Europe Trip

We booked this 9-days and 8-nights group tour holidays package trip in advance. It covered 6 countries in 8 nights! 2 nights each were in Paris and Switzerland. The remaining 4 nights were in each country, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Milan! The package included return air-fare, hotel stays, local tour transport costs, some of the entry fees, breakfast and dinner for all days, including a complimentary lunch on the first day. All travel within Europe were all by a contract bus coach during the 9 days. There were also six optional excursions that we can pick and choose to join by paying the charges additionally.

They had agreed for flying us out of Bangalore directly to Paris, however finally it turned out they had to fly us from New Delhi, so we had to spend additional time flying from Bangalore to Delhi, and then we flew out of Delhi to Paris. The return flight was from Milan, again routed via Delhi to Bangalore. So for us from Bangalore, it was a ~10-days and 10-nights trip due to the additional domestic hop we had. 

Route map of our itinerary within Europe, though not covering all the spots we visited, but including the locations where we stayed, can be seen HERE.

You may note that, this could be a long blog post, with quite a few pictures and probably some information. Hope it is useful. 

Tour summary

Trip span: 12Jul16 Tue 16:00 hrs from Bangalore, to 22Jul16 Fri 12:30 hrs back in Bangalore.

Countries: During the 8 nights the countries traversed are 2N Paris, 1N Belgium, 1N Netherlands, 1N Germany, 2N Switzerland, 1N Milan. For 1N at Belgium, the stay is actually not within Belgium, but in Breda, Netherlands, that is just across the border from Belgium. But the 1N in Netherlands is  actually in Amsterdam itself.

Flights: Air Vistara for the domestic segments and Etihad Airways on the international side. Onward route was Bangalore - New Delhi - Abu Dhabi - Paris. And return route was Milan - Abu Dhabi - New Delhi - Bangalore.

Day-0 (Tue): Travel to New Delhi
     - 12Jul16: Leave home at about 4:00 pm and reach Delhi around 11:40 pm.
     - Baggage claim domestic and continue to international check-in and immigration.
 
 Day-1 (Wed): Paris - France
     - Reach Paris by about 3:15 pm local time, i.e. 6:45 pm IST; so after 27 hours on the move!
     - Get into the Darojkovic coach from Croatia.
     - Check-in to Golden Tulip Hotel, Villepinte, Paris but get ready in 10 min. to leave!
     - Leave at 5:30 pm on Paris city tour.
     - 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm Eiffel tower (level-2 only).
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant Bhojan.
     - Due to National day of France on the next day, do An evening in Paris tour same day.
     - Optional extra excursion, An evening in Paris tour from 10 pm
     - Stop at Arc De Triomphe / Champs Elysees for shopping around 10:30 pm.
     - Eiffel tower glimmering light show view (10 min.) at 11:00 pm.
     - Just a drive past the Louvre museum (location of Mona Lisa painting) around 12:00 midnight.
     - Get back to the hotel by about 1:00 am, i.e. 4:30 am IST.
     - That is, an exhausting 36.5 hours on the move continuously, from the start in Bangalore!

Day-2 (Thu): Paris - France
     - National day of France.
     - Optional extra excursion, Disneyland Paris or leisure time visit to Aeroville Mall.
     - Complimentary lunch by the tour operator.
     - Leisure time visit to Aeroville Mall; snacks at McDonald's.
     - Indian dinner at restaurant (parcel to hotel room for not part of Disneyland optional excursion).
     - Stay at Golden Tulip Hotel, Villepinte, Paris.

Day-3 (Fri): Brussels - Belgium
     - Check-out from Golden Tulip Hotel, Villepinte, Paris.
     - Visit to Atomium in Brussels.
     - Shopping around Grand Place Guild Houses in Brussels, including Manneken Pee statue.
     - Eat and shop Waffles, Belgium Chololates.
     - Lunch at McDonald's near Grand Place locality.
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant Taj Mahal, Breda, Netherlands.
     - Stay at Novotel Hotel, Breda, Netherlands.

Day-4 (Sat): Amsterdam - Netherlands
     - Check-out from Novotel Hotel, Breda, Netherlands.
     - Visit to Madurodam / Mini Holland, Netherlands.
     - Visit to Wooden Shoe Factory, De Zaanse Schans, Netherlands.
     - Canal cruise sightseeing tour in Amsterdam Central.
     - Lunch at McDonald's near Central Station, Amsterdam.
     - Shopping around Amsterdam Central.
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant Rangoli, Amsterdam.
     - Stay at Hotel A4 Schiphol, Netherlands.

Day-5 (Sun): Cologne - Germany, Heidelberg - Germany  
     - Check-out from Hotel A4 Schiphol, Netherlands.
     - Visit to Cathedral in Cologne.
     - Shop for 4711 Cologne in specific shop around the Cathedral.
     - Lunch at McDonald's near Cologne Cathedral.
     - Visit to old town area of Heidelberg to see Castle view and Neckar river Carl Theodor bridge.
     - Dinner at Indian Palace Restaurant, Heidelberg.
     - Stay at Achat Plaza Hotel, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Day-6 (Mon): Black Forest - Germany, Rhine Falls - Switzerland, Lucerne - Switzerland, Engelberg
     - Check-out from Achat Plaza Hotel, Karlsruhe, Germany.
     - Visit to Kuckucksnest, Drubba Handmade Cuckoo clocks Hofgut Sternen shop in Black Forest.
     - Lunch at ZurSteige restaurant, including authentic Black Forest cake.
     - Complete the VAT reclaim forms, for high value purchases, at the Germany-Switzerland border.
     - Visit to Rhine Falls, Schaffhausen, Switzerland; boat trip to the Panorama Rock climb.
     - Samosa, Chai snack at Spice Bistro Gourmindia eatery.
     - Visit to Lucerne city, Switzerland; an Optional extra excursion orientation tour.
     - Shopping around Lucerne lake, Bucherer, Casa Grande, Bachman, Chapel bridge.
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant inside Hotel Central, Engelberg.
     - Stay at Hotel Central, Engelberg, Switzerland.

Day-7 (Tue): Engelberg, Interlaken, Jungfraujoch - Switzerland
     - Optional extra excursion to Interlaken tour and Jungfraujoch, including complimentary lunch.
     - Shopping around Kirchhoffer Interlaken.
     - Lunch during travel from Lauterbrunnen station by mountain train to Kleine Scheidegg.
     - Travel by second train from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch.
     - Visit to snow fun at Top of Europe 11,333 ft. (3454 m), ice palace cave carvings, snow plateau.
     - Snacks at Bollywood Restaurant.
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant inside Hotel Central, Engleberg.
     - Stay at Hotel Central, Engelberg, Switzerland.

Day-8 (Wed): Mount Titlis - Switzerland, Milan - Italy
     - Check-out from Hotel Central, Engelberg, Switzerland.
     - Optional extra excursion to Mt. Titlis with Ice Flyer and Snow Park. 
     - Travel by Titlis Express 8-seater cable car and Rotair 80-stand-in revolving cable car.
     - Visit Mount Titlis at 10,000 ft. (3020 m), cliff walk, ice flyer cable car, snow park slides.
     - Lunch at Titlis restaurant on the mountain.
     - Visit to Milan Cathedral (The Gothic Duomo di Milano cathedral), Milan, Italy.
     - Visit and shopping around Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, Italy.
     - Dinner at Indian Restaurant Aangan, Milan, Italy.
     - Stay at Hotel Holiday Inn Express, Milan, Italy.

Day-9 (Thu): Travel from Milan to New Delhi
     - Check-out from Hotel Holiday Inn Express, Milan, Italy by 8:00 am.
     - Departure flight from Malpensa airport, Milan at 10:55 am.

Day-10 (Fri): Travel from New Delhi to Bangalore
     - Arrive in New Delhi at 3:10 am.
     - Complete immigration, baggage claim and continue to domestic check-in.
     - Arrive in Bangalore by 12:30 pm; so after 25 hours on the move continuously!

About the trip

Route map of our itinerary within Europe, though not covering all the spots we visited, but including the locations where we stayed, can be seen HERE.

Overall we had a great trip.

• There were families who joined this group tour from other parts of India and a couple of Indian families joined from other countries as well. 22 members in 6 families.
• One lucky advantage we got with this group was that the small size (and 5 of were just kids) so it was quite manageable for the tour director as people kept the start time at the hotel lobbies every day and at all the sightseeing places to reassemble at instructed timings. Secondly, as the ~50 seater bus coach was the one we were moving during all the 8 days, there was at least one extra vacant seat for every person so we could actually move around within the coach comfortably during all the days.
• During the summer time we traveled there, the days were as long as 16+ hours, with day break starting around 5:45 AM and then darkness setting in only around 10:00 PM. So we had a lot of time for sightseeing; at dinner time around 7-8 PM everyday it was bright as 4 PM in India. 
• Except for the one untoward incident in France on our Day-2 night, i.e. on the National day of France, there was this truck attack killing over 80 people in the city of Nice in the southern part of France, it was a smooth trip. Even that news was not known to us until on the next morning when we were actually checking-out from the hotel in Paris when our relatives called us to check if we were all fine.
• Our hotel stays, all with breakfast and dinner buffets were all nice. Cleanliness with regard to the rooms we got were fine, unlike some reviews we had read about some of the hotels we stayed, as some people seemed to have had some bad experiences there.
• Though we were on the bus throughout the trip, it was not so tiring. Almost every night we moved to a new city and checked-in to the hotel. And the next day morning the tour director would arrange the hotel front desk to give us a wake up call at the planned time and after finishing the breakfast at the hotel we would assemble after checking-out picking up all our bags again to board the coach to start to the next sightseeing location or the next city. 
• Floating borders while crossing over from one country to the other were just a breeze to pass through that we do not even notice that we are moving out from one country to another. Only at the entry of Italian border there were checks that delayed the entry.
• It was good to see the neat cities, with European style buildings, good civics, roads etc. There were a lot of trams in all the cities. Lucerne Switzerland had trams running on normal bus tyres while still having electric overhead pantographs, but no rail tracks. Milan in Italy is the only place we felt that the city was congested, having narrow roads, with more or clumsy traffic. 
• Use of bicycles by a lot of people, really a lot of people, in Netherlands and Germany was great to see. That three-level large bicycle parking at Amsterdam Central was huge and makes one presume they must be having a way for people to locate their cycle easily every time when they come back to take it.
• Due to summer time in July, the weather was in general very warm to hot during the highway drives as well as in the cities in Netherlands, Germany, Italy and even in Switzerland. But on the mountains at Switzerland we had an excellent weather, touching as low as 3 degrees Celsius when we were on the Jungfrau peak. 
• The houses, and buildings in the cities in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland attract with beautiful flower arrangements on all their balconies. They look colorful and stunning. A treat to look around. And then the entire travel around Switzerland from time we entered till going around all the places and leaving out, the sprawling scenic natural surroundings all over Switzerland was the highlight of our trip. Can see far-flung acres of hilly terrains in picture perfect greenery with the clear blue skies as we drove through long hops during the travel. We always wished if we could stop at every scenic frame of location to click the pictures. 

Even for ten days after we returned from this trip, every night there were dreams traversing through some of the sightseeing places we went around during the trip. Aptly, MakeMyTrip (MMT) calls this group tour package as - European Dreams!

Scroll down for a lot of pictures, and the MakeMyTrip experience summary. Some of the pictures may not be perfect, as they were taken from a moving bus through the window glass, or while walking - so on the move, or from a moving train or boat. So kindly adjust.

Paris - France

Brussels - Belgium

Amsterdam - Netherlands

Cologne - Germany 

Heidelberg - Germany 

Black Forest - Germany

Rhine Falls - Switzerland

Lucerne - Switzerland

Engelberg - Switzerland

Interlaken - Switzerland

Jungfraujoch - Switzerland

Mount Titlis - Switzerland

Milan - Italy

On the highways 

Hotels and breakfasts

Indian Dinners

There are more Caught Special pictures from our Europe trip HERE.

Flights

Just in case anyone needs for reference, here are the flights of our itinerary.
       * Air Vistara UK-836, Bangalore 12Jul16 Tue 20:50, to Delhi 12Jul16 Tue 23:40 [2h 50 m]
       * Layover in Delhi = 5 hours
       * Etihad EY-211, Delhi 13Jul16 Wed 04:40, to Abu Dhabi 13Jul16 Wed 07:00 [3h 50m]
       * Layover in Abu Dhabi = 2 hours 10 min.
       * Etihad EY-37, Abu Dhabi 13Jul16 Wed 09:10, to Paris CDG 13Jul16 Wed 14:55 [7h 45m]

       * Etihad EY-88, Milan 21Jul16 Thu 10:55, to Abu Dhabi 21Jul16 Thu 19:20 [6h 25m]
       * Layover in Abu Dhabi 2 hours 40 min.
       * Etihad EY-218, Abu Dhabi 21Jul16 Thu 22:00, to Delhi 22Jul16 Fri 03:10 [3h 40m]
       * Layover in Delhi = 4 hours 30 min.
       * Air Vistara UK-811, Delhi 22Jul16 Fri 07:40, to Bangalore 22Jul16 Fri 10:30 [2h 50 m]

Trip Tips

• Cost: A trip like this described here, would cost about Rs 1.75L per person, including visa costs, flights, food, all local travel, etc. and three of the major optional extra excursions for which we have to pay additional charges.
• Season: It may be better during end March to mid May, because at that time they include the Tulip gardens in Netherlands. In July when we went it was already hot and also the Tulip garden visit is replaced with visit to mini Holland, Madurodam. 
• Tour operator: MakeMyTrip is a good established organization. Their costs are a little higher, that is because they arrange stays in some decent hotels, not top end luxuries though. 
• Places to see: The sight-seeing spots and the timings at each place are all predetermined in the tour agenda. So we need to really keep up the time from the morning till night. Otherwise we might spoil the overall plan of the group. Secondly, if you like to alter the route for any personal detour to some other place with a plan to come and join the group later at some other point, or if you want to do some part of the travel on your own by Euro rail train, etc. it is not very advisable when you are on this type of group tour. MMT might work out the choice but will be expensive and you will not have a tour director during those detours you plan.
• Valuables: It is recommended always by the tour director to keep your valuables and passports etc. in the safe vault available at the hotel room and number-lock it. And only carry the copies / photos of all pages of your passports, including first few and last and the visa pages, on your mobile phones. It can be useful for any emergency needs. Certain times while on the move to the next country, the tour director recommended us the keep the valuables and passports etc. in a bag and leave it on the the overhead luggage rack itself, and was said to be very safe as the coach captain, the driver, will take care. But if not quite convinced about that idea, you can always carry your stuff on your backpack. Of course the risk is if your bag gets pick pocketed or stolen. So you need to be very careful on all those fronts while at all the sight seeing spots, hotel restaurants etc.
• Mobile phone: Normally you get free internet WiFi hotspots at most locations like hotels, sightseeing spots, etc. where you can catch up with your WhatsApp texting easily. If you like to have a mobile phone access, it is recommended to get a T sim , or Tricon sim with the +44 no. with international roaming.

Make My Trip - Review

A brief review about the MMT experience.

• The Goods!
• The tour director we got was great; very involved, professional and knowledgeable.
• The tour director read out historical and statistical information while entering every city.
• The hotels were all good; rooms were clean; breakfasts were good.
• The coach was good; no breakdowns; the captain, driver, was good. 
• 3-4 WiFi hot-spots activated on the coach during long drives; helped to finish emails.
• Everyone (members in the tour) kept the timings planned very well.
• The not so Goods!
• During pre-sales negotiation, we could not get any discount. 
• We lost a good deal as we delayed finalizing our suitable travel dates. 
• Later after hard negotiation, just got about 3-4% discount.
• Delays in issuing flight tickets and hotel vouchers very late made us fret.
• They promised to fly us out from BLR to Paris; but routed via Delhi hop; was very tough.
• Due to group tour booking, there is no possibility of web-check-in or blocking seat nos.
• In a family, at check-in, we risk not getting window row or being scattered too.
• Aircrafts of Etihad Airways in two segments for us had old style interiors / features.
• Many days were packed too much, so not enough time is given at some good places.
• Near the Wooden Shoe Factory, a Cheese factory visit was planned; but not done.
• Dutch open-air-museum village tour De Zaanse Schans was planned; but not done.
• Near the Grand Place, Brussels, Bruxella 1238 archaeological site was not pointed.
• Indian dinner restaurant daily was mostly far, making unnecessary longer travel.
• Couple of days the lunch time slot was a bit uncertain.
• In Brussels, a McDonald's is near the Grand Place, but it was not pointed.
• Coach captain changed at Engelberg; the new captain looked uncertain in many routes.

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Verdict

Our ratings on a scale of 5, 1 being low and 5 being high.

• Domestic Flights, Air Vistara -- 4/5
• International Flights, Etihad Airways -- 3.5/5
• Tour Director, Kaizad Wadia -- 4.5/5
• All hotel rooms (Paris, Breda, Amsterdam, Karlsruhe, Engelberg, Milan) -- 3.5/5
• Complimentary breakfasts at hotels -- 3.5/5
• Indian dinners every night -- 3/5
• Coach, Darojkovic, Croatia -- 4/5 
• Overall schedule of the sightseeing itinerary -- 2.75/5
• Indian dinner restaurants far (Paris, Breda, Heidelberg, Milan) -- 2.75/5
• Bicycle users in Amsterdam, Germany -- 4.5/5 
• Flowers-ridden balconies in Amsterdam, Germany, Switzerland -- 5/5 
• Snow fun at Jungfraujoch -- 5/5 
• Switzerland scenic greenery -- 5/5

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Sorry it was a long blog post with quite a few pictures. I hope it is of use for some readers in the future. Please do post your comments here. Thank you for reading.

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