frankly speaking, our recent backpacking europe did not come cheap. not only the money, but also all the research, planning, and decision-making processes. there were so much things to see and places to explore, yet we had limited time and resources.
we borrowed travel books from libraries. asked our friends for advice. browsed tourism websites and forums. spent days in front of our notebooks in the evenings and weekends to firm up the itinerary. it's all because we'd rather take matters into our own hands than joining local tour groups. however, it's not that simple. the more we read, the more things we found out, the more we wanted to visit each and every place. the more people we asked, the more advice we got and the more changes we made to our existing plan.
we were tempted to take a short cut by purchasing a land tour by contiki, but in the end we chose to just do it on our own - maximal dose of adventure! on top of that, by planning our own trip, we were exposed to and became aware of a lot more stuff compared to buying a package and just accepting it as it is.
we decided to buy the air ticket from qantas: singapore-london and paris-singapore; and railsaver pass for 6 days to 5 countries. our itinerary was: london - brussels - amsterdam - munich - venice - rome & vatican city - nice - paris. plus a few day trips to surrounding areas: bath, brighton, cambridge from london; fussen from munich; and monte carlo from nice.
we decided to skip austria and switzerland and czech republic altogether. well, at least we have a reason to make a return trip next time. for switzerland, it's mostly because we didn't want to apply for yet another visa. also, we gave oxford, lourdes and assisi a miss, as our schedule was already packed enough to make some friends' jaws dropped :)
the first hotel we booked was the one in london, as proof of hotel booking was one of its visa requirements. managed to find a budget hotel near to king's cross tube, and we made the booking despite the mixed reviews given by previous visitors. crossed our fingers that it would turn out fine. the price was £40 per night, inclusive of english breakfast. it was cheap it made me wonder if the deal was too good to be true, as our london-based friend said that a decent hotel stay at a city 2-hour ride away from london (i.e. northampton) already costed at least £60 per pax per night.
hotel at amsterdam and nice were booked instantly via online form. lodging in munich, venice, rome and paris needed extra time, however, as some of them only provided enquiry forms. it's especially difficult to look for available and reasonably priced room in munich as there's some kind of event going on during that period.
our UK visa application went through after the 2nd attempt. the security at the visa application center was really tight, one of their rules: no battery-operating devices are allowed. I even left my mobile phone at home. on the first attempt our applications were not accepted due to the face size in the photo which was too big (we manufactured the photos using our own camera and printer, haha), the incomplete bank statement, and the incomplete company letter. we returned there a few days later, and after 6 working days it was approved, yay!
we applied our schengen visa through France embassy. a total of 3 trips were needed: first - verification and submission of necessary documents; second - passport submission after confirming online that "decision concerning our application has been made"; third - passport collection. the document requirement for schengen visa was less stringent than UK visa, but they took about two whole weeks for the decision making process.
after the route, the countries, and the number of days to be spent on each cities were confirmed, we went further to plan on the daily itinerary. places to visit, opening hours, entrance fee, direction to get there, time required, advance bookings, etc. it's pure headache! decisions, decisions, decisions.
actually I was quite tempted to just arrange the outline and then to just see how it goes. hop into any train, visit any city, sleep in any hotel/hostel/b&b/guesthouse/campsite/whatever.. that's the real adventure :) but the kiasu cum kiasi part of me was against that, thus the endless considerations and decision-makings.
the decision mostly was between money and time, whether we want to save the money or save the time, e.g. taking bus instead of train, taking early or late train instead of peak-hour train, stay outside or in city area, advance booking with extra charge or queueing for tickets on the day itself.
we're thinking of taking the term "backpacking" literally, by really bringing backpacks with us throughout the journey, for efficiency sake and also to make an impression of "we're tourists on a shoestring budget" ;)
I'm content to finally had the chance to visit my main travel destinations. europe was indeed magical! as the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
highlights of the trip:
London - Madame Tussauds, Regent Park, Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Victoria Memorial, The Mall, St.James' Park, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and House of Parliaments, Temple Church, St.Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Les Miserables at Queen's Theatre, British Museum, London Eye, Westminster Cathedral
Brighton - Royal Pavillion, Brighton Pier
Cambridge - River Cam, Clare College
Bath - Roman Baths, Bath Abbey
Brussels - Manneken Pis, Jeanneke Pis, Grand'Place
Amsterdam - Vondelpark, Molen Van Sloten, Albert Cuyp markt, Dappermarkt, Waterlooplein
Munich - Karlsplatz, Marienplatz, Frauenkirche, Viktualienmarkt, St.Michael's
Fussen - Neuschwanstein
Venice - Grand Canal, Basilica of San Marco & bell tower
Rome - Colloseo, Palatino, Campidoglio, Piazza Venezia, Piazza di Spagna, Trinita Dei Monti church, Basilica S. Ignazio, Fontana Di Trevi, Pantheon (Basilica S. Maria Ad Martyress), Chesa S. Luigi Dei Francesi, Piazza Novona, Basilica S. Andrea Della Valle, Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore, Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, Basilica di San Paolo
Vatican City - Basilica di San Pietro, Piazza di San Pietro, Vatican Museum, Cappella Sistina
Pisa - Leaning tower of Pisa
Nice - Promenade des Anglais, Notre Dame du Port
Monte Carlo - Casino garden, Exotic Garden & Observatory Caves, Oceanographic Aquarium, Monaco Cathedral
Paris - Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Tour Eiffel, Champ de Mars, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Paris Disneyland Park, Jardin de Tuileries, Musée du Louvre, Village St-Paul, Pont Neuf at Île de la Cité, Notre Dame de Paris
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