European Tours II

[m_lim]

mainit ba sa greece ng May third week?

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^Sis we'll be going first week of may sa Crete in Greece so I'll update you what's the weather there. Pero Greece is definitely warmer siguro around 25 degrees ang temperature that time.

@jenny_syngkit I don't know about the other places kasi hindi ko kabisado mga names.LOL.But Fontana di Trevi and Pantheon are just 5-10 minutes walk away from each other. Yung Colosseo and the other ruins magkakatabi lang din. For the Vatican Museum to see Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel, you have to be there early morning mga 7:00-8:00am to line up kasi sobrang haba ng pila. Entrance costs around 15 euros pero worth it naman ang haba ng pila and the fee. For the basilica itself, no need to line up and pay anything.

Also don't forget to visit Villa Borghese, it's a very nice park and you can do tandem cycling together with your group and a great place to unwind after a long day. I don't know where is it exactly located but I remember we walked the street of Via Veneto and nasa bandang dulo sya. Lakad lang kasi kami ng lakad ni bf.LOL. .

[rockONsaint]

Mga sis, is it wise to buy a Metro Pass sa Barcelona?  Meron kasi akong nabasa about T10 tickets, I'm not sure how it works.  Ang pupuntahan lang namin dun ay Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, Poble Espanyol.  Kung baga 3 whole days lang kami sa Barcelona.  Yung apartment namin is close to La Bouqeria, mga ilang meters from Las Ramblas.  So hindi ako sure kung walking distance lang ang ilan sa mga pupuntahan namin, although ang alam ko magkalapit yung Casa Mila and Casa Batllo.  And would you advise the underground train or the bus?  May nabasa pa kasi ako na maganda magbus para makita yung magagandang buildings.  Wala akong idea sa traffic dun kung Edsa-like ba.  Hehe.

Verify ko na rin, yung Paris Visite Pass ang isa bang purpose nun is para hindi na pipila?  Diba meron ding fixed price for 2 days, 3 days, etc.  So kasama na ba dun yung mga entrance fees sa mga museums, and some other landmarks?

Thank you.

[lavieenrose]

^ My visit to Barcelona was a long time ago, but if you only have 3 days, I think it would be wiser to get the Bus Turistic pass, which is the double-decker  hop-on hop-off tourist bus, there are 3 lines / route types and they stop from one popular attraction to another. If I can recall, most of the popular sites are far from each other and commuting or studying the routes can be a hassle. I really love Barcelona and the feel of the city, to me it's so vibrant and diverse

http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/web/guest/rutes

I would think mas madami din kayo mapupuntahan if you take the Bus Turistic. Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, and the Casa Milla/Battlo (Eixample) are far from each other. Poble Espanyol, I don't remember where that is na. There are so many beautiful Modernista buildings at the Eixample area, not only Gaudi's. It's also more convenient with the Bus Turistic that way you can also cover Montjuic, Barceloneta, the Olympic Park, etc.

Try the horchata at the La Boqueria if you can. Also if I remember correctly, the Bus Turistic main stop is at Plaça Catalunya which is at the end of La Ramba.

I've no experience with the Paris Visite Pass, but I think that's for the trains. Perhaps you are talking about the Paris Museum Pass, good for 2, 4 or 6 days, if you have this pass you can also skip the queues or go to special queues at museums. I exhausted the 4 day pass and it's a great value for money.

en.parismuseumpass.com

Happy travels.

[mama squeak!]

^^Don't get confused. The Paris Museum Pass is different from the Paris Visite Pass. The former is for museums, monuments, etc. while the latter is for your transportation around Paris.

If you plan to visit 3 or more museums the Paris Museum Pass will be a cheaper and faster  alternative than buying single entrance tickets. With the museum pass you skip long lines for some but not all sights. Some sights don't have a separate security check for pass holders like Ste. Chapelle and Notre Dame so you still have to queue up along with the rest of the other visitors. But then you skip the ticket booths since you already have the pass. At the Louvre there is a separate entrance for pass holders with their own security (xray) check so you skip the humongous line at the pyramid. Check the Paris Museum Pass website to guide you: http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

While the Paris Visite Pass is for your transportation around Paris. If you will be staying for more than 3 days this will be a cheaper option. Less than 3 days stay, get the carnet of 10 tickets. The pass is good for the RER, metro and bus. Plus you get discounts for some sights that are not included in the museum pass. Here's their website: http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_22599/copy-of-presentation/

As for the Eiffel Tower, it is not included with the museum pass or the visite pass. The tower has its own tickets but they do have a website now where you can purchase tickets online so you avoid the lines.
 http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/

You can also backread on the other thread specifically for Paris to help you plan:
http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,216556.360.html

 

[rockONsaint]

Sis lavieenrose, that's really informative about the transpo.  Nakita ko rin yung Bus Turistic Pass, pero medyo nagalala kasi ako na baka heavy traffic like rush hour sa Edsa, baka maubos lang sa travel time.  Pero mukhang hindi naman uso ang heavy traffic sa Barcelona.    Because of this, I'll suggest this to my sister instead of taking the train.  Lam mo sis to be honest hindi ako ganon kaexcited punta ng Barcelona kasi parang mas excited ako sa Paris and Venice, pero nung sinabi mong you love the feel of the city, tapos ganyan din ang sinabi ng uncle ko (who happened to be more excited to know na pupunta kami ng Barcelona than hearing Paris), parang magiging promising tong city na to.  Ahhh, wait lang.  Ayoko muna magexpect masyado.    Sis, thank you also for suggesting horchata.  Napasearch pako what it is.  Diyan din ako excited, sa food and drinks.

Sis mama squeak!, thanks for the clarification about Paris Visite Pass and Museum Pass.  Oo nga pala.  Hay.  So my sisters and I will talk about this again.  But given the purpose of the Museum Pass since we will be in Paris for only four days, we'll definitely take advantage of this.

After our Euro tour in May, share ko rin experiences ko dito.

Thanks.   

[cassidy02]

cathay pacific na ba talaga usually lowest ang fares from manila to most european countries?

[mama squeak!]

^They have one of the lowest specially during lean season. Sample round trip fare to Paris or Rome in September is at USD685++ or USD1100 all-in depending on the day of the week.

Or you can also check KLM and the Middle East carriers i.e. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar and Kuwait.

[t_r_i_c_i_a]

Here is our IT for the upcoming trip:

Paris
Day 1: Sight-Seeing: Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame Cathedral
Day 2: Excursion: Palace of Versailles [This will take you half a day!]
Day 3: Museum Time: Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre and Pompidou Centre
Day 4: Disneyland Paris [One stop before Disneyland Paris, there are outlets so you can go shopping]
Day 5: Churches: Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, Ste. Chapelle, Napoleon’s Tomb

Barcelona:
Day 1: Las Ramblas, Plaza Catalunya and Gothic Cathedral
Day 2: Park Guell and La Sagrada Familia
Day 3: Olympic Games Complex and Monjuic Hill
Day 4: Catalan National Art Museum and Museu Picasso
Day 5: L’Aquarium and Magic Fountain

Rome:
Day 1: The Colosseum, the Forum and the Circus Maximus
Day 2: The Vatican: St. Peter’s Basilica and Sistine Chapel
Day 3: Via Condott, Spanish Steps and Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
Day 4: Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon and Borghese Gallery


My question would be, will it be more advisable to hire a private car or take the public transpo. We are a family of 5 adults and 1 4 year old kid.

Thanks in advance

[mama squeak!]

^If I may comment on your Paris IT, try to group the sights you want to visit per area not per category. It will make life more easier for all of you since you won't be zipping from one place to the other then coming back to where you were before.

Since you only have 5 days, you can visit these sights per area:

1.) Take the metro and get off Trocadero. Here you get a great vantage view of the tower, nice for pictures. Walk towards the Eiffel Tower. Take the metro and get off Charles de Gaulle Etoile to go to the Arc De Triomphe. Walk the Champs Elysees. From there you can either go to Les Invalides where Napoleon's tomb is or to Sacre Coeur. Both accessible by metro from Champs Elysees.

2.) Notre Dame (if you want to climb the tower the security line is at the left side of the church. If you've no plans of going up the tower, the line going inside is right in front of the church. Lines get to be humongous so get in line early. Around 9AM konti pa pila but onwards you can spend at least 2 hours in line).
   Ste-Chapelle (This chapel is our favorite! Once you visit it you'll know why. There is only one line for security check getting in the Justice compound where the chapel is located. Once inside if you have the Paris Museum Pass bypass the line for the ticket office and head on straight to the chapel's entrance and show your pass)
   Walk along the Latin Quarter or take a river cruise. There is a boat station near the Notre Dame church. 

3.) Louvre, D'orsay and Pompidou. For the Louvre, there is a special entrance for pass holders (Richelieu entrance) so you bypass the long lines at the pyramid. For D'Orsay, the pass holder entrance is the same for the group entrance so you sometimes get long lines to enter the museum. Since you'll be around the area you can also visit the L'Orangerie, that's where Monet's Waterlily murals are (awe inspiring!). For the Pompidou, not much tip here since we just stayed at the plaza in front of the museum. Lots of activities happening here.

4.) Versailles, suggest you take your time here. It's a pretty big place with a wonderful garden. So this can be your relax phase.

5.) Disneyland Paris. To be honest, I would skip this and just concentrate on the other sights of Paris. Or just spend the day shopping!!!! Seriously, if you have been to the other Disneylands you haven't missed much. They're all the same, more expensive lang ang Paris Disney since you'll be spending Euros.

You can take the public transpo (metro within Paris, RER for Versailles). It's more convenient and a lot cheaper. Get the Paris Visit Pass for your transpo needs (backread ka here or the How much is a trip to Paris thread for more info). For your museum/monument/church hopping, get the Paris Museum Pass, it will be cheaper and will save you some time since you get to bypass ticket buying lines at some major sights.

Enjoy your trip! Bon voyage!   

[t_r_i_c_i_a]

^ Thank you Mama Squeak! This will surely help us in planning. If it's not too much to ask, would also love to hear from you on our Barcelona and Rome trip. Same query again on the mode of transpo, hindi ba hassle ang trains one of the considerations lang is we'll be traveling with a kid. Thank you again. Really big help!

[mama squeak!]

^sis, I haven't been to Barcelona and Rome yet. Those are in my bucket list   

If you read some posts up, lavieenrose posted her experience in Barcelona. You can also visit the Italy thread for tips on your Rome adventure.

 

[^Vain_Chiq^]

@ sis t_r_i_c_i_a, I've been both to Barcelona and Rome, sa Barcelona hindi naman gaano siksikan sa train so ok lang if you take public transpo since most buses and metros have a stop naman at the tourist spots. But in places like Parc Guell, bus lang ang nadaan dun kasi pataas yung place unlike Las Ramblas and Sagrada Familia na meron malapit na metro station. Sa Magic Fountain of Mountjuic, sa gabi lang sila me show. These are the schedule : http://www.barcelona.com/barcelona_directory/attractions_in_barcelona/magic_fountain. For me, not so special naman yung Montjuic but worth seeing na rin since andun na kayo. Super siksikan lang.Hehe.

Regarding Rome, it's not advisable to rent a car there kasi walang mapaparkingan and thus you have to walk far. Best to buy a tourist pass that is for 3 days or 5 days that you can use for the tram, bus and metro. You can buy it inside the Termini Station. Kaso lang sa Rome hassle sa bata since super siksikan sa Metro lalo na sa mga bus.

[m_lim]

okay lang ba mag Brussels from Paris? our arrival date in Paris is NOT flexible na kasi. Manila-Paris kami. we have 2 days to spare before Venice. ayaw ng hubby sa Florence.

hindi ko ma finalize itinerary namin hanggang wala pang visa. waaah.

[wowry]

Mga sis will be in Spain and Portugal this May na. Anybody been to Portugal? We are allocating 3 days there, is Porto worth visiting ba or is it better to stick to Lisbon na lang kasi 3 days lang kami doon? Please help! TIA

[^Vain_Chiq^]

okay lang ba mag Brussels from Paris? our arrival date in Paris is NOT flexible na kasi. Manila-Paris kami. we have 2 days to spare before Venice. ayaw ng hubby sa Florence.

hindi ko ma finalize itinerary namin hanggang wala pang visa. waaah.

yup i think so since magkalapit lang ang brussels and paris.siguro mga 1
 hour lang travel time by train.

[m_lim]

^thanks sis! Mag Thalys train nalang siguro kami. Yan kasi recommended sa tripadvisor. Ano ba magandang puntahan sa brussels besides the grand palace?

[little_princess]

^ how long do you plan to stay in brussels ba? usually grand palace lang then you buy chocolates and crepe around the area

[m_lim]

^we have 2days before Venice. saan ba maganda pumunta sis? ayaw kasi ng hubby ko sa Florence. yun sana mas ok na route since pababa na kami ng Rome. Switzerland ano ba meron?

[theflygirl]

@mama_Squeak: Super big difference ba rates pag DIY vs let's say, getting from insightvacations? Now ko lang din na-realize di na kami ni hubby pasok sa contiki next year haha. Planning a 2 week Euro trip for our 10th anniv. More than a year to go pa naman. Started backreading and researching. Sa yo ko rin nafind out yung airbnb last year. Thanks for all the tips. Keep em coming!