European Tours Thread 3

[lesters_gal]

we're leaving for barcelona on monday..im so excited na...i cant wait to explore the city.any tips mga sis....

[foxymom]

^tips when you get back we will be there in january and i hope sale season has started then!

[Mhoirae]

@lesters_gal, pls. tell us all about your trip when you return (tips, restaurants, hotels, places to go, etc.)

I will be going to barcelona in october.

[lesters_gal]

ok sure mga sis...

[mama squeak!]

Ladies, for those with travel plans from Nov 1 to Jan 31, 2013 KLM will have a flash online sale this coming 14-15August. Round trip fares to Paris and Amsterdam will only be $888 all-in! Bihira lang those kind of deals so grab na!!

 

[foxymom]

^oo nga mama squeak, i wanted to cry when i saw it! grabe.... we just bought our tickets for london last week.. masyado kaming excited! 

[chuzzle]

^wahhh sayang yung sale. I still don't have my visa so ayoko munang bumili ng tickets. sayang!

[mama squeak!]

^they can refund your tickets in case your visa application is denied.

Sayang nga eh hindi din pasok sa travel dates namin ni hubby yung promo. Pangshopping na rin sana yung matitipid. Anyway, here's an update of our IT next month 

Day 1.  Arrive AMS at 7AM. We'll be taking the train from the airport to the city then cab from the train station to the B&B in Herengracht. According to the owner we can check-in early if the room's vacant that day otherwise we can leave our bags with them para maka-ikot na kami.

We plan to take the river cruise first to orient ourselves with the city. We'll probably take it easy lang this day and just enjoy walking around. In the evening, red light district!

Day 2.  Museum hopping - Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh and Anne Frank. More walking!

Day 3.  Check out day. Our train to Prague leaves at 7PM pa so we still have more time to go around. More walking!

Day 4.  Arrive in Prague at 9AM. Leave bags at hotel and ikot na. Since we have 4 and a half days to see the city we plan to divide each area per day.

Day 5.  Prague

Day 6.  Prague

Day 7.  Prague. Might visit Kutna Hora (1 hour by train). We're dropping Cesky Krumlov and just concentrate on Prague.

Day 8.  Check out day. We'll be taking an overnight train again this time to Strasbourg, France. Our train leaves at 6PM so we have almost one whole day to see more of Prague.

Day 9.  Arrive Strasbourg at 10AM. Leave bags at train storage locker. Lunch in the city. River cruise around the island. La petite France! Pick up car rental at 4PM and drive to Riquewihr.

Day 10. Alsace Wine route (north)

Day 11  Alsace Wine route (north/south)

Day 12. Alsace Wine route (south)

Day 13. Check out. Mulhouse/Eguisheim

Day 14. Munster, the home of Munster cheese!

Day 15. Drive back to Strasbourg. Return rental car. TGV to Paris.

Day 16. Paris

Day 17. Paris

Day 18. Flight back home.

 

[summer_princess]

Ayayayya!! Wow Refundable pa goshhhh! But I cannot see any the sale fare, puro $ 1200 up yung nag aapear

[mama squeak!]

^dami pa ko nakita early this morning starting on the 25th December then back on the 3rd January. Christmas holiday! Syempre now baka naubos na, unahan yan!

[summer_princess]

Thanks for the tip sis! I booked for Dec12-Jan3 payable within 48hours.

Dilemma is visa still on application mode, how sure that's it's refundable? Fare rule says its not permitted but there's an admin fee of $30. Naconfuse ako!

Oopsss, answered my question LOL
-----
If your journey did not go according to plan, we apologise for the inconvenience. We will refund the costs of your ticket in the following cases:

Your flight was cancelled
Your journey could not be completed because a flight was delayed for more than 5 hours
The conditions of your ticket allow a refund. You always pay an administration fee. 
In case of hospitalisation or death
In case of a visa denial

[summer_princess]

Sisses which Schengen countries is the easiest to apply with? We're staying quite evenly between these 3 counties 4 days each in Paris & Italy, 3 days in Spain. Which nearby countries would you reco to maximize our stay, we have a 21days iti POE in Amsterdam then CDG

How much ideally a "show Money" is? Is Ph100k/pax exclusive of Airfare enough? May credit cards rin naman

[mama squeak!]

^the rule is you apply at the embassy of the country where you will be staying the longest. In case of equal number of stays you apply at the embassy of the first country you will be entering.

Please post your other Schengen visa questions in the Schengen visa thread para di tayo OT.

 

[melodymedley]

Nice and easy itinerary mama squeak! I also want to stay 4 days in Prague, 3 whole days at least.

Now that you mention Amsterdam, the memories came flooding back. Aaaaah... I LOVE their fries.  Ka-miss na tuloy. Walking in AMS is very doable and so much fun fun fun! Ansarap bumili ng fries sa bawat sulok.

@summer_princess: your queries were covered in the Schengen thread - that's one very helpful thread for EU planning.

[^Vain_Chiq^]

^sis i'm based here inthe netherlands and yup the fries is really good here lalo na yung oorlog sauce. Peanut sauce sya with mayo and onion.hehe.shopping is also good here with lots of outlet shops around and there's also primark! Went shopping there last week with my girlfriends and undies were as low as 20 cents and bra's for 50 cents!

Mama squeak, you'll push through pala with Strasbourg and Alsace. It's really such a pretty town. I have a map of the alsace wine route which also indicates the location of major vineyards kaso lang i left it at the hotel but you can get one naman from the tourist center and for free. petite france is so lovely with all those cute buildings ala hansel and gretel.

[lesters_gal]

i just came back this morning from barcelona. we've stayed there for a week.  what can i say? ang daming store, left and right kahit saan ka magpunta my mga shopping store.ang sarap mag shopping kasi ang mura lalo na sa mango outlet nila..halos pinakyaw ko ang mga accesories nila kasi the price start like 1,99 euro to 2.99euro.kahit yung mga bags and clothes mura sa mango outlet nila....

this is what we did in barcelona for 7days

Day 1. we went to Plaza Colon kasi it's near to the house were we stayed.my friend lives in Calle Hospital so it's walking distance lang.so dun muna nag ikot2x kami.my port din kasi dun so my mga barko na andun so nag picture taking din kami dun. pumunta din kami sa maremagnum para mag coffee and mag sight seeing sa my sea side.then for dinner we went to ramblas maraming restaurant dun, iba2x.a must try yung mga tapas nila and the paella.....and of course the sangria...

Day 2-  We ride the hop on hop off bus... its 24 euro for 1day, and 31 euro for 2 days. pwede kayo bumaba every stop.tapos every 5mins meron dumadating na bus.yung bus nila is meron blue and red...although parehas lang sila ng route pero mas prefer ko yung blue... ang ginawa namin is sa blue muna kami sumakay after namin malibot lahat ng mga dinadaanan ng blue bus dun naman kami sa red bus sumakay...

-we went to Casa Batllo, Casa Mila/La Pedrera, these two kailangan attenta ka kasi hindi mo aakalain na tourist spot sha at tabi lang sila ng other building kasi maliit lang sila.

Parc Guell- dito nahirapan kami hanapin 'to kasi pataas sha at medyo tago.kaya lakad galore kami ng pinsan ko.at super tanong sa mga locals.

Sagrada Familia- super haba ng pila papasok sa loob ng church at ang entrance is 14euro ata..ang ganda nung church and till now ginagawa parin.meron pa ata sila tinatapos..

La Bouqueria- This is a market..maganda dito kasi hindi sha wet market..tapos ang cute ng mga colors ng mga tinda nila.from fruits, vegetables, candies, eye catching talaga.a must try yung shake nila kasi fresh fruits gawa.its 1euro if you buy 2.but if you buy one, 1.50 sha each.


Day 3-- A trip to Montserrat... ang bayad sa train papunta dun is 18 euro.one hour ang biyahe from barcelona.my oras din ang alis ng mga train.ang pinaka maaga na alis is 9.30 am-then ang last trip is 6.30pm ata or 7.30pm.. if you are a nature lover you will surely love Montserrat.grabe ang ganda dito.kaloka yung mga forms ng mga bato dun.see it for yourself mga sis and you will know what i mean...LOL

punta din kayo sa church dun sa montserrat and light a candle..1.80 euro yung isang candle na medium size and 2.20 euro yung malaki.. maraming mga souvenirs dun and i think its quite expensive 5 euro kasi... a must try din yung mamon dun s montserrat.2.80 ata yun 3 pieces masarap naman sha...

Day 4- nag beach naman kami...topless kung topless ang labanan dun...LOL.. dito sa Rome bibihira ang nag totopless sa beach.sa barcelona halos lahat ng girls naka topless naglalakad bata, matanda. wala silang care....

Day 5-  Nag shopping na kami... mura nga sa barcelona...zara, mango,bershka,lefties almost lahat.kung madami kang pera halos mauubos mo ang baon mo.LOL. till now sale parin sila.hanggang end of august daw ang sale nila doon eh.

Day 6- Club hopping naman kami. we went to olympic port tabi2x ang mga clubs dun... first we went to SHOKO club.the entrance is 12euro.tapos kung yung cocktails na gusto mo is wala dun sa list na kasama sa 12 euro na pinang entrance mo you will add 1 euro or 2 euro.... ILOVE THE NIGHT LIFE in Barcelona.ang gaganda ng mga discohan nila dun compare dito sa rome....ang downside nga lang is yung mga music na pinatutugtog nila is laging latin music.LOL.

Day 7 - Plaza Espanya. we went there at night to watch the magic fountain of montjuic. my oras din ang start ng show nila. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday...9pm ang start.maganda manood nito, a must see talaga kasi ang cute ng fountains dahil nag iba2x ng colors tapos my background music pa...

I enjoyed my stayed there...maganda ang barcelona pero sa 3 european country na napuntahan ko mas nagandahan talaga ako sa Paris and Rome...ang dami kasing tambay sa barcelona lalo na sa gabi, mga lasing, nakakatakot.parang pinas lang. tapos ang dami pa daw magnanakaw. may nanghahablot daw ng necklaces, cellphones... so you should be very careful and attentive sa mga bags and pockets ninyo...

maganda talaga yung may kakilala ka sa isang places na pupuntahan mo.kasi hindi ka na mahihirapan maghanap ng mga pupuntahan mo, and meron na rin mga tips where and what to do in a place....

[summer_princess]

Sis pacopy ng iti ha! Hehe!

Is Spain your main destination? I'm wondering so you stayed more in Spain? Bec we are applying for our schengen visa in Spain next week.

What airline did you flew in from which schengen state? And where did you stayed na rin? Sorry many many questions

---
Sisses, first time Europe traveller here please comment on my iti. I want
To Maximize our stay. Kailangan sulitin at Baka wala ng next time LOL.

Were doing Paris-Barcelona-Nice-Italy-Nice-Paris
A total of 23 days pero 21 days nlang less flying hours.


Day 1-4 Paris
Day 5-7 Barcelona
Day 8-11 Nice FR
Day 12-17 Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany etc)
day 18-21 _____

What else would you reco adding on our iti? Prague, Greece? Yung malapit Lang sana based on this iti

Thank you very much

[mama squeak!]

^You only have 21 days max? If you include more cities in your IT magiging amazing race na yung tour mo unless that is what you prefer to do. I know how tempting it is to maximize your time in Europe since marami kang pwedeng puntahan in one go. Pero ang kalaban mo is the time, the time you spend in one place to enjoy it and at least get a taste of their culture. Well, as I said earlier unless prefer mo ang amazing race style of tour ha then you can cram in as much places as you want.

With your original IT, I would say doable sya but bitin for me. Suggest get an open jaw routing para di ka na pabalik-balik sa Paris. Unless you availed of the RT promo then you've no choice with the routing.


@^Vain_Chiq^, yup, we decided to cut short our Paris stay since it'll be our fourth time there na naman. We'll be spending 6 days in the Alsace area, driving the wine route and visiting the different villages along the way. I've booked two B&Bs this time since wala masyadong choices with apartments (my preferred lodging). Did you by the way take the river cruise at Strasbourg? I also have a question for you in the Amsterdam thread ha. Thanks!

 

[summer_princess]

^
Yes sis no choice got the promo tix eh.

Anyway I'm travelling with a senior mom, you think in our current iti,
Mala- amazing race ba yung timing?

What can you suggest on our remaining days?  still have 4 open days

[mama squeak!]

^yes sis, amazing race yung dating ng IT mo    You also have to consider kasi yung travel time in between cities not just the going/coming from Manila. So if I were to breakdown your original IT (I marked it with ** / then I included my suggestion without the **) including travel time it will be something like this:

D1  - depart MNL
D 2 - arrive Paris mid day
D3  - Paris
D4  - Paris
D5  - Paris / get a night train to BCN if available

D6  - arrive BCN mid morning
D7  - Barcelona
D 8**- Nice (take the train or fly?)
D 8  - Barcelona
D9  - Barcelona / get night train to Nice if available

D10 - Nice
D11 - Nice

D12** - Italy (train or fly?)
D13 - Tuscany tour (Florence is in Tuscany)
D14 - Tuscany
D15 - Tuscany
D16 - Rome (3 hours by train south of Florence)
D17 - Rome
D18** - you plan to include other cities pa?
D18 - Rome
D19 - Venice (3 to 3.5 hrs northeast of Rome)
D20 - Venice

D21 - Back to Paris (preferably get a flight)
D22 - Paris / flight back
D23 - Manila 

And if I may add if this is the IT that you will follow, you will have to lodge your Schengen visa application with the Italian embassy since you will have 9 days in Italy, 6 days in France and only 3-4 days in Spain.