Travel Tips to Europe

After two recent trips to Europe which we had planned and executed completely on our own, I think I/we can give you some useful tips for travelling to Europe. These are all based from the perspective of an Indian traveller.

How to plan a budget Europe tour on your own.
1. Know the season of your choice - Do you like winter or summer (which is a lot cooler than Indian summer). Is it spring or autumn that you like? Each season has its own advantages and disadvantages but choose the correct season.
2. Plan at least 3 months in advance of your travel
3. We took SOTC and kesari sites as a baseline for making an itinerary. (Thank you kesari and SOTC for doing such good research into your programs. We made nice use of it). This gives us a brief idea of the route to take and tourist locations. SOTC also gives a list of hotels to stay. These are 3 or 4* hotels and you can check the rates of it on the web. So plan the destinations according to it.
4. When going on your own, please note that you cannot follow their program as it is. Kesari guys will do the travel by coach and the luggage and food are taken care of by them. You don't have to lift your bags while trying to catch eurail or metro. You don't have to wait to catch the next train or stand in queue for reservations or entrance ticket. You don't have to walk from the station to the hotel. Due to these differences, it is not possible to do everything they do but then exploring a place on your own has its own charm. You will discover so many things which those people wont. You get to interact with locals and get a flavour of the place which they will not. This is what I like.
5. Once you have your itinerary in place, go to the eurail site and check if you can get a pass for the chosen countries. The countries you choose have to be bordering each other.
6. Study the pass and the extra benefits it offer. Additional tips on eurail pass are well documented here by my husband. http://schweinhaben.blogspot.com/ http://schweinhaben.blogspot.in/2009/05/railathon.html
7. Go to the OBB site and make a schedule for yourself to follow.
8. Make an estimation sheet for your project (see how managers think ;-) ). Cross check your sheet by taking a quotation from Kesari LOL
9. Pack light. Remember you have to lift your own luggage
10. Choose hotels based on your budget. Contact me if you need help. This service comes at a minimal charge. :D
11. Ensure you don't have to spend money on things like camera batteries and SD cards. Carry an extra pair from India. It will cost you 4.25 euros for a pack of 4 batteries depending on the place you buy. Paris is damn expensive and so is Switzerland and Germany. Netherlands was cheaper as was Austria. Breakfast in Paris hotel which costs 12 euros costs 8 euros in Amsterdam in the same hotel chain.
12. Shopping was out of our budget so no tips here :(
13. Keep one day leave for visa procedure (for people outside of Bombay). If you have an option, apply in a country which does not need biometrics.
14. Carry a warm jacket and umbrella irrespective of the season you travel. I bet you will need it.
15. Carry Indian snacks with you. After eating a lot of bread, cheese, burgers and potatoes, you just want to eat something that has good taste. Quick is another chain similar to McDonald's.
16. Read about the places you are visiting from the net. This will ensure that you don't miss having a guide.
17. Use your sky miles and hertz points for booking air tickets or renting a car.
18. Send me a cheque of 50 euros for having saved you a lakh rupees at least and the effort of planning (if you are travelling two people together) :D.
19. Bon voyage