European Tours Thread 3

[letters_to_cleo]

^Gusto ko rin mag Bernina Express! Pero better daw sya ng spring or fall season. Nice to siguro kung Switzerland ang base mo (mura ang flights pa Switzerland from Madrid minsan 29 Euros lang) then Bernina ka papuntang Italy, may bus din daw papuntang Lugano via Bernina Express.  Gustong gusto ko rin gawin ito! Next year, ipon ipon muna ng money at leaves haha!

[yena^_^]

^sis sa autumn nga next year plan namin  ... super excited na akong magplan kahit ang layo2 pa. Actually I'm turn between Zurich, Chur or St. Moritz mag-oovernight, advantage ng either Chur or St. Moritz is atleast man lang mabawasan ang travel time to Venice kasi nasa gitna na sila, disadvantage naman is super mahal ng mga accomodation kahit hostel and freezing na ang St. Moritz sa late Sept. early Oct.

Plan ko is either Paris-Zurich, overnight sa Zurich (4+ hours travel time)

or Paris-Zurich-Chur, overnight sa Chur (almost 6 hours travel time)

or Paris-Zurich-Chur-St. Moritz, overnight at St. Moritz (8+ hours travel time)

Zurich-Venice via Bernina route and Milan total of 11++ hours...So research research muna ako anong magandang gawin, I don't want to miss Swiss scenery kasi sa first time ko magtour sa Europe. Dream ko talaga makita toh!

[letters_to_cleo]

^Ang mahal nga talaga ng accomodation sa Zurich! (lalo sa Geneva :-( ) at actually sa Switzerland, mahal talaga ang lahat. :-(
Kaya siguro ang mura ng domestic flights pa Switzerland (from EU countries) kasi ginto talaga ang prices dun.  :-(  Yung iniisip ko
rin eh from St. Moritz para macut ang travel time.  Pero sa akin depende alin mas mura haha :-(


BTW Croatia, part na ng EU!  Sabi ng officemate kong local (Espanyol) maganda at di pa daw mahal sa Zagreb.  At kung tama ang pagkakaintindi ko, pwedeng visa upon arrival dito kung holder ka ng Schengen visa.  Isa rin sya sa gusto kong bisitahin pero next year na lang :-)

[mama squeak!]

Uy! I also Mr. Googled the Swiss train system and they're a whole lot cheaper than the Orient Express. They have different panoramic trains/routes to choose from depende na rin sa season. Hmmm.... I might consider this in the meantime while making ipon for the Venice-Simplon line.    

[letters_to_cleo]

^^ yung Pinay na co-engineer ko yan ang gagawin nya sa bakasyon nya this August, mag Switzerland sya then Lyon, then back to Switzerland tapos  mag Bernina Express sya. BTW from Geneva malapit na lang ang Lyon, France. Two hours train ride na lang.
Hingi ako ng feedback after ng bakasyon nya hehe! If masaya, ipaplan ko ito for next year :-)

[little_princess]

anything to see in lille or calais? hubby and i are thinking of a weekend in france this september. or if not baka brussels na lang since it is the closest to london via train

[letters_to_cleo]

Galing ako Brussels this weekend sis. Nice naman ang Brussels and not so big. Best bet sa brussels ang mga chocolates haha, mura and masarap but hindi nga lang matatagal ang expiration dates so di pwedeng maghoard.

[cinnam]

Mga sis, possible ba 1 month DIY for Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy and Greece?

Initial plan is to do south of Spain then south of France, go up north Paris then Switzerland, down to Italy and Greece.

1. Barcelona, Madrid for Spain
2. French Riviera, Lyon?, Avignon?  Paris for France
3. Lucerne, Swiss alps for Switzerland
4. Cinque terre, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Vatican for Italy
5. Mykonos, Santorini for Greece
6. Back to Venice (Verona as base)

[cheerylion]

Does anyone know a legit Europe group tour? TIA

[prettybarbie]

^ globus, cosmos, trafalgar, contiki, insight, rick steve's

[shegie_285]

omg I got excited with the PAL flight!! tatlong taon kong winish yan (well since I lived here in Dublin and ginoogle ko pa talaga dati ang reason why PAL doesn't fly to Europe!) ang tagal kong hindi nakapag-log in now ko lang nabasa. October this year?? sayang I booked my flight na to Pinas for December. Although October is too far pa to wait, in case hindi matuloy.  I did not see it when I was checking flights last July.

On a separate note, I booked Malaysian Airlines, ang mura ng pamasahe from Dublin - Manila for December (14 Dec - 1 Jan) €980 lang. It stops in Amsterdam or Frankfurt and then KL.  I think this is a good option if you are checking flights to Europe.  I prefer Etihad or Emirates sana but they were expensive or I don't like the layover time.

caterpillar-girl late na reply but I think your trip is doable naman.  kami 3-4 days lang din kami pag nagta-travel here sa Europe so pili na lang talaga ang mga pupuntahan. Edinburgh is very small so 3 days pwede na. We haven't done a day trip to the highlands kase twice na pumunta kami dun hindi maganda weather (October and March) and baka parang Ireland lang din, sayang. Weather is very unpredictable nga. Last year malamig early May pero gumanda ang weather mga end of May (I remember kase my mom was here and ginaw na ginaw sya. tapos gumanda ang weather nung pauwi na sila).

[shegie_285]

caterpillar-girl in case you apply ka pang visa - pang UK Ireland thread ito pero since dito ka nagpost, post ko na lang dito. hopefully UK and Ireland agree with the common tourist visa!

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/markets/equities/irish-and-british-governments-to-trial-common-tourist-visa-this-year-1.1466902

[letters_to_cleo]

^Sis, Excited ako dyan sa news mo! Gusto ko rin kasing magDublin kaso ang hassle nga na one visa application tapos Dublin lang :-( Pag UK kasi merong six months multiple entry, so kung kasama na ang Ireland, super good news yan! I really want to go to DUblin, pero naisip ko for the same visa fee, mag UK 6 months visa na lang ako haha!
Sana soon na yang common tourist visa!

[shegie_285]

^ I know sis.. Ireland will definitely benefit from the common tourist visa especially from Asian countries. Sana nga sa Schengen na lang sila sumali kaso probably wont work because of the open border between Northern and Republic of Ireland. so maki-common tourist visa na lang sila sa UK.  Inaabangan ko din ang approval at balak din ng mom ko mag-Ireland/UK next year.

[little_princess]

Galing ako Brussels this weekend sis. Nice naman ang Brussels and not so big. Best bet sa brussels ang mga chocolates haha, mura and masarap but hindi nga lang matatagal ang expiration dates so di pwedeng maghoard.

oo nga masarap! i was there before and super mouth watering but then parang brussels is so small. what did you do on a weekend?

we still haven't decided yet on where to go but it's a toss up between brussels, paris or any part of france, or amsterdam.

sis she, that is good news! hubby and i were just talking about dublin but nakaka turn off lang that i have to get another visa yet again. if this pushes through, we'll be going there for sure

[letters_to_cleo]

^If sightseeing nga, walang masyado sa Brussels :-) We went to the Cathedral, Basilica, the Atomium and as always, the Manekken Piss :-)
We bought chocs, had long brunches and kasi birthday ng kasama ko sa trip so we celebrated at night :-) But Brussels is enough na nga if i-daytrip from Amsterdam or Holland.
Nice din naman, kasi hindi ka masyadong gahol sa Oras :-)  If you go to The Netherlands~ say Amsterdam, do visit yung other cities nila like Haarlem and Rotterdam :-) Madaming
nice places outside Amsterdam din :-) I spent a week in NL kasi last week and di ako nagpunta ng Amsterdam (went there before and parang enough na sa akin yun haha), instead I went sa Haarlem , Dordrecht and was based in Rotterdam.  Got surprised at madaming undiscovered galaan outside of Amsterdam, including big parks :-)

[little_princess]

hubby and i have been to amsterdam separately na and parang we just want to explore the place a bit more and siyempre together na if friday to sunday or monday, do-able ba na amsterdam plus another city or two? parang non-negotiable kay hubby to visit the heineken factory. will be coming from london.

[jenger109]

i'll be going to rome the day after tom, i'd be there for a week.. my IT is ok now, the accommodations and all.. pati mga pasalubongs nakalista na.. kaya lang ewan ko ba, hindi na ako nae excite.. checked the temp in rome and sobrang init ngayon doon.. parang mas excited na ako sa paris on feb..

[letters_to_cleo]

^^Amsterdam is very doable in 1-2 days:-)  My take is, ang matagal lang gawin sa Amsterdam is if you go to the Museums and yung Anne Frank House, but all the rest, lakad lakad lang :-)
Here's the places I've been to in NL, baka one here you might like to visit:

Delft - university town, very homey and old world ang dating. Picturesque too. Weekend Market on Saturdays

Den Haag - the queen of open markets! Also where the government buildings are

Haarlem - same lang as Delft ang dating, but may shopping center sill na nice

Rotterdam - my base~ Big park with lake, good art Museum, the famous bridges are here, their library (Bibliotheek) is A-mazing! All the travel books you want, you can read for free. Free internet , imac surfing (they have imacs there), and videos din.  Though you cant borrow a book unless tags-dun ka, maraming books and magazines in English na you can read while there. Also nasa Rotterdam ang Best Apple Pie in the Netherlands (Dudok Patisserie, in Beurs Station)

[vain_kixie]

I dunno why but I cant figure out how the website of sncf works.I always get diverted to the
website for agencies. Try to book in french but the website seems under renovation or ewan ko
baka i really just dont know how to make it work.