W. Europe - First Trip - Multi-Month - 3RD DRAFT

[codemonkeyken]

Thanks to everyone for looking at our last two drafts. We really appreciate the time and energy everyone has put into helping us make this a fantastic trip!!

We re-did our intinerary again with several things in mind. Instead of backtracking through Britain, we decided to fly into Manchester and work our way south before hitting the continent. We also took Herrbert's suggestion of flying to Greece from Prague and then back to Vienna (or some variation thereof).

Again, any help here is appreciated and all comments are welcome.

Cheers,
Ken (& Renee)


Toronto to Manchester ($179pp-One Way-Zoom Airlines-September 5th)

Manchester (2)
- daytrip (DT) York
Liverpool (2)
Bath (2)
- DT to Salisbury/Stonehenge
London (3)
London to Brussels by Eurostar/Brussels (1)
Bruges (3)
- DT to Ypres
Antwerp (1)
Amsterdam (2)
Hamburg (1) – skip with flight from Amsterdam? Thoughts?
Berlin (5)
- DT to Sachenhausen
Dresden (1)
Prague (5)
- DT to Kutna Hora
- DT to Cesky Krumlov
Flight from Prague to Athens (1)
Athens (3)
Santorini (2)
Flight from Athens to Vienna (1)
Vienna (4)
-DT to Bratislava
Salzburg (1)
Munich (3)
- DT to Dachau
Innsbruck (2)
Luzern (1)
Gimmelwald (4)
Paris (5)
- DT to Versailles
Flight to Barcelona
Barcelona (3)
Valencia (2)
Cordoba (2)
Granada (2)
Seville (2)
Lagos (3)
Lisbon (3)
Porto (3)
Salamanca (2)
Madrid (4)
- DT to Toledo
- DT to Segovia
ONE WEEK DOING VAUGHAN VILLAGE IN SPAIN
Flight to Marseille/Train to Nice (1)
Nice (3)
- DT to Cannes
- DT to Monaco
Turin (2)
Milan (2)
Venice (2)
Cinque Terre (4)
Florence (3)
- DT to Pisa (1/2 day)
Pesaro (4)
Siena (2)
Rome (5)
Sorrento (4)
- one day Pompeii/Sorrento
- DT Naples
- DT to Positano
- DT to Capri
Bari (2)
Sicily (5)

Back to Toronto (Cheaper to get open jaw vs. making way back to London?)


126 days total

[Eagle]

Wow, that's an ambitious Itinerary! It looks fairly well organized at first glance, however I have a few comments:

> Trip Duration - Given that your trip is a bit over four months duration, hopefully you won't have any problems with the three-month limit of the Schengen rules?

> Flying home - I usually prefer open jaw flights, but whether this is less expensive than returning to London will depend on the cost of flights from your last destination (Sicily?). One possibility might be to find a cheap budget flight from Sicily to one of the "hub" airports such as Munich (Zoom or Air Transat flights?) or Frankfurt (Air Transat?). There might also be flights available from Rome (Air Canada?), but I haven't checked.

> WW-II sights - it appears that you have an interest in WW-II historic sights, as I do (I visited Dachau last fall). If you're interested in a day tour from Munich, I'd recommend Radius Tours (check their web site for further information). The Guide (Steve) was extremely knowledgeable, and I felt this was a much better tour than if I had travelled there on my own.

>Lodgings - have you got lodgings all booked for each city, or do you plan to "wing it" Even though September is technically the "shoulder season", I found there were A LOT of people travelling and lodgings were at a premium in many towns. For example, in the Cinque Terre I watched some new arrivals (2 couples) spend over two hours searching for accomodation; they finally got the last place in town that was left.

It's somewhat coincidental that you'll be leaving on the exact day that I departed last Fall (Sept. 5th?). I was only able to get two months off work, but it was still a great trip. We also have the same name - another coincidence!

Happy travels!!!

[codemonkeyken]

Eagle,

Thanks for your comments.

I did some research on Schengen Rules. It says "If you intend to visit only one Schengen Member State, you must apply at the Embassy or Consulate of this Member State. If you intend to visit several Schengen countries, you must apply for a visa at the Embassy or Consulate of the country which is your main destination. If you intend to visit several Schengen countries but do not have a main destination, you should apply for a visa at the Embassy or Consulate of the country which is your first point of entry."

Now because the UK is not part of this rule then I guess I would have to apply to the Belgian Embassy for this Visa. Correct?

As for war sites, yes - I am a military history buff. I went to Europe two summers ago on a university-run battlefield study tour. I saw a lot of sites in France, Belgium and the Netherlands but I want to take my wife to a few places like Ypres. Question though - did you ever visit Vimy? Would I have to go to Arras for a night or could I do a daytrip from Paris? When I was there it was all covered in tarps because of the repairs.

Finally, regarding lodging. We plan to book the first 6 weeks at least because I think we have that part locked down. As we get further south, and as we travel towards family connections, we will probably wing it, or at least book ahead from within Europe.

As for the coincidences, that is quite weird. How was your trip? Any tips or thoughts in general you wanna share? If so, you can always send me a PM.

Thanks Eagle (Ken ;D) for your help.

Ken

[herrbert]

Hi Codemonkeyken:

You can read more about the trip Eagle made last year in this thread: pretravel.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=nontravel&action=display&n=1&thread=5735