European Tours II

[mama squeak!]

^Sometimes CX will waive excess baggage up until 5kgs but not all the time. Here in Manila baka pwede pang mapakiusapan but from other ports that's a big question mark. 

[Duchess818]

hi sis,
we are planning our European tour for next yr. We are still choosing either to go on a tour or diy. is it hard to go from one place to another? any recommendations if we go on a tour?

tia.

[mama squeak!]

^sis, try to do some backreading on this thread. Also check the earlier thread to give you an idea how it is to go on either a tour or DIY. The answers to your questions have already been discussed lengthily both here and on the earlier thread. And if you have more questions after backreading then post again.

Link to thread 1:

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


 

[Crissy]

Anyone here nag solo european trip? How was it?

[mama squeak!]

^You might want to team up with melodymedley. She's planning a Euro trip this year.   

[melodymedley]

Anyone here nag solo european trip? How was it?

Wanna team up? I've decided to go with DIY na. I'm more comfortable marching to my own beat rather than joining tours.

I plan to leave on the third week of September this year. Trip will be from 21-22 days. Still fine-tuning the itinerary. I've been kinda ignoring FB because of my full-blown research. 

[mama squeak!]

^Have you already decided which cities/countries you're going to?

[Crissy]

Wanna team up? I've decided to go with DIY na. I'm more comfortable marching to my own beat rather than joining tours.

I plan to leave on the third week of September this year. Trip will be from 21-22 days. Still fine-tuning the itinerary. I've been kinda ignoring FB because of my full-blown research. 

I would love too, but I'm still on a planning process. I still need to apply pa for Visa, the budget, schedule  & etc., I don't like naman to be the reason na ma delay ka sa trip mo.  Grabe 21-22days, that really needs a big budget ha! and a good reasearch pag DIY...  Ingit naman ako sayo, how I wish I could do it soon.  A drean destination for me, even just France & Italy man lang sana, solve na ako doon! 

[melodymedley]

^^Yeap: Planning takes up most of my night nowadays. Busy with work during the day.

Hope some of you gals can give me feedback with my draft IT so far:

Day 0 - Depart NAIA
Day 1 - Arrive in Amsterdam am. Check in. Rest.
         - PM: Canal tour, Walking Tour,
Day 2 - Amsterdam
          - more walking tours
          - PM:Check Red Light District
Day 3 - Travel to Bacharach, Germany
         - Walking tour
Day 4 - hike up the hill to Rheinfels castle
         - Rhine River Cruise
Day 5 - town tours/hop-on-hop-off
Day 6 - Travel to Venice
         - St. Mark’s Basilica/Doges Palace/Campanile
Day 7 - Walk around Venice in the morning
         - Venice to Florence
         - Duomo/Baptisry/Piazza della Signoria/Ponte Vecchio
Day 8 - Florence Art Day -Uffizi Tickets/Accademia Tickets/Bargello (optional)
Day 9 - Day Side trip to Sienna. Overnight in Florence.
Day 10 - morning: extra time to check of Day 7 places
           - Florence to Rome. Arrive Rome around 3-4pm
           - Colosseum/Roman Forum/ Pantheon
Day 11 - Vatican City Tour (8 hour tour is $128.53 - expensive!)
Day 12 - Roman Forum/PantheonPiazza Navona
Day 13 - morning Angels and Demons Tours
           - Rome to Cinque Terre after lunch (3-4 hours)
           - arrive early evening in Rome
Day 14 - Hike around the 5 towns of Cinque Terre
Day 15 - morning - more exploring
           - 4pm-6pm Fly to Paris via Easyjet
Day 16 - Paris Museum Day-Louvre/Musee d’Orsay
<still work in progress - still debating whether I should Spain or not>
Day 22 - if from Paris, train to Amsterdam. Overnight in Amsterdam
Day 23 - Fly back to Manila. Back to reality.

23 days na. Approved naman na VL ko. 

IT is not that leisurely anymore. I got excited with all the places I don't think I can stay for one place too long ... as of now.

I will appreciate any inputs

[mama squeak!]

^Sis, some comments lang.

1. I assume you'll be taking KLM? If you are, the arrival in AMS is at 7PM. Siguro after you check-in at your hotel, dito ka na mag Red Light district. Next day ka na mamasyal ng husto.

2. AMS to Bacharach is a  4 hour train ride. Plan to leave early morning so you still have time to walk around. Better if you have a car, more flexibility. There are lots of castle ruins along the Rhine River Valley. We did this by car and stopped at towns that got our fancy. You can even take the car on the barge/ferry to cross to the other side of the river. Or a cheaper alternative is rent a bike. I've seen lots of bikers on the barge/ferry we were on.

3. Are you travelling by train from Koln to Venezia? That's a long trip, 14 hours. Probably you can take the afternoon/night train from Koln to arrive in Venezia Sta. Lucia in the morning.

4. Suggest make Firenze your base. Then do the day trips to Cinque Terre and Siena. The former is nearer to Florence than Rome. You'll be backtracking if you do Cinque Terre when you're in Rome.

5. Got confused with your D13 and D14. Arrive Rome D13 but hike CT D14?

6. Stay in Paris and savor the local life. Mas relax ka pa before you head home. Save Spain for another trip.

 

[goddessella]

^ i agree.. koln to venezia is a long trip in itself. what we did was germany - belgium - france - switzerland - before venezia pa.

yea, i agree with mama squeak! visit the RDL in amsterdam the night you arrive. at least light sightseeing lang muna..

and if you have plans of trying the space brownies, sa first night na din, so that it'll be well outta your system once you're in germany. illegal na dun eh.

and we stopped by Como before hittiing up Venezia. you may want to look into that.

[lavieenrose]

:
:
Day 7 - Walk around Venice in the morning
         - Venice to Florence
         - Duomo/Baptisry/Piazza della Signoria/Ponte Vecchio
Day 8 - Florence Art Day -Uffizi Tickets/Accademia Tickets/Bargello (optional)
Day 9 - Day Side trip to Sienna. Overnight in Florence.
Day 10 - morning: extra time to check of Day 7 places
           - Florence to Rome. Arrive Rome around 3-4pm
           - Colosseum/Roman Forum/ Pantheon
Day 11 - Vatican City Tour (8 hour tour is $128.53 - expensive!)
Day 12 - Roman Forum/PantheonPiazza Navona
Day 13 - morning Angels and Demons Tours
           - Rome to Cinque Terre after lunch (3-4 hours)
           - arrive early evening in Rome
:
:

More or less we have the same Florence-Rome Itinerary But in place of the Siena day trip I'm doing a Tuscany Tour for 80 euros which covers Siena already (http://www.walkaboutpass.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_name=tuscany_what_is_included)-- my friends highly recommend this tour, and it's highly rated on TripAdvisor too. Wish I have more time to visit Cinque Terre.

I'm also doing a DIY trip. Can I ask about the Vatican City Tour? Do you prefer to have the guided tour than going on your own? It's quite expensive eh I believe the Vatican Museum + Sistine Chapel entrance is 15 euros.

I'm also staying in Paris for 9N (it's my dream city ) I plan to overuse the 4-day Paris Museum Pass. I can share with you our itinerary after the trip From Paris to AMS you can take the Thalys train. Not sure if there are other options but I read thalys has monopolised the Northern route out of Paris.

[wowry]

@ sis mama squeak- i'm sure you can answer all my Q's i might take KLM kasi may promo sila. pinakamura is either Milan or Rome.Aug.1-15.can you please please give me a sample IT?mahina ako sa maps and directions e:( Basta either Milan or Rome ang base sana then we want to go Paris,Amsterdam,Berlin,Prague, basta any central/western europe na magkakalapit lang na doable for 2 weeks except london and Spain kasi plan ko sa ibang trip na lang yon. a friend did a tour recently and she went to paris,brussels,amsterdam,berlin,prague,budapest,rome,florence,milan,venice and pisa for 2 weeks din pero sa paris point of entry nila so im confuse na panu pagkakasunod sunod hehe..pls pls help me i will appreciate any input. TIA

[mama squeak!]

@goddessella - Yup, you did a counter clockwise tour . That's what's nice with Europe everything's just a train/car/plane ride away.   

@wowry - sis, I'll be honest with you. Two weeks for your intended IT is kinda hectic. Unless you want it that way    Mangyayari sa yo tipong picture-picture lang. If you prefer it that way I think better to join an organised/packaged tour. But if you want it relaxed, taking your own sweet time to explore Europe then concentrate on 2-3 adjacent countries or 1-2 cities per country within your time frame.

So, you'll better appreciate what I'm trying to say check out this Eurail map. It will give you an idea of what countries are adjacent to each other plus the train travel times from one place to the other. 

http://www.eurail.com/sites/all/files/eurail.com/downloads/eurail-map-2011.pdf

Suggest ko IT for 2 weeks:

D1-2  Arrive AMS. Stay 2 nights.
D3-4 Travel to Berlin early morning if travelling by train (7hrs by train). Arriving after lunch.
D5-7 Travel to Prague (4.5hrs by train) or skip Prague and go to Munich.
Day 8    If you skip Prague you can go to Venezia from Munich. Overnight in Venezia.
D9-11 Travel to Milan or Firenze. Lots of daytrips you can do from here. Milan daytrip = Lake District
          Florence daytrips = Cinque Terre, Siena, Pisa
D12-14 Travel to Paris either from Milan or Firenze OR just stay put in Italy and fly back home from there.

sis, medyo hectic pa itong IT na ito for me but it can be done naman. 

If you proceed to Paris you can take the flight out from there or you can take the train back to AMS (3hrs). If you do the former your ticket will be an open jaw with the routing MNL-AMS/CDG(via AMS)-MNL but if you go the latter it will be a round trip ticket, MNL-AMS-MNL.

 

[melodymedley]

Thanks for your comments sis mama squeak! and goddessella.

I forgot to say I am patterning mine after Rick Steve's 21 days IT:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/europe/eur22.htm

My replies:

1) I am flying via Cathay Pacific. A question: If the flight arrives at AMS 06:35 + 1 - that means PH time pa rin yung 6:35 pero the next day? So I should adjust the time zones? I

2-3) Germany leg is still quite hazy. The IT above allots 4 days for Germany with 1 day for Austria. I trimmed it down to 3 hoping for more time in France. But since I am skipping Switzerland too (the leg before Paris), baka ibalik ko na lang no? I will be in Paris from Day 18/19-Day22.

4) Hmmm. Yeap, looking at the Rick Steve's IT, may backtracking nga. I want to stay one night in CT. I think I can adjust it to be Florence-CT-Rome. Para rin Rome-Paris na yung flight. If I fly out from CT, I have to take a train to Pisa pa (nearest airport with budget airline flying to ORLY)

5) Day 13 overnight is in CT - not Rome, sorry typo. 

6) Checking out some castles in Paris. Someone recommended to visit a castle in France. And Nice daw. But Nice is soooo far down Paris. Thanks. I think I just need someone to tell me to save Spain for another trip. Para rin may matinding motivation pa ako para bumalik. 

Is there a way I can post my excel sheet here? hahaha. Para may time and costing na.

I have to plan based on train skeds available since wala pang skeds for September.

Now Googling Como, Italy - TY sis goddessella

[mama squeak!]

^Haha! I suspected that much, sis. Guilty! I have all his books     But take note the places he mentions expect a lot of American tourists. He's quite popular with the stateside crowd. Plus his ITs can be a bit hectic. Bang for your buck talaga. Pero try to modify your IT so you really get to experience the places you'll be visiting.

To answer your Qs:

1. No, the arrival time indicated in your e-ticket is the local time of your destination. For example: CX902/03Sep MNL-HKG connecting mo is early morning on CX271/04Sep ETD HKG at 0015H, your ETA AMS will be 0635H same day of the 4th Sep. We're ahead by 6 hours.

2. Better more time with your relatives in KOLN. Makatipid ka pa sa hotel. Plus love the cathedral there!

3. Or you can make Firenze your base and do a daytrip to CT. Lots of commuter trains plying the Firenze and La Spezia stations where you can begin your hike. Then take the train from Monterosso back to La Spezia to go back to Firenze. You can get cheaper accommodations in Firenze if you'll be staying from 3 days on. Plus you don't have to be lugging your bags on/off trains. Of course it will be up to your preference.

4. Firenze to Rome then fly to Paris. If you're looking for castles there's this one area in southern France where they're all in proximity of each other. It's in RS's France book. Or you can check out Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy. Well, it's not really a castle but an abbey on an island. Worth at least an overnight or two.

5. Lastly, Como is accessible via Milan just an hour train ride away.

I love excel! I do all my ITs in excel complete with estimated costings. Very helpful in budgeting a trip.

 

[melodymedley]

^ Thanks a bunch for the prompt reply. Yehey! I thought dadating ako sa AMS ng 12:00am.

I'll do more research these coming nights/lunchbreaks. I have to fine-tune IT and France. In my Excel, I have this comparison pa between booking P2P vs. Eurail + addt charges. Excel wins!

Some helpful links I found. Spoonfeeding na nga on some articles. They tell you when you can book online, some tips and guideline. Quite comprehensive. Other EU countries can are in the sidebars. Impressive and comprehensive info on these sites.


http://www.italylogue.com/
http://www.francetravelguide.com/
http://www.amsterdamlogue.com/

[wowry]

Hi Mama Squeak- Thanks for the reply. Sorry hindi malinaw story ko.I'm not coming from MNL. Ang flight na kukunin ko is from Bahrain, bale BAH-AMS-Rome or Milan ewan ko ba bkt mas mura Rome at Milan kaysa AMS. Sa binigay mong IT sa isang sis natin sabi mo mas okay unahin Rome db.from Rome Milan [textspeak!] then [textspeak!] dapat sunod?sorry ha makulit ako. I don't want to skip Prague kasi that place talaga gusto namin makita ng hubby ko.pls pls enlighten me.
I understand talagang bitin nga ang 2 weeks kaya lang hindi kasi naapprove ang request ko for one month kaya tiis na lang bawi ulit next year.
Sa november naman may 1 week leave kami plano naman namin Spain.Sa mga nakarating na ng Spain,anung the best puntahan during winter? TIA
Huling hirit. I'm flying to Frankfurt tonight Wiesbaden ako stay 27 hours lang. Any place maganda puntahan na pwede by train?TIA ulit

[mama squeak!]

^Wow! You're going to Wiesbanden? That's where we stayed with my hubby's bestfriend. Kung one day ka lang, just concentrate on the city center. Marami ka na makikita dun. If you can also go to the Russian Orthodox church on top of the hill (there's only one) then on your way down pass by some of the houses where affluent German Jews that perished in the Holocaust used to live. They have these small metal inscription cards imbedded on the sidewalks in front of the houses. Grabe, it gave me goosebumps just thinking of those people during those times.

Arriving in Milan or Rome does not matter really. If you checked the map I gave you, think of the map as a clock and you can do a counter clockwise trip - Rome and go up to Prague, then Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan and Rome. Or clockwise - arrive Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Rome then Milan.

For the cities that are far apart like Rome-Prague or Paris-Milan, to save time better to take a flight. Unless you can get a direct overnight train (pero alam ko maraming change trains that route so pagod-pagod ka nyan when you arrive). But it's all up to you and hubby kung kaya nyo naman, why not choc-nut?   

Another suggestion is, arrive Milan. Fly to Prague. Kasi kung train aabutin ka ng 15-16hours including transfer. Naubos na one day mo plus pagod kayo nyan. Then Prague to Berlin is 4.5 hrs by train, so that should be okay. Berlin to Amsterdam is 6 hrs by train (get an overnight train to save on your hotel, arrive in the morning). Amsterdam to Paris is 3 hrs by train, so okay na rin yun. Then fly Paris to Milan, via the TGV and overnight train will still take you 10-12hrs.  Or do the opposite direction if you wish.

[wowry]

Yehey! Thanks Mama Squeak! Makakagawa nako ng maayos na IT Sana hindi ka magsawa sa kakasagot ng mga Q's namin hehe..
Sayang nga kasi 27 hours lang palagi maximum stay namin sa Wiesbaden kaya madalas shopping lang ako at puno ng chocolates suitcase ko pauwi