European Tours Thread 4

[vhanya]

^Madali lang umikot sa Europe. Lagi kaming DIY unless mag sidetrip ka for one day, usually we use viator.com to book our tour.

[shygirlme]

Hello! Planning Europe tour with my husband maybe next year. Proposal palang to my husband gusto nya kasi icheck kung san ok pumunta next year. Please help me with our IT and expenses

France (Paris) - Eiffel Tower
Italy - Vatican and Milan (or basta makakakain kami ng authentic pizza and pasta)
Norway - thinking pa about this since my husband wants to see Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) san kaya ok pumunta?
Austria - Vienna
Amsterdam

Ok ba pagkaka arrange nya? how much pala visa ng Schengen now? san murang ticket ako makakakuha? Thanks!

[Chili1113]

^Skip Milan! Hehe its my least favorite city in Italy along with Pisa hehe

[vhanya]

^true, skip Milan, go to Florence instead

[shygirlme]

^hi sis ano makikita sa Florence? hmm napaisip tuloy ako kasi gusto sana namin dumalaw sa kamag anak in Milan maybe they can go to Vatican nalang hehe

[Chili1113]

OK Florence for the best Italian food (Tuscan region), then best for outlet shopping, and best medieval and renaissance art museum-- Uffizi... or Kaya go to Venice the most romantic Italian city!! If you like art and good food go to Florence. If you want a very beautiful and romantic city as if you were in a movie set go to Venice. Hehe sorry ha, Milan has its charms but it is one city I dont ever plan on returning to. Hehe It has all the dirt and grit of Rome, but without the ancient cultural sites. To think we had friends who took us out there and so we had fun. Otherwise super nothing to do there compared to the other cities, and ang mhal pa ng hotel and food! Super disappointing city for me kaya nag shopping nalang kami hehe

As for the Northern Lights--- you can view it from many place near the Arctic Circle. Heheh again... while I enjoyed visiting Scandinavian countries especially Stockholm, it is not the kind of place I would visit again. Oslo, I skipped entirely since walang magawa doon after researching. The Norwegian Fjords are very nice I heard but the tricky part is, the Norwegian Fjord cruises arent usually active during Northen Lights season because it is really cold. Try Iceland to see the Northern Lights, and at the same time see all the massive glaciers!!

[shygirlme]

^thank you sis! note ko yan.

[snow25]

^^^bimbolera We just came back from our Europe trip. DIY kami except when we visited some places in Rome - Vatican Museum, St Peters Basilica, Colosseo and in Paris - Eiffel Tower. why guided tour? Because it saved us a lot of time. Even if we buy tickets online, there is still a long queue. With guided tour, they have a separate line to get in. After the guided tour, the tour guide will leave you inside and you can stay to take pictures.

St. Peter's Basilic is free, pero naman sobrang haba ng line to get in. So we took a combination guided tour of Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. You will enter St. peter's basilica from the back, there is an entrance from Sistine Chapel. Only guided tours can use that entrance.

For the Colosseo(Colosseum), suggest ko to get the tour with the upper and underground access.

[charm0220]

Florence is really nice. I would suggest to take a daytrip to Siena, Chianti, San Gimignano and Pisa.
Part of the itinerary yung lunch sa isang vineyard in Chianti. They served us authentic italian food and nagwine tasting din kami. The place is really beautiful.

We also went to Space (outlet store of Prada and MiuMiu). Super saya magshop kasi laki ng difference ng price.

If you have extra day or two, I would really suggest na to check out Cinque Terre. Isa sa favorite places namen ni hubby. Either you take a daytrip din from Florence or magovernight para mas sulit. We visited two towns - Vernazza and Monterosso.

One of the highlight naman ng eurotrip namen is Vatican. We attended the Papal Mass. We were able to see upclose si Pope.

[shygirlme]

^hi sis anong day kayo nagsimba sa vatican? penge tips pano nyo nakita si pope

[charm0220]

Wednesday kami nagmass. The day before the mass pwede kumuha ng ticket or if you want pareserve may parang form na need ifax sa kanila. Sa website nila nakalagay yung form.

What we did, nagpunta kami sa Vatican ng Tuesday, nagask around kami sa guards. Buti na lang yung natanungan namen, siya yung nagbibigay ng tickets. Sabi nya balikan namen sya ng 3pm. Yung guard na yun naka pwesto siya sa right side ng Vatican. sa gilid ng mga naka line papasok ng Vatican. Pero yung nakalagay sa website nila, pede din kumuha ng ticket sa swiss guard na naka pwesto sa bronze gate. triny din namen puntahan yung swiss guard pero sabi ubos na yung ticket so binalikan namen yung unang guard na inask namen. Weird lang na patago nya binibigay. so feeling ko extra tickets nila yun. kasi most people will go dun sa Swiss guard kasi yun yung nakalagay sa website.

The next morning (wednesday), 7:30 kami dumating and pinapapasok na nila mga tao. Maganda yung pwesto namen kasi sa first box and sa may gilid. sa ticket 10am start ng mass pero 9:30 lumabas na si Pope. umikot sya sa ng mga 30 minutes before nagstart yung mass. After the mass we waited mga 1 hour for him kasi bumaba siya ulit. dahil nagalisan na mga tao, nasa pinaka harap na kmi kaya nakita namen siya mga less than 2 meters away lang kami sa kanya

Tip: if you really want to see Pope ng malapitan and ma-bless niya, madaming couples ang nagsusuot ng wedding gowns nila. If you are wearing your wedding gown, they will allow you and your hubby na pumunta sa pinaka front sa likod ni Pope. Sa end ng mass ibbless nya lahat ng couple na nakawedding gown and suit.

[shygirlme]

^nice thank you sis! super helpful ng tips mo! kaya gusto ko ma push tong trip namin gusto ko makapagsimba sa vatican and makita si pope.

[bimbolera]

Hi sis, pwede makahingi ng list of your tourist guides? if it's ok. thanks for your suggestions. will note everything you said.

[bzbee]

^^ same question sis. is viator okay? also want to book a paris photoshoot via localers. has anyone tried this?

[snow25]

^^^ for vatican museum and st. Peter's basilica, direct sa official website ng vatican ako nagbook. During summer meron night visit ang vatican museum. Ok and less crowded kaya twice kami nagpunta. Isang guided tour at isang hindi. 😀

I booked the tour for the colosseo sa ticketitaly.com. Ok ang review ng ticketitaly and cheaper I think than viator. For Eiffel tour, direct sa website din nila.
Lagi ako direct sa official website like for uffizi, academia, tower of pisa, st mark's basilica in venice (skip the line ticket), and il duomo in florence. Definitely buy an online ticket for uffizi and academia.

[fittotravel]

Don't shoot me guys, ha? But I didn't enjoy Florence when I went there. Had I known na big on art (which I have very little knowledge of) 'yung lugar, I would've just skipped it. Ang saving grace lang ng trip ko to Florence was... the GELATO FESTIVAL! Sa sobrang daming choices, hindi ko na natikman lahat.  Haha!

Sa Vatican naman, swerte rin na may night opening the day I arrived in Rome. First Friday of the month yun. Ang saya kasi walang pila. May ibang sections na halos ako lang 'yung tao! From what I remember, you have to pre-book your tour to the Museum online. I did not. Luckily, marami pang slots for the night opening nung date ng punta ko. I was able to secure a slot 4 hours before the night opening (after 2 trips and failed attempts to score a daytime entry ticket)! Whew! Blessing in disguise pala. 

[shygirlme]

Fixing our IT here's our plan:
London
Paris
Spain - which is ok Madrid or Barcelona?
Italy - Rome and Florence
Austria
Amsterdam

Im convincing my husband to go to Germany or Prague pero ayaw nya. Sa mga nakapag Airbnb na sa places na sinabi ko any suggestions where to stay? Planning to go on end May. Thanks!

[shegie_285]

^  Prague is one of the prettiest cities I've seen! Bakit ayaw nya?  Cheap din sa Prague.

Barcelona is prettier than Madrid. Mas madami din famous places than Madrid. But Madrid is nice din, more relaxed kami sa Madrid, dahil wala masyado tourist spots, food trip lang kami and drink ng wine. We did day trips from Madrid.

[shygirlme]

^i dont know why ayaw nya eh.hmm might skip na din siguro spain kasi wala kami gusto makita don. hmmm baka damihan nalang namin trip namin sa italy.

[Noylabmay]

anyone na nakabisita na ng brussel? maganda ba?
balak ko sana side trip ng Paris namin