mztery

this thread is the most fun EVER!

HappyCheesehead

Meihan - how did you come up with the US850 (approx 650 euro) budget for transportation? You have rail travel, at least 3 flights (to Barcelona, to Ireland, to Scotland) and 3 car rentals (Florence, Ireland,UK) planned. What is your breakdown for the $850?

sap

Well, mztery. . . with an apology to the OP for interrupting such a crucial thread, I would hazard a guess that there are several hundred "most fun ever" Fodor's threads, but there are a couple that stand out in my mind, such as http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...dors-novel.cfm. (I'll admit, though, that I'm normally too chicken to venture into that dark-lit lounge area where geniuses and nutters alike hold court.)

janisj

<B>sap:</B> --total hijack-- - I just noticed your profile photo (don't ask ) -- Anyway - <B>Minster Lovell!!</B>

One of my favorite places anywhere. Have probably picnicked there 20 times . . .

DougP

really suggest rethinking quad rooms... they only have one bathroom and 4 adults getting ready each morning with only one bathroom will take a long time.... your schedule won't allow for the time.

kfusto

"your schedule won't allow for the time."

That would be perfect as their schedule does not allow time for a shower.

portiaperu

Quad rooms are fine for families, we managed to squeeze an extra cot in for a small child so five of us could occupy one room. It worked for us, but I can't imagine two couples wanting to live in such close quarters. I wouldn't recommend it. Your lodgings need to provide a respite from the day's activities - where a family can make do with one room I would imagine two couples might find a lack of space and privacy.

But everyone has their own ideas and I know that many families would be dissatisfied staying in one room.

Is this trip moving forward or have the visa issues put a stop to the planning?

chazzarelli

Prtiaperu - can you imagine 2 couples ON THEIR HONEYMOON wanting to share a room? On her op, she stated this was their honeymoon trip!

sap

janis: Yup - good eye! I loved that place and it was a particularly gorgeous, sparkling June afternoon. We have some fabulously eery, atmospheric photos taken there and along the river. (We had a heck of a time actually finding it, but it was definitely worth it.) -- Uh - back to the evolving main thread now, sorry.

Meihan83

portiaperu : its still on, we r waiting on the visa, n we take out ireland n scotland, extend our stay in tuscany area(+cinque terre) we know we would love it there!! fingers crossed on the visa!! wish me luck everyone hehe
i ll post more when everything is fixed.. oh ya i now i begin to understand how train system in europe (big thanks to ellenem) , calculating to get the cheapest deal
one thing : if i have bought select pass, can i book and print all the ticket trains from indo? so i can hava all my trasportation tickets n documents ready n not hassle about it anymore while travelling.

scatcat : sory my bad, theres no dirct koln - interlaken, the one i said to u has 1 stop in basel hehe pardon me, i dint understand it at first.

i told my husband to my husband to join fodors to help him cross check his things to do n see with u guys but hes been reluctant, lol. i ll push him as i know this forum provides excellent insights we absolutely need.

thanks everyone all ur posts are taken into our consideration!! love u guys!

Meihan83

franco : franc r u saying USD 146 / person / day for hotel, 2x food and transport is not enough ? can u advice me what budget is appropriate /person / day in europe ? thanks
HappyCheesehead : taken out some cities, i guess 850 USD is reasonable now ? hehe
Parisamsterdam : hahahaha ur so funny.. well i might change my itenery - day 1 : lourdes .. so i can pray first my trip will run smoothly hahaahahahahahah LMAO

Meihan83

DougP : we think of having quads room for some nights (but of course we rather not) we talked about how to save time each day, n one of the ideas is : be prepared at the night before u sleep, showers, do the packing, etc etc so in the morning, just brush teeth then voila ready to leave!!

Meihan83

scatcat : YES!! at last someone who understand us.. like scat has said it verywell,... we can just buy snacks n sodas have em for lunch 13.00, then 15.00 hungry again?? so what.. buy snacks again lahh. no real lunch? no big deal!

scatcat

I eat a lot of junk food at home and on my trips. Maybe not junk, but not full meals. Like I said I am not a foodie. The only "must" in my diet is ice cream.

franco

First of all, I'm glad, that your itinerary is gradually more looking like a holiday. As far as budget, I cannot comment on Barcelona since I've never been there, but of the other destinations, just Florence and Rome are mid-priced and just rural Tuscany can be surprisingly cheap if you pay attention to where to dine and sleep (of course, it can also be surprisingly expensive if you don't). The rest of your destinations is expensive to incredibly expensive. So even if you're really economizing (which I understand you want to do), I think 100 € per person BEFORE transport would be more realistic. And you're not going to get by with 10 € (which would make, in total, 146 $) for transport per day, with your itinerary. Plus if you want to splurge at least every now and then (two nice hotel rooms instead of one quad at a youth hostel, a good dinner), those 100 € may prove insufficient in places like Venice, London or Switzerland. So what I would do is calculate 100 € per person per day plus transport (trains, planes, rental cars) plus a certain reserve for the occasional splurge. Bear in mind that this will still make for a non-fancy holiday, but I understand that you're fine with that.

Meihan83

hmm,, yes u r right some cities will be really expensive.. will recheck the budget again.. 100 euro + tax in mind.. hmmm

Meihan83

* 100 euro + transport *

KateIP

One suggestion to help get a true picture of your itinerary and budget: start an Excel spreadsheet, put your destinations per day down the left hand side. Across the top label columns for each expense, such as travel (ie train, plane, car, etc), hotel, food and entrance fees. This allows you to "see" where your expenses occur within the trip, and shows a total for everything. Don't forget additional cost like gas and/or tolls when driving. Also build in a 'buffer' of 10-20%, because there will be something that comes up along the way, and you don't want to be surpised. Now you aren't guessing at your budget, but have a concrete plan on where you money will be spent.

DougP

Dear Meihan: I totally get that you are willing and able to juggle schedules and timing but.... there are 2 or 3 things of which there is a finite amount. You cannot manufacture more time, energy or possibly willingness.
Your trip is going to have 24 times 28 hours...
672 hours, and your plans will have you spending an inordinate amount of them in planes, trains and automobiles.
Checking in and out of hotels, packing, in taxis, driving to and from train stations and car rentals.
Maybe you will enjoy your time doing these things but you can do them just as easily at home and not spend the money to go to Europe.
You are going to get tired carrying luggage, walking to train platforms, through airplane terminals, asking where the taxi stand is, looking for baggage claim.
Much of this work is necessary on a trip, it's not a good idea to make it the largest part of a trip.

UNCalum

You guys have each put a great deal of faith in each other to make some very expensive financial decisions on behalf of the group. One big mistake could cause many hard feelings. Please consider checking and rechecking each person's input before final decisions are made. Friendships have been ruined over much less complicated trips than this one!

Also, stay mindful of the fact that any missed connections are likely to incur big penalties for rescheduling--even when the situation is out of your control--e.g. an auto accident that makes you late to the airport. With so many trains, planes, etc. in your plans, you should definitely build in the buffer that KateIP suggested.