Europe 2017: Tips when Travelling to Europe on a Tour

This year, I took a trip to go to Europe. Because I had an aged companion, I opted for a tour to ease transport, and at the same time, more means of rest ( resting or sleeping on the bus) So how did the tour fared?

Travel Agency: CTC Travel 

Tour Code: EU14D

Tour Name: 14 Days Best of Europe

General Impression  

Well, do not be deceived by the headline. 14D account for the time you leave your country of origin and the time you arrive at the country after the long sojourn. If you were to count the time, you're just able to spend around 11 DAYS in Europe, and if you are to account for the days you spend on the bus, then it's just 9 DAYS.  More often, the bus entails long driving hours spanning 8 hour drive over a 500km journey. 

How did the tour Go
Waking up
Most of the call time are around 6AM. You will have breakfast around 6:30AM and leave the hotel before 8AM. You have to always bring the luggage in and out of the bus because you can't really leave the belongings in the bus. The lone things you can only leave are those things you bought off from convenience stores and will not matter much if you lose them. You can only leave it until the second to the last day, as different bus will be used to take on the last day. On days that you have to check out, the assemble time is at 7.50AM. So basically, you have to wake up around 5.30AM daily just to meet the gruesome schedule ahead.

Water

Since the hotels are not in the city area, you will not have enough time to buy water at convenience stores. So if you have the time to buy from the mini-market, please do ( and have your companions each carry 1 bottle). One good thing about the tour is that our coach's driver do sell water on board. He charges 1 Eur for a 500ml water. Water, in Europe, is  generally expensive, and will cost you 1.50 EUR especially if you buy from a convenience store. However, there were parts in Europe where the water can be cheap. I managed to find a 1 Litre water for .25 CHF in a coop store, in some stores in Italy, it was selling at 2 EUR for 2 litre on some mini-mart, and 1 EUR for 1.5 Litre of water.

In general, restaurants charge 3 - 5 Eur for a 1 Litre of Water. You can ask for tap water, but drinking it will be upon your discretion. On the first few days (Italy) of the trip,  I didn't dare to drink from tap. When I got accustomed, I started drinking tap (served in restaurant)  in Switzerland, Germany, and France. At the end of the day, I couldn't care less anymore.

In Germany, when you buy water bottle, there is a environmental charge of .25eur per bottle, which serves as a deposit. If you return the water bottle, you get your money back. 

Rest Area

On the days spent on the road, food was scarce and the lone source of food are from the rest area. The rest area in Europe is not as grand as in Japan. Normally, it will be like convenience stores but sometimes they'll put up some cafe. If you've been to the rest area in Japan, it feels like heaven, whereas in Europe, do not expect too much.

Shopping for Souvenir @ Rest Area

Big Autogrill rest area have a selection to buy grocery. You can buy an assortment of wine, chocolates and biscuits.  But in Singapore, you can practically buy those chocolates at Candy Empire or Choco Express.I thought I'd be bringing in some chocolates that were from that area only to find that these were sold locally. Cortina chocolate drinks were even sold at FairPrice. ( Can't they bring in my Tim Horton's Chocolate powder drink over, please)

* There is no queue system in Italy. People just queue everywhere. If you are travelling in pairs, ask the person to queue for you beforehand. At least, when you're done, you can pass off the things to them. 

Coffee @ Rest Area

It costs 1.50 Eur for latte in Italy. In Switzerland, coffee costs around 3-5 CHF. Anything in Switzerland is expensive, albeit the exchange rate is lesser compared to Swiss francs.

Ordering coffee, you have to go to the cashier to order and hand over your order to the people in charge ( This is true in Italy, but not so much in France, Germany).

In Germany, you can just get coffee over a coffee vending machine. You just grab a cup, check the price of it, and then put money in the dispenser. You cannot use the vouchers you get from the toilet. (We'll get to that part later).

Toilet @ Rest Area

You have to pay .50  to 1 Eur for using the toilet. In France (Bonjour) rest area, using the toilet is free. In Italy (Autogrill), you have to pay .50 - 1 Eur for using the toilet in the gas station. In Germany/Switzerland (Serway), you have to pay .50 Eur,  but at times the toilet will provide some discount coupons to buy things at the rest area. Toilets in tourist places are generally free. Toilets located in the tourist area, you have to at least pay the price of a cup of coffee, a small gelato or if they do charge for toilet, it's around .50 to 1 Euro. 

Toilet voucher (Discount coupons)

In Switzerland, they'll give you the value of the money you put in for using the toilet. 1 CHF for using the toilet, so you'll get 1 CHF worth of voucher. You can use it for purchasing some items from the store. In Germany, you'll get a rebate of only .50 Eur, the use of the toilet is .70 EUR. You can only use 1 Voucher for 1 item you purchase. It is not collective. For example,  I bought 1 waffle and 1 water costing 2.50 EUR, i have 3 vouchers of .50 EUR each. I can only use 2 Vouchers.

Timing at the rest area
Normally, if it's not a long stop. The tour leader will just give you around 15 minutes to go down, walk about, do your business. The bus can't stop that long because the drive is long and there maybe some traffic jam along the way. (Bummer!)

Convenience Stores

This is not very common thing that you can find in Europe unlike in Asia. Honestly, convenience stores are heaven sent especially when you are in an unfamiliar town or city. I would have likely put one convenience store at a nearby hotel, at least tourists can get something out of it. If only, hotel stores don't charge up that much, they would have been doing good business. 

Factory Tour
As with any package tour there's bound to have a lot of "factory" tour along with it, normally they lasts 10 - 15mins. The longest we had was the diamond factory tour. I thought it will take forever. I think I spend around 1hr in that place. Good thing, they have free wi-fi. From what I can recall, the tour included a gilding demonstration in Florence, the murano glass demonstration in Venice,

the Cuckoo clock making in Titisee, Germany.

The clog and cheese making activity in holland ( Though they were fairly informative), and the truffle mayo at this shop was worth the trip!

Shopping at Lafayette

Was tempted to get some merchandise had it not been priced at 6 EUR for a file. It didn't feel like it was worth buying.

If you go to the group travel tax refund of the Lafayette at the old building,  there are shops around to waste your euros.

If you are looking for Longchamp, don't waste your time queuing at the store. Instead, head up to the L4 Bags section of Galleries Lafayette, where you can simply just find a corner of Longchamp and find the bags you needed on the fly. If you also go at the group travel tax refund corner, there is a small Longchamp outlet, they have a counter of sales item, where their best selling travel tote bag have around 30% discount. If we had gone a day earlier, we might get some best deals. Everything was chomp up by people from China.

Expenses (in General) 

Tipping
 1-2 Euro. There was the tipping of the guide for the gondola ride, the canal cruises in Amsterdam, and the boat ride in Giethoorn.  The Bateaux Mouches don't have any tip, but be wary of the photographer who takes photo of you unknowingly and charges 5 Eur for the picture. (They may or may not be flattering)

Gondola Ride in Venice

Boat ride in Giethoorn

Canal Cruises in Amsterdam

Bateaux Mouches

Water
 Water in general costs 1 - 2 Euro for 500ml water in convenience stores, 2L of water for 2 Euros in some mini mart/supermarket/small stores, and around 3-5 Euros for 500-1000ml in restaurants. If you're lucky to find 1L of water for 1Euro, buy it! Coop stores do have water cheaper in general. We managed to find a .25 CHF worth of 1L Water (and we could have bought more).

Gelato (In Italy)

For 2 Scoops of gelato, it would usually be around 2 - 2.50 EUR. On the trip, I had my gelato fix at Bar Trevi, Cafe Mario, and in Gelataria Bar Ristorante in Venice - Near the S.Zaccria A with the green makeshift tent between a souvenir shop and a gelato shop). 

Of course while in Switzerland, I didn't miss Movenpick Ice Cream, a scoop of it costs around 2.8 CHF.

Food (In Gas station/Rest Area/Auto bahn)
In case you catch yourself going through rest areas to grab a bite, it costs 7.90 EUR for sandwiches, 9.90-12 EUR for pasta, 12 - 15 EUR for burgers. 

Transportation

When you're on a tour, you need not worry about transport costs, however there are exceptions especially when the city don't allow big buses to enter their city (as it should be as they do cause some congestion. Paris should follow suit but with all the pickpockets and thieves surrounding the area.) Anyway, it costs 1 EUR to take the tram to go in Pisa. 3 Eur if you go by the special train (which aren't there around siesta time). However, there's a free tram ride to go in Siena.

Cost of optional activities:

Entrance to Pisa, Duomo	18 EUR (involves climbing the stairs of Pisa, around 1hr to explore . It's a timed entry).
Entrance to Colosseum	10 EUR ( Guided tour to go in)
Entrance to The Mall	20 EUR
Gondola Ride	35 EUR
Train to Jungfraujoch with Lunch	195 CHF
Titisee Black Forest with Lunch	45 EUR
Lunch in Dutch Fishing Village	55 EUR
French Dinner	50 - 75 EUR
Bateaux Marches River Cruise	30 EUR

Tour Tips

Firenze, Italy 

The Mall is an outlet shop of branded items. Better buy goods here than in Galleries Lafayette if you have the intention of buying LV, Gucci, Prada,etc. but honestly, it was a waste of time spending at this place esp if you are not buying anything.  Also, there are lot of Chinese (PRC) buying goods here and they buy in bulk. 

Rome, Italy

On your way to the Fountain of Trevi, you will pass by a few shop selling souvenir. Magnets cost 1 Eur. (That's the best rate in Europe). Also in Fountain of Trevi, there are a lot of people visiting the place, so be careful with your belongings.

The Vatican and the Colosseum are right near to each other. There's no chop on the passport that says you've been to the smallest country/city in the world.

I cannot stress enough the fact that you have to be wary of your belongings esp when you are visiting tourist places, and the Colosseum is not an exception.

Most of the entrance fees aren't covered by the tour package.  Group fee to go inside the Colosseum was 10 EUR.

Siena, Italy 
Most of the tours included visit to churches. They have its charm but I think 1-2 in a trip is more than enough. The tour covered church visits to St Peter's Basilica, Piazza del Duomo, Santa Maria della Scala, Duomo in Pisa, Cathedral of Sta Maria, Basilica of Santa Croce, and outside of Basilica di San Marco) 

Venice, Italy

In Venice (near st mark square), magnets will cost like 2 - 3 Eur. Do not buy those while you're in the city, best to get them outside of the city, there are shops that sell these esp near the parking lot where buses park. Magnets cost 1 EUR here.

Pisa, Italy

In Pisa, the tour guide will point to the direction of where you can get your souvenir. The first shop ( with a flag) was his point guy. Key holder cost 1-2 EUR, smaller ones cost like .50 - 1 EUR.  You can bargain if you buy in bulk ( 4-6 pieces).

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Land of Miffy. Believe me, she's everywhere. I was tempted to get some, but the prices were at 6 EUR (and Frankly, I will not have any use of those things). Why don't they do some cute merchandise like the ones that they have in Japan and sell them at a reasonable price. Let Miffy be known to every mankind. I wish they would hire PR Teams from Japan or me! (I  would definitely give feedback and put out some ideas for them to make money on Miffy). Japan knows how to milk a cow!

Anyway, one good thing about Amsterdam is that there are bike lanes, one bad thing about them is that there are bikes everywhere. You just need to be careful when crossing the street esp in the bike lane and definitely look both ways. If the green man is not blinking, do not step on the bike lane, just stay at a safe corner. 

While going through the red light district near Dam Square, you are to observe the following: There will be no photography, be quiet, and do not laugh when going through the red light district. You'll never know what might happen. 

Amsterdam is the place where joints are legal and people are just casually smoking joint, like they are just smoking some cigars. 

When you are taking the Canal Cruise, Take a seat at the right side of the boat( when driver is facing north), you'll be able to get to see a number of things. 

The tour's canal cruise trip was cut short because in our itinerary, we have a diamond factory tour at Gassan. Diamonds are what Netherlands was known for back in the days. It was an hour of listening and basically computing how much it costs to bring one jewelry in (Most of us will just roll our eyes since we would just spending that money travelling). At the end of the day, there's free tea and coffee outside the factory (And it's actually the nearby tourism corner giving away those tea and coffee).

Paris , France

Land of the Little Prince.

No point in reserving seats in Bateux Mouches because people will just basically stand. The best is to find a seat upfront or take the seats closer to the stands. There are a lot of tour group taking this ride as well. Be always be at your toes. Go there 30 minutes before your intended ride. Honestly, there were a lot of Chinese (PRC) joining the tour, so if you can avoid it better do, or take the ride at night.

Make sure to always check your belongings at all times. Keep your bags closer (and in front where you can see it).

An insider tip. Our tour guide called up the guy he knew selling keychains. If you happen to just pass by near the Edouard Theatre, and just happen to stand at Chez Edouard at around dinner time (1700 -  1900), you might just see the guy selling keychain and magnet. He was selling a replica of the Eiffel Tower, but didn't manage to ask the price. The Eiffel Tower keychain costs 1 EUR = 10 Keychain, but he sells in bulk,  5 EUR = 50 Keychain. Magnets are 6 pieces for 10 EUR. Magnet in La Fayette costs 3 EUR, and that's the cheapest!

Best to actually see Eiffel Tower at night. I did regret not being able to go out at night to check out Eiffel Tower ( because the hotel's area is quite seedy, second, parental guidance. if you are with old folks with you and the fear for your life, you would be that good filial child and listen to what they say even if you are an adult.). I wish the tour guide would go out of his way to help us arrange a ride/tour to Eiffel Tower at night. 

Titisee, Germany

Of cuckoo clocks and Black forest. Home of the pork knuckles and black forest cake.

Titisee, Germany is your best bet to buy chocolates, souvenirs, and watches without the crowd. 

Luzerne,Switzerland

Juice cost 2x or 3x the price in the coop store.

Hotels in Engelberg unless located near the village does not have any nearby shops or restaurants. You have to go to the village to get your grub. 

Buy food from the local grocery store. We managed to find a grocery store in the village in Switzerland, but the food was all cold and not warm. We managed to at least bring home some food but didn't go for souvenir shopping.

The chocolate Lindt was cheaper in coop than it was in Bachman , thus I learned that they do jack up the prices in the city (2X). If you can do your grocery and souvenir shopping in the coop, better do it.

Do check out Lindt Chocolate Heaven Shop in Jungfraujoch, you might get a steal on the chocolates when they go on sale.

Watch shopping at Bucherer. If you buy anything at Bucherer, you need not apply for tax refund as they will deduct taxes altogether.  You can do Chocolate Shopping at Bachman or CasaGrande which is just across Bucherer.Bachman is a better place to purchase chocolates than Casa Grande because there are less crowd at Bachman, and the price is the same as in Casa Grande. Casa Grande would have had more souvenir, however, they are quite pricey. A magnet cost around 5-6 CHF. In case, you plan to buy anything at Casa Grande, scout for the goodies you wanted from first floor to the top floor. Pay the goods at the top floor (lesser people and less crowd). There were a lot of Indians in Casa Grande, and they were crowding the shop.

Rhine Falls, Germany

There are a lot of Indian in the tourist shops near Rhine Falls. They'd be there in groups just loitering in the shops. The place was already crowded. If you intend to buy chocolates, souvenirs or watches, better do it at the city centre in Luzern. Just go and buy coffee and hang around Rhine Falls.

Feedback and Thought

What I didn't like about taking the tour

The hotel location are very inconvenient. Granted they'll be the cheapest among the block, but you will not be spoiled for choices when it comes to food. You have to bring in breakfast/lunch/dinner esp. if you didn't decide to take the food the hotel or from the ones provided on tour.

You are also forced to take the lunches/dinner that the tour is providing as optional.

The timings are too short. Shopping and Sightsee usually just take 1 hour of the time. ( But you can't help it as tours are designed like that. All tours are designed to be packed, to go to as much places and for you to only have an hour to stay at a place for sightsee. ) I didn't notice that we'd be going to a couple of factory tours too, there was quite a couple of it and they could have lessen it. I don't need to buy much let alone diamond.

You won't have enough time to slowly browse for stuff or scenes. You always have to be at your toes.

What I like about taking the tour

You don't have to worry about going from one place to another. You just take the tour allocated bus and they'll take you to all the places, no need to worry about stops and directions. Just follow the tour leader. 

Also, the tour leader takes care of your needs - where to shop, what to buy, where to go, what to do. Basically, everything is planned for you and all you need to do is to just sit back, relax, and enjoy. The tour leader also takes care of the payment of entrance fees and does the food ordering for you. 

Do Take a tour:

1. If you have elderly companions

2. If you don't mind early wake up call

3. If you don't know how to drive

4. If you mind spending 1-2h shopping at a certain spot.
5. If you're a direction-challenged person. 

Don't take a tour:

1. If you want to sleep in and start your day at a later time.

2. If you want to do some last minute shopping near your hotel.

3. If you want to choose your own food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
4. If you want to take your own sweet time at a certain tourist spot.

Overall, if you think that going on a tour, saves up time and energy, go for it! Make sure you go together with your best pal or close family members. You don't want a princess or a debbie downer on a trip. I had the "pleasure" of having a princess on a trip, but that's for another story (Of People you avoid to travel with).