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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 20, 2019 15:21:42 GMT -5
There are frequent trains to Rouen from Gare St Lazare.
ETA: There are so many great suggestions here, justme will just have to come back LOL! Don't underestimate the amount of time that you'll want to stop and 'smell the roses'. Paris is a really good city for this. I cannot second The Walk of the Penguin Mich 's comment enough. You WON'T be able to do everything you'd like to do in a 12- or even 14-day-trip. So you need to prioritize, and spend more time in each place. JMO. Personally I'd skip the cruise, it sounds like a way to just tick a bunch of cities off your list. Better to spend more time in fewer places, IMO. That is how we prefer to travel but everyone is different.
The trip where we missed you was my third trip to Paris. My first trip I was there a week, my second trip, I was there 6 days and my last trip I was there another week. We STILL missed stuff, but we smelled a lot of roses along the way!
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Feb 20, 2019 15:26:24 GMT -5
Our last big trip (it has been a while) was 3.5 years ago. That's the trip that travelnut11 helped us organize. We spent 3.5 weeks in Southeast Asia. We went to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. We really wanted to go to Vietnam too, but we felt we would be rushed if we did, so we opted not to. We all rush around so much in our daily lives, isn't part of the joy of being on vacation the fact of NOT having to rush?!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 15:28:19 GMT -5
Don't underestimate the amount of time that you'll want to stop and 'smell the roses'. Paris is a really good city for this. <snip> Most of what we have always done is just look to see what's going on, and trying to take advantage of it. TOTALLY agreed! Keep your eyes and ears open and check posters and notices wherever you go, as well as the newspaper and racks of brochures. When I was in Dundee I saw a brochure in the train station for the Surgeons Museum in Edinburgh (where I was staying) and remembered some episodes of "Mysteries at the Museum" that showed some of their exhibits. Wow- I spent hours marveling at pickled tumors, bones, organs, skeletons of people with rickets, osteomyelitis, osteosarcoma, ankylosis, osteoporosis... yes, I AM a science geek. DH and I once found a performance of "Blithe Spirit", a play by Noel Coward that we both loved. Lots of concerts in churches and cathedrals. It's one of the major advantages of independent travel.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Feb 20, 2019 16:19:00 GMT -5
We spent 2.5 weeks in Italy back in September. Norwegian had the best flight deals going direct from our location but the day of our direct flight to Milan it was cancelled. We had paid for the economy plus seats and they got us on a flight later that night to Rome with a connector to Milan. When we got to the airport we were lucky to get on the flight they put us on and at first we weren't even sitting together. As we were about to board the flight they fixed that and we sat together but I felt bad for other people who were in our situation as some who had economy seats were told they were put on the flight and when they got to the airport it was full. I realize things happen but they cancelled multiple flights on us (first one we booked was cancelled a month later) so I've somewhat soured on Norwegian but if they're the best deal and only one flying direct to our location I'd likely use them again. Our trip was primarily spent in Italy but we took a week long cruise on NCL that departed and returned to Venice that stopped in Montenegro, Greece and Croatia. It was a great way to see multiple cities/countries and they have shore excursions where you go with other people from the cruise and there were quite a few solo flyers on there. That said the cruise itself with shore excursions may not be feasible on the OP's budget. I know in another thread some people weren't fans of recent NCL trips but I had no complaints and thought it was a great value. Admittedly that was the first serious (non booze) cruise I had ever been on so getting to pick what I wanted to eat every meal when I could eat steak, fish, daily specials and so on was great. For our time spent in Italy we booked our tours and train tickets in advance and have no complaints there as they ran on time. No experience with prepaid sim as we used wifi and I activated the international plan through AT&T before we went. Any day we used our service was a $10 flat fee and we did this with my phone and used it to look up restaurants, sights to see and use the map. I don't live somewhere with subways and the map function was great because obviously if you want to walk you can get directions but it also works for taking the subway for a further destination. Contrary to popular beliefs I'm a guy and have no problem asking for directions because I can get turned around real easily especially on a subway so the map function was huge. We stayed at places through airbnb in Milan, Rome, Venice and Sorrento and everything was fine. We spent time in the aforementioned cities and also did day trips to Lugano/Lake Como and Florence. Most everything was booked in advance online but we did end up booking some last minute shorter walking tours using our phone. I haven't had the chance to read beyond the OP so not sure what follow up questions the OP may have that are more specific based on our trips. In previous years we've also been to the UK, Ireland, Spain and done day trips to France. More than happy to provide any info I can. Edit - of the places we visited on the cruise I'd really like to go back to Greece and Croatia. I'd also recommend a day trip to Capri if you do that part of Italy. We didn't get too far into the Amalfi coast because we only had a few days in Sorrento and we had trips planned every day but we did make it to Positano. It was fun but it wasn't anything that blew me away but I'd still recommend a day trip if you're in the area. Ran into some people from Australia who had been in Positano all week and they loved it but they also had a hired driver who took them up and down the coast. The one place we were in that I have zero desire to go back to is Naples but admittedly we were only there between trains. I know just about anywhere you go the train station is about the worst place to judge an area or city on but there was a lot of trash, it felt less nice/safe than other areas and when we came back to Naples from Sorrento on the ferry a cab driver tried to screw us which I was aware of in advance. He literally drove us a mile or less, complained about the traffic and upped the price after we got into the cab. I later read they recommend you take down the cab number and if that happens you should hop out with your stuff and report them but again not the nicest area, we were on a deadline and I had my wife with me and didn't want to cause a problem. I know some people love Naples and I have no doubts it has it's nice parts but given that we've already been to Italy if we were to go back Naples isn't somewhere that would be on our list. A lot of great info! Thanks! I've been reading too much of Norwegian's money issues and where I am they don't have a ton of flights during the week. So a canceled flight means I'm screwed. I'm going to have to stick with either a company that has a lot of flights or is at least in an allegiance that gives them more options. I've been on NCL twice and they were who I was mentioning in the OP. Problem is, at least for this season, they only have 1 ship in the Med that has studios and it's doing Western as it's too big for Venice and doesn't start until May 15. The others are just too much money for this trip having to pay the solo penalty. Though I just noticed Getaway is sailing Eastern Med out of Rome next season and she has studios! Still miss Venice though, and I'm not sure whether the stops on Getaway would be tendered or not. But I'm excited about 2 ships with studios sailing the Med in 2020! I think I've narrowed down my two Italy cities to Rome & Venice for this trip. So if there were any specific tours you really liked let me know! Yeah sorry I didn't even think about if/when cruises run. We knew we wanted to do one and that we wanted to travel at the end of summer or shortly thereafter and planned our trip by booking the cruise first and that was during cruise season. In Venice we did a walksofitaly.com tour that lasted 3 hours: www.walksofitaly.com/venice-tours/venice-gondola-and-walking-tour/ I imagine just a gondola ride may be longer than the one we got but they were extremely pricey so going with this option if you want to ride in a gondola (they have one without the gondola ride) was well worth it. The gondola ride to us was like that super touristy thing you do because you're there and you check the box but it's not something I'd have to do again. Like any tour the quality will depend on your tour guide but in our experience all the guides we had were good guides. They give you a lot of detail to the point by the end of this tour in particular I just wanted a beer and to take break. You end in Doge's Palace and can hang out afterwords, grab a coffee/snack in the snack shop or head out if you're over it. Another thing we did in Venice was in the main area near St Mark's square where all the boats pick up/drop off was an hour long boat cruise through the canals with a group of like 6-8 people. Don't recall which site it was but you can buy tickets at the booths there and they were like $30 or less. These are operated by independent boat owners and the tour isn't anything crazy but for an hour long tour through the canals it was worth it. If you want to do a dinner cruise they have those but those were like $80+ and some of the reviews made it sound like you were getting more snacks than dinner but those were sunset cruises. In Rome we did a Vatican tour through walksofitaly.com that was 3.5 hours: www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/complete-vatican-tour/Well worth it just a lot of information and if it's hot (was the day we did the tour) by the end you might be ready for a break. When it ends you're still in Vatican City so you can walk around a bit on your own. We also did a day trip from Rome to Florence through viator: www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Florence-Day-Trip-from-Rome/d511-2390GRET17Pricier than the previous tours but it's an all day thing which includes transportation, a guided tour and lunch. After lunch you have time to yourself and we ended up walking across the bridge just outside of the main city where there's a big church up on a hill. It's a hike but I'd recommend it to anyone as there were amazing views from the church of the city of Florence. If you don't want to walk it our tour guide told us the church's name, what to tell a taxi driver and how much it would cost to get there and you can likely find someone else in your group who is willing to split a cab. I was with my wife but on all of the tours I would have felt fine on my own and there were single individuals who were on the tours. Even when we had time to ourselves walking around it's not like you're in a sketchy area. That said there are warnings in some areas about keeping your bag/purse close to you and to watch out for pick pockets. We heard about one instance where people used kids or a ruse to get your attention before they would take a phone or purse and this actually happened to someone we came across.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Feb 20, 2019 16:23:03 GMT -5
On the other hand, the cruise would allow you to meet people ...
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 20, 2019 16:43:59 GMT -5
That said there are warnings in some areas about keeping your bag/purse close to you and to watch out for pick pockets. We heard about one instance where people used kids or a ruse to get your attention before they would take a phone or purse and this actually happened to someone we came across.
This happened to me, first metro trip. I had a crossbody bag, but they still managed to unzip it, get my wallet out of it AND they managed to unzip the side pocket inside the purse (where our passports were). Luckily, my wallet got dumped onto the floor and only the cash taken but it was a very loud lesson for me.
What happened was that I got pushed just as the train started up. I went to grab hold of the pole to get my balance and in the split second that I released my purse (it was under my arm), my wallet got snagged.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2019 17:16:14 GMT -5
That said there are warnings in some areas about keeping your bag/purse close to you and to watch out for pick pockets. We heard about one instance where people used kids or a ruse to get your attention before they would take a phone or purse and this actually happened to someone we came across.
This happened to me, first metro trip. I had a crossbody bag, but they still managed to unzip it, get my wallet out of it AND they managed to unzip the side pocket inside the purse (where our passports were). Luckily, my wallet got dumped onto the floor and only the cash taken but it was a very loud lesson for me. What happened was that I got pushed just as the train started up. I went to grab hold of the pole to get my balance and in the split second that I released my purse (it was under my arm), my wallet got snagged. Very similar to what happened with DS on the Barcelona subway, but they got $50 in a money clip in his front pants pocket. (He wasn't supposed to be carrying cash. ) The money clip was dropped to the floor; DH said they do that so there's no evidence if they get caught. All they have on them is the cash and that's untraceable.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Feb 20, 2019 18:04:15 GMT -5
That said there are warnings in some areas about keeping your bag/purse close to you and to watch out for pick pockets. We heard about one instance where people used kids or a ruse to get your attention before they would take a phone or purse and this actually happened to someone we came across.
This happened to me, first metro trip. I had a crossbody bag, but they still managed to unzip it, get my wallet out of it AND they managed to unzip the side pocket inside the purse (where our passports were). Luckily, my wallet got dumped onto the floor and only the cash taken but it was a very loud lesson for me. What happened was that I got pushed just as the train started up. I went to grab hold of the pole to get my balance and in the split second that I released my purse (it was under my arm), my wallet got snagged. Very similar to what happened with DS on the Barcelona subway, but they got $50 in a money clip in his front pants pocket. (He wasn't supposed to be carrying cash. ) The money clip was dropped to the floor; DH said they do that so there's no evidence if they get caught. All they have on them is the cash and that's untraceable. Ours was a bunch of female gypsies outside the Vatican, all bunched up along a wall. You walked down the sidewalk between them and a big 18 wheeler parked at the curb. My mom and I were walking maybe twenty feet ahead, my dad and little sister back behind us. My dad had his wallet (with the plane tickets) in his FRONT pocket, because we'd been warned about the pick pockets in Rome. Didn't matter - a bunch of women rushed him and grabbed his arms, forcing them into the air, while one of them grabbed the wallet from his pants pocket. Fortunately, she dropped it, and my little sister dove on top of it just as my dad got his arms loose. He yelled at them, which made my mom and I turn around and run back to him (I don't think the gypsy women knew we were with him) - the women didn't even have the good grace to run off, they just backed up a bit, against the wall, and glared at us, scolding us. Like WE did something wrong! We scolded them back.
So - we didn't actually lose any money, but we were lucky. It soured my opinion of Rome, though.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Feb 20, 2019 23:28:49 GMT -5
Last time we stayed in a small hotel near the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, is that a good place for young adults? Seemed to be a lot of students there. happyhoix That's a very fun area but it's a bit far from a lot of other sites IMO. Other ideas for day trips: Versailles, and maybe Giverny (but I'm not sure how to get there on public transport).
You can take the train from the Champ du Mar (?) to Versailles, and walk from the train station to the palace. We followed the process Rick Steves describes in his tour guide. Versailles is one of the places where a guided tour is worth the cost.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Feb 21, 2019 1:39:40 GMT -5
This is just how I've done my travel, so do with it as you wish! Travel purse: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RTMV48/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1Slash resistant with locking zippers. I also carry a scarf tied around the shoulder strap that further blocks easy access to the main zipper. I've never had an issue. It fits: a water bottle, small camera, train tickets, other tickets, two passports, wallet, sunglasses, coin purse, mini flashlight, phone, pen, small notepad, travel gnome, and more. It's surprisingly large inside. Travel gnome... Partly because my mom got it for me (she also got one for my son). It's small and fits in the purse easy. I don't do selfies, so I put the gnomes somewhere and take their photo instead (especially when the kid gets tired of me taking his). The gnomes have been on all of our trips with us. They're just little mini-figurines my mom got at her work (Joann Fabrics). Usually I bring a roller bag with backpack straps (a Rick Steves bag). It's been great, and I used it as my one bag (plus personal item) on the five-week-long Europe trip I did in 2015. This round it's too heavy (I'm limited to 17 1/2 pounds for this trip, including personal item), so I'll miss it, but it's been a great bag. Roll it where I can, and throw it over my back when I can't. I've never done any kind of data on my phone. The last trip (the 5 week long one) I just used wifi when I found it (all my rooms had free wifi, and many of the large cities had it in the town area, where you could access it for at least a little while for free). I'll probably just do wifi again this trip, even though it's tempting to get a sim card. I get by with taking photos of maps when I find them, and asking for directions when I get lost. If you say hello in the local language, and can show the address in the local language, I've found that people have been very helpful! Even if they can't speak English, they've been great. If you are using a bus, sometimes you can show the bus driver your desired destination (and exit stop) and when they get there, they'll stop for you and point out that you want to get off here, and point the direction you should walk. This is probably easier outside of the main cities, when they aren't so busy with so many people. Also, if you use a taxi, have the address written in the local language for them. I use booking.com for my rooms anymore. I've never once had an issue. I book by cheap but well rated, and close to public transportation of some sort. On the five week trip. All my prices were for two beds, private bath, and usually free breakfast, so yours could hopefully be cheaper. They were also for middle of summer. All prices are totals, not the per night cost. Paris: location 1, 2 nights, total 146 Euros Paris: location 2, 2 nights, 196 Euros (first room was fine, just wanted to stay in different areas) Munich: 2 nights, 340 Euros, because we were arriving very late at night and wanted to stay very close to the train station. It was only a block away. I could have gotten a room much less expensive though. Salzburg: 1 night, just outside of the city (a short bus ride away), loved the hotel! We only stayed there one night, but the rooms were so cheap (50 Euros each) that my son and I both got our own room. Amazing breakfast in the morning. Vienna: 2 nights, 88 Euros Krakow: 2 nights, full apartment, right on the corner of the Market Square, $157 (we seriously splurged here, many apartments were $27/night) Prague: 2 nights, 96 Euros (another apartment) Berlin: 2 nights, 106 Euros Nuremberg: 2 nights, 175 Euros, splurged on AC. It was such a hot trip, with temps well over 100° for weeks! Bruges: 1 night, by far the most expensive room, 195 Euro Liege, Belgium: 1 night, 87 Euros Verdun: 2 nights, 100 Euros Sedan: Stayed in a castle!! 2 nights, 220 Euros Caen: 1 night, 53 Euros Paris again: 2 nights, 98 Euros I know you won't visit all of those areas, but I wanted to put them all out there because you really can find rooms in almost any price range. Also, all of these rooms, except the first nights in Paris, and the room in Krakow, were booked the night before we arrived in the city. It also doesn't show every night, because we did overnight trains, and spent a few nights with distant relatives we met in southern France, but that is the total for every single hotel/apartment we stayed in. Oh, except one night where we booked a Caen museum tour* that covered the hotel. Check out booking.com and don't expect your room prices to be anywhere near $200/night. My goal was to average less than $100/night, and we did that. I like the Rome 2 Rio website for telling you how to get from place to place (I rely more on that when I'm out of the country than I do google maps). You can sometimes load an app to your phone that will show you the local train/bus routes. This came in very handy in one country, but I can't remember which one (might have been Germany). *This is the one time that not having a phone could have bit me... the Caen Museum refused to do any kind of tour info over email, they would only accept phone calls. They wouldn't even tell me if there were tours available on the days I was interested in. I had not downloaded any apps that would let me make phone calls over wifi (I now have google voice downloaded). I ended up emailing my parents, had them make the phone call to France from their house, pay for my tickets over the phone, and give them my email address to send my ticket info and receipt. Fortunately, my sister helped them out with the phone call, since they are not the most patient people on the phone. It happened, we got the tour, we were happy. But, we would have missed it if I couldn't ask them to do that for me. Hostels... I've never been "brave" enough to share a room at a hostel. Well, mostly I was traveling with my son, but even for the Sweden trip, where I'll be going solo, I've decided it's worth getting my own room and bathroom. The exception to this has been on trains (and now ferries). We went from Rodez, France, to Paris on a night train and shared the room with two women. When I do the ferry between Sweden and Finland, then back, I will be in a 4-bed room shared with (up to) three other women. Not sure why I don't care if I'm physically traveling while I sleep, but do when I stay still. I love, love, love night trains. Flying would be faster (by my son hates flying) and possibly cheaper. I also kind of sleep like crap on the train (beds are not the most comfortable). But, I still love them and will do them whenever I want to go a long distance and not waste daytime hours.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Feb 21, 2019 8:46:44 GMT -5
Those are some good ideas happyhoix . I could keep it to the 3 cities 4 nights each and throw in day trips to others. For anyone giving me recommendations, an FYI because I'm weird. 1) I can't drink beer (or anything carbonated) 2) I don't like chocolate (the horror) 3) and I'm a total wimp when it comes to anything remotely spicy - not sure if that's an issue over there. YAY! I found another weirdo! I can't even stand the smell of it. I know I said I'd have input, but I don't have anything to offer for Paris or Rome. I've only stayed the night before flying home in Paris, at an airport hotel, and I've never been to Rome. Venice, though. definitely take a ferry or water taxi out to Murano Island for the glass blowing shops. that was spectacular. and, jet lag - I have never had a problem coming home. it's just a longer day. going over on a redeye though? that makes for an overtired and punchy first day in Europe. plan to take it easy that first day. get settled, go to bed early once you're there, and hit the ground running the next day.
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 21, 2019 10:37:04 GMT -5
Those are some good ideas happyhoix . I could keep it to the 3 cities 4 nights each and throw in day trips to others. For anyone giving me recommendations, an FYI because I'm weird. 1) I can't drink beer (or anything carbonated) 2) I don't like chocolate (the horror) 3) and I'm a total wimp when it comes to anything remotely spicy - not sure if that's an issue over there. YAY! I found another weirdo! I can't even stand the smell of it. I know I said I'd have input, but I don't have anything to offer for Paris or Rome. I've only stayed the night before flying home in Paris, at an airport hotel, and I've never been to Rome. Venice, though. definitely take a ferry or water taxi out to Murano Island for the glass blowing shops. that was spectacular. and, jet lag - I have never had a problem coming home. it's just a longer day. going over on a redeye though? that makes for an overtired and punchy first day in Europe. plan to take it easy that first day. get settled, go to bed early once you're there, and hit the ground running the next day. The smell usually doesn't bother me, but if I have a migraine I absolutely cannot stand it. Thanks for the idea about Venice! I'll probably have no choice but to take it easy the first day! If I start in Rome because of connections I'm not getting there until the afternoon or evening anyways. Just in time to eat dinner and get settled in before bed. Though if I'm abandoning the cruise idea for this trip I could go either way. Not sure whether it'd be better for the simpler flight to be on the way home or the way there?
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 21, 2019 10:52:34 GMT -5
Ok - so if I nix the cruise for this go round and scale back to around 2 weeks I could fly in or out of any city.
It doesn't look like Tampa is any cheaper at all. Miami and FLL can be cheaper - but not by much and it doesn't really decrease the flying time as there's no non-stops. (Hell a couple of my Orlando options fly through Miami and are less than $100 more than Miami.)
Surprisingly it might be a better option to fly out of Venice home instead of Rome. Also seem to be better flying into Venice too.
I briefly checked flying into Milan since it's only a 2 hour train from Venice. Not sure it's totally worth the hassle. Not really any cheaper or better flights.
Man, the open jaw tickets are way more of a pain to find better/cheaper options on google flights. You can't just open up the calendar to find the days that are cheaper. Surprisingly, for shits and giggles I just looked at a RT to Venice and it's not any cheaper than what I'm looking at. Interesting.
Any thoughts on the Rome to Paris option or visa versa?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2019 11:26:49 GMT -5
If you are not doing the cruise, it doesn’t matter if you fly into Rome first, or Paris. So have you looked at flip flopping your travel? Start in Paris, fly out of Rome or Venice, whichever city is cheaper.
Rather than looking at open jaw tickets, try looking for 2 one way tickets instead. This allows you to take advantage of different airlines flying into different cities cheaper.
Finally, if you get too frustrated, if you have AAA try using their travel agency. Last time I used them, I was making our flight arrangements to Istanbul. TD was flying from Seattle, I was flying from KY and I was trying to get both of our flights to meet up in a hub in the US before flying overseas. AAA found us cheaper flights with better connections and it was a $75 surcharge/person. I had easily spent 20+ hours looking at flights, where they got me what I wanted, for the price I wanted in about 30 min.
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justme
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Post by justme on Feb 21, 2019 11:44:38 GMT -5
It looks like if I fly into Paris I'll get there in the morning. If I fly into Venice/Rome I'll get there in the afternoon or early evening.
I do have AAA. Kinda crazy you pay for the membership and then have to pay for them to do anything!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2019 12:24:56 GMT -5
It looks like if I fly into Paris I'll get there in the morning. If I fly into Venice/Rome I'll get there in the afternoon or early evening. I do have AAA. Kinda crazy you pay for the membership and then have to pay for them to do anything! Travel agents seem to be going the way of a dodo bird, and as I have been organizing all of our travel, I can now really appreciate all the work that goes into it. We are going on a cruise next Oct. Other than the cruise, I need flights into Bergen and out of Barcelona, hotels in both Bergen and Barcelona for before and after the cruise, and since our trip is going to be 3+ weeks, 2 local one way car rentals.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Feb 21, 2019 13:33:50 GMT -5
As apple mentioned above, no longer need to get a SIM card, just can just use a phone on WiFi. This is what I did on my recent trip to Europe. Just turn off your data so you don’t get any calls. You can stay in contact via WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. just pre-arrange for contact method with anyone you need to contact.
As far as jet lag, ive travelled to Europe many times, mostly for work. Almost all trips over are overnight, it’s tough to sleep on a plane. So you basically miss 6 hours of sleep. It’s best to stay awake as much as you can the next day and take it easy, but you can get in Europe time by the 2nd day.
Coming back, it is just a REALLY long day. Again best to stay up as long as you can, but not too hard to get back on schedule. I have many times gone back to work the next day. You usually get up really early and tired by the end of the day, but not too hard to get on schedule.
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travelnut11
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Post by travelnut11 on Feb 21, 2019 13:44:50 GMT -5
Ok - so if I nix the cruise for this go round and scale back to around 2 weeks I could fly in or out of any city. It doesn't look like Tampa is any cheaper at all. Miami and FLL can be cheaper - but not by much and it doesn't really decrease the flying time as there's no non-stops. (Hell a couple of my Orlando options fly through Miami and are less than $100 more than Miami.) Surprisingly it might be a better option to fly out of Venice home instead of Rome. Also seem to be better flying into Venice too. I briefly checked flying into Milan since it's only a 2 hour train from Venice. Not sure it's totally worth the hassle. Not really any cheaper or better flights. Man, the open jaw tickets are way more of a pain to find better/cheaper options on google flights. You can't just open up the calendar to find the days that are cheaper. Surprisingly, for shits and giggles I just looked at a RT to Venice and it's not any cheaper than what I'm looking at. Interesting. Any thoughts on the Rome to Paris option or visa versa? Have you checked out these websites? They basically tell you how to get to anywhere from anywhere. Seat 61 is specific to train travel whereas Rome to Rio has all options:
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chiver78
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Current Events Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:04:45 GMT -5
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Post by chiver78 on Feb 21, 2019 13:52:59 GMT -5
As apple mentioned above, no longer need to get a SIM card, just can just use a phone on WiFi. This is what I did on my recent trip to Europe. Just turn off your data so you don’t get any calls. You can stay in contact via WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. just pre-arrange for contact method with anyone you need to contact. As far as jet lag, ive travelled to Europe many times, mostly for work. Almost all trips over are overnight, it’s tough to sleep on a plane. So you basically miss 6 hours of sleep. It’s best to stay awake as much as you can the next day and take it easy, but you can get in Europe time by the 2nd day.
Coming back, it is just a REALLY long day. Again best to stay up as long as you can, but not too hard to get back on schedule. I have many times gone back to work the next day. You usually get up really early and tired by the end of the day, but not too hard to get on schedule. ^I could have written this. basically, coming home, I'd just stay up as late as I could handle, and then I was more or less okay the next day. then there was the added wrinkle the OP won't have for Fr/It of having to remember to drive on the right, rather than the left. I'd usually just wait til the next morning when there wasn't much traffic, and then go for a drive to re-wire my brain.
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travelnut11
Familiar Member
Joined: Feb 12, 2011 22:17:14 GMT -5
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Post by travelnut11 on Feb 21, 2019 13:59:07 GMT -5
How flexible are your travel days? Could you do Wed to Wed for example?
I saw a basic (no checked baggage) round-trip from Miami to Paris via Madrid on Iberia for $397 April 24 through May 8. Long layover in Madrid on the way back but probably enough time to leave the airport and check out Madrid if you're so inclined. I'm current obsessed with Scott's Cheap Flight's and have come close to booking a few fares. There's a free service and subscription service that are worth checking out. I saw direct Chicago to Beijing last year for $480 and lots of European fares consistently in the $300/400/500 range.
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justme
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 10, 2012 13:12:47 GMT -5
Posts: 14,618
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Post by justme on Feb 21, 2019 14:19:43 GMT -5
As apple mentioned above, no longer need to get a SIM card, just can just use a phone on WiFi. This is what I did on my recent trip to Europe. Just turn off your data so you don’t get any calls. You can stay in contact via WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. just pre-arrange for contact method with anyone you need to contact. As far as jet lag, ive travelled to Europe many times, mostly for work. Almost all trips over are overnight, it’s tough to sleep on a plane. So you basically miss 6 hours of sleep. It’s best to stay awake as much as you can the next day and take it easy, but you can get in Europe time by the 2nd day. Coming back, it is just a REALLY long day. Again best to stay up as long as you can, but not too hard to get back on schedule. I have many times gone back to work the next day. You usually get up really early and tired by the end of the day, but not too hard to get on schedule. So there's that much free wifi in Europe? When I go to the caribbean or canada it's practically impossible to find legit free wifi out and about. It's the out and about why I want to get a SIM. I'm likely to forget to take a photo of maps, or wander out of the area of I take a picture of, or go off in another direction from that restaurant I was going to go to. (Can you tell my ADD comes out when I travel? And when planning it lol)
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travelnut11
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Joined: Feb 12, 2011 22:17:14 GMT -5
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Post by travelnut11 on Feb 21, 2019 14:23:54 GMT -5
I've never done the SIM card thing either just WifI on my phone. No issues but I tend to use my trips as a break from my phone so only use it when I need to do local research.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2019 14:35:33 GMT -5
As apple mentioned above, no longer need to get a SIM card, just can just use a phone on WiFi. This is what I did on my recent trip to Europe. Just turn off your data so you don’t get any calls. You can stay in contact via WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. just pre-arrange for contact method with anyone you need to contact. As far as jet lag, ive travelled to Europe many times, mostly for work. Almost all trips over are overnight, it’s tough to sleep on a plane. So you basically miss 6 hours of sleep. It’s best to stay awake as much as you can the next day and take it easy, but you can get in Europe time by the 2nd day. Coming back, it is just a REALLY long day. Again best to stay up as long as you can, but not too hard to get back on schedule. I have many times gone back to work the next day. You usually get up really early and tired by the end of the day, but not too hard to get on schedule. So there's that much free wifi in Europe? When I go to the caribbean or canada it's practically impossible to find legit free wifi out and about. It's the out and about why I want to get a SIM. I'm likely to forget to take a photo of maps, or wander out of the area of I take a picture of, or go off in another direction from that restaurant I was going to go to. (Can you tell my ADD comes out when I travel? And when planning it lol) I didn't find so in either Portugal or France. We did use Starbucks, but as I had a SIM card for my phone we had access to data on one of our phones at all times. If you plan on using it as a GPS, you might want to get the card. I also used it when we found an interesting looking restaurant while out and about to get a quick review before trying it out. We left the SIM number with both my sister and TD's mom in case of emergency, but we never received any incoming calls other than those we needed (like the hotel, and when our rings were ready to be picked up).
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souldoubt
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 11:57:14 GMT -5
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Post by souldoubt on Feb 21, 2019 15:12:58 GMT -5
I use booking.com for my rooms anymore. I've never once had an issue. I book by cheap but well rated, and close to public transportation of some sort. On the five week trip. All my prices were for two beds, private bath, and usually free breakfast, so yours could hopefully be cheaper. They were also for middle of summer. This reminded me that for our trip we actually used booking.com for one stay. However, we ran into an issue that will prevent me from going through them again. Once we booked the stay the manager reached out as in some cities abroad it's a requirement that we give them our passport info because it's required by the local authorities. I provided the info and was awaiting a response for a few weeks for them to confirm they didn't need anything else. I finally emailed them again and got an error that the email I previously used wasn't valid. I waited a few weeks, tried to email again and same result. As our trip approached I reached out to booking.com, told them I was cancelling because I couldn't leave the country not knowing if our accommodations were set and was told the manager had to initiate the refund. Booking.com was worthless when it came to trying to contact the provider. They told me to email, I told them the email wasn't working and gave them proof, they told me to call and I told them the reason I used a site like theirs was to book a place overseas and that I'm not calling internationally. With me on the line they tried calling and with the time difference it would have been business hours but no one answered. I finally heard from the manager the day we were supposed to check in when I got a text and email asking what time we would be there. I'm sure it's in the fine print that it's up to me to get in touch with the manager but the lack of contact is something I've never experienced with airbnb, vrbo, expedia, etc. I ended up having to go through my CC company to get a refund and provided proof to them of what happened. I had used them before with no issue but all it takes is that one bad experience to keep me from using them again.
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souldoubt
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 11:57:14 GMT -5
Posts: 2,745
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Post by souldoubt on Feb 21, 2019 15:22:10 GMT -5
As apple mentioned above, no longer need to get a SIM card, just can just use a phone on WiFi. This is what I did on my recent trip to Europe. Just turn off your data so you don’t get any calls. You can stay in contact via WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. just pre-arrange for contact method with anyone you need to contact. As far as jet lag, ive travelled to Europe many times, mostly for work. Almost all trips over are overnight, it’s tough to sleep on a plane. So you basically miss 6 hours of sleep. It’s best to stay awake as much as you can the next day and take it easy, but you can get in Europe time by the 2nd day. Coming back, it is just a REALLY long day. Again best to stay up as long as you can, but not too hard to get back on schedule. I have many times gone back to work the next day. You usually get up really early and tired by the end of the day, but not too hard to get on schedule. So there's that much free wifi in Europe? When I go to the caribbean or canada it's practically impossible to find legit free wifi out and about. It's the out and about why I want to get a SIM. I'm likely to forget to take a photo of maps, or wander out of the area of I take a picture of, or go off in another direction from that restaurant I was going to go to. (Can you tell my ADD comes out when I travel? And when planning it lol) Over the years we've found wifi in various countries in Europe by popping into small cafes, buying a coffee and asking for the wifi info. Some places posted the info but I'd say the majority didn't yet all of them seemed to have it. I don't know who your carrier is or what the SIM card runs but as I mentioned previously AT&T has a plan you can turn on before traveling that charges like $10 a day. That $10 allowed me to use maps on my phone, to call hosts we were meeting for some stays and to call back home while there were no additional fees. That activation fee abroad was the fee to use my phone normally while halfway around the world. That said we were on a cruise for a good chunk of our trip and I didn't use the plan those days while I realize $10 can add up if you use it every day for a 2+ week trip.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2019 15:35:37 GMT -5
I have booked all of our hotels through Expedia. I know that they've gotten some bad press in the past, but I've not ever had an issue with them validating a reservation. The only issue I ever had (and now I double check to make sure) is that the Expedia print out I had of one of our guest houses we stayed in in South Africa had an incorrect address. When we got into Durban, I tried to input the address and it wasn't recognized. Luckily, I had phone plan, called them and we got the correct address. It was a simple mistake, and easily rectified.
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cktc
Senior Member
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Post by cktc on Feb 21, 2019 16:26:33 GMT -5
It looks like if I fly into Paris I'll get there in the morning. If I fly into Venice/Rome I'll get there in the afternoon or early evening. I do have AAA. Kinda crazy you pay for the membership and then have to pay for them to do anything! Travel agents seem to be going the way of a dodo bird, and as I have been organizing all of our travel, I can now really appreciate all the work that goes into it. We are going on a cruise next Oct. Other than the cruise, I need flights into Bergen and out of Barcelona, hotels in both Bergen and Barcelona for before and after the cruise, and since our trip is going to be 3+ weeks, 2 local one way car rentals. This is actually what I do for a living. Technically I'm a tour coordinator. We sell custom package tours to travel agents. I'm not big into sales. There is still a market for travel agents, but we sell value, not the cheapest option. If justme gave me this info and her budget, I could spend 4 hours designing this trip and then justme could probably book it herself for less. When clients contact us directly we charge a $150 planning fee in advance so we at least get something for our time if they decide not to book with us. Our usual market is 4-5*. Budget/Rick Steves clients are more challenging. More work, less commission, and more likely to have to justify our value. I have a hard time offering advice to the Rick Steve's kind of traveler, not just for the above reasons, but he has his niche market too. I'd say that is more for the seasoned traveler, someone who has a lot of time to spend traveling and plans to do so frequently. If you only have a couple weeks and going to Europe is more of a trip of a lifetime, I'd say don't just stay by the rail stations because they are cheap. Stay in a lively neighborhood with options for shopping, restaurants, and some easy sight seeing. Pick pockets also congregate near stations so it can be more intimidating venturing out on your own at night. In Rome I'd suggest near the Piazza del Popolo, Venice, St. Marks, and Paris the 5th or 6th. For touring, I know a lot of people don't like to be tied to plans and just want to wing it. Don't do this for the must see sights. No one wants to spend 3+ hours waiting in lines or miss a site completely. You don't have to make more than one reservation a day and with all the time spent not waiting in line you can wing the rest of your time there. You can get tickets or a group tour to the Vatican in advance through their website (avoid Wednesdays and Sunday is closed). The Colosseum has a newish underground tour that should also be booked in advance if that interests you. It sells out quickly directly, but there are group options that will usually still have tickets about a month out. The Borghese is also great and should be booked in advance, but if you are not that into museums you can skip it. You don't really need to plan any Venice tours in advance, unless you are interested in the Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries Tour. There are usually cheap tours to Murano, Burano and Torcello, just be advised some of them can be high pressure sales. Taking the waterbus and exploring on your own might be a better option. The Biennale Arte kicks off May 11th, you might want to avoid Venice the that weekend because the hotels will likely be on fair period rates. Also Venice is more expensive weekends in general, so try to hit this Sun-Thurs. Look at the Paris PassLib on the Paris info site. You can do add-ons for Eiffel Tower. It includes a travel card, hop-on hop-off bus, Siene cruise, and skip the line museum entrances. You can also use it for Versailles.
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weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
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Post by weltschmerz on Feb 21, 2019 17:31:14 GMT -5
Last time we stayed in a small hotel near the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, is that a good place for young adults? Seemed to be a lot of students there. happyhoix That's a very fun area but it's a bit far from a lot of other sites IMO. Other ideas for day trips: Versailles, and maybe Giverny (but I'm not sure how to get there on public transport).
You can take the train from the Champ du Mar (?) to Versailles, and walk from the train station to the palace. We followed the process Rick Steves describes in his tour guide. Versailles is one of the places where a guided tour is worth the cost. Is the question mark for the the spelling or the meaning? Champ de Mars means Field of Mars, or Martian Field.
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justme
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 10, 2012 13:12:47 GMT -5
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Post by justme on Feb 21, 2019 17:36:45 GMT -5
So there's that much free wifi in Europe? When I go to the caribbean or canada it's practically impossible to find legit free wifi out and about. It's the out and about why I want to get a SIM. I'm likely to forget to take a photo of maps, or wander out of the area of I take a picture of, or go off in another direction from that restaurant I was going to go to. (Can you tell my ADD comes out when I travel? And when planning it lol) Over the years we've found wifi in various countries in Europe by popping into small cafes, buying a coffee and asking for the wifi info. Some places posted the info but I'd say the majority didn't yet all of them seemed to have it. I don't know who your carrier is or what the SIM card runs but as I mentioned previously AT&T has a plan you can turn on before traveling that charges like $10 a day. That $10 allowed me to use maps on my phone, to call hosts we were meeting for some stays and to call back home while there were no additional fees. That activation fee abroad was the fee to use my phone normally while halfway around the world. That said we were on a cruise for a good chunk of our trip and I didn't use the plan those days while I realize $10 can add up if you use it every day for a 2+ week trip. Oh forgot to add to my weird I don't drink coffee or tea. Add to no carbonation and I don't have many options to buy a drink for free wifi!
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Feb 21, 2019 17:58:36 GMT -5
Over the years we've found wifi in various countries in Europe by popping into small cafes, buying a coffee and asking for the wifi info. Some places posted the info but I'd say the majority didn't yet all of them seemed to have it. I don't know who your carrier is or what the SIM card runs but as I mentioned previously AT&T has a plan you can turn on before traveling that charges like $10 a day. That $10 allowed me to use maps on my phone, to call hosts we were meeting for some stays and to call back home while there were no additional fees. That activation fee abroad was the fee to use my phone normally while halfway around the world. That said we were on a cruise for a good chunk of our trip and I didn't use the plan those days while I realize $10 can add up if you use it every day for a 2+ week trip. Oh forgot to add to my weird I don't drink coffee or tea. Add to no carbonation and I don't have many options to buy a drink for free wifi! You can often get apple juice or bottled water.
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