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14th June 2011, 21:39 | #31 |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Very Nice thread. Reminded me of our trip which we did last month. Budapest-Vienna-Salzberg-Prague-Berlin-Helsinki. We did all the intercity journeys by a rented car,except the berlin-helsinki. Did not visit the other places as had gone to Paris,Nice,Monaco,Rome,Venice,London earlier. |
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15th June 2011, 10:12 | #32 | |
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
For a schengen visa (apply for most of countries in Europe, though UK not included), they require you the following apart from filling up the visa form & proof of sufficient funds 1. You need to apply to the country where you intend to spend the maximum number of days or if you are spending equal number of days in all countries then your first port of entry into a schengen state. 2. Your detailed itinerary as this would determine the number of days for which you're granted a visa. This is different from validity of visa period. For example my itinerary was for 15 days from 1 May to 14th May and i applied in 20th February. I will get a visa for approx 18-20 days in a 90 /180 day period. i.e i got a visa which was valid from the day of stamping say 20 feb till 19th may for a travel of 20 days. (leave the single entry or multiple entry out for now). Now having gone twice and that too without any travel agent i have realised that you can change your itinerary after your visa comes within the valid visa period as i doubt they send your itinerary details at all entry points. Infact one of the reasons of changing is that its easier to obtain visa from switzerland embassy then say Italian as i faced last time. In italian consulate they require that if you have a minor child with you then both the parents need to sign an affaddavit that they have no objection to carry the child on the trip. So far so good. But that has to be stamped by the home ministry of your respective state. Now thats a hell of a job. So i changed my itinerary to show maximum number of days in switzerland and applied from there. Later on i stayed for maximum number of days in Italy. Similarly if you have to apply in French consulate you need a personal interview and finger printing. SO people generally tweak their itinerary. 3. Proof of accomodation , well you can generally book a hotel on a website which doesnt charges you for booking but confirms you the room and submit that confirmation print out. It's acceptable. @ Selfdrive:(regarding friendliness of swiss people): IMHO and my experiencesi have found swiss much better in terms of tourist friendliness. In fact i have had much worse experience in France if you speak in english than in switzerland. In france shopkeepers wont entertain you if there are french people also waiting. they will first talk to them. i found italians to be the best in whole europe in terms of tourist friendliness. But these are just my personal opinion based on my travel experience in Europe. | |
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15th June 2011, 10:18 | #33 |
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Dear Chethan, You landed at Vienna and took of from Rome-then how did you go about obtaining the schengen visa? what is the procedure or did you go through an agent? Once again your pictures are captivating. Jude |
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15th June 2011, 10:46 | #34 | ||
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
Schengen VISA covers 25 European countries as on date. Two things are important here.
In my case, it was Austria. It was easy for me since I had obtained Schengen VISA through Austria earlier. I got my VISA within a week at my door steps. Both times, I applied for the VISA directly. I think direct contact is better than through an agent. VFS handles applications for many countries. Please go through this website for details: Austria Visa Welcome! Quote:
Last edited by Chethan B G : 15th June 2011 at 11:02. | ||
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15th June 2011, 14:17 | #35 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
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The following 2 BHPians Thank Chethan B G for this useful post: | aargee, figo_united |
15th June 2011, 14:28 | #36 | |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Zurich
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
However, IMHO I found that people in megapolises like Paris were a bit blunt and not really friendly as compared to other smaller tourist spots in Europe. By the way, Paris is also notorious for its tricksters so if someone was over friendly my suspicion meter automatically went up | |
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15th June 2011, 15:30 | #37 |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Surat
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Hi Chethan, First of all, a wonderful , detailed informative tralogue of yours. Cant quote your message as system is not allowing. Pointwise my opinion 1. Yes normally you should keep your itinerary firm but you can very well change your plans and thats perfectly allowed. Infact Schengen visa is itself about freely travelling within member schengen countries. But as a general rule i agree better not to change your itinerary. 2. Regarding affadavit, sorry my friend that one parent travelling is for other countries. For italian embassy its a wierd rule which even VFS agreed that inspite of both parents travelling, you got to produce that affidavit. i filled up the form went to vfs consulate, then didnt accept saying you got to bring the affadavit signed by home ministry of your state. They even showed me a sample copy of a similar afadavit from someone in mumbai. Now i was in a fix as my maximum number of days were in italy and being following the guidelinesi landed up in VFS italy counter. Infact the VFS only suggested me to alter my itinerary . i tried to argue that why do you need the certificate when both parents are travelling but they didnt listen. And infact this condition is also listed on vfs site for italian embassy. This was the reason i changed my itinerary during one of the travels. 3. Biometeric is easy when you have a VFS office in your city. Ask for people who live in central part of country when any visa / vfs centre is quite far. 4. Proof of accomodation: See what's the consulate mentions is that proof of accomodation. They do not say that you should have paid your accomodation in advance or not. the sites i am mentioning hold your booking till your date of arrival. It is a confirmed booking, only that your credit card is not charged in advance. If you dont cancel your reservation till the time it is mentioned in your conditions, your card will be charged for first night. 3. Similar goes for air ticket. They ask for a confirmed air booking. The booking print out i am mentioning is a confirmed booking with a valid PNR number. Olny that you dont pay and ticket is not issued. Why would i book a ticket when i am not sure i get a visa. Just for example embassy refuses me a visa, why sohlud i bear cost of cancelling a ticket. So for first timers its okie to actually buy a ticket and thats what i also did. But from next time onwards only a booking printout which has a PNR number (travel agents do that) is sufficicent. 4. There is no need for proof of travel currency and besides why buy it in advance when you are not sure of visa. It is certainly not breaking rules, just safe guarding your money and flexibility IMHO. |
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15th June 2011, 20:04 | #38 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
This is one of the most debated subjects. Look at the psychological angle:
All countries require tourists. They only want to be sure that the person who is applying will not create any social/economical/criminal problems, can support himself during the stay and will come back after the said time. If these criterias are fulfilled, why will they reject any VISA? It is entirely up to us to convince them. We should think positively and act. Last edited by Chethan B G : 15th June 2011 at 20:14. | |
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16th June 2011, 13:24 | #39 |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! On 3nd of May, we visited BMW Museum in Munich: BMW Museum : overview It was worth visiting - Family entrance with guided tour: 30 Euros. Some Pictures: |
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17th June 2011, 17:33 | #40 |
BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Hi Chetan, Thank you for your detailed travelogue! I learned quite a few things. Personally I felt excited enough to travel to Italy after reading through your experiences. I go on a number of travel forums such as Indiamike, LP and so on and for me it is a first to see a family take food-grains, spices, etc. and cook abroad. I am totally fascinated by this aspect even though I don't have any dietary restrictions. I remember Ismail Merchant used to cook all the time in the US and UK and also on movie-sets and he made converts of a lot of actors and technicians. Of course, he also always liked to believe he was on a shoestring budget. I would like to know more about what utensils you took, list of dal, spices, etc., what food was prepared, etc. I did see the list on the first page and know that you took a small pressure cooker, but I am looking for as much info as I can get as well as a picture of the pressure cooker! Also if you can elaborate some more about the Italy part of the trip, such as where you stayed in Rome and how much it cost, etc., I would appreciate it. Thanks again and keep up the good work! nowwhat? Last edited by nowwhat? : 17th June 2011 at 17:37. |
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17th June 2011, 18:32 | #41 | |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Surat
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
Normally all apartments mention the utensils and kitchen appliances present there and if you can eat whatever that can be cooked in microwave then you need not carry anything from here as most appartments have microwave. Also during my recent trip i tried these ready to cook dal/veggeis (as i had my inlaws who only ate indian food) and surprisingly dal /veggies (Rice is pretty much available everywhere) were pretty good. You just need to put them in boiling water and its ready and tastes pretty good. (atleast thats my personal experience) You can try it in india and if you like can very well carry them. Regards Amit | |
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17th June 2011, 21:02 | #42 | |
BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
Just to give you a little bit of background, I lived in the US for many years. We, my family, used to prepare and have Indian food. However the utensils were mostly purchased from India on my occasional trips here and all ingredients were easily available in Indian shops in the US. The truth is, it never struck me that I could make a trip to Europe lugging some essentials from here. The last time I landed in Switzerland from the US, I was shocked at prices even in the interior parts of that country. I still remember the ignominy of paying separately for a sachet of ketchup on top of the already inflated price of french fries at McDonalds (Again bear in mind I came from the US where MickeyD is considered pedestrian). I don't think I can survive on microwave cooking for more than a day. Now if only you or Chetan can put together a small list of what I should take! Last edited by nowwhat? : 17th June 2011 at 21:10. | |
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18th June 2011, 02:56 | #43 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
Thanks for the compliments! Because of my profession, I tour / travel a lot. Therefore, I end up eating in the hotels most of the times. Now, if I take a holiday and and go out, I have to continue eating outside. Believe me - It is very stressful. About 5 years back, when we had been to Goa on a holiday for a week, we had rented a self-catering apartment. Since we had driven down to Goa, we had dumped most of the groceries in the boot and taken it along with us. We cooked our food - Mainly breakfast and dinner. This gave us a different experience. We were not food-sick when we came back home. Later-on, when we planned our first trip to Europe, we had 2 problems:
In a self-catering or a serviced apartment, kitchen will be fully equipped. It will have all necessary utensils to cook / serve / eat. It will have a fridge, microwave and also a Hob (gas or electrical). Some apartments will have dish washers and clothes washing machines also. Only mixer/grinder will not be available. All these facilities will be clearly listed on the website. You can pick and choose a property depending on your requirements and facilities available. Whatever is shown on the web will be available on site. These properties will cost roughly about 100 euros per night, for a family of 3 / 4 pax. Please look at the apartment pictures I have posted. Also, carefully look at the Tour Itinerary I have posted in the first post of this thread. It has details about the website and the property reference number. You can see the property on the web and match that with the photos I have posted. Also, if you key in any arbitery dates, you can see the rates also. All the accomodations we took are mentioned in the itinerary. As I have mentioned on my first thread, We had carried main food items like Rice (5kg), Dal (1kg), Ragi floor (1kg), Poha (1kg), Rice floor (1kg), Green chillies (250gms), Wheat floor (2kgs), Rasam powder, tamarind paste,[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']pickles[/FONT], spices... etc - Mostly non perishable items. Other items like vegetables, milk, butter, curds, meat (in your case)...etc - perishable items will be available locally. These items will not cost more that 50 euros per week. We can cook any thing and everything that we normally cook at home. Except dishes which will need a mixer/grinder, cannot be cooked. Pressure cooker will not be available in most of these apartments. It is an important accessory since it reduces time to cook Rice, dal, alu...etc. We used to cook larger quantities of dal and alu, which used to suffice for 3 days and keep it in the fridge. This used to reduce our every day cooking time. For this reason, we had taken a 2 ltr prestige pressure cooker. Popular Pressure Cooker 2 Lt [popular-2-ltr] - Rs.702.00 : Prestige TTK If you want further details on the food we cooked, you are welcome to come home anytime and taste the food we cook! Last edited by Chethan B G : 18th June 2011 at 03:06. | |
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18th June 2011, 12:49 | #44 |
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| Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Taking inspriation from your previous trip , me & my friend have planned to travel next year to europe , infact i have printed the entire thread and have also suggested couple of my friends who wanted to take tours thru SOTC / COx&kings to check your thread . Well detailed with wealth of info, am printing this thread right away .. 5 star for your efforts and time , we could enjoy thru your pics. |
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The following BHPian Thanks rm_arjuna for this useful post: | Chethan B G |
18th June 2011, 13:46 | #45 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Europe on a Shoe-string > 4 weeks trip with family on a backpack! Quote:
Cooking is the best option. Otherwise, at the end of the day even after spending money, we will not be satisfied. | |
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The following BHPian Thanks Chethan B G for this useful post: | nowwhat? |