how much for a european trip?

it costs me $1,800... for 9 countries...

london-belgium-luxembuourg-austria-switzerland-italy-france-monaco-liechtenstein

excluding airfare and excluding optional tours/activities(please see below for the optional tours/activities)... they excluded the airfare because not everyone is coming from the U.S...like in our group, 75% are from australia (i love listening to them talk).... if you opt to not avail of their optional tours/activities you'll have a lot of free time to do stuff on your own.... we didn't book all their optional tours because there are stuff they don't offer that we want to do (see items below with *)  either that or it's because we figured we could save more by doing some tours on our own....

$1,800 also excludes the extra nights that i booked independently in london and paris.....


$1,800 includes:

-
-  chartered motor coach (from london all the way to paris, very very very very, did i say very? convenient and we get to see a lot of stuff and everything is door-to-door)
- ship fare from london to calais, france (this is to cross the border)
- chartered water taxi to venice
- 14 nights hotel accomodation (3-4 star hotels, not hostels, 2 pax sharing)
- breakfasts everyday
- 5 lunches
- 3 dinners
- porters - this is heaven-sent since our bag is heavy! (it's winter time & d trip is 16 + 4 days ofcourse our bags are heavy!)
- trivia and commentary & history lessons - i enjoyed listening to the commentary of our tour guide..specially about the history part..it pays to have a very knowledgeable tour guide and it's nice to know what the heck we're looking at, lol....


what are the tours included:
- switzerland day tour
- rome city tour
- glass blowing in venice
- perfume making in france (eze)
- paris city tour
- luxembuorg side trip
- austria side trip
- monte carlo (monaco) side trip
- st. francis of assisi side trip


what are the optional tours we availed or booked on our own:
- *priority boarding at the london eye w/ mulled wine
- cruise on lake lucerne
- climb to mt.titlis (alps of switzerland)
- gondola ride in venice
- special christmas lunch in rome
- *river cruise in seine at paris
- *priority entry to the eiffel tower (includes ride up to d 1st floor and dinner at a restaurant inside the eiffel tower - restaurant 58 tour eiffel)
- louvre tour - its better to do this via tour group to skip the long lines
- versailles tour - same with this
- * dinner at tour montparnasse (restaurant le ciel de paris)

*we booked this on our own

some notes if you're thinking of doing a european trip:
london:
london is very easy to navigate, just get a train map....london sightseeing is 22 euros (or $29)...you might want to book for sight-seeing if you don't have enough time because with chartered bus it cuts your commute time from point a to point z since everything is door-to-door....but if you have a day or 2 to spare it'll be more fun to use public transportation....

DIY or not:
if you're planning to do a european tour thru a travel agency, i suggest you do it with a travel agency that has the european trip down to a science...not those who just did the tour once or twice or thrice but hundreds of times.... believe me, if you want your tour to be smooth sailing you have to do it with a trustful travel agency otherwise it would just be a nightmare! if the travel agency you're booking with is not that experienced for trips in europe you're better off doing it DIY (do-it-yourself) with your friends, aside from the experience with DIY and w/ inexperienced travel agency is the same, it would be much much cheaper....

cosmos.com <--- they have the european trip down to a science! highly, highly recommended!

my trip is both DIY and thru a travel agency..
london DIY:
we arrived in london a few days early because we want to go to a few other places they dont offer...it was a lot of fun! i got to master their train system.... thank you oyster card...

paris DIY:
we stayed in paris for a few days too.... and yes, i can proudly say i also have mastered their subway system.... since the tour ended on the 30th we got to stay in paris for a few more days and i can honestly say, that yes, i can tour you in paris cause i know where the cool stuff are thanks to their very efficient public transportation... thank you carnet...

if you want tips for a DIY european trip drop me a line.... don't get ripped off by people claiming to give backpacking european trip.... backpacking should be cheaper, no offense to that travel agency, i'm just saying this as-a-matter of fact and not to put them down or anything......

 from cosmos.com the cheapest european tour is $1,100 and they're a big and very respectable travel agency and they know europe..... cosmos doesn't do backpacking but they're still cheaper than the other travel agency claiming to do europe backpacking.......... what i saw from another travel agency is sort of a false advertisement, again, im not putting them down im just protecting the consumers and giving them choices.... if you don't believe me go  to http://cosmos.com/Vacations/Europe/Panoramas/

by the way, cosmos.com don't just cater for US residents....like i said, 75% of my companions are from australia...the others, if you're curious, are from indonesia (their starting point was singapore), south africa, bahrain & ofcourse US.... they also take it seriously if you're vegetarian or not or if you need some special help while travelling (like if u use canes, etc.).

there you go fellow traveholics -  "shop wisely"