Im back ladies! First of all, I want to thank everyone who patiently answered all my inquiries! You guys truly helped me plan and prepare for our Eurotrip. Id like to share a few tidbits about our Eurotrip as a way of giving back to the femalenetwork community:)
1. We pegged our 30 day, 5 countries/8 cities at $4000/pax as we have a friend who availed of a 2 week Eurotour package for 7 countries from a travel agency at the same price. After completing our IT, the trip we wanted amounted to $4300. This is all in na, with food, train and plain tickets, attraction tickets, etc. Ang hindi lang kasama is my shopping money for designer bags. After the trip, I can say that our $4300 budget for a month trip is a safe amount. May nauwi pa ako 300 euro. Also note that I paid for my bags with my card.
Also, I traveled with my boyfriend so total projected budget for this trip is $8600.
This is still cheaper than our friend's tour package as the $4000/pax quote she got still excludes additional taxes. She said that all in all, they paid the travel agency $4500/pax for the 2 week tour.
2. I bit the bullet and bought an open jaw plane ticket from the Feb 2015 travel expo even without a Schengen visa. Saved me $300.
3. I budgeted 15 euro for lunch, 20-25 euro for dinner, 10 euro miscellaneous per pax, per day. More often than not, hindi namin nammeet yan. Usually 10 euro/pax lang kami for lunch, 15 euro/pax for dinner. Thats with drinks na. The only time we spent more was in Paris. Parang lahat ng nasave namin, napunta lahat sa Paris. Buti na lang it was our last stop! Haha!
4. Notable restos and meals. Rothenburg- order jagerschnitzel and pork knuckle. Though I think our crispy pata still beats their pork knuckle! Munich-Munchen Hofbrauhau. Prague-Cestr!!! Book in advance. Florence-Il Latini. Book in advance and order their set menu. for 50 euro/pax we had 3 appetizers, 3 pasta dishes, 1 big florentine steak good for 2, and 2 desserts. sobrang sulit! Pompi also in Florence for tiramisu. its a must! Madami na rin sila branches. Rome-Da Enzo in Trastervere, arrive early. Or anywhere in Trastevere. Paris-L'avant Comptoir, arrive early.
5. I used a 2 year old luggage and omg, nasira ang wheels niya in the middle of our trip dahil sa cobblestones ng Europe! I highly encourage that you invest in a good luggage albeit expensive when youre going to DIY Europe! It was so hard lugging around our luggage! If Im going to do it again, Ill just have a big backpack and a cabin sized luggage, or better yet kahit backpack lang! I brought 10 tops kasi maarte ako but if you can cut it down to 5 please do! Mas important lang na medyo marami undies and socks nyo. Makakapaglaundry naman kayo everyday eh. We made sure that all the bnb's we rented have washers. With this, I bought a new luggage in Florence. Buti na lang sale.
6. I read a lot about the scams in Europe but I sadly and stupidly fell for one! Ugh! One social worker looking lady approached us at The Mall in Florence and asked for our signatures to support their charity. Akala ko yun lang but she asked for 20 euro. Medyo kinabahan na ko but my boyfriend said he can only donate 10 euro. When the lady requested 20 euro so she could meet on quota, kinabahan na ko. Hindi ko na rin napigilan boyfriend ko when he handed over 20 euro. Hayyy it was too late when we realized we've been scammed. Dun ko lang rin naalala na I read about that scam before na. Up to this day, hindi namin makalimutan ang 20 euro na yun.
7. We brought water bottles with filters. That way, we can just fill the bottles with water from any faucet. I know the water there is most probably clean but just to be sure. It saved us a lot of money from buying bottled water. We bought it in Canada for 15 cad, cheaper in the states.
8. Our Pacsafe bags made us feel secure. Pwede naman normal bags lang, just be mindful of it and always keep it in front of your bodies. Actually, I never used the safety features of my bag until we reached Italy and Paris. I felt safer in Amsterdam, Germany, and Czech.
9. Having a separate coin purse made it easier for us to disburse coins.
10. After making our IT, we decided to avail of the Holland Pass, Roma Pass, and Paris Museum card. Nasulit namin sila super and we got to jumped queues. Makita mo lang yung line sa louvre, alam mo na na you made the right choice buying the Paris Museum Pass. We also got unli transpo passes in some cities.
11. Medyo hindi reliable ang bus ng Rome. Sobrang nastress kami kasi minsan hindi mo makita yung bus stop kasi nakatago sa trees or cars, walang corresponding bus stop ang other way, most stops do not have marquee that says when the next bus will arrive. Also, not all buses tell you where you are in the route. Kailangan mo lingunin ang bus stop nila to check where you are. What I do is every night, pnplan ko na commute namin while i still have wifi. Then I screen shot everything. Mas maganda if malapit place nyo sa train station kaysa bus stop.
12. Gamit na gamit ang citymaps2go ko. It works well on iphones. Medyo hassle siya gamitin sa android coz once nagsleep ang phone mo while youre using it, you have to input your destination ulit.
14. We used a lot of Rick Steves audio tour. It saved us a lot of time in the Vatican Museums, Uffizi, and Louvre.
15. We stayed at most cities for 4-5 days except for rothenburg and venice, 3 days and 2 days respectively.
I think that's it! Ill add more if may maalala pa ko. I cant wait to plan our next eurotrip! We're thinking UK, croatia and slovenia naman:) Hope I helped anyone in anyway:)
^ @peanutbutterlove
i know that trip! its the affordable europe tour that most travel agencies use. it is also the tour i was talking about in this post. sabi ng friend ko okay naman yan, kaso highlights lang talaga per city makikita nyo. mabilisan ang sked. but it might probably the best option for you and your parents. mahirap mag diy if may kasama na seniors. kawawa talaga sila, though ang dami ko nakita caucasians na seniors na nakikipagsabayan sa amin sa lakaran at pag akyat ng mg church towers! the tour will benefit them kasi hindi na nila pproblemahin pagdadala ng luggage kung saan saan:)
