European Tours II

[mama squeak!]

@melodymedley, open jaw fares are slightly higher than promo round trip fares but way cheaper than two one way fares. Bihira lang magpromo for open jaw tickets since it is still considered as two one way fares combined. Sounds confusing ba?

Anyway, ang tip lang naman is to compare the price of an open jaw against a promo round trip fare + transpo (from your last city tour to your arriving city/departing city) of course. But if minimal lang ang difference I'll still go for an open jaw ticket since my first consideration is the travel time.

So true about DIYing a trip. Iba talaga if hawak mo oras mo. Good for me walang problema with my favorite travel companion, my hubby   Kung anong iplano ko, okay lang sya. Magka-sync kami when it comes to phasing our trips. Plus he pays for everything!  Kaya okay na okay! 

@Crissy, you're welcome! Tip lang is to carefully plan and research your trip. Don't be afraid to get lost, that's part of the adventure! If you have other Qs just post it here and madami sasagot sa yo.

Happy planning!

 

[foxymom]

One month to go before our European holiday so excited!

mama squeak and the others, im trying to book our train (via trenitalia) already from venice to rome on jan 4. now my question is:

1. Is better to book 1st class or 2nd class? We have 2 big bags and 2 hand carry bags (roller type). Im worried it will be cramped in the 2nd class cabin

2. In the train, where do we park our 2 big roller bags? Are they far from our seats? Are they secured in case we need to get food at the resto inside the train?

3. We arrive in Venice monday lunchtime and will leave on Wed, is it better to get a mid morning train so that we can seea little more of venice? Our train departure options are 830am or 1130am

Thanks in advance!!

[mama squeak!]

^sis, I haven't tried trenitalia yet but I'm basing my experience with the TGV.

1.) If you have big bags with you better to take 1st class as they have more space for your bags. They have dedicated open luggage racks for bags per cabin or sometimes you can use the overhead bins for your carry-ons. Plus for a long train ride 1st class will be more comfortable. By the way, try to use the banyo at the station before you get on the train. Not too fond of cramped train toilets.

2.) Refer to above reply. Tip: Bring those combination lock bike chains to secure your bags handles to the poles in the alloted luggage rack. So no worries na somebody will run off with your bags during train stops. And if there are no assigned seats, try to get seats facing the luggage rack para you see your bags at all times.

3.) Take the later schedule so you can take your time to wake up late after a long day sight seeing and have breakfast pa. Venice to Rome I believe is approximately a 4 hour train ride so you still arrive Rome with a bit of daylight.

Happy trip! 
 

[foxymom]

Thanks for the help again mama squeak! Im soooo excited!!

[juana_antonia]

^Lucky you, next week hindi maulan sa Venice.  Last week weather was awful.  Pack on some cashmere clothing, less than 10 deg na, mahangin pa naman dun.  Enjoy!

[miss understood]

hello, we are planning an european tour next year (hopefully). ang gagawin naming base is London coz we have a relative there. anong mga nearest countries sa London? preferably by land lahat. thanks

[mama squeak!]

^sis, London is in Great Britain which is an island. If you want to visit nearby countries you'll have to cross the English channel to get to Continental Europe. You can take the Eurostar train, ferry or by car via the Eurochannel car transport. You can't make London your base as it is too far to travel back and forth plus expensive pa.

There are so many places to see in Great Britain. We lived in London during my highschool years and kulang na kulang our time to go around and see the place. So you might want to just stay there and explore the place. Otherwise, stay in a centrally located area in Continental Europe. If you scroll to the previous page I posted the link of the Eurail map, you can make that your reference.

Happy planning!   

[forsix10]

sis foxymom di ko alam kung magiging pareho tayo ng taste. pero for me ok naman rin yung 2nd class seat, comfortable rin. we have 2 kids nong time na nagtravel kami, sa pagpasok mo ng train me space na parang cabinet para sa malalaking baggage then sa me gitna meron pa ring space para sa baggage. medyo istorbo nga lang kung yung seat mo eh sa bandang gitna pa tapos malaking maleta yung dadaan sa gitna (masikip din yung sa gitna-daang tao lang din). me space pa rin sa bandang likod kung puno na yung sa me cabinet. kasi nong napuno yun don na namin nilagay gamit namin, parang vacant space lang din. yung another space pala para sa bagahe sa me gitna baka depende sa train. me train na aside from space sa unahan para sa bagahe, meron pa ring space sa me bandang gitna.

[foxymom]

@juana_antinia: thanks sis! San ba ako makakabili ng murang cashmere sweaters in paris? ang mahal kasi dito sa zara i hope hindi high tide sa venice pag punta namin!

@forsix10: thanks sa input sis! [textspeak!] luggages talaga namin iniisip ko. Baka kasi masyadong maging masikip if andun kami sa 2nd class and mainis pa samin mga tao. still thinking about it....

[melodymedley]

^For the Italian trains: In my experience, hindi naman ganun kasikip sa 2nd class. Walang naglagay ng baggage dun sa gitna, nagkasya naman lahat sa likod. Since you will be traveling off-peak, I think kasya naman sa lagayan ng bag yung luggage at hindi ganun karami yung tao. Unahan din sya sa space, pero hindi naman mala-amazing race na unahan.

And I agree with going for the mid-morning trains. Magandang maka-breakfast muna and use the morning to do some last minute sightseeing or shopping.

Enjoy!

[forsix10]

ay, magulo ba pagkakapaliwanag ko regarding gitna. i mean na gitna (hindi sa aisle kasi daang tao lang to), yung gitna na sinasabi ko eh yung kahanay din sya ng mga upuan. instead upuan ang nasa space na yun, ginawang lagayan pa rin ng mga maleta. pero naalala ko rin na hindi lahat ng train nasakyan namin eh merong ganong space.di ko matandaan saang byahe kami papunta non na me na encounter kaming aside sa pagpasok mo me lagayan ng baggage, sa me bandang gitna if ang seat number mo eh nasa 50 me space pa rin para sa lagayan ng gamit.

about sa baggage na dala nyo, di naman yun ikakainis ng tao kasi marami naman talaga eh maleta dala don kaya sanay na sila makasabay puro maleta dala. hehe

yung walang seat number na train, unahan po sa upuan yun at possible na nakatayo pa, medyo masikip at yung ilalim ng table lang yata ang lagayan ng gamit at sa me itaas, mas cheaper to. kung wala namang masyadong dalang gamit, pwde na rin don. yun kasi nasakyan namin from Firenze SMN station to Pisa. iniwan namin luggages don sa train station saka kmi pumunta ng Pisa. me isa pa kaming na encounter na walang seat number (kasi yun ang schedule na gusto namin), maliit yung train, luma. papunta kaming peschiera del garda (gardaland)

[mama squeak!]

^sis, would you remember how much yung storage fee for your luggage sa Pisa train station? Our plan kasi is to arrive Pisa in the morning and pick up our rental car at the airport in the afternoon. While waiting for our rental ikot muna kami sa Pisa but we want to store our bags muna.

[forsix10]

ang naisulat ko sa list of expenses ko, 4euro 1st 4 hours then 0.60 euro/hr. parang per bag to, per piece ng bag. di ko na rin matandaan kung ilang bag iniwan namin. ang naisulat ko lang kasi eh yung total ng binayaran ko don which is 19.20euro.

[juana_antonia]

@foxymom don't know in Paris, but here in Italy Zara na yata yung may cheapest 100% cashmere, around 60 euros up. How much na ba dyan sa atin? 

[foxymom]

@forsix10,, hehe thanks for clearing that up! I researched italian trains and nakita ko itsura, gitna ng passengers pala!

@thanks for the feedback sis! Si hubby mas inclined to get first class para mas quiet daw (hopefully) ako itong nag iisip pa..

[jenny_syngkit]

mga sis help. i'll be travelling to europe early next year with my 2 kids (ages 5 and 6). i don't think there are any tour groups that are kid friendly, so I'm we're planning to DIY. Pahelp naman pls with the IT. I'll be purchasing a round trip ticket MNL-CDG-MNL.

Mas ok din ba if magcruise na lang kame so we can cover more countries?!?

[mama squeak!]

^sis, my first question is will your kids enjoy the trip? Second, will you enjoy the trip if your kids are not into it? Not to discourage you but your kids are too young for you to be tugging them around unless sanay na your kids to travel and they enjoy these things.

It's a bit difficult to be DIYing a trip with small kids in tow plus mag-isa ka pa. Okay sana kung may kasama ka pang isang adult. Think about this, who will be lugging your bags when you're hanging on to your kids. While busy reading a map, who will look after your kids? Pwede ma-distract your kids and bigla tumakbo na lang.

But if you're really bent on going to Europe, my suggestion is for you to join a tour. Yun lang since tour groups follow a fixed schedule they can be kid-UNfriendly. Baka pwede pa yung cruise, kasi it's kinda like a tour in itself na rin.   

[goddessella]

^^ IMHO if you have kids in tow, it'll be a lot easier to go the tour package route. your nerves will thank you for it.

[jenny_syngkit]

thanks for the replies. wala kaseng tour dates na sakto sa alis namen, so i'll just ask travel agency to arrange hotel and transfers namen and ask hotel for tours that we can join. here's our IT (copied a tour itinerary from Disney Tours):

Day 1 (Mar 28) - 4pm arrive in London
Day 2 (Mar 29) - Double-decker bus, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace
Day 3 (Mar 30) - St. Paul's Cathedral, Thames River, London Millenium Footbridge, Tower of London, London Eye, Big Ben
Day 4 (Mar 31) - Stonehenge, Windsor Castle
Day 5 (Apr 1) - Eurostar to Paris, Louvre
Day 6 (Apr 2) - Sun King's Chateau, Chatuea de Versailles, Grand Gardens of Versailles
Day 7 (Apr 3) - Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower
Day 8 (Apr 4) - Disney Paris
Day 9 (Apr 5) - Disney Paris
Day 10 (Apr 6) - 1pm fly back to Manila

I'm still trying to extend our booking to April 7 or 8, pero as of now ubos na kase promo fares for those dates. My kids are used to travelling, so no problem dragging them to walk all day I'm still trying to convince my sister to join para may isa pang adult. I plan to bring one suitcase lang, para madali when we have to transfer hotels.

I need to redeem my free ticket from HSBC na kase by the Nov 25. Since next year pa yung travel date namen, January next year ko na din papasked yung visa submission/interview namen.

[mama squeak!]

^If your kids are sanay na to travel then good for you. The best if you can convince your sister to come along    If I may comment sa IT mo, for a 10 day trip I think better to stay in France na lang or visit adjacent countries within continental Europe. Or do you really want to go to England? Just take note you will have to apply for two visas: Schengen and UK visas if you follow your posted IT.