Europe trip : Through yatra, cox and kings or local travel agent?

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anish_sha

anish_sha

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Hi,

Me and My wife planning a Europe trip ( Paris,Switzerland and Germany) for 10 days. Its my first trip . seeking help /suggestions from experienced regarding the following

1. Should I opt for big tour companies like Cox and Kings,yatra or should i depend up on my local travel agent ?

2. Is it good to join a group or a personalized trip is good ?

3. Destinations i am planning is Paris, Interlaken, Lucerene ,Black Forest (Germany) and if possible Amsterdam. Are these good destinations for a first time europe visitors?


Expecting your Valuable suggestions :-)
 
I would suggest to not use ezeego. A collegue booked through ezeego, and had a bad booking experience - payment issues and all. He is yet to go on the trip.
 
I did not go to Europe but New-Zealand with my Wife . Did not go through any agent or these travel companies. I am also a keen or more so avid reader of Teambhp,followed one of the travelogues . Applied for Tourist Visa and prepared an itenary . It was amazing,drove across NZ . Check their travelogues and inspire yourself. Bad part is that you have to arrange for everything yourself like airtickets/visa/lodging etc. That can take the fun away sometimes.
 
Fenix said:
I did not go to Europe but New-Zealand with my Wife . Did not go through any agent or these travel companies. I am also a keen or more so avid reader of Teambhp,followed one of the travelogues . Applied for Tourist Visa and prepared an itenary . It was amazing,drove across NZ . Check their travelogues and inspire yourself. Bad part is that you have to arrange for everything yourself like airtickets/visa/lodging etc. That can take the fun away sometimes.
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Checked out tbhp travelogues , but don't want to try it booking everything of my own since it's my first trip.. [emoji4]
 
anish_sha said:
Hi,

Me and My wife planning a Europe trip ( Paris,Switzerland and Germany) for 10 days. Its my first trip . seeking help /suggestions from experienced regarding the following

1. Should I opt for big tour companies like Cox and Kings,yatra or should i depend up on my local travel agent ?

2. Is it good to join a group or a personalized trip is good ?

3. Destinations i am planning is Paris, Interlaken, Lucerene ,Black Forest (Germany) and if possible Amsterdam. Are these good destinations for a first time europe visitors?


Expecting your Valuable suggestions :)
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1. Yes go for a bigger company than local. They usually have everything planned out and in case there is a problem there will be many fellow travellers also assuming you go in a group.

2. If you can afford a personalized trip then do that. Do your research with the places and tell them where all you want to go and specifically places to see. Mind you, you need to have a good budget for that.
Group trips are cheaper but there are issues like too many people, too hectic & not able to spend long in a location

3. Places to visit is a personal choice for you and your wife. Research and choose well.
Common Romantic Europe destinations - Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, Vienna.
 
puns said:
1. Yes go for a bigger company than local. They usually have everything planned out and in case there is a problem there will be many fellow travellers also assuming you go in a group.

2. If you can afford a personalized trip then do that. Do your research with the places and tell them where all you want to go and specifically places to see. Mind you, you need to have a good budget for that.
Group trips are cheaper but there are issues like too many people, too hectic & not able to spend long in a location

3. Places to visit is a personal choice for you and your wife. Research and choose well.
Common Romantic Europe destinations - Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague, Vienna.
Click to expand...
Thanks for ur reply , finding Indian food will be a tedious task when opting for personalised trips? I have chosen Black Forest in Germany since I heard from my friend it's a nice countryside place , so is interlaken and lucerne with lots of greenery and natural beauty...
 
anish_sha said:
Hi,

Me and My wife planning a Europe trip ( Paris,Switzerland and Germany) for 10 days. Its my first trip . seeking help /suggestions from experienced regarding the following

1. Should I opt for big tour companies like Cox and Kings,yatra or should i depend up on my local travel agent ?

2. Is it good to join a group or a personalized trip is good ?

3. Destinations i am planning is Paris, Interlaken, Lucerene ,Black Forest (Germany) and if possible Amsterdam. Are these good destinations for a first time europe visitors?


Expecting your Valuable suggestions :)
Click to expand...
I got back from europe 10 days back. Went with my wife.
As always, i did it all on my own. Its way better that way.
I did, mumbai - budapest- amsterdam-barcelona-valencia-ibiza-Paris-mumbai.
The good thing abt europe is that things are so easy and convenient, that you literally wont need anyone's help to move you around and places to visit with details are available on the net.
What you need to figure out is how you like to travel. As in at leisure at a chilled out pace, seeing whatever you can or making sure you see everything that there is to see at that place.

Anyways the no of days dont really add up to the places you wanna see.
paris (if you wanna do disneyland and Versailles too) you will need 4 days.
Switzerland a minimum of 5 which will give u only Zurich or Genoa. To see it properly you will need at-least 8.
Blackforest 1 is fine.
Amsterdam 2 including bruges and Rotterdam. Maybe more cause amsterdam is such a nice place.

I suggest for ten days you either do swiss + prague or Swiss + paris via TGV.
 
destiny said:
If you dont mine can you share the Overall expense lol :)
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Europe was crazy expensive bro this time. I had done swiss around 2 yrs back. My wife has not done it and was insisting on it. In 2 yrs the cost of Switzerland has more than doubled. Swiss pass from 135-145 has shot to 290 odd. And euro from 55-60 to 83-85. Do the math, its expensive bro with the current exchange rate.
Even food prices. Last yr a pallea @ madrid was anywhere between 8-12 euros. This yr at barca and ibiza its from 22-30. Crazyyyy, i almost ran out of money.
 
Fenix said:
Yes and also want to know if you seeked the help of a travel company.
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Nope, on my own. Took around 5 nights. But i have traveled quiet a bit, so im aware of the dos and donts.
Infact even at the destination i never take the tourist buses. I always use the local metros to move around. A lot faster and cheaper. Plus it add's to the local experience.
Places like, budapest, amsterdam, barcelona, lisbon, seville, Geneva, Zurich are so small as far as tourist destinations go, you can literally walk from one place to another.
Paris, london, madrid, istanbul, sharm-al-sheikh etc you will need to understand the local transport.
Ibiza you will need your own vehicle, aka a international license.

The advantage of traveling without a tour is that one can get out of a place in 10 mins flat if you dont like it or stay there for hrs if it interests you. That is not possible with a tour. Also in a tour u are on the guides itinerary which is good if you are not a good planner but bad if you like to explore a place.

Do you have a specific place in mind? For eg, i would take a second opinion of a tourist company if i were going to kenya, tanzania or south africa. Reason being there are security issues and its advisable to move abt in a small group.
 
Yes Hussain,this is what me and my wife. We drove in NZ,cooked meals in a motel . Its way way cheaper and best part is that you are not bound by time.
 
Have traveled to Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket) and had planned myself everything. Far better experience.
While I was in USA as well, I planned all the trips and never took any tour company.
 
Would agree with @ Rak , Your are stuck with time limitation and destination . Haven`t been to Europe so just going through travelogues on BCMT/Tbhp.
 
Thanks all for the valuable replies

I have decided to make it a personalised trip according to my preferences . The cities to visit,
1. Paris
2.Lucerene
3.Interlaken
4.Black forest in Germany
5.Amsterdam

Please suggest me the places and things to do in these cities.
And also best VFM hotels in these cities which has Indian restaurants near by [emoji4]
 
anish_sha said:
Thanks all for the valuable replies

I have decided to make it a personalised trip according to my preferences . The cities to visit,
1. Paris
2.Lucerene
3.Interlaken
4.Black forest in Germany
5.Amsterdam

Please suggest me the places and things to do in these cities.
And also best VFM hotels in these cities which has Indian restaurants near by [emoji4]
Click to expand...
How many days r u looking at? This doesnt look like a 10 day trip to me. Also since its your first time, you shouldnt miss basel, geneva, zurich or atleast do 2 out of 3. Along with lucerne and Interlaken maybe Murren too. To see swiss half heartily will need 7-8 days, properly around 12.
Paris 4, amsterdam 2, blackforest + the travel 2.
If you are doing swiss then Germany is a small train journey away. Do the math + cost calculation first. Also when do u exactly plan to go? month?
This is peak season u know...
 
Yup. This is summer. :D :D. Everyone will be coming down to North of Europe.


1 of my 2 item bucket list is my Euro trip. :( :(. The other one will be doing this month end ;). When will i get to do my Euro. 21 days holiday. wooot!!!.
 
m-jeri said:
Yup. This is summer. :D :D. Everyone will be coming down to North of Europe.


1 of my 2 item bucket list is my Euro trip. :( :(. The other one will be doing this month end ;). When will i get to do my Euro. 21 days holiday. wooot!!!.
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A friend did a 24 day euro trip. Italy, swiss, paris and Germany and he tells me 24 days wasnt enough for him. Couldnt see everything properly... o_O
 
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