European Tours Thread 3

[mama squeak!]

@^Vain_Chiq^, ay sayang naman about Keukenhof! Yeah I read mga around April-May yung mga tulips talaga. About the coffee shops, curious lang kami. Wonder how their space cakes taste 

Would love to see other places in The Netherlands aside from Amsterdam kaya lang too short a visit kami. So most probably we'll just stick with Amsterdam this time and save the rest for another visit. Please check my tentative IT in the Amsterdam thread. Would appreciate your comments again. Thanks!

 

[melvel]

Update lang on our trip next year:  We booked a vacation rental in London already.  We're staying there for eight nights.  I love the place we got, but will reserve reviews until after our vacation.

Now looking for a hotel in Paris, for five nights.  Then I'll start fixing the detailed itinerary na.  Planning a trip is fun, no lie

[mama squeak!]

^I'm renting another apartment for our Paris trip. I got it for EUR65/night only since it is located on the upper arrondissements (Montmartre). Since we've been to Paris before okay lang to stay a bit farther away from the main tourist drag. You might want to check out apartments/rentals in Paris too.

 

[melvel]

^Will look into it, but I think we might splurge a little for Paris and stay in a hotel.  We got our rental in London for GBP230 a night (three bedrooms and three bathrooms for 6 people), way below our budgeted price...so there's a little room to splurge in Paris.

[mama squeak!]

^Not bad, for 6? That's a good deal!    If you want to splurge in Paris, you might want to check out Paris Shangri-La (great views of the Eiffel) or the hotels around Place Vendome. 

[hulawho]

Any suggestions where we can stay in Paris? We will be there for 4 nights. Budget $150 or less.

[cind3r3lla]

hi.. trying to plan a trip..ang hirap kapag hindi mo gamay ang history at hehe.
ano bang 2 countries ang magandang pagsamahin..either with italy or with prague..

tia!

[mama squeak!]

@hulawho, check airbnb.com for affordable apartments you can rent. You can get even less than your budget depending on the location. The previous apartment we rented during our last Paris visit we got it for EUR80/night but this was in the inner arrondissement. For our upcoming Paris trip this October I got another apartment but at the outer arrondissement which was cheaper at EUR65/night only.

Backread ka lang on this thread and the earlier ones plus the Paris thread to get an idea of the locations to stay at in Paris. I already posted a lot of tips there.

@cind3r3lla, first thing you have to do is get a map of Europe to give you an overall idea of the place. Then locate mo yung mga gusto mong puntahan, magkalapit lang ba or magkakalayo. From there start planning.

For our upcoming trip this September-October, we're doing Amsterdam-Prague-Alsace (France) and Paris in a 20 day trip. Backread ka on this thread, I've posted my tentative itinerary. Plus backread ka rin sa previous Euro tour threads, Paris, Italy and Prague threads to give you an idea how to go about planning your trip.

Happy DIY planning!   

[riksy07]

Hi sisses! I've started to backread this thread and the two other previous threads as well. I'm planning a Eurotrip with two of my friends and here is our itinerary (overview lang muna mga sis) so far:

March 24: evening flight from MNL to LHR (London)
March 25- March 28: London
March 29 - April 01: Paris
April 02- April 03: Prague
April 04 - April 05: Vienna
April 06 - April 07: Venice
April 08 - April 09: Florence
April 10 - April 14: Rome
April 15: flight back to MNL from FCO

Okay lang ba ng ganitong itinerary mga sis?

[mama squeak!]

^sis, okay sya if you're planning an Amazing Race "European" series    You only have 23 days including travel time to see the places you listed. For me puro bitin yung mga days you'll be spending in each of the cities you listed.

Ideally, try to accommodate 4 whole days each in London and Paris, 3 whole days in Prague since this is a very compact city, 2 whole days Vienna just to hit the major sights, Florence and Rome deserves at least 2 to 3 whole days each while Venice at least 1 whole day better kung 2 days. So if you count the total number of days you'll be spending in your city list nasa 21 days ka na hindi pa kasama travel time mo nyan ha.

Re-think your itinerary unless yun nga picture-picture lang balak nyo ng friends mo. 

[melodymedley]

^^Good choice of cities sis. I think kaya ng train ride crossing the cities naman. Medyo haggard nga lang yun.  London-train-Paris-train-Prague-train-Vienna-train-Venice-train-Florence-train-Rome. My comments on the time allotted per city:

London - 4 days - no idea
Paris -4 days - pretty good.
Prague - 2 days - no idea
Vienna - 2 days - no idea
Venice - 2 days - Ok
Florence - 2 days - Ok IF you will skip the museums and just walk around the city with no sidetrips.
Rome - 5 days - pretty good.

I am not sure how long the train travels are for the Paris-Prague-Vienna-Venice Route. If this is around 4 hours, you can leave the hotel morning, say around 7-8am then arrive at your next city by lunch time. Leave the luggage at the hotel then you have the afternoon to tour the city. So parang 1.5 days na lang ang labas.Or... drop two days in Rome and add them to Prague and Vienna to cover the travel times.

My suggestion:
March 24: evening flight from MNL to LHR (London)
March 25- March 28: London
March 29 - April 01: Paris
April 02- April 04: Prague
April 05 - April 07: Vienna
April 08 - April 09: Venice
April 10 - April 11: Florence
April 12 - April 14: Rome (take a 5 or 6am train to Rome)
April 15: flight back to MNL from FCO (evening I hope, so you can shop in the morning)

Suggestion lang 

In my experience, hindi lang yung rides yung nakakapagod. The unpacking and packing takes some effort too. Especially when your luggage gets heavier after each city because of shopping. hehe.

Also, consider when you will be doing your laundry. One time, I spent a couple of euros using the washing machine of the hotel (pero di na yun naulit, hehe). For the rest of the trip, I did my laundry in the bathroom and just hang them dry in the hostel room. Minsan, the clothes don't dry off immediately even after 2 nights so I had to pack the damp clothes in a separate plastic bag.

Of course, hindi naman deciding factor yung doing laundry, just something to consider.

Overall, those are good choices - you'll be hitting Paris, Venice and Rome which I think is a must if it is your first time in Europe (well, biased ako because these are my faves, hehe). The rest are bonuses. I'd love to have Vienna and Prague in my next trip.

[snowkittycat]

I'm so excited! We're leaving this Wednesday for Italy.
We'll be in Rome, Florence and Paris for 2 and a half weeks!

[Mhoirae]

@ricksy07, i suggest it's better to concentrate on a few cities than try to pack everything in a limited time.  london, italy and france can be done together since these are western european countries. 
prague and vienna are in east europe.  paris is very far from prague, if you really want to go, i suggest you fly rather than take a train.
it's no fun to just skim the surface, better to stay in a few cities and really experience it.

[riksy07]

@Mhoirae, @mamasqueak, and @melodymedley

My two friends backed out of the Eurotrip due to issues on the required budget for the trip, thus, leaving me to do this as a solo DIY trip. I updated the itinerary na rin to this one below:

March 24- MNL to LHR
March 25- 30: London
March 31- April 04: Paris
April 05- April 10: Rome (but I'm allotting days for trips to Florence, Naples, and Osimo)
April 11- FCO to MNL

Okay naman na an allotted days ko db mga sis?

[mama squeak!]

^sis, your London and Paris visits are more than enough to hit the major sights. Plus it only takes around two hours by Eurostar from London's St. Pancras station to Paris' Gare du Nord.

My concern lang is your Italy leg specifically your day trip to Osimo. If you're going to base yourself in Rome, the train to Osimo via Ancona already takes 4 hours for the shortest trip one way. So depending on the train and timings you are looking at 8 hours round trip. Di ka kaya mabitin? Maybe you can do an overnight stay?

For Firenze and Napoli day trips, no problem since it only takes less than 2 hours one way to get there from Rome.

If I may suggest the following IT based on the places you want to visit:

March 25-29       -  5 whole days London
March 30-Apr 03 -  5 whole days Paris, assuming you get the earliest train
                             from London to Paris arriving Paris at 7AM or 10AM.
Apr 04-April 10   -  7 days in Italy including an overnight stay in Osimo
                             and day trips to Firenze and Napoli. Suggest travel
                             by air from  Paris to Rome since train travel will take   
                             at least 13-14 hours.

If you want to include Venice in your IT, you can shorten your stay in London and Paris to 4 whole days each. You end up with 9 days in Italy so more flexible na your IT.

 
   

[Mhoirae]

@riksy07, i admire you for going thru your trip even if you will be on your own.
i don't think i can do that.
I am going with my 2 girlfriends to france, italy and spain in about 3 weeks. 
There was also a time na one of them almost backed out, pero, thankfully, it all worked out in the end.

Good luck with  your planning, it takes a lot of work, but it is really exciting.  I am the planner and tourguide for our trip =)

[riksy07]

@mamasqueak!

Thanks for the itinerary suggestion. That's what I'm following na. I'm also considering shortening my stay in Paris to 4 days since dun lang ako walang friends na imeemeet up. As for the travel to Rome from Paris, I'll be taking an easyJet flight. I browsed flights na and mukhang okay naman ang rates. I'm still thinking if I really need an overnight stay in Osimo since I'm just planning to visit the church of St. Guiseppe (St. Joseph Cupertino).

@Mhoirae

At first I was nervous about going alone. But I have been reading sis melodymedley's blog and it inspired me to push through with my trip. Aside from that, I have cousins and friends in London and I'll be staying at a friend's house in Rome. Sa Paris lang talaga ako walang kasama. Have fun on your trip sis! I'm looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back, para naman lalo mafuel [textspeak!] drive ko to plan because mahirap nga ang planning stage nito.

[mama squeak!]

^sis, kung yun lang naman pala sadya mo pwede na balikan. For your Paris stay you can stay at a hostel or rent an apartment para mas tipid as compared to staying at a hotel. You can back read on the Paris thread to give you an idea.

 

[Mhoirae]

@riksy07, visit RickSteves.com, there is a treasure trove of information there pati DIY walking tours.  It helped me a lot with my planning.

[triggerhappy]

^sis, okay sya if you're planning an Amazing Race "European" series    You only have 23 days including travel time to see the places you listed. For me puro bitin yung mga days you'll be spending in each of the cities you listed.

Ideally, try to accommodate 4 whole days each in London and Paris, 3 whole days in Prague since this is a very compact city, 2 whole days Vienna just to hit the major sights, Florence and Rome deserves at least 2 to 3 whole days each while Venice at least 1 whole day better kung 2 days. So if you count the total number of days you'll be spending in your city list nasa 21 days ka na hindi pa kasama travel time mo nyan ha.

Re-think your itinerary unless yun nga picture-picture lang balak nyo ng friends mo. 

Planning for a 34-day eurotrip a year from now for our official honeymoon  Im still busy preparing for our wedding this january kaya im just lurking in this thread, pero cant help but ask na din naexcite ako sa mga posts eh. Anyway, i have a friend in london and my fiance has a relative in italy kaya we can stay with them na. With your suggestion, we can go 4 days each in London and Paris, 3 days in Prague,  2 days in vienna, 3 days each in florence and rome, 2 days in venice, so 21 days total, yung extra travel time na yun? Or I can fit in one more city? Any suggestions? We dont want naman na mag-ala amazing race. And one more thing, how much budget do we have to allot per person? We are thinking 250k pero baka hindi kasya?