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European Trips, any one done any?

EvilPOKES

EvilPOKES

MegaPoke is insane
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Apr 23, 2008
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I am looking for some type of all-inclusive style of European trip. I have looked at the river cruises, looks ok. Any of you gals and guys done anything like this?

Meals, multiple guided tours, travel, local travel, etc. ?
 
Am open to other all-inclusive stuff that you folks have done. Europe is just a bucket list for us both. History buffs...

It'll be a surprise for the wife.
 
I lived in Czech for almost 4 years and have been almost all over Europe. Did not do any planned travel per say though. Where do you want to go and I will try to help. Austria, Czech, Germany, Poland, Swiss?
 
I am really open to wherever. The wife is of German decent and her officemate is German and can help us. So maybe German centric if you know of any? Wife love wine, so France, too. I'm open to exploring it all.

Much appreciated.
 
I'd skip an all inclusive deal. It's so easy to get around Europe yourself. I'd recommend a London/Paris/Amsterdam trip. Fly into London, stay a few days, then train to Paris and do the same, then train to Amsterdam. Fly home from there. Starting in London will get you used to the public transit and a foreign country where they speak English. Will help with France and Netherlands.
 
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Ik looking at all inclusive since this is our maiden voyage. Make it as easy on us as possible.
 
How much time do you have for a trip?

Have either of you been to Europe before?

Speak any languages?

Comfortable on a train or renting a car?

What's your budget?

I'll add my thoughts/recommendations over the weekend.
 
She's pretty good at Spanish, I am decent at French. We both can do a little German.

Never been to Europe.

No clue on budget.

Looking at late summer, Thanksgiving or Xmas time next year.

Not sure on train. No on car.
 
Guided tours and such are what my brain is thinking is best for us on our first trip.
 
Evil,

My dad, and his sisters (plus spouses) just did a Rhine river cruise. It would be within the realm of what your looking for (structure and movement).

I honestly would recommend you to get away from all inclusive type things though. There is soooo much great information on the web, that you can really do your own travel planning. I'm a big believer in trip advisor. There are many others such as virtual tourists, utrip, trip hobo, wiki travel, lonely planet, frommers, gogobot etc. My daughter and now son in law just spent 3 weeks in Thailand, for their honeymoon, and other than sorting out AirBnB, in the cities they wanted to base in, they just researched and planned their own excursions. If they can, you can. Trust me.

This is my personal opinion, but I don't know why you'd want to go to a place and not really get out and absorb the culture (as long as it's safe). All inclusive gives you a sanitized, Americanized, version or someone else's culture. I'm a big fan or getting out into it ...

Tagging @mseabolt as they just got back and @ThatOneGuy as he's over there a lot.
 
All-inclusive as in everything is taken care of...not necessarily all at one place type of deal. Just all the many things of travelling, port changes, food, etc., All taken care of in a nice package deal. Since it would be our first time, guided stuff would make it easiest.

But, I will check out some of that info @Cowguy . Appreciate it.

@ThorOdinson13 funny you should mention that. Thats one of the primary times and spots I'm looking to do at some point. As a first go, maybe.
 
EvilPOKES said:
All-inclusive as in everything is taken care of...not necessarily all at one place type of deal. Just all the many things of travelling, port changes, food, etc., All taken care of in a nice package deal. Since it would be our first time, guided stuff would make it easiest.

But, I will check out some of that info @Cowguy . Appreciate it.

@ThorOdinson13 funny you should mention that. Thats one of the primary times and spots I'm looking to do at some point. As a first go, maybe.
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Maybe start with a travel agent then. I get what you're saying. I just think it's easier to navigate than you think.

You'll have a great trip - regardless.
 
EvilPOKES said:
All-inclusive as in everything is taken care of...not necessarily all at one place type of deal. Just all the many things of travelling, port changes, food, etc., All taken care of in a nice package deal. Since it would be our first time, guided stuff would make it easiest.

But, I will check out some of that info @Cowguy . Appreciate it.

@ThorOdinson13 funny you should mention that. Thats one of the primary times and spots I'm looking to do at some point. As a first go, maybe.
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We used to hit up various weihnachtsmarkts every year in neighboring towns. Also, if you are there try to hit up the christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg. Very cool. We ended up only going once, I wish we would have hit it every year. It's like something out of a movie or book.
 
As far as budget. I have a coworker going on a European honeymoon this fall. Flying to Ireland. Then staying in London. He will finish up in France. He is looking at around 10000 for everything.
 
This site has good packages. Not necessarily all-inclusive (you still make most of your own schedule), but for one price you can get passes to sites/museums, rental car, B&B vouchers, etc. It's what we used for Ireland recently.
 
EvilPOKES said:
How does renting a vehicle in Europe work out? You can just drive?
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Depends on what you're doing but you likely don't need a car. Trains go everywhere.

Seriously, trust me and others above, plan your own trip. Do your own research. Trip Advisor is great. Also Rick Steve's and lonely planet. These days everything is so easy. Hell, tell us where you want to go and I bet you can get plenty of suggestions for hotels, restaurants, tours, etc.
 
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We just returned from Barcelona, Florence, and Rome. Planned for quite a while and had everything already scheduled but left plenty of time to explore on our own. Feel free to hit me up if you thinking of any of those areas (mseabolt@cox.net). Wife and I are both history buffs and I can still hardly wrap my head around the sites we saw. And the wine? .. yes.

We booked Airbnb for all three cities and all were great. And all averaged under 200 a night. We went with another couple and split that cost. So much better than a hotel.

Trains are easy to navigate and would suggest that as travel and throw in a few cabs and a bus or two, you should easily get anywhere you want.

Personal tour guides were awesome and bus tours were hit or miss.

Researching is the key.
 
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Ok so a few comments/suggestions having been to Europe probably ~50x for both business and pleasure over the years.
  • Nothing wrong with taking a tour on a first visit, it will take some pressure off you both and allow you to enjoy things.....I generally think the more you go, the more you get out of traveling independently. But nothing wrong with an organized tour as a start....you can also possibly extend a tour with 3 or 4 days on your own in a city or region if you with. I've done a couple Go Ahead Tours which were very good, and I've heard very good things about the Rick Steves' tours - my cousin had a nice trip with them last year all across Europe and he will be doing another one very soon.
  • Suggest following your interests, whatever they may be.....I love history so we've seen a lot of the famous battlefields across Europe, Roman ruins, medieval castles and town centers, etc. We love wine so we've been to a lot of vineyards in France and Italy. We love the countryside and villages of southern France and Italy so we've gotten away from the big crowds. We love art so we've seen le Louvre, British Museum, Uffizi Gallery, Vatican Museum, etc. I played a lot of golf back in the day so several buddies and I went and played some of the legendary courses of Scotland. Figure out what you're looking to do and how much energy you want to spend. We also love relaxing in Paris for days at a time with absolutely nothing on the agenda other than to enjoy the cafes and parks and take in things slowly.
  • Plan some things, but also keep time open for impromptu plans or things to see/do on impulse - by doing so I was able to be in Normandy on the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and we were in Venice the night Italy beat France for the World Cup title.
  • Don't do too much....go see what you want but mix in some days where you can just relax on the beach, or at a cafe, or in a little village. Europe is in many ways best enjoyed slowly. Of course, this is easier to do if you know you'll be coming back.
  • Summer months can be hot and crowded at the major tourist areas (museums, large cities, French riviera, etc.). September is a great month to see Europe - it's still largely warm and relatively dry, and the crowds are back to work/school.
  • Use the trains - don't fly around Europe, the train system is outstanding and efficient. Also, keep a rental car in mind, we had an incredible trip across Provence a couple of years ago that wouldn't have been possible via train...the countryside of Europe with the small villages and natural beauty is something missed by so many who never leave the major cities.
  • Avoid excessive schedules / lack of flexibility - I would never take a river cruise simply b/c I think you would miss a lot of the culture and vibe....I want to be in those little boutique hotels, out walking the streets, enjoying the mornings on my time...I wouldn't want to be told to be on or off a boat at any time and sleep on a boat that doesn't vary with the regions you're visiting.
  • Hidden / favorite gems: Honfleur (Normandy), Sitges (Spain), Carlingford (Ireland), Lake Como (Italy), Eze (Cote d'Azur), Pont du Gard and the various hilltop villages of Provence
  • Enjoy the regional cuisines and drinks - Normandy's cheese and Calvados, Italy's casual wine and seafood, Barcelona's pork, Northern Italy's risotto.....enjoy them! Each country has many different regions with very different cultures!
  • Places we love include London area (history/culture), Scotland, Paris (favorite city), Normandy, Provence and the Cote d'Azur, anything and everything in Italy from lake Como to the Amalfi coast, Barcelona and the Med coast. Northern Europe is enjoyable, but something about the warmth, cuisine, beauty, and history of southern Europe draws us back. Also love Amsterdam, a beautiful and relaxed city that is far more than the red light district and drug stereotype that comes along with it for those who haven't visited. Honestly I enjoyed about every place I've ever been in Europe with the exception of Munich - the locals were as rude as I've seen anywhere.
  • If you're in France, make the effort to speak French. It will go a long way with the locals. And don't stereotype the French when dealing with Parisians. Have fun trying to blend in a bit, don't bring American arrogance and impatience with you...dinners as an example can take a very long while. Slow down and enjoy it.

I'll add more if anything comes to mind, I love Europe and happy to answer any questions anybody has. Plan a great trip and go have fun!
 
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A river cruise is great for a way to see multiple places without the hassle of travel. Very nice way to go for part of a trip. If there for like 2 weeks I wouldn't do all of that by river though. I would do like 1 week cruise and the other bouncing around to places you want to see.

Ama waterways is the top rated river cruise company. My uncle started the company and basically built or started the other major ones as well. They spend very little on marketing and put all that money into the food, service, and ship amenities. Their ships are all the top rated ships by berlitz company (kind of like zagat / Michelin rating for river cruises). Great food, local wine, and desserts every day. They also have guided tours during the day.

I would avoid summer because that is when Europe most expensive. September and October would be cheaper.
 
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PTaxPoke said:
A river cruise is great for a way to see multiple places without the hassle of travel. Very nice way to go for part of a trip. If there for like 2 weeks I wouldn't do all of that by river though. I would do like 1 week cruise and the other bouncing around to places you want to see.

Ama waterways is the top rated river cruise company. My uncle started the company and basically built or started the other major ones as well. They spend very little on marketing and put all that money into the food, service, and ship amenities. Their ships are all the top rated ships by berlitz company (kind of like zagat / Michelin rating for river cruises). Great food, local wine, and desserts every day. They also have guided tours during the day.

I would avoid summer because that is when Europe most expensive. September and October would be cheaper.
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Friends and family discount!? Hook a brotha up!!! ;)
 
EvilPOKES said:
Friends and family discount!? Hook a brotha up!!! ;)
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Haha, if you go in September or October timeframe probably likely that can get a discount. My hookup was my cousin but he left the company. Sign up for one of their email lists and I imagine they run discount rates around those times because it is non peak euro travel time.
 
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BIGOSUFAN said:
No European trip is complete without a trip to Italy. Positano (prettiest town on earth) and Florence are must-do's.
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Positano is stunning, agree. Love Florence even w/ the commercial development over the last 20 years....
 
September is absolutely the perfect time I think. We went to Barca in September a few years back and the beach was pretty much empty but the water was warm enough to swim.

May is also a good time. Right when the weather can be pretty good and the tourist season has really kicked in.
 
One other idea, you can download walking tours to your phone that are great. You follow a map and when you get to a place on the tour you hit play. No need to be online.
 
May is possibly the best time outside of Thanksgiving week or right before xmas since the wife is finishing up her PhD...damn school!
 
It is not an "all inclusive" deal, but Rick Steves has tour packages that I would highly recommend. They usually include at least one meal a day and sometimes 2 meals. They arrange hotel and travel once you are in country. I did a 2 week southern Italy Rick Steves tour and it was a great experience. His company does tours all over Europe. Check out his website and see if anything pops with you.
 
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A guy can get good deals on Brussels and France right now.
 
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