European Tours II

[m_lim]

melodymedley ! your blog is sooo helpful! ang daming tips...

[mama squeak!]

^If you plan to go to Italy from Paris, why not spend two nights in Florence? You can take Easyjet from either CDG or ORY arriving in Pisa. From Pisa you can take the train to Florence. So parang ganito yun IT mo:

Day 1  Arrive Pisa preferably in the morning and take train to Florence
Day 2  Florence
Day 3  Take train to Venice (1.5 hours)
Day 4  Venice
Day 5  Take train to Rome (3 hours)
Day 6  Rome

If you're staying for only two nights in Venice you might have a hard time getting an apartment since the usual minimum stay is three nights. If ever you find something without the minimum baka mahal din. Venice is a very expensive city. Better get a hostel/b&b or hotel na lang.

As to which area to stay, Venice is pretty compact so anywhere you stay will be central. Now if you want to be right smack at the center of the popular tourist sites then stay within the San Marco district.

[m_lim]

^thanks Mama Squeak! after reading melodymedley's post about Venice, mahal pala talaga accomodation dun compared to Paris. 

ano ba pwede makita sa Pisa? possible ba magpapic sa leaning tower before pumunta ng Florence?

so lahat yan via Trenitalia?

[mama squeak!]

^You can drop by the leaning tower at the city center. There are lockers at the train station right at the city center. Meron ng GT nakagawa nun. You can come and go within 3 hours max. Then proceed na kayo sa Florence. All via Trenitalia.

I prefer Florence over Milan. Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance movement. The whole city is living art. Cathedrals, museums, you even have Ponte Vecchio!  Now if you're not into the artsy-fartsy history thing then you might prefer Milan over Florence.

[m_lim]

^sis, hindi ba mas okay kung Paris-Venice-Pisa-Florence ang route? para pababa na to Rome?

[m_lim]

i'm checking EasyJet's website. wala atang flight CDG to Pisa? ORY lang...

pag direct Paris to Venice naman, mas mahal pag manggaling sa CDG compared to ORY (155eu vs 108eu)

[mama squeak!]

^That is why I didn't suggest Paris to Venice kasi mahal yung fare plus the timings are not that ideal. Plus mas marami kang choices ng flights leaving Paris to Pisa as compared to Venice. There are certain days na Easyjet flies from CDG to Pisa and certain days ORY to Pisa. Now depende na lang yan sa departure dates mo.

[melodymedley]

@sis m_lim: Thanks for reading my blog! I suggest two nights in Florence. To make the visit in Florence worth it, I highly suggest visiting the two major museums - Accademia and Uffizi. If you are not artsy-fartsy (I am not), you'll still be satisfied with the Duomo of Florence. Very beautiful.

Venice is expensive, but I soooo love that city. I stayed in the Santa Croce area. I highly recommend choosing an accommodation which is near a water bus stop so you don't have to lug around your luggage over all those bridges. I do not advice staying outside the island - no matter how accessible the island is via train or how cheaper the rates are. It is different when you witness sunrise and sunset in Venice.

I would have to agree with mama squeak that the flights flying into Venice are not that ideal. I was actually planning for an overnight stay lang in Venice but I did not want to book a flight that arrives at night so I moved my arrival date dun sa flight na noon ang dating. If you can get a good flight schedule with a good price, the Venice-Florence-Rome route is ideal.

Can't think of other cities aside from Florence since I did not do Pisa nor Milan. Some of my roommates did Verona from Venice. Perhaps you can compare ITs in our Italy Travel Guide threa.

[m_lim]

eto ang flight na available sa EasyJet on May04 :

ORY to Marco Polo Venice-- 107.99EU (7:20-9:00)

ORY to Pisa-- 110.99EU (11:50-13:30)

CDG to Marco Polo Venice- 154.99EU (mahal!)

[mom_G]

^sis, take the ORY to Venice flight na!  mas malapit pa yung ORY sa city so mas madaling puntahan than CDG.  from venice, going south na lang kayo papuntang rome (venice-florence-rome).  if you don't want to carry your luggages sa pisa, pwedeng side-trip yun once you are in florence.  approx 50-min train ride lang yung florence to pisa.  that's what we did and we spent 4 hours max for the roundtrip train ride and sightseeing in pisa. 

[mama squeak!]

@m_lim, your departure date is set na? Weekends are usually expensive kasi. If you check their website again if you leave on a Thursday it's almost half the price of your Friday departure. The prices you quoted are not yet including your bags pa ha. So additional ka pa nyan.

If your departure dates are all set na, then take the earliest flight to maximise your day. Now you just have to figure out how to get to the airport at least 2 hours prior to your departure time.

 

[mom_G]

@m_lim, i agree with mamasqueak about the luggage.  another thing to note about easy jet, one carry-on item lang talaga ang allowed - i.e. purse OR a small luggage.  of course, you can put your purse inside the small luggage   they also have a maximum dimension for a "hand baggage" - 56 x 45 x 25cm, ang liit lang nyan.  make sure you prepay for your checked luggage kasi mas mahal pag sa counter ka nagbayad. 

[bitt3rswit]

m_lim, halos same tayo ng itinerary but ours is baliktad, Rome-Venice-Paris kami.  Kelan kayo aalis?

mama squeak, We will be in Europe for 13 days. How many days do you think we should stay in Rome and Paris? Sa Venice ba overnight pwede na? Baka mag side trip kami sa Florence but iniisip ko pa kung papaano since hindi namin alam saan iiwan yung baggage namin.

Is it better if we stay in Florence na lang and side trip to Venice or vice versa?

Aside from Easyjet, ano pa ibang airline?

[iggypop]

waaahhh i feel so sad kase hindi kami pwede sa Contiki. okay sana if ako lang coz pasok ako sa 18-35s nila, pero si hubby 38 na kase huhuhu!!!

any suggestions sis sa tour na pwede namin i-avail? takot kase ako mag-DIY since this would by my first european tour. nag-inquire ako sa Rajah Tours. laki ng difference sa Contiki. 1400usd lang sa contiki, sa kanila 2600

please help!

[mama squeak!]

@bitt3rswit, sis depende din kasi sa preference mo yan. What do you want to see and do? If you were to ask me I'll stay longer in Paris and Florence. If I may suggest the following IT:

Day 1   Arrive Rome preferably in the morning so you have the whole day to sight see.
Day 2   Rome
Day 3   Train from Rome to Venice (2.5 to 3 hours). Try to get the morning sched so you arrive Venice mid day and you still have at least 6-7 hours daylight time (assuming you're travelling during late spring or summer)

Day 4   Venice
Day 5   Train from Venice to Florence (1.5 to 2 hours)
Day 6   Florence
Day 7   Florence or day trip to Lucca or do a Tuscany day tour (Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra)
Day 8   Take early morning train to Pisa (30 minutes) and leave bags at the train station lockers. Visit Pisa centrale (leaning tower). Take late afternoon or evening flight to Paris via Pisa airport.
Day 9   Paris
Day 10 Paris
Day 11 Paris or visit Versailles
Day 12 Paris
Day 13 Flight home

You can adjust the IT according to your preference. You can add an extra night in Rome and take out a night in Paris or Florence. It's all up to you! That's the beauty of DIYing your trip, you decide where you want to go and when you want to go 

[m_lim]

@mom_G- thanks for the tips!

@mama squeak, kung thursday kami aalis ng Paris, 82.99EU ang fare (ORY to Venice)

i guess pwede na rin yung friday na alis para mas matagal kami sa Paris. then tig 2nights sa Venice and Florence before kami mag Rome.

122.99EU pag friday ang alis with bag na yan. (14EU/bag discounted daw pag pre booked. 50% daw yan. so kung hindi kami mag pre book ng bags, 28EU ??)

@bitt3rswit, eto ang itinerary ko so far!

April 29- arrive at CDG at 7PM
April 30- Paris
May 01- Paris
May 02- Paris
May 03- Paris
May 04- check out sa apartment early morning for our 7:20AM flight to Venice
May 05- Venice
May 06- check out then go to Florence via Trenitalia (8:57AM yung train)
May 07- Florence
May 08 -check out then go to Rome via Trenitalia (6:30 train)
May 09 to May 21- Cruise then overnight pa kami s Rome ng May21
May 22- 20:55 flight back to Manila

questions:

-- ilan hours or minutes kami dapat dumating before umalis ang train?
-- hindi ba nakakapagod sobra yung 2 days each ng Venice and Florence? kung may 4 days Venice nalang kaya kami? advisable ba?

meron na kami cruise and plane ticket pero wala pa kaming visas! March 28 interview namin. crossing our fingers...

[mom_G]

^sis, plan to arrive 30 min before the time of departure ng train.  that would give you enough time to find the platform, etc.

i think ok na ang 2 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Florence.  of course, as mamasqueak mentioned in a previous post, it depends on what you want to see and do   if you just want to go to st. mark's basilica/square, doge's palace, ride a gondola, do a walking tour and grand canal tour, you can do all that in 2 days.  if you want to visit the other museums in venice, go to lido, murano, etc, then you might want to spend 4 days para di kayo masyadong pagod.

if it were me, though, i will definitely go to Florence.   

[krock]

Hi girls.

My mom and I will be in Paris on April. been looking at hotels in agoda pero i can't decide where to stay. My mom wants to stay close to the Eiffel tower kaya plan namin to book at Mercure Tour Eiffel. Ok ba to stay in that area?

Ano pang hotels ang pede nyo masuggest? Thanks.

[mama squeak!]

^sis, is your Mom just after the view or gusto nya talaga as in walking distance to the tour Eiffel? Hmmm.... How shall I put it ba? The area is a bit quiet after office hours. The area is more of an office/embassy area so medyo quiet na sya after 6PM. Now if you want to do something i.e. look for dinner or pasyal-pasyal lang it's not the ideal place to be. Sabagay personal preference na rin yan.

If you were to ask me gusto ko na readily accessible ang mga restos, cafes, shops. I like the pedestrian areas kasi yung tipong pagbaba ko ng hotel/apartment nandyan na yung makakainan or pasyalan. Lots to see and do even at night ba.

[bitt3rswit]

Thank you mama squeak for the suggested itinerary! We will consider going to Florence. =) sis alam mo yung hop on hop off bus?

m_lim, sayang hindi tayo mag aabot sa Venice! paalis na kayo, kami papunta pa lang! Saan kayo titira sa Rome? nakahanap na kayo?