Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3460821)
What's the best way to carry money for Italy and Paris? Should I carry travellers cheques, use my credit card, use a foreign exchange card or what? What is the currency in these 2 countries - is it Euro now or is it their local currency? |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3460821)
What's the best way to carry money for Italy and Paris? Should I carry travellers cheques, use my credit card, use a foreign exchange card or what? What is the currency in these 2 countries - is it Euro now or is it their local currency? |
Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy
(Post 3460885)
Forex Visa cards are the best. Check with the bank that is issuing the card on the fee per transaction. So don't use the card for small transactions like coffee etc. suggest you use it to withdraw cash. |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3353883)
What's the best time of the year to vacation in London, Paris and Italy? . Early July - Mid August would be the best time to visit U.K. & Europe in terms of the weather barring sudden weather changes which can happen a lot in UK , busy and expensive months for hotels and flights as well due to school holidays. The vacation is going to be fairly short - 7-8 days totally. How do I distribute this among the different places & where do I start & where do I end? Any suggestions? I would Strongly Suggest India - London - Paris - Italy - London - India . London - Paris by Eurostar is a cheaper,convenient journey compared to the flights into Paris from London and is also worth the ride as you pass some picturesque locations. I want to see Champs Elysees and Eiffel Tower in Paris. 2- 3 days in Paris will give you ample time to cover other places , its a beautiful city and I can Chalk out a list for the must see places. Believe me as I have been to Paris around 5 times and I keep going back as there are so many places to visit and so much to see , and if you are going with family including Kids then Disney is a must visit. I want to do a Gondola ride in Venice and wander around for a few hours Venice is again very beautiful and worth a visit , however I'm not a big fan of Gondola ride as it happens to be in the canals which are littered with city sewage and it is stinky , spoilt my Venice experience . I want to spend a full day in Rome and a full day in Vatican 1 Day is mostly sufficient for both Rome and Vatican as they are close to each other , can use the extra day else where to optimise your trip. I want to see the leaning tower of Pisa. 2.5 - 3 hours train ride each way from Rome and costs 100 euros round trip if booked in advance , worth it IMHO. Where should I start and what should be order of the cities (I am thinking to start in Italy & then go to Paris, but not sure what would be best order of cities inside Italy) Paris -Rome - Pisa - Florence - Venice - Rome - London Paris to Rome via Flight and rest within Italy by train and then you can do either Rome to London or Florence to London by Flight. am very scared that I will reach a place and I will not have enough time to do what I want to do. Also if anyone has suggestions as to at what locations I should request hotels at these places, that will also be very helpful. Went to Italy on a packaged tour from London so cannot comment on hotel stay in Italy , I regularly do London - Paris on the weekends and I would strongly suggest either Ibis or Novotel in La Defense , primary reason being both hotels are 15 mins ride on the metro from all the major tourist spots of Paris with a metro station bang opposite the hotel , also hotels in central Paris are mighty expensive and the distance between the above mentioned hotels and central Paris is too short to justify the costs , in fact you have rooms with Eiffel view in Novotel , which just shows that La Defense is not too far off . I would again strongly suggest hotels in the Ealing area in London as hotels in Central London are a blatant rip off , it will cost you a fortune to get into Central London from Heathrow Airport , Ramada Hotel in Ealing is quite close to Ealing Common Tube station which can get you into Central London to visit all the major attractions within 30 mins time, the taxi ride to the hotel from Heathrow will set you back by £15 - £20 which is a decent cost , please avoid Black Cabs in London as they are very expensive , can definitely pass you some call taxi numbers in London if you require them. Should I arrange for transfers to & from airports to hotel or is it something I can go there and figure out? It's very easy to figure out both in London and Paris , you will be absolutely fine. One tour guy told me flight would be cheaper to travel between Italy & Paris than a train. The other said train would be cheaper. Depends on time of the year and also time of the day , both are right in their own way , advantage of the train journey would be the travel to picturesque locations whilst the flight will be mundane travel , depends on your time and cost elements. I am actually ready to pay the extra costs associated with these tour companies if they were experts at what they do, but atleast the reps I talk to don't seem to be. |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3441583)
Visiting Paris in the middle of July - the online tickets for Eiffel Tower are already booked out - so what's the best way to see the Eiffel Tower without standing in the line for many hours? There are some city towers which include the Tower tickets. Also do they allow you to the top? Are there different levels with different tickets? |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3460821)
What's the best way to carry money for Italy and Paris? Should I carry travellers cheques, use my credit card, use a foreign exchange card or what? What is the currency in these 2 countries - is it Euro now or is it their local currency? |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3460891)
Can I use it to withdraw cash from ATMs? Will there be a transaction charge for that? |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465506)
Will my phone charger fit in plug points in Italy and France? If not what kind of adapter should I carry? |
Originally Posted by F150
(Post 3465518)
Phone charger will work in Italy if it's two pin charger. All plug points in Italy are mostly two pin. So you will need three pin to two pin converter. Your hotel can also provide it for 5 euro. |
Originally Posted by tsk1979
(Post 3465538)
Yes, Two pin plugs work in most of Europe. No issues with that. Just carry a two pin charger. That said, its always good to have a world adapter like this handy when traveling abroad http://www.amazon.in/Genuine-WONPLUG...inhydr18418-21 Works everywhere |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465543)
Thanks, will the pin size & shape be compatible. i.e. I have seen some kinds of pins don't fit some sockets. |
Originally Posted by tsk1979
(Post 3465546)
There is a reason these are called world adapters. they come with multiple pins for Europe, UK and the US |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465650)
I think you misunderstood my question - totally my fault - my post was ambiguous. I was asking about the plug which came with my phone - that's a 2 pin plug. |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465650)
Also, I have another question - this time about the world adapter. It has 2 sides - the side where my pin goes - I can see from the photo that this will be able to fit in a wide variety of pins. What about the other side - i.e. the world adapter's pin which will go into the socket of the point - how is that made compatible to different sockets of the world - does it have replaceable pins? |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3428280)
I have a total of around 9 days. I want to visit Paris, Rome/Vatican, Venice & Leaning tower of Pisa. I am trying to plan a detailed itinerary (i.e. what time to reach what place & what time to take a train etc) and am getting thoroughly confused about it. If anyone is familiar enough with France and Italy to help me make an itinerary, please let me know. I want to see Champs Elysees and Eiffel Tower in Paris. I want to do a Gondola ride in Venice and wander around for a few hours I want to spend a full day in Rome and a full day in Vatican I want to see the leaning tower of Pisa. |
Originally Posted by narayans80
(Post 3465668)
The pins and plug points don't match. You do need an adapter, mostly if you are staying in hotels they would have them. Or you can buy them in India as well. |
Originally Posted by narayans80
(Post 3465668)
Not replaceable pins, it is as foldable pins. The one I have has 2 foldable pins (like Civic styled car wipers) and a third that goes in out. This link does better justice pictorially. |
Originally Posted by narayans80
(Post 3465668)
Is this for laptops or smartphones. |
Originally Posted by narayans80
(Post 3465668)
Mine was a Samsung, it comes with the PnP USB charger which works great for such scenarios. |
Originally Posted by narayans80
(Post 3465668)
I would have more inputs end of next week for Paris if you need specifics :) |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465722)
My phone also has a USB charger, but what USB point do I connect it to?. |
Originally Posted by carboy
(Post 3465722)
Only thing I am wondering about is - how much money I would need - hotels, trains and flights are booked - I am a little confused as to how much to budget per day for 2 people for 10 days. |
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