European Tours II

[wowry]

^sis from Milan where did you go first? I'm looking at Milan as our entry point too. Then train to Venice. Did you take the train to Turin and Florence? How did you buy your tickets, online or at the station na?

At some point during our trip hubby and I will be renting a car to go around Tuscany. We're planning to allot at least 5 days for this. How many days was your Tuscany tour?

From Milan sis Turin muna kami then from Turin Rome na. We always buy the ticket at the station upon arrival kasi you get discount when you buy the ticket atleast a day before departure. We took trains from one place to another. The Tuscany tour is only one day tour, 12 hours to be exact including Siena,San Gimignano and Pisa plus lunch and unlimited wine in a farm and winery.

[mama squeak!]

@melodymedley, sis, will you still push through with your Cinque Terre trip? If you will, can you update us in the Italy thread? Hubby and I are still deciding whether to do it as a day trip or an overnight one.

Thanks and have a safe and enjoyable trip!

 

[melodymedley]

@mama squeak, yes! I am still pushing through with my Cinque Terre Trip. I booked a daytrip tour with Walkaboutpass costing 90 euros. Will definitely update you in the other thread!

[wowry]

i owe walkabout team bigtime!!! i did tuscany tour with them and at the end of the tour when i was about to go down the coach, i was struggling to look for my wallet to give tips to our wondeful guide Stefano then i left my iphone4  . but they send it back to me via fedex! they were sooo nice to me.i can't believe i got my iphone back
sis melodymedley,enjoy your tour sis!

[melodymedley]

Buongiorno! Reporting live from Venice, Italy. I'm in my 3rd city in my solo EU adventure. Let me share with you some general tips. I'll post specific tips on the other threads.

1) Try your best to bring Euros already. The rate here of the money changers are bad bad bad. I was expecting at to get at least 72 euros for every 100 USD but you'd be lucky enough to find a rate of 100USD = 70 Euros. Sanry's Money Changer does not sell currency anymore and given the timeline, it was difficult for me to find other money changers who sell euros. Rates are better if you withdraw via ATM - which I am doing. The catch is, the peso limit still applies. E.g. I can only withdraw around 300 euros a day  = equivalent to the Php 20,000 limit.

2) Exert effort to look chic and fab. Not just for picture purposes but it is also to blend in. For me, it is an eyesore to see people wearing waaaay to casual clothes. It looks so shabby and sluggish. Locals dress fabulously.

3) I've been  DIY-ing the tours. I just joined a walking tour in Amsterdam. I haven't gotten any other tours so far. I was supposed to get some tours here in Venice but this is a place where getting lost and just roaming around aimlessly is fun. I am still proceeding with my Cinque Terre, Tuscany and Angels and Demons tour though. As for the others, I might skip them altogether. The beauty is that I get to explore each place the way that I want at the pace that I want.

4) People take pity on a solo traveler doing self portrait shots.

5) The transpo and museum passes of each city are worth it for people like me who get lost. Hahahaha! No need to be conscious of the money. You can plan your trips but just be sure you get off at the right stop. Here in Venice, the transpo passes for the boats are worth it.

6) If you plan to shop, don't buy clothes from PH to wear here. The clothes are divine. Nag-overbaggage tuloy ako sa flight ko from Frankfurt-Hahn to Venice. The baggage fee is more expensive than my plane and bus fare.

That's all for now! Am just on a short break from walking for 5 hours. Ciao!

[Duchess818]

hi,
i cannot decide kasi is it better to take the plane from Amsterdam to Rome? or by train?
we'll be joining a tour kasi sa rome. diy sa amsterdam. any inputs will be great!

thanks!

[mama squeak!]

Ciao melodymedley! Great to hear you're having a grand time. Good to hear you're enjoying getting lost too.  That's how you get to know a place     

I'm interested in your Cinque Terre hike. Will you be overnighting or as a day trip lang? My 2012 Euro trip is 80% complete na rin. Looks like hubby and I will be going in September again as against our original plan of early spring. Busy daw at work      We're also dropping Venice and Rome in favor of the Loire Valley in France. How I wish we have more time to go around Italy!

Since you'll be going to Florence, you can probably drop by their outlet stores. Prada has a stand alone store while the other designers are located at The Mall, a 45 minute drive from Florence.

For those ladies planning their Euro trip, you can buy Euros at Czarinas. They have good rates but you have to order/reserve at least 3 days before your exchange. Euros are not readily available kasi unless you buy at the bank which talo kayo sa exchange.

For taking pictures, hubby and I bring a monopod. It's a retractable gadget you can mount your camera. It's portable unlike the traditional tripod. You can get one at Greenhills for less than 1.5K It'll save you asking someone to take your pictures. Not everyone is honest din kasi baka itakbo pa your camera.

Melodymedley, will be waiting for more of your kwentos. Enjoy your trip!   

[mama squeak!]

@duchess818,

sis that will depend on the following considerations: time and budget.

1.) Time  -  AMS to Rome is a 14 hour+ train ride. You can take the night train to save on a one night hotel stay. Leave at night and arrive around noon or early afternoon. You can save here but the consideration is the duration of travel.

2.) Budget -  AMS to Rome is an hour plane ride away. But plane tickets can be prohibitive unless you take a low cost carrier and buy tickets in advance. The farther date of travel the cheaper.   

[Crissy]

Ka ingit kanaman sis melodymedley, Enjoy your vacation! Continue to update us ha, do you have pics na? pa share pls.

[bitt3rswit]

Hello, malamig na ba ngayon sa europe? Gusto ko kasi pumunta during autumn/fall.

[juana_antonia]

^Hindi pa ganun kalamig sis.  Parang spring pa lang din ang weather.

[melodymedley]

Ang ineeeet during the day! Nagka-tan nako  sa kakalakad under the sun. I was expecting that it would be kinda cold already kaya ang outfits ko ay... hindi pang-summer.

[mama squeak!]

Weird na talaga ang weather ngayon. I guess depends also where in Europe you will be visiting. Northern/central Europe malamig na while sa southern Europe mainit pa rin around late fall (Sep-Oct).

When we were in Europe the same time last year, anlamig na! We were in Frankfurt/Wiesbaden and it was cold and wet. But on our drive down to the south ending in Munich para lang naka-aircon yung temperature. There were even times na mainit specially during the Oktoberfest period. Naka t-shirt na nga lang kami going around the beer tents. Baka effect na rin ng beer   

Pero naman pagdating namin sa Paris, ngek! anlamig na naman. And of course it was raining in the late afternoon kaya lalong malamig. Pero enjoy pa rin sa kaiikot. That's why importante ang layering in case it gets too cold, pile on your other clothes.

Before you go, check on the weather of the places you will be visiting para guided ka anong clothes dadalhin. This is my favorite website for weather updates/forecast:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=europe

 

[bitt3rswit]

kelan ba autumn nila?

[juana_antonia]

^September.

[scarlet]

Hi mga sis! may alam ba kayo san mura ma stayhan sa Paris? We will be traveling to Europe for 19 days, mag ba barkada kami 6 kaming lahat. DIY tour [textspeak!]. Our Travel date is Oct 21- Nov 8. Last stop namin ang Paris, may titirahan na sana kami kaso nagka prob. so, nghahanap kami matitirhan dun. Any suggestion? Thanks mga sis!

[mama squeak!]

^Since you're in a group and assume quite young, stay in a hostel. Check MIJE's website below:

 http://www.mije.com/paris_individuels_uk.html

 

[scarlet]

^Since you're in a group and assume quite young, stay in a hostel. Check MIJE's website below:

 http://www.mije.com/paris_individuels_uk.html

 

Thanks mama squeak! may nahanap na rin kami.. Good thing, i-accomodate kami ng kakilala ng isa naming kasama. so tipid na rin sa hotel. 

I'll post some of my experience here after ng trip.. 9 days to go..

[m_lim]

girls, anong usually ang cheapest airline ang Manila to Paris and Rome to Manila?

May 2012 ang alis namin.

[vhanya]

qatar yata sis. qatar/etihad give or take. but the best for me is emirates =)