Planning Your Trip

If you want to spend less & do more, it is imperative that you plan & start making bookings for your trip well in advance. Ideally, at least six months in advance. Also, it will be even more economical if you go on a trip with a group, enabling you to share room/taxi & other costs.

The main cost components of your trip, in order of most expensive to least, will be:

Airfare Accommodation Local Transport Sightseeing Food & Beverage

Of these, you need to book airfare & accommodation as early as possible. Then, advance booking of sightseeing tickets. But the drawback of advance booking is that you are restricted to a pre-set plan with specific dates & times and you will not be able to roam around in abandon. You need to decide on your port of entry, because your visa application would be for that country (or the country where you will be staying for the longest period). You need accommodation booking confirmation & flight tickets to apply for visa. Will come to the visa booking process later, but planning in advance gives you time to explore various routes & options and you will need a L O T of time to do this research.

My Itinerary & Booking Process:

I, along with six other friends including my wife, started planning for the trip in February 2014. We set ourselves a goal of completing the trip within Rs.2 lakhs per head. And it took another month of dilly dallying to agree on our travel dates. It would be from 2nd Oct 2014 — 18th Oct 2014 (this was decided based on the cheapest flight available in Oct).

#ProTip: If you want to visit Europe when there are less tourists (off season), plan to travel after September. Ideally Oct-Nov. Most of Europe will be brimming with tourists come June — August. If you want much cooler weather, with some snow, plan to visit mid November.

Now that the dates were decided, we needed to plan the route of our travel so that we can book tickets. Believe me, this is not as easy as it sounds, especially if you, like us, plan to visit as many places as possible (in hindsight, this is a mistake. Should not have packed our itinerary so much). We used makemytrip, skyscanner, cleartrip & matrix ita for searching cheap flights. Every day, for almost a month, we checked flight options from Bangalore to various European Cities.

#ProTip: If you have fixed your arrival & departure cities, go ahead. If you are unsure or just want to book cheapest option available, prepare a rough itinerary & try searching flights for different destinations. Eg. Bangalore — Paris — Bangalore or Bangalore — Paris & then Rome — Bangalore or Bangalore — Frankfurt & then Paris — Bangalore. Try various combinations.

Eventually, we found SriLankan Airlines flights from Bangalore — Paris & Rome — Bangalore (all via Colombo). Cost per head after applying a makemytrip discount offer was Rs. 33,400 all inclusive, when we booked in last week of April. There was a cheaper Saudi Airlines option, which was Rs.27,000 per head all inclusive for Bangalore — Paris & Rome — Bangalore (all via Riyadh), but we did not want to risk transiting via Saudi while we had ladies traveling with us, what with the strict Saudi rules. A week after we booked, the same SriLankan flight was Rs.31,000. Then, by July, the same flight was Rs.89,000 per head! So, booking in advance saved us almost Rs.60,000 per head on the flights!

Now that we knew the dates, we had figure out an itinerary starting from Paris such that we reach Rome in time for our flight. This was our (tightly packed) schedule:

2nd Oct: BLR — Colombo < 3 hour layover > Colombo — Paris

3rd Oct: Arrive in Paris at 9:00 AM.

5th Oct: Paris — Berlin via easyjet

6th Oct: Berlin — Prague by train

8th Oct: Prague — Munich by Bus (we wanted to meet a friend in Munich)

9th Oct: Munich — Innsbruck — Munich by Bus & then overnight bus to Ljubljana

10th Oct: Arrive in Ljubljana (Slovenia) at 5:00 AM & take bus to Bled.

11th Oct: Drive to Plitvice Lakes, Croatia & drive back by night.

12th Oct: Drive to škocjan & Postjona caves & drive back by night.

13th Oct: Take early morning bus from Bled to Ljubljana & then another bus to Venice.

14th Oct: Venice — Florence by train

16th Oct: Florence — Rome by train

18th Oct: Rome — Colombo < 20 hour layover > Colombo — Bangalore

20th Oct: Arrive in Bangalore

As mentioned earlier, we realized the folly of such a tight schedule only after we were in Europe. It was not a huge letdown but definitely caused fatigue. A learning experience nevertheless, arming us with adequate knowledge to plan our next trip perfectly.

Our itinerary was planned after extensive research of bus/train/flight options from one city to another, their cost & timings. Then we had to account for time in each city based on what places we wanted to visit. Based on that we booked all trains & buses in advance.

#ProTip: Advance booking of trains will get you tickets at an extremely low price. But these tickets are limited. An advance ticket that costs 9 EUR will cost 27 EUR once the advance offer stocks are done & if you book the ticket on the day of travel, it will cost even more. Booking buses may not have any financial advantage but you may struggle to find a vacant seat if you try to book on the day of travel. Another option you can explore us the EurailPass, this would be ideal if you have 3 — 4 countries in your itinerary.

Then came the task of booking places of accommodation in each city. Since our group was of 07 persons, we explored AirBnB for apartment options but could not find anything within our budget. Then we started exploring hostels. Hostel rooms usually have 4/6/8 beds in a room with either en suite bathrooms or share bathrooms outside (same floor corridor). If you are a solo traveler, you book on per bed basis. So, if you book one bed in a four bed room, the other three beds will be occupied by three other strangers. If you do not like the idea of sharing your room with strangers, you have to book all beds in the room, or search for single bed rooms in hostels/hotels. The advantage for us was that we were a group & we booked two 4 bed rooms so that it would be just us sharing the rooms. Cost of eight beds was divided equally to be shared by seven of us. We did have option to book a single room with eight beds, but that would leave us with just one bathroom, which would mean long delays in getting ready every morning. So booking two rooms ensure we had two bathrooms. We relied on TripAdvisor reviews and they were bang on & would definitely recommend you research with the reviews on tripadvisor before booking (make sure you read only reviews from users who have a few dozen other reviews on their profile, not from those with just one review).

Another advantage of booking hostels is they are usually in close proximity to a metro station / bus stop / tram station. So you will have easier mobility. To help your decision process, these are the hostels we stayed in, with cost details & a quick review. All hostels were booked directly on their website.

Accommodation: Hostels We Stayed In

(note that in all the places we stayed, the bathroom was clean & awesome. So will not specifically mention about bathrooms unless there is something special to mention about. Breakfast is usually croissants, breads, butter & cheese, milk, cornflakes, cold cuts, fruit juices, coffee. Anything more than this will be mentioned in the mini review here). Check in time in most hostels is after 2 PM. If you arrive early, you can deposit luggage in locker rooms & use common bathrooms for freshening up. All hostels had free wi-fi.

Paris: Le Montclair Montmartre. €28 per bed per night in a four bed room. Includes breakfast. No common kitchen. Small rooms. Bathroom shower is powered by jet engines I think. No elevator. Narrow spiraling wooden staircase if your room is in 1/2/3 floors. Close proximity to metro station. 10 mins walk to Montmartre center where pubs/artistes are at. No advance payment while booking, only credit card details. Full payment during check in. Will check for other options next time before booking here only because of the small rooms. Rating: 6/10 Berlin: The Cat´s Pajamas Hostel. €19 per bed per night in a four bed room. Includes breakfast. Common kitchen with plenty of amenities & groceries. Small yet functional rooms. Cozy & fantastic bathroom with a separate WC. Elevator available. 50% of booking amount to be paid in advance. Balance 50% to be paid during check in. 5 minutes walk to metro station. Rating: 9/10 Prague: Mosaic House Hostel. €20 per bed per night in a four bed room. Includes an amazing breakfast spread with soup, fresh fruits, eggs, sausages and lots of other options. The best breakfast spread in our entire trip. 100% payment during booking. Fabulous rooms. Had Television & music player. Actually, it felt more like a hotel than a hostel. Rated a green hostel as it uses 100% renewable energy & recycles everything. Elevators available. ATM & vending machines lobby. Plenty of party options & discounts for pubs. 10 minutes walk to nearest tram station & 20 minute walk to nearest metro station. Rating: 9.5/10 Munich: Stayed at a friend’s house. Innsbruck: Day trip. Did not stay overnight. Bled: Jazz Hostel & Apartments. €20 per bed in a four bed room. But since we booked early on and had a discussion with the owners/hosts on the off season pricing, we had one entire room for each couple, but still paid for only two beds. 15% advance during booking. Balance during checkout. There two double bed rooms on the ground floor with en suite bathrooms, three rooms on the first floor with four beds in each room but no en suite bathrooms. You have to use two bathrooms or two toilets in the corridor on the same floor. But since this entire floor was occupied by us, it was not an issue. There is large room on the third floor with six beds. No elevator. Breakfast is included & the hostess/owner Mrs. Urska would prepare delicious eggs, pancakes every morning. She even woke up at 4 AM to cook breakfast for us on the day of our departure. Her husband Mr. Janny (pronounced as Yanny) is overlowing with energy and enthusiasm to help his guests. There is a common kitchen, playstation, plenty of free parking space. Both Urska & Janny go out of their way to help you. Simply the best place we stayed throughout the trip. Infact Bled is the best destination of our trip. Longing to go back there and stay at Jazz again. Rating: 10/10. Just go! Venice: Villa Graziella (not on Venice island but in Mestre). €30 per bed in a four bed room. Breakfast included (one of the poorest breakfast spreads on our trip). 100% payment during booking. No common kicthen. En suite bathrooms. Television available in room. No elevator. 10 minutes walk to nearest bus stop from where you can catch a bus to Venice island which takes 15 minutes. 20 minutes walk to Mestre railway station. Rating: 8/10 Florence: B&B In Centro. €28 per bed in a four bed room. This is actually a private apartment floor converted into hostel rooms. The rooms we got had two double beds in Room 1. Whereas Room 2 had two large separate bedrooms within it, each with one double bed. Ensuite bathrooms. No common kitchen. No elevator. 10 minutes walk to nearest bus stop. Breakfast is included but consists only of two pastries (croissants) & one coffee, to be redeemed at a cafe 5 minutes walk away. Rating: 8/10 Rome: The Yellow. €29 per bed in a four bed room. Breakfast not included. A very busy hostel teeming with young travelers. No common kitchen. Room 1 was quite small with a double bed and a twin bunker bed, small bathroom. Room 2 was bigger, with a double sofa bed & two single beds, bathroom with a bathtub. Elevator available. They have a bar/cafe opposite the hostel with awesome bar menu & happy hour pricing, with a small dance floor in the basement. 10 minutes walk to Roma Termini, the central Railway Station. 10 minutes walk to nearest metro station. Rating: 8/10. Sri Lanka: Ramada Hotel. Free. If your layover in Colombo is fore more than 8 hours & if you are traveling on Sri Lankan, then the airlines will arrange transit visa, accommodation with all meals, to & fro transport from airport to hotel. At first, Sri Lankan had booked us at Catamaran Beach Hotel, Negombo. But once we arrived at Colombo airport, we had to run around a bit to meet the right counter, where we were told they have booked Ramada Hotel. We thought it should be nice since it is a decent brand in India. But once we reached the hotel, it was straight out of a spooky movie. Empty hotel with clear indications that it is surviving only on airline bookings like ours. Rooms were damp. Breakfast buffet was decent but the hotel was invaded by Chinese tourists during breakfast. Lunch and dinner was fixed menu & had no vegetarian options. Had to request the kitchen to prepare something basic with no meat for us. Even if you are asked to stay here for free, ask for some other hotel. Rating: 2/10

Schengen Visa Process (France)

Ensure that all the countries you intend to visit are part of the Schengen Visa agreement. You can apply at Consulate /Embassy of a country only if that country is the first port of entry or that country is where you will be staying the longest. For example, if you land in Paris first, stay for four days & go to other countries where you will staying for four days or less, you have to apply at France. If you are landing at Paris first, staying for four days, then going to Rome, staying for five days, you need to apply at Italian Embassy since you will be staying in that country the longest, even if you are arriving at another country.

Specific to the process if you are applying at a French Consulate, you can see THIS GOOGLE DOCS LINK for the documentation requirements. Check VFS website for more details. You need to print these, get an appointment at your nearest VFS centre, take the documents & submit at VFS centre where you pay the visa fees. The VFS representative will then give you an appointment document for the very next day at your nearest French Consulate/Embassy. You arrive at the embassy with a valid ID card, wait for your turn, then answer any question that the staff ask regarding your trip, which can be a simple purpose of travel to a detailed query regarding each leg of your travel, your funds etc. You should receive your visa within two days after the interview.

Tips for Local Transport in Europe

Download offline maps on your smartphone so that you can orient yourself using GPS when you do not have an internet connection. Almost all cities in Europe have transport passes for 24 hours /72 hours /a week etc. These are your best option. For example, in Paris, a €14 pass allows you unlimited travel on bus, tram, metro, city trains, for two days. in Rome, a €6 pass gives you unlimited travel on metro, bus, local trains for 24 hours. Most cities have automated ticket dispensing machines at each metro station/bus station etc where you chose the type of ticket you want, pay money using cash or card & receive the ticket immediately. In cities without dispensing machines, you can get these transport passes at small shops which also sell newspapers etc. Such transport passes are your best option to roam around. Do not confuse transport pass with city pass. These city passes are a package deal where you get unlimited travel AND free entry/discount on entry fees for lots of tourist attractions. But I feel these are not value for money unless you plan to visit each and every tourist attraction, only then you can feel you got more bang for your buck. But the Innsbruck card is ideal, for it gives you unlimited local travel, entry to the cable car to the top of the alps and back and costs €33 for a 24 hour card. Which is much lower if you ad the cost for individual tickets to cable car and bus tickets. Taxis are expensive. If you are traveling in groups and if you hire an 8 or 9 seater van, it might be a bit reasonable. For example, from Paris CDG airport to Le Montclaire hostel, we took a van taxi and it cost us €7 per head to be dropped infront of our hostel, whereas it would have cost almost double that if we took public transport with multiple station changes and dragging our luggage. You need to check the different price options and compare the cost with taxi/metro/train/bus/flight and chose which works out for you. Airfare within Europe can be very affordable if you book in advance. Paris to Berlin easyjet flight cost us €20 per head when we booked four months in advance, but the downside is the restrictions on your luggage. You can only carry one piece of cabin bag with limited size restrictions. If you have a larger cabin bag or want to check in one of your bags, it costs more than the ticket price! Do not forget to validate your tickets when traveling on public transport. Validating means getting the time stamp punched on your tickets. Some cities, you need to validate tickets everytime you get onto a bus, but these are only for individual trip tickets. If you purchase a day pass, then you need to validate it only once, the first time you use it. On buses, you validate tickets with the small yellow/red colour machine inside the bus. At railyway stations, you validate it at the station. For metro, ticket automatically gets validated when you insert ticket at turnstile. You might get tempted to travel ticketless, as almost all cities, there is no restriction for you to enter buses/trains/metro trains. Infact, you can travel without buying any ticket at all. But when ticket checkers to visit, you will end up paying huge fines. Before visiting a city or as soon as you visit any city, grap a copy of the metro line maps or other transport maps and orient yourself. Use www.rome2rio.com to check various transport options between two cities. It is awesome!

Other Tips (Saving on Food, Sightseeing..)

A water bottle will cost anywhere between €2 to €5 if you buy them at stores or restaurants. Visit your nearest supermarket and pick up water bottles in bulk (6 pack types). In Florence, we got 6 water bottles at a super market for 20 cents, while one bottle in a restaurnt is €2! When your hostel has a common kitchen, see if you can cook yourself a meal (breakfast or dinner) with some basic groceries available in the kitchen or picking up ingredients from the market. A simple pasta with some baguette will cost you less than €5 if you cook on your own. Utilizing the common kitchens is an excellent way to save money on food. You can eat out for lunch or dinner. Average cost of food in Europe: €5 for buffet breakfast at hostels (if not included in bed/room cost) or much more if eating at a restaurant. €8 for a maincourse like pasta or pizza (lunch or dinner) at a decent restaurant. A pint of beer will range from €1.20 to €6 and half litre mug of various tap beers start from €3. One bottle of water, half ltr mug of beer, a salad, a pasta, a dessert, will cost you €20 — €25. Vegetarians will have a tough time in Europe. End of discussion. Considering all the aspects discussed above, you should plan a minimum of €50 & maximum of €100 per day per person and this includes accommodation, all three meals with few beverages, local transport and sightseeing. Add €20 for extra sightseeing where entry fees are expensive.

I know this has been a lengthy post and I was not sure I would be able to write this at the first place.

In case you have more questions, please do post your comment (I don’t know if medium has comments option) or I am @ashwinsid on twitter.

Happy planning & wish you wonderful trips!