Europe 17 days Backpack

[ed9119]

wow your itinerary looks too packed to really experience and soak in the culture unless u do as a 3-4 week trip .... italy + switzerland at most for me for one trip and england + france on a seperate trip........


enjoy yourselves !

 

[Racingheart]

Venice to FLorence can take the train.

My one time experience from Milan to Venice was memorable. There are different types of trains. Some stop at many towns while others stop at certain major towns (More like express). Express trains have different class and booking ahead can gurantee seating. The ones with no seats assigned may be crowded (and slightly cheaper). You may end up seating along the corridor (Yup there are some pull down seats on the train walls but not many) or standing in the corridor like the MRT in Singapore.

Do their train have student price ? :think:

wow your itinerary looks too packed to really experience and soak in the culture unless u do as a 3-4 week trip .... italy + switzerland at most for me for one trip and england + france on a seperate trip........


enjoy yourselves !

:bsmilie: , i know is too packed. well take it as experience , definitely will go again !

Just these suggested places to visit would knock off more than 10 days. Swiss travel another 3-5 days. How much time left for London? Can take UK and London as a separate trip in the future.

Visit the link below and check out the travel time between some Swiss and Italian cities (yes include Italian cities on this Swiss Rail website). You'll understand what we're trying to say. Travel half a day to relocate, have remaining half of the day to sight-see... the next day relocate...the next day... very tiring man. And the places you visited will remain just blur (or blurred) mental images.

http://sbb.ch/en/index.htm

london i only go for two days before coming back to sg .
thanks for the link

 

[Shen siung]

TS, so you will flying to London and leaving from London?
Is this your 1st trip to Europe?

From my own observations, most people who 1st visit Europe tend to feel they can visit a lot place in one go.

It could be true that you felt "the next visit might be another 2 or 3 years, so this time i want to maximize my stay..."

As you can see, most Cser were commented that it is too pack, rush. However, I would said that it depends on you and your family. I would not say it is pack.

It depends how you (and your family) feel the pace of traveling. Actually, if you stayed in a city for at least 2 nights, I feel it is still ok for me. But usually (not always) elder person (can be anyone above 40) prefer a slower pace. Travel with someone not similar age, and it is your family will be very different. Certain people wants to be a bit more relax. Certain people can wake up everyday before 7 am and ready to go out by 8am.

However if you only stayed at a city for 2 nights, you need to be prepared that you will not able cover a lot of place. And be prepare with bad weather. So the best is to stay at a city for 3 days.

 

[shierwin]

Do their train have student price ? :think:

Check out this link

http://www.eurail.com/

 

[sequitur]

Factor in that traveling across countries by rail can mean overnights on trains, which can be unsafe, or long train journeys, which will eat days off your travels.

So essentially, you cross 3 borders, that's 3 days. 2 days from going there and back to SG, that's a total of 5 days. You only have 12 days in each country, and you haven't forgotten that you have quite a number of cities to visit, and traveling between these cities take time as well.

If you have a dream to go to London, you can fulfill that anytime. I suggest you go with what your parents wish for first. You'll get your time for longer stays next time.

I really hope your parents know what they're in for when you say "cheap sleeps". Reality and perceived expectations can be very different.

 

[shierwin]

Probably the trip will be the last time the parents will make on free and easy! Jiatlat...

 

[hetfieldpaul]

wow your itinerary looks too packed to really experience and soak in the culture unless u do as a 3-4 week trip .... italy + switzerland at most for me for one trip and england + france on a seperate trip........


enjoy yourselves !

Agreed, covering Italy + swiss in 18 days and paris for 4 nights already very rush for me dude, do check out my previous thread for general stuff, and have fun on your trip
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631150

 

[byteyou]

Do their train have student price ? :think:

:bsmilie: , i know is too packed. well take it as experience , definitely will go again !


london i only go for two days before coming back to sg .
thanks for the link

Hi, I've actually just came back from a trip to swiss and italy. I spent a total of 16 days and i would have to agree with the others that your schedule would be pretty tight. For me I would suggest to go places like interlaken, zermatt etc...I didnt really enjoy the cities like bern or lucern as much. For interlaken, if you are going please do not stay there but rather stay at those alpine village, like wengen, grindelwald, lauterbrunnen etc... from there you can do scenic hikes to take photos and to enjoy the breatheless scenary. Interlaken itself in my opinion has not much to offer you can some time off and just travel down to take a walk which could be complete in an hour or two. You can go for the steamers at the lakes such as thun and spiez which are just by the sides. Zermatt is for the matterhorn and there are also scenic hikes around where u can go for.

Regarding accommodation, I would seriously suggest to book a hotel near the train station if you are doing free and easy to save the trouble of dragging luggage while looking for your hotels and getting lost. I believe most hotel should provide breakfast and please go and eat it! you will save alot of money, food there are very expensive. I would also suggest that whenever you reach a new destination, look for a supermarket that is catered to the locals, I believe in swiss its call "COOP" stock up your essentials like water. I remember paying 80c for a big bottle for of evian and paying 2 swiss francs for a small bottle bought elsewhere. Since you are going with your family and not a dedicated photography trip, I would suggest travel light. I bought 2 lens, flashlight and a tripod with me that was packed into a thinktank bagpack, for the first 2 days it seems pretty fun but you'll tired soon enough and towards the end of the trip, i didnt even bring the bagpack, i just dump my camera and lens inside my sling bag. There are times when my wife wants to shop and i would have to help carry stuff etc... but i would suggest at least bring a UWA lens for the scenary

For trains in swiss, do a calculation and see if you need a swiss pass. Its pretty good, there is this swiss flexi pass that allows u to choose the dates for free rides and in between those dates you get 50% off. Swiss pass also entitles you to pretty much discount in most attractions as well. Transport experience in italy isnt as fantastic as swiss and i didnt get any pass for that as its cheaper to get individual tickets. So, pls do your calculations.

I enjoy Venice and rome quite alot, quite a lot to see in rome! chinese food in italy is cheap compared to the pastas and pizza which im so sick of enjoy yourself!

 

[grainpixel]

i will be going europe for 17 days during 12june-28june. but i will be going with my family so total up is 4 people
i will be going italy -romania and venice , france , london , switzerland .
is there any nice place which die die must go in these four country , will be bring dslr and tripod what precaution to take ?
I heard there alot of pickpocket and robbery at italy .
thanks

been to europe a few times...and my humble and personal opinion.

who are the rest of your family?
If they are your older folks....you have to note that a F&E to so many cities is really tiring.
Do not expect escalators and lifts everywhere.

I will skip switzerland and rome totally.
ROME is just big, crowded and dusty..
Yes, there are the colosseum, trevis fountain and spanish steps......if you think they are a must see stuffs, before you die..
I have been there twice, and hated it twice..;p

Go to Florence instead...the beautiful renaissance city!
Been there twice, and love it twice!
Not forgetting you can visit PRADA factory outlet...haha..

Go island hopping in Venice..that will take up a day and its really nice!

I will think a LONDON (3)-PARIS(3)-FLORENCE(3)-VENICE(3/4) will be nice.
If got time...squeeze a smaller city/town...just to have a breather in between...
All big cities during a same trip...aint that fun, in my opinion.

Enjoy....

 

[hetfieldpaul]

been to europe a few times...and my humble and personal opinion.

who are the rest of your family?
If they are your older folks....you have to note that a F&E to so many cities is really tiring.
Do not expect escalators and lifts everywhere.

I will skip switzerland and rome totally.
ROME is just big, crowded and dusty..
Yes, there are the colosseum, trevis fountain and spanish steps......if you think they are a must see stuffs, before you die..
I have been there twice, and hated it twice..;p

Go to Florence instead...the beautiful renaissance city!
Been there twice, and love it twice!
Not forgetting you can visit PRADA factory outlet...haha..

Go island hopping in Venice..that will take up a day and its really nice!

I will think a LONDON (3)-PARIS(3)-FLORENCE(3)-VENICE(3/4) will be nice.
If got time...squeeze a smaller city/town...just to have a breather in between...
All big cities during a same trip...aint that fun, in my opinion.

Enjoy....

Why skip swiss? IMHO Switzerland is one of the cleanest and most picturesque countries in Europe where safety is not much of a concern compared to London or Paris and even Rome.