14 Day Trip In March

[dddx]

Firstly, hi there to all of you on this forum! I've been looking around and doing my research on these forums for a trip I am planning with my 5 other friends for a 14 day trip this coming March. Must say, I have learned a lot just reading the stuff here.

Well, reading off these forums, I seem to have come to the conclusion that 14 days isn't enough to see Europe. But with several constraints at hand - one of us is on a short break from college in london, another cannot take that many days off from work, as well as budget concerns - the number of days we can spare cannot be stretched by much.

Realistically speaking, what is the maximum number of cities we can comfortably visit within these 14 days, starting with London. From what I see on these forums, I'm thinking maybe 3 or 5 maximum.

Preliminarily, the list of cities I am considering are as follows.

1. Manchester
2. Liverpool
3. London
4. Paris
5. Berlin
6. Vienna
7. Rome
8. Barcelona

1. and 2. would possibly be simply cursory stop-bys just to take a look at football stadiums of the 2 world famous football clubs there (have fans in the group... can't escape from this request...), so they shouldn't take more than the day we arrive. 2 nights each in each subsequent city.

What do you all think? Is it better to shave off a few destinations in favour of longer stays at each? We don't have a very big budget, only approximately 700 Euros with which to spend of accomodation, food, sightseeing and travel within Europe. The plan is to stay in hostels and fly budget (to get the best money for time travelling).

Please advice!

[WillTravel]

You could do Manchester and Liverpool together in one day, if football stadiums are your main interest. I'd suggest either arriving or departing from Manchester, and devote your first or last day to this pursuit. Then you don't have to even count them in your list, essentially.

If you can do it for a reasonable price, get an open-jaw ticket. Here's one possibility. I shortchanged Paris, but it's easy to get there with Eurostar, so I thought I might as well put it in.

1 night in Manchester/Liverpool, train or Megabus to London (train and bus are very cheap if booked enough in advance)
4 nights in London, Eurostar to Paris (book a roundtrip ticket, throw half away, book 3 months in advance. You can also take EasyJet)
2 nights in Paris - EasyJet to Berlin
4 nights in Berlin - budget airline (not sure which) to Barcelona
3 nights in Barcelona

Or you could substitute Vienna or Barcelona, or Rome.

I notice you left Amsterdam off the list. If you were including that, Manchester-London-Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin would all be very easy to do by train, and a pleasant trip.

If you really only have 12 days in Europe (which is what many people mean when they say 14, because of the flying to/from), then you could leave out Amsterdam, and do Manchester-London-Paris (overnight train) - Berlin.

On the other hand, in March it would be nice to visit more southern areas like Rome and Barcelona, but then you'll have to shortchange the north. You're right that there is no easy way to cram too many cities in.

Edit: I noticed the 700 Euros for 14 days for everything in Europe - that makes things really tight.

First, if you get cheap flights to/from Europe, maybe you can increase the amount for travel within Europe. Second, focus on Berlin and Barcelona as destinations, as they are the cheapest in that lot for sure. For example, here is a deal at St. Christopher's in Berlin:
www.st-christophers.co.uk/specials/hostel-specials/7-night-berlin-hostel-special
You have to expect that every transit (train or plane ride) that you do will probably cost in the range of 50-75 Euros. So it adds extra expense the more stops you add to your itinerary.
With that cheap a budget, I'd plan really carefully and really limit the destinations, as you have almost no leeway.

[dddx]

Thank you for the reply WillTravel!

My plan was to arrive by flight into Manchester on the morning of day 1, and clear the football stadiums of Manchester and Liverpool in the day and arrive at London the first night, so they don't really take up much time.

We're not doing Amsterdam as 5 out of 6 of the group (the 1 odd one being me, sadly) have visited Amsterdam 2 years ago.

I did think that some destinations would have to be shaved off.

As for the 700 Euro budget, the more I think about it, the more unrealistic it seems. After subtracting budget flights within Europe, I am left with 35 Euros a day for accommodation, food, sightseeing and souvenirs. More than just a little tight!

Well anyway, again, thank you for your reply. I shall continue to scout around and try to come up with something within my constraints.

[dddx]

Hi again. One more question! ;D What do you say about traveling to Rome in late March. Easter Sunday is on the 23 March (I believe). How would the crowds be like? From my plans so far, we should be in Rome on the 27th. Would there be a problem with an overcrowded Rome as a result of Easter? Would there be problems securing good accommodation as a result?

[WillTravel]

Rome is really crowded most of the year. You cannot believe how crowded Rome can get. My comparison is Jan. 6, Epiphany, when I was walking from the Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon and the streets were just shoulder to shoulder such that you were almost being carried along by the crowd. But by March 27, I think you would have missed the main holiday crowd. Easter Monday can be a big thing in Europe too, but that will be the Thursday.

I'd still recommend prebooking accommodation with your low budget. If you are coming off a budget flight, you already know your schedule, so I can't see an advantage to waiting.

[herrbert]

You are right about your budget, it will be really tight, too tight if you ask me. If I understand you correct you need to pay accommodation, food, transport in trains/busses and entrance fees on a budget of 35 euros. I don't think that is realistic, especially as you are planning to stay in expensive cities.

I think that 3 of the major cities is the maximum, (if you include Manchester and Liverpool it's 5)

I think it's pretty logical to go and see London and Paris, combined with a cheap flight to any of the other cities.

In my opinion Liverpool stadium (Anfield) is not worth visiting. (Go Everton!!! ;D) Although it is originaly the stadium of Everton.

[dddx]

I do hope the crowds will not be too bad by the time I am there!

herrbert, I'm not a Liverpool fan either lol! And not a Man United as well! ;D Grr... just have fans in the group and they outnumber me!

Well what would be a more realistic budget per day, you all think?

[Eagle]

dddx, first of all, Welcome! I have a few comments to add to the others.

It would help to know a bit more about your travel situation? For example, where are you coming from? That will have a bearing on the travel advice.

Regarding your budget, I'm not sure it's going to be possible to spend 14 days in Europe with only €700? Keep in mind that the U.K. especially is very expensive, and that amount is only about £500! The usual "benchmark" is to allow at least US$75.00 for lodgings, food and incidentals (this does not include air fares or rail fares).

With only 14 days to spend, my preference would be to drop a few cities from your list:

Barcelona (sorry herrbert) - given the distance and travel times from the other areas to Barcelona (even using budget flights), that's going to be difficult to accomplish, both with time and money.

Berlin - again, this is not too close to the other cities, so travel time and costs might be a problem.

Vienna- this is questionable? It could perhaps be fitted in between Paris and Rome, but that would depend on what transportation options you chose?

As usual, I'd recommend "open jaw" flights but it's difficult to say whether this would be appropriate in your situation, as I don't know where you're flying from?

If you could provide a bit of further information, it would sure help!

Cheers!

[dddx]

Hi Eagle!

Let me explain a little on my situation. I'm from Singapore in Asia, and 5 of my group will be flying in from Singapore, and 1 who is currently in college in London will be joining us in Europe itself.

My plan thus far would be:

Manchester - Liverpool - London (4 Nights)
Paris (3 Nights)
Berlin (3 Nights)
Rome (4 Nights)

I have checked out flights online from easyjet.com, and flying within these places puts me up to a total of 145 Euros per person (including taxes and charges). One option I have in mind to keep costs down is to sleep in London-Luton and Paris Orly Airports and then catch the early flights to Paris and Berlin respectively. What do you think?

I have emailed several local travel agents here at home to inquire about buying an open-jaw ticket (only way I know how to do it, unless there is a cheaper option online?) but am not expecting a reply from them soon as it is Sunday and Christmas is 2 days away!

What do you think?

[WillTravel]

dddx, I'm not sure how the flight options work from Singapore.

Another thing you might want to ask your travel agent about is if you can book any European stopovers, which I think would have to be 72 hours or less, without increasing the cost of your ticket. That might help you eliminate one of the flights, if it's possible, but I'm not sure it is. Another thing to consider with your travel agent is what the cheapest city pair to fly in/out of is, which might affect your flight plan. As I said, I don't know Singapore's cheapest flight options, but flying from the US or Canada there can be a huge difference in price depending which city you choose.

Sleeping in the airport on those two nights will save you some money - maybe about 50 Euros in total for each of you, but that's not enough to rescue your budget! Another thing I should mention for you to budget for is transit to/from the airport. For London Luton, the cheapest option is EasyBus - which can be as little as 2 pounds if booked far enough in advance. For Paris Orly, there is a public transit solution, but with six of you, I think it would be equally cheap almost to split into two separate cabs, because Orly is not that far from Paris (so you'd have maybe a 20-25 Euro taxi fare for each cab).

For Berlin, I think 50 Euros per day is reasonable, but for the other cities, I think more in the line of 80 Euros per day is reasonable. This is not counting trains and planes.

[dddx]

Lol. I am in a mess right now! So many things to consider, so many prices to look at, so many options, so many different currencies. And yet my thoughts are still organised in such a haphazard fashion!

Just to get my thoughts back in order,

Daily expenditure:
€75 per day
For accommodation, food, interim transport, souvenirs and other incidentals.

Flights withing Europe:
€145 for the 3 flights within Europe

Transcontinental flights:
Unknown amount as yet.

Have I left any other expense I may need to consider out?

Also, thank you very much WillTravel. I will head down to the tour agency tomorrow (hope they are open on Christmas Eve!) and bug them about all the possibilities you have suggested!

[me]

ddx,

if the 6 of you can sleep at the one guys London apartment, and cook most of your meals and/or pack your lunches there, it will save you a good bit of cash. London is an exceptionally expensive EU city.

also, always stay in hostels with a guest kitchen so you can cook your dinners and pack your lunches. this will save lots of cash vs eating out. based on what i read here, this rules out the Beehive in Rome.

personally, i always plan for the worst - hope for the best regarding my budget.

frankly, your plan would be best served by dropping UK. the UK£ is higher than €. and those two weeks would be just enough time to visit the last 5 places you list.

but, i understand that those UK soccer stadiums are important to your trip. still, that €75/day will be tight even without eating in restaurants!

[pointofnoreturn]

You can take the bus from the end of Metro 7 station (I forgot the name, but it's the southernmost station on Line 7 and the end of the line) to Orly Airport and it's only worth 2 metro tickets. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

[pointofnoreturn]

P.S. I think it was Bus no. 285.... you might have to google "Bus to Orly Airport metro line 7"

EDIT - Double-checked. It is indeed Bus no. 285. The metro station you need to get to is the one at the end of Line 7, which is Villejuif Louis Aragon.

So, 2 metro tickets to get to that station, get off and get to the outside of the station, hop onto Bus 285 with 2 more metro tickets.... super easy and super cheap!

[dddx]

pointofnoreturn, question! ;D Why do I need 2 metro tickets to get to that one station? Doesn't one ticket allow for all the interconnections I need, meaning I can get from wherever I am to that needed station (Villejuif - Louis Aragon)? Also, why another 2 tickets for the bus ride? Isn't 1 sufficient?