How much did I spend in Europe?

I spent $9611.58 on my 1 month long Europe trip. My original budget was around $10,500. I also to over a extra $650 (birthday money) with me to Europe.  I ended up coming home with £120 and €1,017 minus a few cents here and there and when converted back to my local currency AUD it gave me a grand total saving of $1589.

$1956.22: RT Flight

$1988: Contiki “Simply Italy” (12 days)

$429.84: Internal Flights (3)

$999.30: Accommodation (1 Hotel, 3 Hostels- 16 nights)

$322: Insurance

$1081: Attractions/Day trips

$400: Contiki Extras

$200: Public Transport

$2235.22: Food, Shopping & Other expenses

Review: St Christopher’s Inn

Score: 7.9/10

Location: Paris, France

Nights: 5

Dates: 27th March – 1st April 2015

Room: 4 bed female dorm with private bathroom

Staff 9/10

The staff was incredibly friendly and always up for a chat with you and other travellers. What I found most appealing with the staff was they were all backpackers themselves. The staff was always helpful and informative about how to see the best sites and what local restaurants to go

Location 8/10

I really liked the location some may find it too far from the city centre (closer to the Eiffel Tower). Located in the 10th ARR of Paris the hostel was right next to Gare du Nord Station and only a 20min walk to Montmartre District including Sacré-Cœur. This is a great location if you don’t want to be in a bustling tourist crowded area but the more of a local area. It took me 35min to walk to the Louvre.

Cleanliness 7/10

My bed sheets did have a large yellow stain when I arrived (GROSS) so I asked downstairs at the reception and they were more than happy to give me another one. The bathroom was always clean except the floor due to no floor mat so water went everywhere. All in all acceptable.

Comfort 8/10

I really liked the beds they were proper mattresses they were incredibly comfortable. Each bed had a curtain to pull across perfect for some privacy. Also, each bed had a reading light, USB plug and 1 charger point with a little shelf above head. The room itself was a good size for 4 people, it had a desk and chair with a full length mirror.

Facilities 7.5/10

The bar and restaurant were great they had live bands playing at night and the food on the menu looked amazing. However the free breakfast in the morning was a let down it consisted of cereal and milk with stale bread and jam and water downed juice. Probably my favourite room (don’t ask me why) was the laundry great service had 6 washers and 6 dryers sold packs of washing powder and softener for 1 euro in a vending machine. WiFi was great! Always working fine no matter where you were in the building.

Day 1 – Brisbane to Rome

Well todays the day. I finally jet setting off to my Europe adventure. I have just arrived to Brisbane airport with my mum, I have checked in my luggage said my goodbyes brought a packet of M&M’s a bottle of water and the book “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac and I am now waiting at my gate for boarding. At this moment as I type this my nerves are starting to set in and it’s actually starting to feel real, I am travelling to Europe!

Last night I re-packed about 3 times not sure what to put in my backpack, am I over packing? do I really need this top? How many socks should I take? Should I buy my shampoo over there? So many questions were running through my head, I barley had time to realise what I was about to do. But now, sitting here with all the distractions out of the way I can start to focus on my excitement for this trip. I have saved for this trip for over 11 months and have been planning for a year now and it’s finally come around and I couldn’t be happier.

Europe Budget

Below is my budget for Europe. Most of my expenses I have already paid for or have booked therefore I know the costs, I have marked them with a $ sign. The rest is just a rough idea of what my budget will be and what I’m planning to spend.

$1988: Contiki “Simply Italy” $

$1956.22: Flights RT to Europe $

$421: Internal flights (3) $

$989.81: Accommodation (1 Hotel, 3 Hostels) $

$322: Insurance $

$330: Contiki “Me Time” Extras

$481: Prepaid Day tour/Attractions $

$350: Attractions

$150: Public Transport/Airport transport

$3500: Food & Shopping

Total: $10,488.03

My Accommodation

I booked most of my accommodation today via website booking.com.

I decided to book hostels instead of hotels because I am travelling alone and it would be a lot easier to meet people my own age at hostels rather than hotels. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper which gives me more money to shop!

The hostels I chose are defiantly not the cheapest I based my choice of hostel on location and rating (7.5-10/10) and I decided to pick my dorm rooms on quality of services in the room rather than price.

Paris I am staying at St Christopher’s Inn Gare Du Nord Hostel. As the name suggests the hostel is virtually right next to the Gare Du Nord station. Its rating was 7.9/10 which is pretty good out of 2000 reviews. The room I decided on was a 4 bed female dorm with a en-suite with free breakfast. I decided on this dorm as this would be my first time using a hostel and to be honest, I’m quite scared as I’m unsure of how to do things like how long to spend in the shower?Do you dry and change in the shower or toilet or dorm? Is it okay to turn lights on in the morning or at night if people are asleep? Just mainly worried about courtesy and what’s not okay. In this dorm for 5 nights is $273.46AUD.

In Edinburgh I’m staying at the Code-Pod Hostel. I chose this hostel as it has a great location close to the shopping area of Edinburgh but a short walk to the Old Town of Edinburgh. It’s always a very new dorm and the facilities look incredible in the photos plus it has a great review on 8.9/10. I chose a 6 bed mixed dorm as there were no female only dorms available and it was between a 4 bed dorm for an extra $8 a night and it didn’t seem worth it.Free breakfast is included. There were no en-suites but what I learnt from the reviews is each floor (2 dorm rooms 4-6 beds) shares a bathroom which isn’t a lot of people so should be quiet. In this dorm for 3 nights is $192.44AUD.

My hostel in London I haven’t found yet is there are so many and the quality and price of hostels in London vary quite extremely. Will update with London hostel when booked.

Day Trips

I have just been to Escape Travel (travel agency) to look at different day trips during my stay in Paris, Edinburgh and London.

I ended up deciding on 2 that I loved the sound of and put a deposit down which is super exciting. I’m finally creating my itinerary for each place after my Contiki its starting to feel like an awesome trip and I’m so eager to get over there and do it!

Reims and Champagne Tour from Paris is my first tour. It starts at 8:00am and finishes at 6-6:30pm (10.5-11 hours). It takes me east through Champagne-Ardenne region to the town Reims. I have a guided visit of the Gothic Reims Cathedral followed by Wine tasting and underground cellar tour of “Mumm” Champagne. Then we travel to the heart of the Champagne region to the town of Eperany. On Avenue De Champagne (yes, that’s the street name) we visit the famous “Moet and Chandon” wine cellars for a cellar tour and wine tasting. How amazing does this sound? This tour was quite expensive, but I think its defiantly worth it. Tour costs $206AUD.

My second tour that I booked was a day tour from London. It starts at 8:15am and goes for 9 hours. This tour takes me west towards to Stonehenge for fast track entry to this incredible prehistoric site. Then we travel north to the town of Bath for a guided tour of the Roman Baths and free time in Bath for shopping and afternoon tea. This tour costs $132AUD. I’m really excited for this day trip as I have always wanted to see Stonehenge its so fascinating!

These are my only pre-booked day tours so far. I was planning to make a trip to the Highlands of Scotland (Loch Ness) but I don’t think I will as I’m not in Edinburgh for long.

My Itinerary

I have finally nailed down and completed my itinerary!

Heres my itinerary from March 13- April 11

Day 1: Overnight flight to Rome (via Hong Kong and London)
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Rome
Day 4: Rome (Contiki starts)
Day 5: Rome to Sorrento (via Pompeii)
Day 6: Isle of Capri (day trip)
Day 7: Sorrento to Florence (via Chianti Region)
Day 8: Florence
Day 9: Florence to Venice (via Verona)
Day 10: Venice
Day 11: Venice to Milan (via Lake Garda)
Day 12: Milan to La Spezia (via Cinque Terre)
Day 13: La Spezia to Rome (via Pisa)
Day 14: Rome
Day 15: Rome to Paris (Contiki ends)
Day 16: Paris
Day 18: Paris
Day 19: Paris
Day 20: Paris
Day 21: Paris to Edinburgh
Day 22: Edinburgh
Day 23: Edinburgh
Day 24: Edinburgh to London
Day 25: London
Day 26: London
Day 27: London
Day 28: London
Day 29: Overnight flight to Singapore
Day 30: Overnight flight Singapore to Brisbane

Update on Paris + 2nd stop planning

I have decided and finalised my details for my trip to Paris and booked flights. Yay!

My flights from Rome to Paris is on the 27th March 2015 with airline EasyJet. My flight leaves Leonardo DA Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome at 3:15pm and arrive to Paris Orly Airport at 5:20pm. The flight cost me €94.49.

I have also decided on my second destination, which is Edinburgh, Scotland. I once visited Edinburgh for a day while travelling with a school friend and her family to the United Kingdom during Spring of 2009 (I was 14) and I remember loving the city. The medieval streets and building really wowed me and I just loved the cobblestone streets. Scotland and its rich history well all of United Kingdoms history has always interested and intrigued me, thus my decision to travel there again.

I have also booked flights to Edinburgh on the 1st of April 2015 which gives me 4 1/2 days in Paris. My flight is with AirFrance it leaves Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris at 10:05am and arrive to Edinburgh Airport at 11:05am the flight cost me €149.58. There were cheaper flight options available, but I really wanted a flight at reasonable time as I didn’t want to wake up at 3am for a flight at 7am especially when I would be wandering around Edinburgh with my luggage for hours as most hostels don’t allow check in until 2-3pm.

I’m not sure yet on what my plan is for the 4 days in Paris and how long I will spend time in Edinburgh for before my return flight on on the 9th, but I still have a long to plan this and I’m eager to do so.

First Stop Paris

Planning my first Solo Travel experience after my Contiki has been extremely fun and exciting. I have been researching and discovering a variety of incredible countries and their cities and what each place has to offer. From the museums and artefacts to the architecture and history, the food and wine and the culture of each place. Just planning my trip is so much fun, I love it.

I have from the last day of my Contiki to the day I fly home 14 days. In that time I have decided to visit 2 maybe 3 different cities/countries. Depending on how much I want to travel and how long I want to stay in each place. My Contiki ends after breakfast on the 27th so I have basically a whole to travel and see some sights or just explore the neighbourhood. My first stop as my title suggest is Paris because well duh! who hasn’t ever dreamed about visiting the city of love or lights.

I have always wanted to go to Paris, it looks so romantic and glamorous and the buildings and architecture are just amazing. I’m very interested in the history of France, especially the French Renannsiance period 1700-1800’s so I’m really excited to visit the Palace of Versailles. My plan is to stay in Paris for about 4-5 days, this should give me enough time to see Paris and Versailles and maybe a day trip to wine country?

My idea is to fly to Paris from Rome around midday to early afternoon. Which gives me enough time to say goodbye to my fellow Contiki family, pack and when I arrive to do a little exploring before an early nights rest. No doubt i’ll be in need of a long night’s sleep.