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I've done my own, and used an agent as well. In my experience, agents can offer advice and tips you may not get when you plan a trip yourself. If the agent is well traveled, they're a great benefit. In addition, they often can get some great deals. On a recent trip to Asia, one of our connecting flights were canceled. I called my agent and she took care of everything. She called ahead to the hotel to let them know of our delay as well as arranged all the ground travel. I would have had a very difficult time if I had to do it myself. YMMV
Thanks I have alot to think about and if I can find a package with the pace I want the the cities I want with the free time, I am tempted to do that. First time, if I go again after I know the ropes I will go on my own. However I need to research thats the most important. Of course Rselyvr I will bring back yellow pepper seeds, they are legal right? Its like I be considered a drug smuggler? What the heck are they? Just seeds and what do you do with them? Thanks all I fill you in!
what do you recommend? I mean I am open minded. Have you ever done a tour/package? I was thinking half and half on our own.
Yes, I did a tour of Northern Ireland in 2002. Like I said, it was because of the security situation.
I've traveled all of western europe and british isles and only rented a car twice. And both of those were on Mediterranean Islands (Sardinia and Mallorca) that had limited transit.
Go to the travel section at Barnes & Noble or Borders and pick up some guidebooks like Lonely Planet or Let's Go. Let's Go is geared toward college kids but it doesn't stop them from having a ton of useful info about restaurants, hotels, and how to get where you're going. Lonely Planet is just as useful and geared towards an older crowd.
My first trip to Europe was totally seat the pants and I had an awesome time. We flew from Newark to Madrid via Zurich for an 18 day trip. We had a 3 hour layover in Zurich so we went to the ticket counter and cancelled our flight to Madrid. When we got out into the airport we realized none of us spoke a word of German. So we walked down to the train station (in the basement) and took the first train to Geneva. When we arrived we walked up to one of the B&Bs in the guidebook, got a room for two nights explored Geneva on foot and using the streetcar system and started plotting our next move. We took a train to Lyon in France. Got a room for two nights. Used the metro and the buses. We took a train to Montpelier, spent one night, moved on to Perpignan. Then Barcelona. In Barcelona we saw an ad at a travel agency for cheap flights to the Balearic Islands. We flew to Palma de Mallorca and spent 4 days on the island before flying directly to Madrid. We flew home from Madrid - via Zurich of course.
Of course, I don't just show up in a town anymore and walk around looking for a hotel or B&B - not since my wife and I were in Girona, Spain for Valentines one year (she loves Dali - who is from there and has a big museum 30 minutes north in Figueres) and wound up having to stay at a really swanky hotel for 230 euros a night
Now I always book my first and last hotel online before I leave and have someone at the front desk help me book a place in the next town I'm going to.
In case you're wondering, I highly recommend checking out Spain if you're going to southern France or going to europe in the winter months. I tell people, "Spain is just like Italy, except that it's cheaper, cleaner, safer, the people are nicer and the food is better."
I dont know yet I am very undecided. I do know I want certain place and my husband wants certain places. But I am confused on alot of things. You know I am tempted to go on our own, however I hear some places your better off not renting a car? Correct? I need to go to the library and read!! Thats probably where I will start. I am undecided as to a tour, definately not on a boat!!! However I would like to do it on my own. Here is the cities or countries we definately want, I want Budapest, Prague, and Paris, he wants Germany! Everything else in not so dire right now, I mean I would like to go to Holland, Austria and London but basically we want it all!!! I could live with out Prague, and WE DONT WANT ITALY!!! So I am confused! I thought I would talk to a travel agent for some advise on what they think. I am thinking maybe a tour in Paris, then we rent a car and go our own way. Any advise. This is very early planning.
ANd to top it off my Dad says take the Oriental Express, now add that confusion to the picture. I need to research so that is why I asked for a good agent, I figured they would kinda know more that us. Thanks all I am going to try some of these ideas.
My opinion is because of the Euro it could be expensive to do Europe on your own. Also unless you have been there before, it might not be wise to rent a car. I have heard to many diaster stories from that.
I would suggest that you do an escorted tour. Here are some tour operators I suggest.
www.globus.com (broken link) and Tour Europe & North America – Cosmos Recommended by Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. Cosmos is the budget operator of Globus. You can also look at trafalager.com (broken link)
I have sent customers on both, and they said it was excellent. Any agency should have brochures on these tour operators. As far as Liberty goes, a great deal of their agents are inexperienced and some have never really traveled.
Yes, I did a tour of Northern Ireland in 2002. Like I said, it was because of the security situation.
I've traveled all of western europe and british isles and only rented a car twice. And both of those were on Mediterranean Islands (Sardinia and Mallorca) that had limited transit.
Go to the travel section at Barnes & Noble or Borders and pick up some guidebooks like Lonely Planet or Let's Go. Let's Go is geared toward college kids but it doesn't stop them from having a ton of useful info about restaurants, hotels, and how to get where you're going. Lonely Planet is just as useful and geared towards an older crowd.
My first trip to Europe was totally seat the pants and I had an awesome time. We flew from Newark to Madrid via Zurich for an 18 day trip. We had a 3 hour layover in Zurich so we went to the ticket counter and cancelled our flight to Madrid. When we got out into the airport we realized none of us spoke a word of German. So we walked down to the train station (in the basement) and took the first train to Geneva. When we arrived we walked up to one of the B&Bs in the guidebook, got a room for two nights explored Geneva on foot and using the streetcar system and started plotting our next move. We took a train to Lyon in France. Got a room for two nights. Used the metro and the buses. We took a train to Montpelier, spent one night, moved on to Perpignan. Then Barcelona. In Barcelona we saw an ad at a travel agency for cheap flights to the Balearic Islands. We flew to Palma de Mallorca and spent 4 days on the island before flying directly to Madrid. We flew home from Madrid - via Zurich of course.
Of course, I don't just show up in a town anymore and walk around looking for a hotel or B&B - not since my wife and I were in Girona, Spain for Valentines one year (she loves Dali - who is from there and has a big museum 30 minutes north in Figueres) and wound up having to stay at a really swanky hotel for 230 euros a night
Now I always book my first and last hotel online before I leave and have someone at the front desk help me book a place in the next town I'm going to.
In case you're wondering, I highly recommend checking out Spain if you're going to southern France or going to europe in the winter months. I tell people, "Spain is just like Italy, except that it's cheaper, cleaner, safer, the people are nicer and the food is better."
I did a European cruise in May that left from Barcelona. We did 2 days pre in Barcelona and I found it to be an amazing city. I really enjoyed my 2 night stay there at the Hilton Barcelona.
Before I die, I want to see malta. I hear it's absolutely beautiful! And very eclectic... supposedly slaves from every country were brought to malta so the food and the art is a mixed from each country - very unique! One day.. : )
From my experience and from comparing my trips to the trips of family members who have booked tours . . . night for night my trips are always the same or cheaper than the tours.
It depends on why you travel. For me it's a vacation. I don't want to be hurried from destination to destination and I don't want to worry about an itinerary. I want to relax and be on vacation in europe the same as if I was on vacation in San Francisco. If there's something I want to see or do then I'm going to stay another night to do it. For me the tours (the one I took that started in Belfast and another one I took of British Columbia) are such a blur. I need my pictures to remind me what we did. Every trip I've planned myself I remember every day perfectly.
I also feel like, when you're on a tour you spend a lot of time with the other people on the tour. I didn't go to the Netherlands to meet Americans or Canadians. I don't know, maybe it's from growing up at the Shore and the working across the street from Independence Hall for 5 years but It's just not for me.
I would see all of these people for Indiana or Virginia get off the bus, go see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall then get back on the bus and go somewhere else. Like that's all there was to Philadelphia. I can always tell who is here self-guided because they're walking around, away from the tourist stuff, map in hand, and arguing over which direction they're headed - at which point I walk over and set them straight. But they see the city and take something away from it. Everyone else is just hopping from DC Disney to Philly Disney to NYC Disney.
Before I die, I want to see malta. I hear it's absolutely beautiful! And very eclectic... supposedly slaves from every country were brought to malta so the food and the art is a mixed from each country - very unique! One day.. : )
Willey, Malta is beautiful! It was the First stop on my Med cruise. We ate at a sidewalk cafe , toured the co-Cathederal there, and shopped.
IT is very European, but an Island.
Diane G
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