spelling ), Belguim(Bruge, Brusells), France(Paris), Italy(Venice, Rome, Milan, San Marino, Pisa, Florence), Gemany(Trier, Berlin), Hungary(Budapest), Prauge,Austria(Vienna,Salzberg).

On our first trip, ,we took visa at Greek Embassy, then sa German Embassy naman nung second time. Normally before travelling, we plan ahead kung saang places and country ba kami pupunta para maayos ang sched. pati ang budget. Madali lang mag plan, chaga lang mga sis at salamat sa internet nandito na lahat ng gusto nating malaman. We never tried getting a package of the trip kasama ang hotels and trips since may  mga preffered countries and places kami na gustong puntahan. Ang ginagawa ko nalang nag chechek ako sa internet ng mga murang hotel bookings like booking.com and trip adivor, tapos compare-compare lang sa mga prices, important din ang location ng hotel kaya dapat i-consider(san pa mas prefer, malapit sa mga pashalan or malapit sa airport etc.), we never get hight end hotels everytime we travel lalo na kapag sa Europe dahil sobrang expensive talga, as long as decent at malinis ang hotel at pasok sa location na gusto namin ok na yun, anyway tutulugan mo lang naman at wala ka don the whole day. May mga trancient or back packers din na tinatawag na mas mura kesa sa hotel pero kasi mas gusto namin ni hubby yung may privacy, pero kung sa inyo ok lang mas mura talaga yung ganon. Very helpful at informative sa akin ang Trip Advisor (site) kahit saan pa kami magpunta, lahat ng reviews ng mga travellers ay totoo kaya hindi na kami nabigo sa mga hotels na napili namin at we knew what to expect.

Regarding po sa mga local tours, nag sesearch din apo ako sa internet prior to travelling kung anong mga magagandang places ang pwedeng ma-visit at kung saan pwede maka-avail ng mga murang tour package, or sometimes sa mismong train stations may  mga office ang mga travel agencies doon and from there makakapili ka na...basta wag mo lang kakalimutan yung check list mo or yung travel itenirary mo. Even mgg restos or must try na local foods search ko rin para naman makatikim ng authentic at kung saan po pwedeng kumain ng mga foods, yet mura. 

Regarding naman po sa Eurail Pass, naku, wag po kayong kukuha nito at sa totoo lang ang mahal na ng binayad namin, may extra bayad pa kapag nagpa book kami ng ticket pati sa seat namin may bayad, tapos sabi doon priority ka sa first class seat, eh sa 7 countries na pinuntahan namin 1 beses lang yata kami nakakuha ng 1st class seat, palaging hindi available..so maiinis ka lang. Better pa na kapag na-reach nyo na yung destination nyo, bili na kayo ng ticket para sa next destination..and i swear ganon din po ang magagastos nyo.

Ayan, sana po ay kahit papano ay nakatulong sa inyo ang info na ito. kung may mga questions pa po ask lang kayo...hiya na ako haba haba na po nito. 

[mama squeak!]

^The Eurail Pass will only save you a lot of money if you will be travelling a lot via trains. But kung point to point lang destination mo, you're better off buying point to point tickets. You just have to patiently compute kung saan ka makakamura talaga.

You can also save a lot from reservations/seat fees if you opt for the slower regional trains. Only special trains like TGV, ICE, IC, Thalys, Corail, Railjet, etc. require reservations/seat fees.

For our trip this coming September, we opted for point to point tickets instead of getting the 02 country select pass since 03 routes lang kailangan namin ni hubby: 1.) Munich-Paris-Chartres (TGV) 2.) Chartres-Le Mans-Rennes (TGV) 3.) Pontorson St.Michel-Rennes-Paris (TGV)

So for anyone who'd prefer to DIY their trips, it really takes a lot of patience in researching and most importantly computing yung magiging expenses. But if you don't have the patience then arranged tours are for you.

[greengabby]

@ mama Squeak! You are right, mura talaga ng mga slower reqional trains, pero kasi if you are travelling on a limited time sayang lang yung oras na spend mo sa train at gugustuhin  mo talagang makarating agad sa destination na gusto mong pashalan. Kaya because fo that  we usally took the TGV, Thalys, or ICE trains, since we visited 7 countries doon sa 2nd trip namin, we decided to get a flexi pass nga, kaso disappointed kami talaga everytime na magbu-book kami ng ticket hindi available palagi ang first class tapos mahal din ang reservation fee, so parang wala ding kwenta ang flexi pass na yun. Kasi before we left to travel, nag check na rin kami ng mga available sched na pwede namin ipa reserve para fit sa itenirary namin eh, yung iba hindi din namin nasunod buti may second option kami palagi.

My scary/funny experience pa kami ni Hubby that I want to share and sana hindi mangyari sa inyo. We will be giong to Venice Italy from Hungary so we took the night train para hindi sayang yung byahe and time(kasi long travel sha), we didn't know that our train will be passing at Croatia, and since Croatia is not a member of Schnegen around 2AM kinatok kami ng Croatian police sa room namin para check yung transit visa namin ng croatia, so we were shocked kasi hindi namin alam na dadaan pala ng Croatia yung train. Dahil sa wala kaming visa, pinababa kami sa train in the middle of nowhere ng mga police at may precinct sila don sa border at kinuha yung passport namin at interview-interview...ang mahirap pa, hindi sila mashado marunong magsalita ng english kaya kapa kapa kami. After that, sabi nung isang police may taxi daw sa likod ng precinct nila at pwede kami mag taxi instead of giong to Croatia ay Slovania kami dadaan at from there pwede kaming mag hantay ng train. Wala naman kaming choice so sige na, and we paid the taxi 300euro(nakakpag taka lang, talagang may isang taxi na naka abang don at alam nya ang gagawin nya,pati sched ng train na dapat naming habulin). And when we get there, yung train din mismo na binabaan namin, yun din yung nasakyan namin kaya hindi na kami nag bayad at kinuha namin yung room na naka-reserved sa amin, sayang din yun first class room pa naman, solo namin ni hubby. :-)

Lesson learned, check nyo rin yung dadaanang country kapag mag train kayo baka hindi pa schengen, you have to get a transit visa pa.

[mama squeak!]

Yes kaya nga libre because super bagal dahil sa dami ng stops. If you have plenty of time go for the slow trains but kung naghahabol ka ng oras go for the direct/fast trains. As to getting the pass or point to point tickets, that would all depend on the traveller's needs. One has to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Dito na papasok ang careful planning and walang katapusan na computation kung saan ka makakatipid with the less bit hassle! 

Yung sa train routes naman, a similar incident happened to a friend of ours but the train route was Italy to France naman kaya hindi masyado scary. The train was passing thru Switzerland on the way to France, that time hindi pa kasama ang Switzerland sa Schengen state so one had to have a Swiss visa. Our friend only had a Schengen visa so he had to wait for a day to catch a train that would go direct to France. Kaya importante to check the stations/routes the train will be passing thru specially if nasa bandang Eastern Europe na yung route.

Once again careful planning and lots of patience is needed in DIYing a trip.

[chinita8]

hi, does anyone here know how the weather is at Paris during Jan-March? also, does anyone know when plane tickets from manila to paris is at their cheapest? thanks. 

[mama squeak!]

^Cold and wet! That's winter time (shorter day light) and the low season so expect very cheap airfares and hotel accommodations.

 

[mama squeak!]

For those looking at alternative cheap places to stay other than hotels, try renting short stay apartments. I have just rented an apartment in central Paris (1ere arr.) for 5 nights for USD519.00 only. With current conversion rates per night comes out to only EUR82. A pretty good deal since decent hotel rooms in this area will not go lower than EUR110-120/night.

I found the apartment at this website: airbnb.com

 

[chinita8]

@mama squeak, great great info! thanks so much for the inputs on the weather, airfare and of course apartment rentals. great idea! will surely check it out. 

[Vera]

hi, does anyone here know how the weather is at Paris during Jan-March? also, does anyone know when plane tickets from manila to paris is at their cheapest? thanks. 

That's still winter in Paris. Bring thick clothing ;-)

[Vera]

For those looking at alternative cheap places to stay other than hotels, try renting short stay apartments. I have just rented an apartment in central Paris (1ere arr.) for 5 nights for USD519.00 only. With current conversion rates per night comes out to only EUR82. A pretty good deal since decent hotel rooms in this area will not go lower than EUR110-120/night.

I found the apartment at this website: airbnb.com

 

Thank you so much -- very helpful. Do apartment units in Paris accommodate three?

[Vera]

Hi guys who are going to Paris soon. You might want to go to Normandy -- Check out Chateu de Bouceel -- the son of the owners is our friend. This is a really grand chateau and near the D Day Beach and Mont Saint Michel. Visit the site here: http://www.chateaudebouceel.com/

[mama squeak!]

Thank you so much -- very helpful. Do apartment units in Paris accommodate three?

Yes they do and more pa depends on the apartment you'll be renting. There are other websites catering to short term apartment rentals but I like this one maski may konting service fee because they accept credit card payments. The agency only gives the rent to the landlord 24 hours after the guests have checked in and not before. The other websites I earlier encountered you deal directly with the landlord, though it can be cheaper kasi no middle man, pero they will ask you to send them a check or deposit sa bank account nila. What if hindi reliable yung landlord and takbuhan ka. Scary di ba?

[mama squeak!]

I'd also like to add that after you have made reservations thru their website the landlord will get in touch with you directly for any inquiries the guests may have like how to get to the apartment, where to get the keys or if there are other fees to be settled like cleaning fees.

By the way these short term apartments have minimum stays. Most of them will only accept stays from three to four days onwards.

[milkchocolate]

what's the weather like in Vienna and Paris around mid october? what clothes should i bring? tia! we will stay mostly in Vienna.