European Tours Thread 4

[shygirlme]

Trying to book a flight sa singapore airlines. May sale sila ang mura. Kaso pag may promo code di pwede multi city?

[silveronfire]

hi everyone.. i just wanted to ask about the train tickets. aside from credit card payment, what other payment options are available? i know pwede paypal pero pag sa db bahn ako nagsesearch ang payment options are credit card and maestro.. if you use debit cards, are there debit cards issued in manila na applicable? because it looks as if there aren't. as much as possible, i don't want my credit card to be an option. our trips include the ff:
paris
brussels
amsterdam
berlin
appreciate your help. thanks everyone!

[mama squeak!]

^so far credit cards pa lang ang accepted with the train companies I've tried. Parang wala pa akong na encounter na debit card. Pwede din pala PayPal?

Going back to cc, so far okay naman my experience buying train tickets via cc payment.

[bonzaigirl]

^^ I've used my debit card but my debit card is from London Barclays. Although I use my visa credit card more because the charges are less compared to the credit card. I didn't know that you can pay via paypal, we paid cash so lesser hassle. Because when we were in the station traveling from Berlin to Dresden and Potsdam, there are some Germans , very few who do not know how to/pretend not to know English.

 Also, somebody might advise you to bring travel money cards like what my friend did, because she read about it. My friend who brought some travel money card because she got scared to bring cash had a hard time looking for  stores who will accept her card. So in the end we had to look for a shop that will encash her travel money card for a fraction of the cost. So, it's not advisable.

[silveronfire]

Thanks sisses,, yup db bahn in germany has paypal option. But i've decided not to use it. I'll be using ns-international and b-europe na lang. Has any of you used these?

[cosmochick]

Pls help me with this 15- DAY itinerary:

DAY 1: LE MONNA LISA CHAMPS ELYSÉES HOTEL Check-In
Paris Night Tour #1

DAY 2: Whole Day DISNEYLAND AND WALT DISNEY STUDIOS PARK

DAY 3:
•   Notre Dame
•   Holy Chapel
•   Louvre Museum
•   Tuileries Gardens
•   Place de la Concorde
•   Grand Palais
•   Alexander Bridge
•   Eiffel Tower
 DAY 4 : Half-Day Tour From Paris to VERSAILLES, France via Coach (with  Guide Tour)

DAY 5-7 : MUNICH GERMANY

DAY 8-10: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

DAY 11 : MILAN, ITALY
DAY 12: VENICE
DAY 13-15: VATICAN/ ROME

Is this ok? We don't have places to visit yet in some countries, if you can suggest some, I'd be very grateful.

Also, kaya ba with USD 5k, excluding air fare.. kami lang 2 ng hubby ko. We are traveling on Nov 6.  What type of clothing should we bring?

Thanks sis!!

[ms_ldr]

i've found out dito kung san ako naka base ngayon na mas mura ang visa application fee at mas less hassle if i will be applying schengen visa from hungarian embassy so main entry ko should be hungary or denmark (kasi nag process rin sila for denmark). my questions are:

where could i go next? if coming from budapest or copenhagen?
i have read that vienna is 3hrs away by train from budapest which can cost around 30+ euros lang.

then from vienna i could go to italy or paris na.

can you guys give me ideas about the cost of transportation either by plane or by train?

para makabuo ako ng budget. feeling hopeful makabyahe next year.

[silveronfire]

hi sisses, question. i already booked ICE train tickets for me and hubby coming from cologne, germany going to berlin on november 18th. i forgot to check the seat reservation section. so we're booked but we have no seat reservation. departure from cologne is 1348h. question is, is it necessary na mag reserve ako ng seat or hubby and i can just use the unreserved seats? if i need to reserve seats, can i do it at the train station? like maybe 4 hours before? let me know if it's possible. thank you in advance

[mama squeak!]

@cosmochick, pwede naman yung IT mo kaya lang tipong Amazing Race yung dating. But if you're that type of traveler, to each his own. Backread ka sa previous threads marami ng nagshare ng mga ITs nila for two weeks so you can get tips.

@ms_ldr, correct me if I'm wrong but isa lang ang price ng short stay schengen visa fee which is EUR60. So anywhere you apply you'll be paying this amount lang in Euros. For PHP payments depende na lang yan sa conversion rate on the day of application.

This Eurail map can help you decide where to go. You can also refer to that website for train fares.

For airfares, you can check skyscanner.net or .com to compare prices. Minsan hindi lumalabas yung fares ng mga LCCs (low cost carriers) so you'll have to check direct at their websites. Some lccs in Europe are Easyjet, Ryanair, Germanwings, etc.

Backread ka rin on the previous threads to get an idea of how much a trip will cost.

@silveronfire , I suggest to get seat reservations in advance to be sure lang you have seats on the train. Have you tried doing it online? Kung hindi na pwede yung manage reservations, probably email them. Mabilis naman sila sumagot.

You can also get your seats at the train station but the problem there is what if puno na by the time you get there? Or kung meron man seats hindi naman kayo magkatabi. Probably what you can do if my previous suggestions didn't pan out, once you arrive in Germany drop by the train station to reserve your seats in advance.

 

[silveronfire]

Thanks mamasqueak.. i'll do that

[Chili1113]

cosmochick: If youve been to Disney LA or Disney Florida I suggest you skip Disney Paris. The rides are exactly the same =) Instead you can have more time to explore the city and visit the museums. Theres so much to do in Paris!

Also no need to book a tour to Versailles. It is very easy to go there via public transportation. Then once you get there you can just get an audio tour, or even use Rick Steves app for free audio tours. =) Its free to roam the gardens too and its a nice thing to include if you have the time.

RE your Italy... Skip Milan there's not much to do there compared to Florence and Rome. It isn't nearly as pretty too. OR you can just spend more time in Venice instead.

[unwantedP]

Hi mga sis, please help me with our itinerary,

our flight is on Oct 18 MNL - LHR, then FRA - MNL on Nov 2.

Planning to do:
5 days London
5 days Paris
4 days Germany

Not sure if we can do Switzerland (4 days London, 4 days Paris, 2 days Switzerland, 4 days Germany?)

For London:

10/19 6:20am arrive in LHR.

10/19 London:
(Wellington Arch)
- Buckingham Palace (Changing of the Guard @ 11:30, The Queen’s Gallery)
- Big Ben
- Houses of Parliament
- Westminster Bridge, Westminster Abbey
- Harrods Shopping

10/20 London:
- Royal Opera House
- Covent Garden Shop
- The British Museum
- Oxford Street and Oxford Circus Shopping
- Piccadilly Circus (Regent Street and Carnaby Shopping)
- Trafalgar Square
- National Gallery

10/21 attend a London convention

10/22 London Sidetrip:
- Windsor
- Bath (Roman Baths)
- Stonehenge

10/23 London:
(Kensington Palace)
(Hyde Park)
(Marble Arch)
- Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes Museum)
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Tower of London (Tower Bridge view)
- London Bridge, The Shard
(Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre)
- Tate Modern Shop (Cruise River Thames to London Eye)
- London Eye

10/24 Take morning Eurostar (St. Pancras) to Paris

then follow this itinerary from sis mama squeak from 10/24 - 10/28

10/29 Take train to Germany (we will be staying in Leipzig)

Our Germany is not yet planned out. I'm thinking of Munich or Berlin then Frankfurt?

[mama squeak!]

^sis there's a separate thread for both the UK/Ireland and Germany. You might want to back read there, lots of tips shared there. Any additional Q just post them on the respective threads.

Happy planning!

[unwantedP]

^ay sis thanks. na-miss out ko yun UK thread hehe. 

[letters_to_cleo]

Ang liit kasi ng Brussels eh kaya for me okay lang sya for a day trip.  I spent 2 days there, medyo nabore kami nung 2nd day haha.  Now I live super near Brussels (like 2.5 hour drive lang) pero di ko na sya iniisip balikan haha.  But, you can use Brussels as a base to visit other Belgian cities --Brugge, Ghent, even Antwerp.  Yung Ghent, maganda kahit di sya known masyado.  I also want to visit Liege, just to have a taste of authentic Liege waffles (this is different from the belgian waffles).  :-)

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

[Chili1113]

^For me I enjoyed Brugge more than Brussels hehe! I liked Brussels but just like sis letters_to_cleo I don't think I would make an effort to revisit it hehe  I whole day in Brussels was enough for me too.

Re Germany... we absolutely loved Munich! The day trips from Munich are fabulous too. The day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle from Munich was really awesome. The entire town of Fussen was just so idyllic. I felt like I was walking around in a fairytale storybook setting. We even had a picnic by the lake in Fussen. (Picnic with our baon cold cuts and cheese and wine heheh because we're kuripot like that) Haaaayyyy I really love Munich so much.

[shegie_285]

^ There's Grand Place (pronounced as Plas) in Brussels which is one of the most beautiful squares I've seen. My husband thinks so too and he'd been to loads of places - he's European  din. But then it's very small nga so a day trip or maybe just few hours and then just go to Brugges.

[mama squeak!]

Agree! My hubby and I love Bruges. We loved walking around the city so much we even extended our stay. We even got to stay at the B&B where Fidel lives. He's the famous dog from Brugge.   

Re Munich, we were fortunate enough to be there during Oktoberfest's 200th year celebration. Ang saya! It was our last stop after doing the Romantic Road tour. If you ladies have the chance, try to do a road trip in Germany. It's such a joy to drive along the charming, medieval towns not to mention zoom through their autobahn! Lumabas yung pagka-F1 driver aspiration ni hubby. Lol! Our next bucket list to-do is their Fairy Tale Route.

[shygirlme]

Mga sis ask ko lang nung nag travel kayo sa europe pano kayo nag avail ng mobile internet service nila? May maarkilahan ba? Gusto ko sana may internet kami lagi eh para kung maligaw may google maps hehe

[mama squeak!]

^If you have a GPS mas maganda syang gamitin compared to internet-based maps. You just have to pre-load your GPS with the current maps of the places you will be visiting tapos rely ka na sa satellite signal.