Europe Summer 2014 (May~July) Dilemma

[samsara]

I know it would be ultimately up to me to decide, but I would like to hear something from the seasoned travelers to Europe for some inputs.

 

1. As it will be my first time to Europe this summer and I will be going with my bestie, do you think it would be advisable to join the guided tours or go free-and-easy? For now, we really want to visit Greece (Athens, Parthenon, Santorini), Italy (Rome and maybe Pisa), France (Paris), UK (London), Switzerland (no particular city in mind). The rest like Germany, Spain, Portugal and North Europe can wait.

 

Also we are pretty flexible with the duration, it could be between one week to 3 weeks. It will be for my graduation trip and as for my bestie, she has to clear her excess leaves.

 

2. Do you think we should also visit NATAS Fair which is coming this Friday?

 

3. I noticed for European trips, the major agencies like Contiki, Trafalgar, Insight are always quoted under Singapore local travel agencies (Chan Brothers, SA Tours, ASA, etc.) Are they good and worth the money? I have read up a bit on them and they seemed good (interesting activities such as French perfume-making, wine-making, etc) but they don't include airfares from Singapore to the destination and vice versa, meaning that I have to top up a bit more in addition to their land tour prices.

 

Many thanks!

[Phil]

Not sure I am a seasoned traveller to Europe, since I live there.

Here are just a few suggestions (subjective, of course!) if it may help you:

 

Your choice of places is not bad. I don't know your main points of interest.

Maybe you could consider Germany (at least Berlin) instead of Switzerland? So much more things to see and do, in terms of art, culture, creativity, and gay life...

 

If you do not want to worry with material organization, you can join guided tours, of course. But as long as you stay mainly in big cities, I think it's quite easy to be independant.

In most of the cities you quoted, you can use the metro (underground) or... walk!

You can easily find museums, points of interests, restaurants, bars with a map or with your phone.

And you are free about your schedule/timing, etc...

 

You have lots of good airlines in Asia, and googling a little bit should allow you to find the flights and prices which suit you best, without using a travel agency.

 

I am unable to answer your question Nr2...

 

About question Nr 3, I don't know those agencies, but maybe it's as simple to book on the spot, through a local tourist agency, if you are really into some niche trip (perfume, wine...).

 

I don't know whether this helps you much.

Feel free to ask any further question (but I'm not sure to have the right answer!).

 

Good luck!

[zzzzzzzz]

Europe is easy and safe enough for FnE. Booking via hostel or local tour office is cheaper too! Don't book in Singapore.

[Enelym1978]

As much as I like Berlin, I wouldn't say it's better or worse than Switzerland (I grew up in Switzerland). Gay life in Switzerland is good too, arts, culture or history are also covered widely. Don't limit yourself to the touristy places and you will find tons of interesting things to do in Switzerland.

 

A big difference with Berlin or Germany: prices. I admit, Switzerland is more expensive than the rest of Europe to visit, unless you take a EurailPass or something similar, to save on the transportation cost.

 

To save on hotels, use CouchSurfing, it works wonders in Europe. I used to host a few travelers and it's a very nice experience. Of course, chose your hosts well

 

Forget about 1 week in Europe... not worth it. Spend your entire 3 weeks there so that you can make the most out of it. Think about it, how often will you be going back? it's 12h flight (direct).

 

Tours are nice if you want to somehow maximize your time and you want to see all the "tourist must-see" attractions but they are not the most interesting... You're better off getting some advices from travel forums and research a bit yourself (that's part of the fun) and plan your own.

 

In Europe, night trains are fairly easy and popular, it saves you a few hotel nights and it's not too expensive. Otherwise, there are plenty of low cost carriers available: EasyJet, RyanAir.... but you get what you pay for.... I mean, it's the same when you fly Tiger, AirAsia or JetStar.

 

 

About these NATAS Fair rates and other GroupOn offers... make sure you read all the small prints. They always advertise super low fares but then you need to add taxes, service fees, transfers, etc.... in the end, the money you save might not be as interesting as it first seemed.

I for one never find the GroupOn offers attractive for trips....

Edited February 27, 2014 by Enelym1978

[zzzzzzzz]

Many airlines have open jaw, meaning you can fly into let's say Greece, then fly back from London?

Should not spend more than 1400 for your flights.

Airbnb is also a good way to secure affordable Accommodation.

Couch surfing is great when you are traveling alone because you get to meet and chat with people.

Hostel is a good alternative. The standard of hostels in Europe tend to be very good and good value for money.

Portugal and Spain are quite cheap. Germany is ok. Europe is fun but cut down on the number of cities because it gets very tiring after the first two cities. I suggest not more than 6 cities in 3 weeks. Can do many day trips out of a main city using regional trains. Book 30-60days in advance for the discounted early birds.

[ctr77]

Contiki/Trafalgar/Insight Vacations/etc can be a bit expensive because they tend to put travellers up in mid to high end hotels. Not to say they don't have good deals, but I tend to prefer travelling free and easy so that I can go where I want to go without being tied down to any fixed itinerary.

 

Regarding the Eurailpass, if you are under 26 on the day you validate your pass (ie. the day you commence your travel in Europe), you can qualify for a 2nd class youth pass. If you are above 26 but travelling with at least one other person, both (or all) of you can get a 1st class saver pass. You can also mix and match - for example, getting a Eurailpass for Italy, France, and Switzerland, and just getting one way tickets in Greece (not worth it to use the pass in Greece). The pass is not valid in the UK or on the Eurostar. Some train operators like SNCF do have very cheap fares if you book online and far in advance, so you have to weigh the differences in cost between the pass and online tickets. Some trains also have reservation and/or supplement requirements if using the pass. If using the pass, buy it here before you leave. It is much more expensive in Europe.

 

Another thing to consider getting is the International Student Travel Card (if you are still a uni student when you make it) or International Youth Travel Card (if you are under 30) from STA Travel at Bugis. These offer discounts/child/student entry prices to many attractions all over the world, which will translate to significant savings.

[MeowPrince]

If you must go by package tour, please be very very very careful.  Some companies will offer you dirt cheap packages with 4-star hotel accomodation, but charge you an arm and a leg for ALL "optionals" to the point that it is ridiculous.

 

Case-in-point : Italy-Switzerland-France package with compulsory 2 nights in Dubai, fly on Emirates, stay Hilton/Radisson Blue/Holiday Inn/etc, but ....

.............Venice is optional, Florence is optional, swiss glacier is optional, swiss alps is optional, can you imagine it? 

[Phil]

If you must go by package tour, please be very very very careful.  Some companies will offer you dirt cheap packages with 4-star hotel accomodation, but charge you an arm and a leg for ALL "optionals" to the point that it is ridiculous.

 

Case-in-point : Italy-Switzerland-France package with compulsory 2 nights in Dubai, fly on Emirates, stay Hilton/Radisson Blue/Holiday Inn/etc, but ....

.............Venice is optional, Florence is optional, swiss glacier is optional, swiss alps is optional, can you imagine it? 

Wow! It seems that this tour operator, with all those constraints and options, is on the edge for pure cheating!

I hope it was not a French company?

Your advice is wise, be very careful...

And even if it's time-consuming, maybe better organizing things by yourself.

"Bon voyage" to all.

[samsara]

Thanks everyone! I've booked everything except the prepaid data sim cards.

 

Do you know any good ones? Preferably in whole Europe, not per country. Heard about DataRoam (http://www.dataroam.co.uk/) before?

 

Per meal is typically how much in euros?

 

Better to get attraction passes (London Pass, Paris Pass, Italian Pass and IAmAmsterdam pass)?

 

Thanks alot!!

[Phil]

I have no opinion about DataRoam.

 

Per meal... is rather subjective, and depends of your taste and the country.

In Paris, from 8 or 9€ (Mc Do or cheapest menu in some Vietnamese restaurants) to... rocketting to the sky in posh places.

You can have a quite correct lunch for 20€.

Cheaper in smaller towns or in the countryside, and not so cheap in touristical places.

 

London is within the same price range in my opinion.

 

You can get cheaper prices in Amsterdam and in Italy.

 

About attraction passes, here again, it depends... It would be useful to assess your programme, and to see whether it's worth to buy a pass.

I have often found that even if thay may look interesting, you generally don't use all the possibilities of such passes; it can be cheaper to buy tickets by the unit.

Exception; metro tickets in Paris, cheaper by 10.

Or if you intend to spend lots of time in public transport, then maybe a daily pass can be interesting (Paris or London).

And if you stay downtown Paris, London, Amsterdam or Rome, you can see a lot by just walking.

 

Have a nice trip.

[ctr77]

I use Tep Wireless whenever I travel to Europe (http://www.tepwireless.com/).

They will ship the Wi-Fi devices to your hotel/hostel, and you can return it either by shipping it back to them, or if you are leaving from London you can drop it off at Heathrow.

 

 

Do you know any good ones? Preferably in whole Europe, not per country. Heard about DataRoam (http://www.dataroam.co.uk/) before?

[I_am_cub]

Hi... I just came back from Europe last March after 1 month solo backpack ;-)

 

Not sure if you have made your trip already or not... If not heres some thought from me ;-)

 

The advise above is all very true...

During my travel there, I managed to couch surf most of the countries I went. Try it out as it really save a lot of budget!! But if your not in a very budget way of travel, and your with your buddy, i suggest you can stay in hostel or small inn which offer doublebed room.. where you can have all the privacy, safety and flexibility. Not all Host will give you their house key so U have to come back within the time frame. Prices is not expensive if you book tru hostelbookers or agoda. Booked ahead before you reach the city because normally you wanna save time and energy especially when you travel long journey. So when you arrive the city you just can go str8 to the hostel put ur bags and start explore the city.

Price range for Hostel (Bunk bed/ dorm) 12-25euro/pax/night

Price range for Doublebed room 25-35 euro/room for 2pax/night

 

One more thing that you really have to take note is don't ever buy your train tickets over the counter if your planning to use train to travel WITHIN COUNTRIES. Unless you have no internet access or its the last minute thing, then u have to buy over the counter which cost quite a lot. One of the mistake I made which cost me quite a bomb. The concept is simple u book earlier online and you will get the cheap tix. So plan ahead, a week b4 if your planning to move within countries. I didnt buy the EuroRail Pass because of many restriction and limited seat. U have to queue up earlier to get the ticket especially during summer there will be hell lot of travellers. I just buy the ordinary ticket over the counter. U can go to seat61.com to read up about how to book and buy and etc. Follow the instruction there and you will make no mistake.

 

Try flight as well. Sometimes they are even cheaper than train. Jetstar and Ryan Air.

 

Travel within cities in the country for example Italy (Milan - Venice - Pisa - Florence - Rome) u can check and buy over the counter or tru internet. But within cities i always buy over the counter. Not much difference if you buy online plus credit card charge higher exchange rate. Another option is blablacar.com Its a website that is very famous in Europe for carpooling. The concept is simmilar to couchsurfing, there's review of the driver and stuff, just that u need to pay certain amount for the trip (sharing petrol, toll etc).. I tried it most of the time and I save a lot. I carpooled from Milan - Nice cost me 25 euro only where else if I use train it cost me 180euro. Another one is from Rome - Milan cost me 30euro but if train will cost me 160euro. So check it out!

 

I suggest you to scrap off the agency or travel agent thingie... Its fun to explore on your own.. its europe most of the place is safe but we as backpackers, we always have to be careful and precautios. Night life in Europe is just so-so unless ur in main city like Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, London, Rome, Florence etc but if your kinda outskirt a bit, they normally have early day and by 8pm everything will be kinda quiet... So you can do some reasearch at night in the hostel using the wifi there and start your day early to explore the city. Most of the attraction is just within the city. So u can just walk to most places.

 

Daily expenses is depends on your budget. Different countries different cost

Because I'm on a budget travel I chose the centre part of Europe to travel and skip all the famous countries. Just sharing my Itinerary

Amsterdam - Zurich - Luzern - Interlarken - Lugano - Milan - Nice - Cannes - Antibes - Monaco - San Remo - Florence - Rome - Bergamo - Como - Milan - Amsterdam.

 

A meal in

Amsterdam - 15-20 euro (Mc D or Burger King as low as 3 euro/meal)

Switzerland - 20-35 swissfranc (Mc D or Burger King as low as 10swissfrac)

Italy - 7-15 euro (cheapest among all countries even major cities like Rome/Florence. Choose Chinese Restaurant. Normally the offer complete set meal about 10 euro)

Nice - 20-30euro

Well most of the time I ate Mc D or Burger King and after came back home, until today I still havent touch Double Cheese Burger! Hahaha

 

Roughly for Daily Expenses i suggest u budget around 35-50 euro aday.

If you couchsurf you can cook as well and normally the host will also cook homemade dinner, ts tasty and you can save too

 

Something to watch out when you travel in Italy.

There are a lots of GYPSY in Italy and they normally con people and steal money.

Be extra careful with them. They have a certain look which you can differentiate them from Italians.

Especially at train station. you have to be very careful at ALL MAJOR TRAIN STATION and METRO in ITALY (Milan Central, Rome, Florence, Venice etc)

Mostly the gypsies will stand at the ticket machine and will pretend that they helping you. They normally will start with English? I can speak English. I help you buy ticket... especially when they saw traveller with big backpack, they will pretend to help you to buy ticket. What you need to do is ignore them. Dont even start conversation or answer them. Just totally ignore them and always prepare small change in the pocket 5-10euros. Dont ever open your wallet or purse. Buy ticket and leave.

In Italy all the Metro station is totally different than SG MRT or KL LRT. We have counter and friendly staff there to help. The people there just totally ignore you. In Italy, you have to buy your bus/tram ticket over the ciggaratte/magazine shop. You can buy your daily ticket or hour ticket.

Another thing to remember in ITALY is YOU NEED TO VALIDATE YOUR TRAIN TICKET especially within cities. Example Rome - Florence after purchase ticket at the counter, you have to validate at the machine. You will see alot people doing that. Normally the machine is at the entrance. If you dont validate your ticket before you take the train, there will be a conductor that will check your ticket. If not validate they will fine you from 5euro-50euro depends on your destination. So pls remember that...

 

About the Data Roaming, you can have wifi at Starbucks, Mc Donalds, Cafe, Restaurants, Hostel or your Host House, so you don't need to roam data. Stop being PhoneFreak but really go enjoy the city and fell the city instead of putting your vision just at your phone. You can do it when your back to hostel at night time. Just roam for voice call. U may need to call in case emergency.

 

Hope it helps and you have a fun and marvelous trip! Its summer i bet its damm happening now compared to mine was during End of Winter.

[Phil]

Wise, detailed and useful advice above by I_am_cub!

 

I would just like to add that unfortunately, the gypsies and robbers problem is the same in France in stations, metro, airports, museums, etc...

Always keep an eye on your wallet!

 

Bon voyage.

[ctr77]

One more thing that you really have to take note is don't ever buy your train tickets over the counter if your planning to use train to travel WITHIN COUNTRIES. Unless you have no internet access or its the last minute thing, then u have to buy over the counter which cost quite a lot. One of the mistake I made which cost me quite a bomb. The concept is simple u book earlier online and you will get the cheap tix. So plan ahead, a week b4 if your planning to move within countries. I didnt buy the EuroRail Pass because of many restriction and limited seat. U have to queue up earlier to get the ticket especially during summer there will be hell lot of travellers. I just buy the ordinary ticket over the counter. U can go to seat61.com to read up about how to book and buy and etc. Follow the instruction there and you will make no mistake.

 

Try flight as well. Sometimes they are even cheaper than train. Jetstar and Ryan Air.

 

easyjet and Ryanair sometimes fly to very out of the way airports. For example, Ryanair flies to Frankfurt-Hahn, which is nowhere near Frankfurt and getting to Frankfurt involves a 2 hour bus ride. Other examples are Girona (sometimes advertised as Barcelona even though it is about 100km away), London Luton/Stansted, and so on. If you don't mind the hassle then flying budget can be a cheap and fast way of travelling longer distances in a short amount of time. The main thing to take note when flying Ryanair is that you must check in online and print out your boarding pass, otherwise you will find yourself slapped with massive charges that can be as high as 70 pounds just to check in at the airport or get your boarding pass re-printed.

 

A meal in

Amsterdam - 15-20 euro (Mc D or Burger King as low as 3 euro/meal)

Switzerland - 20-35 swissfranc (Mc D or Burger King as low as 10swissfrac)

Italy - 7-15 euro (cheapest among all countries even major cities like Rome/Florence. Choose Chinese Restaurant. Normally the offer complete set meal about 10 euro)

Nice - 20-30euro

Well most of the time I ate Mc D or Burger King and after came back home, until today I still havent touch Double Cheese Burger! Hahaha

 

lol when I went to Copenhagen, just a large fries and 2 medium cokes at McDonalds cost 65 kroner (about $15).

 

Something to watch out when you travel in Italy.

There are a lots of GYPSY in Italy and they normally con people and steal money.

Be extra careful with them. They have a certain look which you can differentiate them from Italians.

Especially at train station. you have to be very careful at ALL MAJOR TRAIN STATION and METRO in ITALY (Milan Central, Rome, Florence, Venice etc)

Mostly the gypsies will stand at the ticket machine and will pretend that they helping you. They normally will start with English? I can speak English. I help you buy ticket... especially when they saw traveller with big backpack, they will pretend to help you to buy ticket. What you need to do is ignore them. Dont even start conversation or answer them. Just totally ignore them and always prepare small change in the pocket 5-10euros. Dont ever open your wallet or purse. Buy ticket and leave.

In Italy all the Metro station is totally different than SG MRT or KL LRT. We have counter and friendly staff there to help. The people there just totally ignore you. In Italy, you have to buy your bus/tram ticket over the ciggaratte/magazine shop. You can buy your daily ticket or hour ticket.

Another thing to remember in ITALY is YOU NEED TO VALIDATE YOUR TRAIN TICKET especially within cities. Example Rome - Florence after purchase ticket at the counter, you have to validate at the machine. You will see alot people doing that. Normally the machine is at the entrance. If you dont validate your ticket before you take the train, there will be a conductor that will check your ticket. If not validate they will fine you from 5euro-50euro depends on your destination. So pls remember that...

 

I will definitely agree with this. Italy (and some other parts of Europe to a lesser extent) is full of cheats, scammers, and opportunists. They are very observant and prey on people who look vulnerable or innocent and they often work in syndicates. Best thing to do is not to talk to anyone who approaches you and don't let anyone grab any part of your body or give you anything. Don't pick up anything that someone else drops or grab anything someone throws to you and don't touch anything that another person tries to hand to you. A common scam is where one person will come up and talk to you and another person will tie a string around your wrist that cannot be untied. They are very fast - the string is tied in about 2 seconds, after which they will demand payment for the string, anywhere from 10 to 100 Euro depending on how vulnerable/naive you look. If you refuse they will get hostile and potentially violent. Almost all of the people who do all these are not native Italians, they are mostly immigrants from Eastern European countries, and some of them are illegal immigrants from elsewhere. And yes, Italy is not Singapore. In Singapore you can threaten people with the police, etc. In Italy you are on your own, in all likelihood the police won't really be bothered to do anything.

 

Lastly, always, always, always keep an eye on your wallet and belongings.