European Tours Thread 3

[chuzzle]

additional question: I am starting to worry about the budget/pocket money. For a 10-day trip, food only with minimal shopping like souvenirs, how much do you think could I spend? Excluding fancy restaurants ah.

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ for me, i usually budget eur15/pax for lunch, eur20-25/pax for dinner. For snacks, i budget eur5-10/pax. If we plan to dine in fancy restaurants, i double the budget. Usually naman in actual, makakahanap na set lunch or dinner sa cafes for that amount or even cheaper. For souvenirs, you can set siguro eur5-10/pc..

Also, what we usually do para wala kami malaking pera na dala, is nagwi-withdraw na lang kami sa atms sa airport. Pero me dala din kami USD for pocket money pero siguro nasa usd1k-1.5k lang, tapos last namin yun ginagalaw, parang reserve lang.

[little_princess]

agree with bagaholic_chewy. the thing with europe is, maski starter size lang malaki na and mabubusog ka na so you can get starters as your main course.

hubby and i are mahina kumain compared to the european portions so what we do is we eat a lot for breakfast whether hotel or outside. that's about 10EUR max if outside tapos mag snack kami if we feel hungry and it won't be over 5EUR then dinner na lang ulit at about 15-20EUR per pax.

souvenirs, keychains and magnets won't be over 5EUR, t-shirts minsan may makikita ka pa na 3 for 15EUR but usually around 8-10EUR yun. mugs about 3.5-6EUR.

bring bottled water din, mga 2-3 1.5liter bottles kasi mahal sa Europe yung water. Water is not free and for a small-medium bottle of water sa restaurant around 1-2EUR na agad. you can also bring biscuits and stuff pang snack mo if ayaw mo gumastos.

[chuzzle]

Thank you @little_princess and @bagaholic_chewy! I will consider all your advice. May mga carinderia ba dun? Haha. I want to try gooood Spanish food and I know I need to shell out more than expected. I just need to be ready. =)

[little_princess]

^ wala pa ako nakikita na carinderia sa europe but may mga snack stands or parang sidewalk vendor minsan pero usually snakcs lang to. mura yun maybe you can try to scrimp on food tapos go all out sa 1 meal pero be ready to shell out on a nice fancy restaurant. pero servings are big so good to share maski for 1 person lang yun

ironically, nun honeymoon namin, out most expensive meal was about 50EUR for 2 and it was on a chinese restaurant hahaha

[bagaholic_chewy]

^^ another "tipid" meal option is bumili ng wine sa grocery/convenience store, then some bread, cheese, meat (chicken wings, prosciutto, etc) - tapos have picnic lunch or dinner sa park. We did this in Paris, and some cities in Italy. Romantic na, tipid pa.

[Starlust]

^Agree - they also have prepackaged salads that are quite good.  However, wintertime might not be ideal - unless it's sunny

@chuzzle:

Also look for Kebab shops - you can get a full meal for 6-7 euros - the kebab, fries, and a drink. Since there are so many, just pick one that has a lot of customers so you're sure that it's good.

I think your destination is Spain right? Look for the 'menu del dia' specials, bocadillos, or some places offer tapa specials (3 plates + a drink for around 10 euros)

If you're traveling to Paris, I can give you good tips on where to eat for 10-13 euros lang

[summer_princess]

In Paris,  meals can get quite expensive average of eu10-15/pax times 2meals plus coffee coffee and some water pa. What we do is we do grocery in carrefour or monoprix. They have baguette sandwich na rin around Eu2-3. We saved a lot by doing this.  Just make sure you try at least one authentic Parisian meal.  I love the area of the whole strip. Of Bartholeon ice cream near the canal ba yun. The area is quaint. Not too touristy but you get a decent,  cheap and authentic Parisian meal. Ours is eu16 lang but that's set meal already.

[Starlust]

^Berthillion ice cream is a must try - love their salted caramel

[bagaholic_chewy]

i love Berthillon ice cream din! Haba lang pila sa store nila (about two streets from Notre Dame) when we went there..

Yung mga crepe/sandwich stalls din sa side ng Notre Dame, mura lang din. Another option for tipid lunch and/or snacks.

Sis @chuzzle, and if walang free breakfast sa hotel nyo sa Paris, just go to the nearby neighborhood bakery. Get some baguette or some choco croissant, etc + coffee, you can have your breakfast for around eur5 lang or less (for two pax na yun). Kami before, me set breakfast sa hotel. Pero dumadaan kami sa bakery to buy baguettes and croissants, baon for our merienda.

As for water, we buy from grocery yung pack of six ng tig-1L (or was it 1.5L?) na water. Stock namin sa hotel. Depends sa itinerary, we bring one or two big bottles for the day when we head out (hubby almost always brings a backpack naman). Or refill the smaller bottles, if we want na konti lang dala, or wala masyado lakad-lakad.

[shegie_285]

chuzzle hi sis.. where in spain are you going? if sa Barcelona, there is a famous market along la ramblas street and the food is cheap. you can also buy hams there that are vaccuum packed. parang sa pilipinas ang mga market may kainan pero sa barcelona ang mga tourist kumakain sa market. actually i had sparkling wine (cava) from a stall on that market, sulit dahil mura and it doesn't look cheap at all. I also bought serrano ham they put it in a french fries bag (small size), as far as I can remember, the bag full of ham, €2 lang.  this one for snacking not for pasalubong. re: food as others have said €10-€15 is enough for meal then my friend and I shared pa.  although the best paella i've tried was a bit expensive, it was €30+, it was lobster but sulit naman.

little_princess saw your post about getting a one or two year schengen visa. let me know if you get one! i'd love to have one that is valid for at least one year. but everytime i apply, most embassies said validity is maximum three months. i do agree french embassies are more generous sa validity. my friend recently (last October) got a 6 month schengen visa from the French embassy but that was after so many schengen visas. i only have four! i've got a tip, not sure if you have done this before, last year, we went to Norway in April and Malta in May or June and I applied to the Danish embassy (for Norway) then I asked if I could include my Malta trip to save on visa cost, they allowed naman but i have to give all the documentation (booked hotel, flight itinerary) for Malta trip. The visa given was valid for 3 months, double entry but the days were limited to 7 days (3 days for Oslo and 4 days for Malta!).

[summer_princess]

I'm now in Spain parang not much to see? Mostly Gaudi's work of art and some Instramuros-like structures. Mura ang Zara, MNG & H&M grabeee! €5 and up meron ka ng mabibili:)

We ate at La boqueria there's one stall there where a Filipina manns it. Masarap yung taco, baby back ribs and chicken (more like Bonchon tee hee!) 2 for €7 Lang compared to others na €10 and up. Cheap the souvenir items like ref magnet at €1 along the la Ramba road.

Tip: get the BCN transport card in the a/p lumalabas €6/day Lang and you get unlimited bus and train ride.

[chuzzle]

sisses! thank you so much for all the tips on how to get around Europe on a budget. I've already read blogs on fancy restaurants in Madrid and parang ang mahal nga hahaha...pero I really want to try at least one nice place. I will most definitely buy food from grocery stores. Anyway, one of my fave past times naman is going around nice supermarkets and looking at merchandise. Hahaha

^sis summer_princes, are you in madrid? Di ka nageenjoy?

[hefi_ness]

@Starlust, sis where in Paris can we eat na mura lang?  Going there on January 16-21 with my bf. We also want to go to bars/clubs, spas, shopping malls. Can you suggest places where we can visit? Sabi nila, pag January daw maraming sale dun sana totoo hehe..

[little_princess]

sis she, when i applied kasi through the french embassy last 2007, i got 2 years visa. tapos with other schengen countries, mga 2weeks - 1 month na lang binibigay. our travel agent told me na track record talaga pag french embassy mas matagal. i know italian embassy din but dropbox lang sila. will let you know as i plan to apply sana before i leave for UK

question, may VAT refund pa ba if you purchase something online?

[bagaholic_chewy]

Sis, i think walang vat refund pag online purchase.. Kelangan yata talaga makita nila actual copy ng passport..

[d_zialcita]

hi everyone,

if i buy a bag at paris...

but our itinerary is like this:

paris-italy-greece-manila

i should get refund at greece airport?

thanks!

[d_zialcita]

hi dears!

planning update!
i've finally booked our paris-florence train tickets!
am so happy! thank you everyone who helped me accomplish that!

i've also panicked and booked our hostel in rome.
this is because the apartment i wanted and planned to book in rome was taken na when i checked today.
so i booked a hostel with good reviews in tripadvisor. very cheap, so more money for food and shopping.

all we need now are the following:
1. an apartment in paris. the ones i liked are either unavailable or are not replying.
2. train tickets from pisa to rome. what website should i get these from kaya? hoping for e-ticket para no hassle. around how much should this be? what if i don't pre-book this? would it be ok to buy this on the day or a day before?


thank you!

[little_princess]

^ tax refund to be claimed in greece airport make sure to have the bag on hand, they check it eh. we had to go through our luggage pa that time

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ sis, for Pisa-Rome train tickets (or for any tickets within Italy), you can buy your tickets sa trenitalia.com website. E-ticket na yan, jan ako bumili ng tickets nung April trip namin. Watch out for "mini" fares, discounted rate yun na super-sulit. We got first-class fast train tickets for the price of 2nd-class tickets. O di kaya e 2nd class fast train tickets for the price of regionale/slow-train tickets. Accepted din PH cc as payment. Pwede rin naman dun ka na bumili, me machines naman sa mga stations, pero for me, i preferred booking train tickets beforehand para wala na iisipin pagdating dun.