JigEuro

FLIGHT FROM California
Shared Transfer with Meet and Greet - Heathrow Airport to London Hotel 2-Adults

London
4 Nights London - Apex Temple Court-City 1-Double
London Oyster Card (Transportation Pass) - 20 GBP Value 2-Adults

Historic and Modern London Tour - 8 Hours 2-Adults
Highlights include: Photo stop at Westminster Abbey, see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, visit Covent Garden, entry to the Tower of London, see the famous Crown Jewels, special entry to St Paul`s Cathedral, enjoy a Thames River cruise. A panoramic tour of London which takes you past many of the famous sights of London`s West End including Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, as well as Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister.


London Eye Fast Track Entry 2-Adults

Shared Transfer - London Hotel to Heathrow Airport 2-Adults

FLIGHT TO MADRID
Private Transfer - Madrid Airport to Madrid Hotel - Day 2-Adults

3 Nights Madrid - Hotel Vincci Via 66-Standard 1-Double

Madrid City and Royal Palace Tour - 3.5 Hours 2-Adults

Toledo Tour - 5 Hours - Afternoon 2-Adults

Rail pricing not yet available or included: MADRID - BARCELONA

Barcelona
4 Nights Barcelona - K+ K Hotel Picasso-Standard 1-Double

Barcelona City Tour - 3.5 Hours 2-Adults

Montserrat Half-Day Tour from Barcelona - 5 Hours 2-Adults

Private Transfer - Barcelona Hotel to Barcelona Airport - Night 2-Adults

FLIGHT BARCELONA - MUNICH

1st Class Eurail Benelux - Germany Pass 5 days within 2 Months 2-Adults

Use Railpass from munich Airport to Munich HBF Rail Station

Seat reservation not possible. Use railpass: Munich-Fussen

Fussen
1 Night Fussen - Hotel Hirsch-Standard 1-Double

Seat reservations not possible, use railpass: Fussen-Munich
Munich
5 Nights Munich - K+K Hotel am Harras-Standard - Oktoberfest Special 1-Double

Dachau Memorial Site Half-Day Tour - 4.5 Hours 2-Adults

Munich Hop-on/Hop-off City Tour Express Circle Line Grayline Sightseeing 2-Adults

Rail pricing not yet available or included: MUNICH - RUDESHEIM

2 Nights Rudesheim - Breuer Rudesheimer Schloss-Standard 1-Double


Rail pricing not yet available or included: RUDESHEIM - AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam

3 Nights Amsterdam - Hotel Bellevue-Standard 1-Double
Van Gogh Museum and Canal Bus Day Combination Pass 2-Adults

Private Transfer - Amsterdam Hotel to Schiphol Airport - Day 2-Adults

$14,000.00 USD

Michael

I doubt that you need to buy the rail pass to go from Munich to Füssen.

nytraveler

Not sure why you're buying all thee passes and things in advance. Why not wait until you wherever and see how the weather is and what you fell like doing each day.

We get air, hotels and car (if road trip) and wing it from there. What is it's pouring rain the day you are scehduled for Fussen?

Also I despise HoHos - much better to just walk and see what YOU want that sit in a bus looking at outside of buildings.

BarbAnn

Seems pricey to me.

StCirq

No need for those pricey passes and private transfers, and yes, what if the weather's inclement? Seems like a lot of money wasted on what could be a nice trip otherwise.

PAplumber

You are not using your rail pass efficiently. Unless there are physical issues, a cab or public transportation from airport should be enough, you don't need Privet transfer that just sounds like throwing money away, unless you want to through money away, then I'll hold the trash bag Have fun with whatever you do.

Jinky

Is this a trip planned by AAA? The hotels and (IMO, pricey and unecessary) private transfers have me curious.

StCirq

Good guess, Jinky.

Jinky

I'm asking if it's an AAA planned itinerary because ages ago, I went to them for planning a trip and it was ridiculous what they were charging. Plus the hotels were all 2 and 3 star - modern and charmless (they love K+K), they insisted on private transfers and wanted to lock down all of the rail passes, etc.

We ended up doing it ourselves and saved about $3600 for a three week trip (!!!) Seriously. I think you are paying at least 5K too much. Especially given the hotels they have you booked in.

Please reconsider this and let the wonderful people here help you plan your trip. Choose hotels and help you get your transportation in order.

WiredPuppy

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your travel partner? Ages, if this is your first trip to Europe, ho fit you are, etc?

By the way, it's way overpriced and I agree with the others about the rail and transfers.

JigEuro

In early 30's it's through travel agent. Not aaa

StCirq

It's a really dumb trip and way too expensive.

StCirq

And the word is ITINERARY, by the way.

historytraveler

Nix the travel agent! They are ripping you off.

CathyM

If you want a travel agent to plan our trip I'd choose one that know the areas you want to visit along with your travel style. This just seems like someone is trying to make a large commission without gaining alot of insight into your needs.

WiredPuppy

Like Jinky said, let the people who post here help you. There are posters here who have traveled the world extensively and know much, much more that a travel agent.

You will have a much better trip if you let us all pitch in and help. You will be able to do more with less money. All of those private transfers and meet and greets and a few other things are not necessary. That agent is driving your cost way too high.

Is this your first trip abroad? If so, I can understand being a bit nervous planning it on your own and wanting a "package". But seriously, you are getting ripped off.

PAplumber

"You will have a much better trip if you let us all pitch in and help. You will be able to do more with less money. All of those private transfers and meet and greets and a few other things are not necessary. That agent is driving your cost way too high." WiredPuppy

Travel agents always recommend the highest commission (to them) places to stay, and most have never been there. Most of our fun is in the planing, travel is work, memories last a life time.

BigRuss

Why Munich? This whirlwind misses Paris and Rome for Munich and Amsterdam? And you're going to a wine town in Germany when France and Italy are within a few hundred miles?

Here are the big expenses that are a complete waste:

(1) Your London Tour. First, London could use an extra night - it's the largest city in Europe by FAR and far more interesting than Amsterdam or Munich. You can do the tour a la carte, skip the stupid changing of the Guards ceremony, and get 1/2 off your Tower entry with the 2for1 offers from the Days Out Guide (www.daysoutguide.co.uk) if you get a PAPER travelcard - look on this board for the how-to.

A seven-day paper travelcard will be slightly more than the Oyster card included in your trip (which will likely be inadequate - 20 quid for two people for four days won't hack it) and will pay for itself with the 2for1 discounts on the Tower (which is about $33 per person admission), Cabinet War Rooms, Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition, St. Paul's (currently included on the 2for1 offers), various walking tours, and various museums like the Courtauld Gallery that aren't free admission (MOST major London museums have free admission). You also want to go INTO the Abbey. Your transfer from Heathrow should be 35 GBP on Just Airports so if your agent's pricing is higher, you're getting screwed.

The London Eye is one of the great capitalist ventures in recent history. A fully flexible fast-track ticket is nearly $60 per person for 30 minutes on a ferris wheel and that's with advance boarding purchased on the web. A general fast-track ticket for priority boarding on a specific day and time is about $42 per person. Of course, who knows what the weather will be on any given day in London so the money could be a complete washout.

(2) Madrid City and Royal Palace Tour. The Palace doesn't need a tour guide, just go in and if you need it get the audio. Otherwise, wander around and read the placards or your trusty Fodor's guidebook. Madrid as a city isn't that interesting - it's pleasant to wander through especially near the Palace and the Opera areas, it's busy and full of nightlife, its main sites are the Palace and the major art museums. You need to check on rail pricing and Vueling flights from Madrid to BCN. Toledo can be done on your own and is worth the visit.

(3) Your transfer from BCN to Barcelona if you take a flight from Madrid should be around 25-30E total - that's what our taxi cost us with two large bags and two small kids - otherwise you're getting screwed. In all likelihood, that's what your cost will be from the rail station and that's definitely high. Your city tour will be a waste because there's a lot to see in Barcelona over a sizable area, with crap traffic, and who knows where they're going to drag you. Better to do it completely on your own and prioritize what you want to see and use the Metro to get just about everywhere but Park Guell (a short cab from Passeig de Gracia near Casa Mila would work best). The hotel location is good, but I'd be concerned that it'll be louder than a rock concert because it seems to be right on La Rambla. You could probably get an apartment for less, which will have more room and a fridge. We used barcelonastuff.com and the apartment we rented was two blocks from La Rambla on a private alley with no noise. Only five minutes from both Passeig de Gracia and Placa Catalunya.

(4) Hop on hop off buses are always pricey and usually a waste. If you can read a train or bus map and use the transport yourself, then use the regular city buses. Is your itinerary 5 nights in Munich PLUS a night in Fussen and two in Rudesheim? If so, that seems kind of ridiculous - more time in Munich than in London or Barcelona. If it's five nights in Germany, that's also daft because neither Fussen nor Rudesheim is particularly convenient to Munich and you'll be moving around a lot. Did you have a personal or specific interest in those towns or did the travel agent pull the information from her ear? And again, with five nights in one place, an apartment is an option and likely less expensive than a hotel.

Just some notions.

JigEuro

Thank you for all those who have given me advice and not bashed , I apologize for coming across as clueless but only because its my first EVER euro trip. I forgot to mention that we would like to do Oktoberfest in Munich, reason that we plan on doing Munich, should I lower to 4 days anyway. The main thing is wed like to do London, some of Spain, and obviously Munich. Like said have 3 weeks. If i stick to those and take some stuff out it shoudl lower our price right? Thanks for all help

november_moon

I agree that this is an expensive way to do this trip. Some cost-cutting measures:

1. You are in your early 30s, so no need for private transfers to your hotels. Most European cities have great public transportation. If you choose hotels close to transportation, you can easily take the Metro, etc. to your hotel for a fraction of the cost. I would only really recommend private transfer to people who are travelling with a lot of luggage, are older or have some other reason that it would be hard to handle luggage on the train, or just have extra money lying around that they want to spend.

2. Train travel - Looks like the railpass is definitely not a good choice. First class is definitely not needed.

For example, Munich airport to Fuessen: You can use the Bavaria ticket, which is a daypass valid on all regional trains and S-Bahn service. I think it is 24 euro for 2 people - this will get you from Munich airport to the Munich Hauptbahnhof and then the train from Munich to Fuessen. You won't find a better deal than that.

Munich to Rudesheim - Looks like you can do that for as low as 29 euro each if you buy your tickets ahead of time and get the savings fare.

You can read about the Lander Tickets here:

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/pri...overview.shtml

And research German train routings and costs here. Tickets are only available for purchase 90 days out, but you can check schedules and costs before then since costs and routings don't change much:

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

3. Tours: Your itinerary looks pretty heavy on tours. Tours can be good - we usually take some on every trip we take - but we also spend a fair amount of time wandering around on our own or taking docent-led tours at specific attractions. We also seek out non-standard tours because they are more interesting - bike tours, walking tours, food tours, etc. Standard tours, like I suspect the Madrid City and Palace Tour is, are very basic and often filled with people who are either elderly or just afraid to explore a city on their own - not interested in reading a map or figuring out how to use the Metro. You often find much more interesting guides and fellow travellers on bike tours and that sort of thing. Plus, it is generally CHEAPER