European Tours Thread 4

[bimbolera]

hello girls! just wondering if possible ba magbackpacker mode sa europe? i did backpacking in japan at nakayanan ko naman. just wondering if keribels din ba sa europe. hope to hear from you all soon! TIA

[mama squeak!]

^oo naman sis! Daming gumagawa nyan. Check mo yung posts and blog ni melody_medley. Twice na sya nag solo/backpacker mode in Europe.

[bimbolera]

^thanks for that! will check on it agad agad!

also, anybody here who can give me an idea about how much it will cost for a 3-wk stay in europe? minus yun airfare. hehe... tia!

[Chili1113]

Hii!! Ill be travelling through Portugal and Spain with my entire family this Sept. I am hoping someone can help me streamline my itinerary, especially in deciding on how many nights to spend in each place.

I will be travelling with 4 senior citizens and 1 kid, and will be in a big group so we cannot move fast and need more time than usual to see the attractions.

Here is what I have so far:

PORTUGAL
1) Lisbon - 2 nights
2) Fatima - 3 nights --- I know this is too long but it is the request of my parents to spend 3 nights here as this pilgrimage is the main purpose of our trip.
3) Lisbon - 2 nights --- to catch flight
---Day trip to Sintra and Cascais

SPAIN
1) Malaga - 1 night --- arrive from Lisbon in the evening. Pick up van rentals early next day
2) Granada - 2 nights --- arriving in the evening on 1st night
3) Seville - 3 nights ---arriving in the afternoon on 1st day
4) Cordoba - 1 night
5) Toledo - 2 nights ---arriving in the evening on 1st night
6) Madrid - 5 nights --- return car rental
-- Day trip to Avila from Madrid
-- Day trip to Segovia from Madrid

Any recommendations? I had initially planned to make stops in Marbella and Ronda, however I am short on time because we have to get back to Madrid by a certain date since some of us will be flying home earlier than the rest from Madrid.

Thank you!

[mooncake and leaves]

How much pocket money do you guys usually bring? Say, if you're staying for 3 weeks? TIA.

[fittotravel]

^thanks for that! will check on it agad agad!

also, anybody here who can give me an idea about how much it will cost for a 3-wk stay in europe? minus yun airfare. hehe... tia!

Hi, sis! I'm trying to unearth my travel notes (with expenses) when I backpacked solo in Europe in 2013. But if my memory serves me right, I spent close to PhP 200,000 for everything. And that's because I spent a week in UK! Last year, I went to Europe again (with my siblings this time). We spent less per person than I did a year ago.  Parang nasa PhP 70,000 roughly 'yung nagastos namin (hindi pa kasama 'yung airfare). 

[mama squeak!]

@mooncake and leaves, what I always do is purchase or book big ticket items online before the trip like transportation (domestic air fare/trains/car rentals/etc.) and attraction passes i.e. museum/monument passes. Anything that can't be bought online, then I set aside the money (though most of the time I just use my card).

When it comes to food, I use this generous computation (breakfast = EUR10/person, lunch = EUR15-20/person, dinner = EUR25-30/person). If your hotel comes with breakfast, then extra savings pa. Personally, I prefer renting apartments if our stays will be more than 3 nights per city since the savings are significant.

Then plus shopping money, of course. And no, I don't make it a habit to buy pasalubongs. If ever I do I only buy for my immediate family.

[bimbolera]

hi sis fittotravel just wondering if yun 200k na naspend mo eh kasama na yun airfare? ano anong mga country ang napuntahan mo and how long did your vacation go? 3-4 weeks kasi sana ang balak ko next april. i don't know how much ang budget needed for the total stay. TIA

[mooncake and leaves]

thanks mama_squeak. gamitin ko na lang formula mo hehe. i think breakfast is provided na and i'll be jumping from one point to another. nakakapagod pero i'm so excited!!!! the big items, yep, booked na. worry ko lang talaga food & passes/tickets.

[fittotravel]

^^Hi! I'm a guy so honorary sis na lang ako. hehe! Yes, kasama na lahat sa 200k budget. 3 weeks din. London, Liverpool, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Milan, Venice, Rome. I was supposed to go to Barcelona and Paris but had to cut the trip short due to unforeseen circumstances. Hay.

Anyway, the following year, siniguro ko na na makakarating na ako sa Paris. Kasama ko naman siblings ko. 'Yung isa, first time sa Europe so ako ang kasama niya sa Italian leg ng trip. Rome-Venice-Milan-Interlaken (Switzerland--- for the Swiss Alps)-Paris-Amsterdam naman ang route namin. Mas mura nagastos namin dito (around 130k?). We got apartments din para makapagluto kami. Malaking savings din 'yun!

Please refrain from quoting posts, use the ^ or @ sign instead. Thanks!

[bimbolera]

^ay sori bro fittotravel hehe~ thanks also. napaka-ambitious ng plano ko which is paris-barcelona-venice-rome-athens. hopefully masqueeze in ko lahat sa 3 weeks. wish ko lang~

[fittotravel]

^That route is doable naman. Perfect intro to Europe. Air travel within the Schengen states is relatively cheaper. You may want to look into the folliwing airlines for cheap tickets: Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling. We're planning another Europe trip for next year pero Eastern Europe + Balkan states naman. Good luck! Kayang-kaya!

[summersunder]

Help sa itinerary
I will be in europe for work and extend for personal. I will be based in belgium. Feasible or ok ba ang plan ko na:
Brussels - Cologne Germany (train)
Cologne Germany - Rome Italy (plane) no itinerary yet for Italy pero i will stay siguro for 4 days. (Florence?)

I will go to Paris and Amsterdam na during my work weekend (or pwede din Amsterdam-Cologne-Rome)

Any suggestions on my plans? Place to stay, must try/see/eat etc TIA

[fittotravel]

@summersunder: First off, wise yung planned weekend trips mo to Paris and Amsterdam. Nasa gitna lang ang Brussels ng dalawang lugar na ito via TGV train. Naalala ko kasi nadaanan namin ang Belgium from Paris (going to Amsterdam).

You can't go wrong with Rome and Venice for your intro to Italy. Some people, especially those who have deep appreciation for arts, will enjoy a day trip to Florence. I did not! Haha! The only saving grace of my 1-night stay there was the Gelato Festival! Naswertehan na sakto sa punta ko. 

[bzbee]

here's a rough draft of our itinerary:

Rome
day 1 - arrival/rest/tour
day 2 - rome city tour
day 3 - vatican
day 4 - florence day trip (optional)
day 5 - flight to paris

Paris
day 1 - arrival/rest/tour
day 2 - paris city tour
day 3 - versailles day trip (optional)
day 4 - louvre
day 5 - train to london

London
day 1 - arrival/rest/tour
day 2 - london city tour
day 3 - stonehenge-bath-windsor tour
day 4 - harry potter tour
day 5 - flight to manila

i tried to keep it light so we can have free time for shopping and chilling around... or is this still too tight? i haven't completely checked out city tours so im not sure if the first 2 days is enough for each, we'll just skip the optionals if not. we're also planning to join group tours on some of the places like stonehenge-bath-winsor since it seems too far to DIY. please share your thoughts!!

[little_princess]

^ I'd suggest that you do Harry Potter around 4pm so that you would have the whole morning/eary afternoon for shopping depending when you go, sunset can be as late as 8pm.

[bzbee]

thanks little_princess! hindi ba bitin kung 4pm onwards lang kami maglilibot sa Harry Potter? gaano ba usually katagal ikutin yun? i thought whole day siya hehe. we'll be going there around March next year.

[little_princess]

^ Ah pag March, around 6pm yung sunset, it's not a very big place and only one area na open air. you only need about 3-4 hours there and travel time. I suggest you buy your entrance ticket and bus ride as early as now if you can kasi if you join the tour, super mahal

[tintin_c17]

Hi can i join mga sissies,  i will be travelling kasi this june 9 going to london gusto ko sana magpasuggest ng kung ano pa pwedeng gawin na sidetrips or kung saan ok magshopping na mura.  Ito itinerary namin, we fly going london sa june 9,then 3nights lang kami sa amba charing cross hotel kami stay then punta kami ng southhampton kasi mag cruise kami sasakyan namin anthem of the seas ng royal caribbean then unang port Gijon,  then Bilbao barcelona,  then st. Peters port then last france sa paris.  Then stay kami don 1week at hotel cecilia then from there balik pinas na.  Please any insights for our trips are much appreciated. Tyi

[bimbolera]

hi girls, ask ko lang, gano kaimportante ang guided tour sa europe? meron ba kayong highly recommended guided tour? meron din bang mga guided tours na pwede nang i-skip? TIA