Europe in September - 8 countries in 14 days

My mom turned 70 this year, and my aunt & I planned her first trip to Europe. Bucket list trip!
​We signed up for the Expat Explore tour - Best of Western Europe tour.

We spent 14 days in Europe, traveling to 8 countries.
London / France / Luxembourg / Germany / Austria / Liechtenstein / Switzerland / Italy

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TRIP COST FOR 1
Duration: 14 days, 13 nights (9/6/19-9/20/19)
Flight: $528/pp (ORD <> LHR)
Expat Explore Tour: $1445/pp
Everything Else: $1553/pp
Total = $3,526/pp

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VIEW THE TOUR & INTERARY: Best of Western Europe Tour with the Rome Add On.

Let me explain the Expat Explore Tour a little bit more:

• This is a tour that takes up to 50 people on a coach around Europe, stopping at many places throughout your trip
• People range in age from 10-90 years old, from all over the world
• The tour includes transportation, lodging, and several walking tours or experiences
• They have optional tours, which are well curated & worth the extra dollars, at each destination
• All lodging has an included breakfast and is safe, close to public transportation, and has the basic amenities.
• It's a way to see so much, in a short period of time. Getting a little taste of different places in Europe, with a tour leader who knows all the gems.

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Note: jet lag is so real, and it will hit you hard.

Note: jet lag is so real, and it will hit you hard.

DAY 1: LONDON

• London Eye
• Riverwalk along Parliament

Met up with the tour at the hotel - took a 30 minute powernap and struggle-bused on:

• A walk through Greenwich Park (beautiful views of the city!) & where the beginning of the Meridian Line is.
• Cutty Sark: last surviving British tea clipper ship
• Took a river ferry to N. Greenwich - the Emirates Royal Docks for an enclosed cable car ride
• Taking us close to our hotel for the night

LODGING
ibis Styles London Excel

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DAY 2: DRIVE TO PARIS

• Early morning on the coach, on our way to Paris.
• Bus driver drove our massive, 50 person coach, inside the front of a train.
• Train to embark us through the English Channel.
  • This mind blowing way of transportation within transportation is crazy.
    
  • You could see our couch swaying, inside the moving train, for the ultimate brain trip - but also trip, trip.
• We had a quick driving tour of Paris once we arrived, and got to step out of the bus for a quick photo of the Eiffel tower!
• Dinner at Au Bistrot de la Montagne in the Latin Quarter

LEARNED THE HARD WAY:
I had to pay for all the optional excursions for 3 of us with CASH. I had an ATM limit of $200/day. This made for a pretty stressed out girl as I didn't have enough funds to support us all. Highly suggest having multiple people with ATM bank cards that work internationally - or extend your ATM limit if you can! Also, inform your bank your traveling!

LODGING
B&B Hotel Paris Porte De Lilas

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DAY 3: PARIS
We decided to do the tour's Paris' two optionals.

• Parfumerie Fragonard: we learned how Perfume was made, and bought Perfume only sold in Paris.
• Strolled past Opera Garnier, covered in gold
• Sampled 3 macarons at Le Macaron Ladurée
• Strolled through the garden of Les Tuillerie, which leads you to the Louvre.
• Took iconic photos of our group at the Louvre pyramid
• Took a Seine River boat tour
• Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck
• Hotel & freshened up for dinner to head to Montematre
• Took the cogwheel up to Basilica du Sacre-Coeur, with a gorgeous view
• Dinner and the obligatory order of snails at La Bonne Franquette
• And stopped in front of the Moulin Rouge before headed back to the hotel.

​LODGING
B&B Hotel Paris Porte De Lilas

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DAY 4:  CHAMPAGNE REGION, FRANCE / LUXEMBOURG / HEIDELBERG
-Champagne for breakfast, everyone? 

• Breakfast at Lanson Champagne
  
• Learned how champagne was made
  
• Toured their underground cellars
  
• Of course, tasted!

Stopped in Luxembourg for lunch

• Prince's Palace
• Notre Dame Church (yes there's another!)
• Spotted the Grand Duke at City Hall since it was 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi's

Arrive in Heidelberg for an orientation walk

• Old Bridge
• Heidelberg Palace
• Church of the Holy Spirit

Dinner at Brauhaus Vetter

LODGING
Hotel Bayrischer Hof

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DAY 5: BLACK FOREST-TITISEE LAKE / RHINE FALLS / LUCERNE

• Another early day on the coach, to see a cuckoo clock demonstration at House of Black Forest Clocks Adolf Herr E. K.
• Lunch stop at Titisee Lake - this is where we ate Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest!
• Rhine Falls: bordered by Germany & Switzerland
• Took a cruise to a mound sitting in the middle of the falls, and climbed steep steps to the top
• Lucerne orientation walk
• Dinner at the hotel - they put APPLESAUSE on MAC+CHEESE. Don't knock it until you try it!
• Took a stroll around the hotel with a few people in the group

LEARNED THE HARD WAY:
This morning, mom fell in a hallway from a tiny lip in the ground covered in black & yellow warning tape. She didn't see this bump, and almost split her head open on the edge of the wall. It was a rough morning, and I saw it all in slow motion as she fell. Thankfully she was okay, but said she felt like someone beat her with a bat. This trip has taken a toll on her, and this was the cherry on top to really scale it down. Glad I got Allianz travel insurance for all of us, even though I really fought it, since I never bought it before for any other trip. You never know what can happen. Secondly - that bump would never be okay in America, safety-wise.

LODGING
Holiday Inn Express Luzern-Krienz

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DAY 6: MT PILATUS / LAKE LUCERNE CRUISE

This day was magical. My favorite of everywhere we visited.

• Took the "Steepest Cogwheel Railway in the World" up to Mt. Pilatus.
• What's a cogwheel? Basically a train at a 45 degree angle. 
• A 30 minute ride and with every minute, the views were getting better & better.
• Makes you believe in a higher power, mind blown by beauty, how you are one tiny fragment of a greater story.

We get to the top of Mt. Pilatus

• Our tour leader is crying because she said she's been up here 7 times and has never seen the view
• We are SO lucky to have clear skies today, we are beyond blessed.
• There are people playing Alpine Horns!
• There is a church way up high, in the middle of nowhere, which is seen on the way down ifrom a different view.
• We eat lunch up there, and the birds are beggars & thieves!
• We embrace the views for as long as we can

We took the cogwheel up, now we take the gondola down.
AN ABSOLUTE MUST DO!

We went back to the hotel briefly, and headed to the Lake Lucerne Boat Cruise.

•  Waiting for the cruise, I sat on the edge of the water, and Lake Lucerne is so crystal clear!
• The cruise was the cherry on top to the day, what a beautiful country Switzerland is!

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DAY 7: LIECHTENSTEIN / NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE / INNSBRUCK

Today was a hike!
Morning stop in Liechtenstein for an hour

• Hiked up to the Vaduz Castle in less than an hour!

Lunch near the Neuschwanstein Castle

• Hiked up to the Neuschwanstein Castle in 45 minutes!
• There are other alternatives (a bus), but the line is SO LONG.
• It's less time to take the long hike up to the castle, 1.5 km or 1 mile uphill
• Castle guided tour
  • This man built this castle for his fiance, and then they broke it off
  • Only 18 rooms are finished in the gigantic castle!
  • The king died a year after it was built

Orientation walk in Innsbruck

• The Golden Roof
• Colorful buildings and mountain views behind
• The River

Skipped the optional, an Austrian folk dinner & show, to explore more of Innsbruck.

LODGING
Alpin Park Hotel

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DAY 8: MODENA / SIENA
Started our day off Balsamic tasting at Acetaia Villa San Donnino

• We tried several balsamic vinegar's, ending with Nerone balsamic on ice cream. So delicious to everyon's surprise!
• Mom of course bought a few of bottles of Nerone.

Off to Siena!

• The streets of Siena are hilly & gorgeous
• Duomo of Siena
• Piazza del Campo
• We all had a pasta dinner, and gelato to end the night

LODGING
Four Points by Sheraton Siena

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DAY 9: PISA / FLORENCE

• On our way to Tuscany, we stop in Pisa for a hour.
• We also stop at a leather shop Pierotucci, to learn how they make Italian leather goods & buy the goods
• Arrive in Florence with a walking tour. The Medici's run this town.
• GELATO, PIZZA, GELATO, beautiful buildings, GELATO
• Taste of Tuscany dinner at Osteria de Peccatori - fantastic!

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DAY 10: ROME

Today started with a walking tour, that worked us to the bone around the city.

• Pantheon
• Piazza Navona
• Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary
• Trevi Fountain (being drained & cleaned!)
• Victor Emmanuel II Monument: the wedding cake
• Roman Forum

It was hot. I've studied abroad in Rome for 6 months so this wasn't new to me. I might have zoned out from exhaustion.
We skipped the included dinner, and got pizza & gelato near the hotel to call it a night early!

LODGING:
Hotel American Palace Eur

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DAY 11: VATICAN CITY
Woke up early for Vatican City.
The Vatican is huge! You could spend all day there! Our highlights:

• Vatican gallery of maps
• Sistine Chapel
• St. Peter's Basilica
• Vacanze Romane souvenir shop with rosaries made of out roses

Filipinos.....

• My mom, aunt, and clan of filipinos met a filipino nun who told them about a filipino restaurant just outside the Vatican. 
• We took a walk, they found the filipino place, and I took a stroll to get pizza

Walking tour of Colosseum & Roman Forum

• The steps are really steep in this place

LODGING:
Hotel American Palace Eur

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DAY 12: VENICE
Time to say goodbye to our family for 10 days. We're on our own now!
We check our bags at the hotel and head to termini station to catch a high-speed train to Venezia.
It is a little bit over 4 hours each way from Rome, so it will be a short but worthwhile day trip to Venice.

Venice

• We bought 2 tickets (there & back) on the Vaporetto (water taxi) to get to Piazza San Marco
• The Vaporetto is a great way to see the city by water, we loved it, even though it is public transportation
• This city built on water is full of wonder! It's an unbelievable place you have to visit at least once.
• St Mark's Square is where the church is, a huge iconic piazza.
• Walked around and had lunch - more pasta & bread!
• We had to do the Gondola ride.
• It was $120 for the 3 of us, but well worth the iconic trip. They took us in right away which was a delightful surprise.
• We souvenir shopped and headed back on the Vaporetto.
• Enjoyed gelato and the views just outside the train station before we made the journey back.
  • Venchi gelato is my favorite!

Rome Trains

• We got back, and they shut down the metro line to get back to our hotel.
• We tried and failed to read the signs.
• A gentleman named Andreas graciously helped us find our way home after seeing us struggle reading the signs. He was headed to the same area we were thankfully, and escorted us on the right bus. Very grateful for him & enjoyed the conversation!
• Little acts of kindness are amazing!

A night by the Trevi Fountain

• Once we got back to the hotel, we had to get our bags and take a taxi to our airbnb by the Trevi Fountain!
• I was pumped since mom didn't do the walking tours, and we haven't seen the Trevi filled with water yet, since they were cleaning it when we went the other day.
• This airbnb has view of the Trevi, but unfortunately there was Chanel scaffolding up over our windows.
• You could still faintly see it.
• Windows or not, we all made a wish by throwing a coin in the fountain & enjoyed gelato there.
• I woke up at 5am to try to get an empty photo of the fountain, but alas, people were still there.
• Even a wedding party!

LEARNED THE HARD WAY
Everything is more of adventure, and navigating yourself is a challenge when your on your own. The tour is great, but mindless. You don't have to think. On your own, you have to think about everything. I love being in charge of my own time, but also if the train stops and you have to figure out how to get home, it brings it's challenges.

LODGING - HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Airbnb by the Trevi Fountain

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HIGHLIGHTS: