[r.K]

Loved every picture! Excellent trip. What a way to start a Monday morning! Reminds me of the Swiss & Paris trip which my wife & I made with sis-in-law's family, almost a couple of years ago. I'll try to post that travelogue soon.
You visit another country once, especially European, that itch to visit again starts when you read travelogues like these. Good fun!

[shadows123]

Originally Posted by SnS_12

Finally, both of us really don't fancy going by package tours. You do end up paying more for seeing or visiting fewer places compared to a package tour. But, then we don't mind paying more for a better experience.

The option to take a guided tour in most of the attractions are always there and so is the option to book online(both entrance tickets and guided tours at most attractions) prior to visiting most of the attractions(albeit for a nominal fee as extra advance booking charges , usually around 2-4 Euros). This is true especially for the most popular attractions like Colloseum, Vatican City , Dogge's palace in Venice(which has a very good guided tour through the dungeons), Versailles Palace in France etc. Usually, this is a much better option to take rather than going with a complete package tour since we pay unnecessarily for staying in Star Hotels when you can have a proper european experience with rooms rivalling star hotels at a fraction of the cost through AirBnb. My Host in Italy even took my passport to register at a local police station as visitor apart from paying City tax too so its not like they cut corners there.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by josebi

Beautiful travelogue. All of your snaps tell your interest in bikes, cars and food, especially desserts. The Ferrari drive might have made your trip memorable. Wish you to have more trips and travelogues.

Thank you. Uncle Jeff was telling by wife what are you going to do once I leave and go back to London, as I was clicking snaps of almost every bike on the road, while the two continued walking. Yes, we both enjoyed the Ferrari ride and I won't mind doing it again.

Originally Posted by AppyS

Man you do have hell of a sweet tooth and a brilliant narration skill. Loved the Italy part of the travelogue. Never knew these ferrari guys charge 89 euros for the drive, saw a couple around Notre Dame with Go Pro cameras mounted last year, and wondered why would someone drive around the city like that. Totally agree with the beware of extra friendly folks part, no one would believe how scamming such strangers are in Europe. Me and my group got scammed of 30Euros in Paris by a man who helped us buy full day metro tickets which turned out single ride only. Congratulations on a very well planned and executed lovely vacation though.

Thank you. Being from a family of diabetic's, its not the best thing to do, but, then, who on earth can resist sweets. 89 Euros to drive a Ferrari is not easy to miss if you're in the right area. Some cars also have the ad '89 Euros Drive Me' stickered on their doors. You have to maintain your distance from over friendly locals, specially, when you're booking or buying tickets. Even, we met one and ended paying him only 1 Euro.

Originally Posted by r.K

Loved every picture! Excellent trip. What a way to start a Monday morning! Reminds me of the Swiss & Paris trip which my wife & I made with sis-in-law's family, almost a couple of years ago. I'll try to post that travelogue soon.
You visit another country once, especially European, that itch to visit again starts when you read travelogues like these. Good fun!

Thank you. Yes, do post your travelogue, would be interesting to read the things I missed, which I could probably do or visit on our next trip.

Originally Posted by shadows123

The option to take a guided tour in most of the attractions are always there and so is the option to book online(both entrance tickets and guided tours at most attractions) prior to visiting most of the attractions(albeit for a nominal fee as extra advance booking charges , usually around 2-4 Euros). This is true especially for the most popular attractions like Colloseum, Vatican City , Dogge's palace in Venice(which has a very good guided tour through the dungeons), Versailles Palace in France etc. Usually, this is a much better option to take rather than going with a complete package tour since we pay unnecessarily for staying in Star Hotels when you can have a proper european experience with rooms rivalling star hotels at a fraction of the cost through AirBnb. My Host in Italy even took my passport to register at a local police station as visitor apart from paying City tax too so its not like they cut corners there.

Yes, we did take the guided tours for the Vatican city and Colosseum and would be suicidal not to do so, as there is so much to see and plus, the place is huge, which one can never cover without the help of a knowledgeable guide. As you said, the above is better than opting for a full package tour. Have a colleague who did three European countries in 6 days with a package tour. Now, I wonder what did she actually manged to see in those two days in each country?