London & Paris - Planning
It has been awhile since I last blogged. Another self-planned for those who are interested. This time around, it's London & Paris.
For a start, I used same method as before. Just an additional step I added this time. This post might seem redundant like Japan's. Just a slight improvement on planning and costing. I'll also be sharing several references and recommendations as a self-guide.
Summary
1) Look out for prices offered by travel agencies as a benchmark
2) List out places of interest & make a general flow
3) Book flight tickets
4) Work out on costing & itinerary using Excel
5) Survey & book accommodation
6) Study on mode of transportation & book or pay accordingly
7) Download apps
8) What to bring
1) Look out for prices offered by travel agencies as a benchmark
You know which country you wanna go. But main concern of a self-planned trip is always on "how much would a trip cost". So for a start, look out for packages offered by travel agencies. It would be a good benchmark if you can't estimate how much are you willing to spend. So far, my costing calculation has been lower than what is offered in the market. So a self-planned trip is always a good deal.
2) List out places of interest & make a general flow
Psst...for this step, you could actually take a peek on itineraries offered by travel agencies for shortcuts. Hihi. Some would lay out their itineraries online. Some don't, of course. It would hurt their business. I hope travel agencies would not ban me from becoming their customer for promoting this option. Hehe. Well, fret not, some countries are better to go with travel agent. Especially those with language barrier like Iceland.
Travelling time KL-London : 13 hours and 40 mins
Total number of days : 14 (12 nights)
Studied on the map and came up with this flow :
London > Oxford > Liverpool > Manchester > Cambridge > London > Paris > London
3) Book flight tickets
I usually use Skyscanner to check on the cheapest price offered by various airlines. And if you have not decided which date to go, there's a "Cheapest month" option under "Whole month" on Skyscanner. You could see the trend in prices offered. Other than that, Google Flights would be another choice to check on the prices. Since journey from KL to London takes almost half day, MAS is always the best option to choose. Direct flight. Good food. Entertainment included. Good hospitality. Comfortable. Our national carrier has never failed to impress.
4) Work out on costing & itinerary using Excel
I've explained this in previous entry. But previously I used Excel & Words. After Japan trip, I realised Excel is more than enough. Excel does all the wonders. Best way to start, is dividing it by days horizontally, and these items below vertically :
a. Flights
b. Accommodation
c. Places of interest
d. Transportation - train/bus (includes airport transfer)
e. Transportation - car (rental, car seat, gps)
f. Petrol, toll & parking
g. Food (includes shopping)
Make sure you check your currency. Next is to have detailed info for a to g in separate worksheets and link accordingly to this summary. If you are not proficient in using Excel, you can hire me. I love doing Excel. Excel is my x-th love after daddy. Hehe.
Tips for food : estimate how much does a meal cost in the country you wish to go. In this trip, I estimated GBP10 / Euro10 per person per meal and assuming 3x a day dining outside. For this Euro trip, most of the times we cooked ourselves. As a result, the allocation could be used to buy other things (like souvenirs or other goods whichever suit your candy or even as a contingency). If you like shopping, you might want to consider an additional budget.
5) Survey and book accommodation
London (2N) - Malaysian homestay found from a blog
Oxford (2N) - Premier Inn, Bicester (Hotel)
Manchester (2N) - Albert Webb House, Salford (Airbnb)
London (1N) - YHA St Pancras (Hotel)
Paris (3N) - Apartment in Serris, Disneyland (Airbnb)
London (2N) - Apartment in St Pancras (Airbnb)
I highly recommend all those in green. Please refer to link provided 👍 However, I didn't include the first link. We totally regretted our decision for booking that homestay in London. Location wise, good, about 20mins to the city by bus. Managed by a married Malaysian. So we thought, why don't we help Malaysian, let's book their place. We happily contacted them and booked their place. But......we were betrayed by our own expectation. His unit is a loft style. The family occupied lower level. We got the upper level he said. There are 3 rooms and a bathroom. About a week or few days towards our trip, he informed that his nephew somehow last minute HAD to occupy one of the rooms we booked because he had to further study in London. He told us very very last minute. Like few days to our trip. Sigh. And he informed that they only have 1 bathroom for the whole house, so ALL of us had to share that 1 bathroom. No towels/toiletries given. Amount paid remained, getting only 2 rooms when we were supposed to get 3 rooms, 1 shared bathroom, no place to hang clothes, his house is on 2nd or 3rd floor and no elevator, a shared kitchen. We don't mind about the space, and all other shortcomings. But it was just unfair because he told us last minute and he hid facts. Because of that, we were not able to cancel and look for alternatives. In terms of cleanliness, the house was very dusty. It was an unfortunate experience.
Rasa macam, "Kami tak tipu. Kami cuba tak bagi tahu". Very very sad. To me, rezeki kita takkan lari pergi tempat lain if we practice transparency. In fact, we make people feel satisfied and put their expectations at an appropriate level. So bila dapat product or service tu, takada lah terkejut sangat orang tu and feel disappointed. Which eventually, leading to even big future loss.
1) Existing customer decided not to be a repeating customer
2) Potential customers lari sebab dengar / baca reviews tak elok
It was my fault as well, for not asking thoroughly before paying the booking deposit. Not so much frustrated on the shortcomings but more frustrated that we had to share the space with his nephew. Dah jadi macam tu, dari tak concern pasal shortcomings pun boleh jadi issue. Luckily we only paid booking deposit for 2 night stay. So we canceled for the stay after Paris trip. I remember he scolded me for cancelling the remaining days.
"Mana boleh last minute nak cancel booking. Tapi takapa la I redha. Lain kali tak boleh macam ni. Tak amanah ni"
"Habis tu you bagitahu your nephew nak ambil satu bilik tak last minute ke? Amanah ke tu?"
Terus diam. Then the conversation just ended there. Both parties unsatisfied with each other. I won't reveal the name of the homestay. Tips I can share is, book with registered websites. I hope he'd improve his transparency and be more honest. Because if he was honest, I'd have been more than glad to promote his place to people around me.
6) Study on mode of transportation & book or pay accordingly
Around London, it's best to take their public transport. We only tried Tube once. It's an underground train in London. It was quite a struggle for us because there was a toddler in pram. So we preferred the red double decker bus. Love the view from the upper deck 😍
Pros : View, less staircase
Cons : Very time consuming as the bus journey depends on traffic flow
Public transport in London uses Oyster card. Similar to our Touch N Go.
Whereas, other places in England, we rented a car. You could check on Rental Cars
From London to Paris (return), we took the famous Eurostar. Similar to Shinkansen in Japan. It's recommended to purchase the ticket in advance from their website Eurostar 👍
And around Paris, we took the train as well as the bus. Convenient enough, other than the language barrier. To go around Paris central, the train service is called Metro. Underground subway. There's another train system that also covers Paris central (at a slightly higher fare) which is known as RER. RER also covers outside of Paris, including CDG Airport, Disneyland Paris. In terms of billet (or ticket in French, please google the pronunciation), we bought it from the counter at Gare de Marne La Vallee (or station of Marne La Vallee, if direct translated). Since we stayed in Disneyland area which is in Zone 5, it was best to buy the unlimited Paris Visite travel pass. We could use all types of public transports, valid for 1,2,3 or 5 consecutive days.
Ah yes, if you'd like to go to Disneyland Paris, it's recommended to buy the ticket in advance from their website Disneyland. Cheaper and faster. When you first open Disneyland Paris website, you have to select which country are you from. I read somewhere, people said that it's cheaper to buy from website of your own country. Apparently, Disneyland UK website offers cheaper price than Malaysia. Mehh.
7) Download apps
My favourite : Citymapper & Google Maps
8) What to bring
- Printed itinerary
- Printed tickets
- Passport (no visa required for these 2 countries)
- The usuals, ie colourful clothes 😂
It can get pretty difficult to cross the border if you show up unprepared. That's why it's recommended to book accommodation from known source like Airbnb, Bookings.com or Agoda. So there would be a printed document to show to the customs as evidence that you're there as a tourist. Not there to sneak in as illegal workers. This is happening apparently. Especially in UK. So it's best to get yourself ready with printed itinerary. It would be easier if the customs ask a lot of questions.
That's all for this entry. Gonna write more in detail on the places we went.
Till then. Toodles ~!
Q
For a start, I used same method as before. Just an additional step I added this time. This post might seem redundant like Japan's. Just a slight improvement on planning and costing. I'll also be sharing several references and recommendations as a self-guide.
Summary
1) Look out for prices offered by travel agencies as a benchmark
2) List out places of interest & make a general flow
3) Book flight tickets
4) Work out on costing & itinerary using Excel
5) Survey & book accommodation
6) Study on mode of transportation & book or pay accordingly
7) Download apps
8) What to bring
1) Look out for prices offered by travel agencies as a benchmark
You know which country you wanna go. But main concern of a self-planned trip is always on "how much would a trip cost". So for a start, look out for packages offered by travel agencies. It would be a good benchmark if you can't estimate how much are you willing to spend. So far, my costing calculation has been lower than what is offered in the market. So a self-planned trip is always a good deal.
2) List out places of interest & make a general flow
Psst...for this step, you could actually take a peek on itineraries offered by travel agencies for shortcuts. Hihi. Some would lay out their itineraries online. Some don't, of course. It would hurt their business. I hope travel agencies would not ban me from becoming their customer for promoting this option. Hehe. Well, fret not, some countries are better to go with travel agent. Especially those with language barrier like Iceland.
Travelling time KL-London : 13 hours and 40 mins
Total number of days : 14 (12 nights)
Studied on the map and came up with this flow :
London > Oxford > Liverpool > Manchester > Cambridge > London > Paris > London
Ehsan gugel maps
3) Book flight tickets
I usually use Skyscanner to check on the cheapest price offered by various airlines. And if you have not decided which date to go, there's a "Cheapest month" option under "Whole month" on Skyscanner. You could see the trend in prices offered. Other than that, Google Flights would be another choice to check on the prices. Since journey from KL to London takes almost half day, MAS is always the best option to choose. Direct flight. Good food. Entertainment included. Good hospitality. Comfortable. Our national carrier has never failed to impress.
4) Work out on costing & itinerary using Excel
I've explained this in previous entry. But previously I used Excel & Words. After Japan trip, I realised Excel is more than enough. Excel does all the wonders. Best way to start, is dividing it by days horizontally, and these items below vertically :
a. Flights
b. Accommodation
c. Places of interest
d. Transportation - train/bus (includes airport transfer)
e. Transportation - car (rental, car seat, gps)
f. Petrol, toll & parking
g. Food (includes shopping)
Sample of summary
Make sure you check your currency. Next is to have detailed info for a to g in separate worksheets and link accordingly to this summary. If you are not proficient in using Excel, you can hire me. I love doing Excel. Excel is my x-th love after daddy. Hehe.
Tips for food : estimate how much does a meal cost in the country you wish to go. In this trip, I estimated GBP10 / Euro10 per person per meal and assuming 3x a day dining outside. For this Euro trip, most of the times we cooked ourselves. As a result, the allocation could be used to buy other things (like souvenirs or other goods whichever suit your candy or even as a contingency). If you like shopping, you might want to consider an additional budget.
5) Survey and book accommodation
London (2N) - Malaysian homestay found from a blog
Oxford (2N) - Premier Inn, Bicester (Hotel)
Manchester (2N) - Albert Webb House, Salford (Airbnb)
London (1N) - YHA St Pancras (Hotel)
Paris (3N) - Apartment in Serris, Disneyland (Airbnb)
London (2N) - Apartment in St Pancras (Airbnb)
I highly recommend all those in green. Please refer to link provided 👍 However, I didn't include the first link. We totally regretted our decision for booking that homestay in London. Location wise, good, about 20mins to the city by bus. Managed by a married Malaysian. So we thought, why don't we help Malaysian, let's book their place. We happily contacted them and booked their place. But......we were betrayed by our own expectation. His unit is a loft style. The family occupied lower level. We got the upper level he said. There are 3 rooms and a bathroom. About a week or few days towards our trip, he informed that his nephew somehow last minute HAD to occupy one of the rooms we booked because he had to further study in London. He told us very very last minute. Like few days to our trip. Sigh. And he informed that they only have 1 bathroom for the whole house, so ALL of us had to share that 1 bathroom. No towels/toiletries given. Amount paid remained, getting only 2 rooms when we were supposed to get 3 rooms, 1 shared bathroom, no place to hang clothes, his house is on 2nd or 3rd floor and no elevator, a shared kitchen. We don't mind about the space, and all other shortcomings. But it was just unfair because he told us last minute and he hid facts. Because of that, we were not able to cancel and look for alternatives. In terms of cleanliness, the house was very dusty. It was an unfortunate experience.
Rasa macam, "Kami tak tipu. Kami cuba tak bagi tahu". Very very sad. To me, rezeki kita takkan lari pergi tempat lain if we practice transparency. In fact, we make people feel satisfied and put their expectations at an appropriate level. So bila dapat product or service tu, takada lah terkejut sangat orang tu and feel disappointed. Which eventually, leading to even big future loss.
1) Existing customer decided not to be a repeating customer
2) Potential customers lari sebab dengar / baca reviews tak elok
It was my fault as well, for not asking thoroughly before paying the booking deposit. Not so much frustrated on the shortcomings but more frustrated that we had to share the space with his nephew. Dah jadi macam tu, dari tak concern pasal shortcomings pun boleh jadi issue. Luckily we only paid booking deposit for 2 night stay. So we canceled for the stay after Paris trip. I remember he scolded me for cancelling the remaining days.
"Mana boleh last minute nak cancel booking. Tapi takapa la I redha. Lain kali tak boleh macam ni. Tak amanah ni"
"Habis tu you bagitahu your nephew nak ambil satu bilik tak last minute ke? Amanah ke tu?"
Terus diam. Then the conversation just ended there. Both parties unsatisfied with each other. I won't reveal the name of the homestay. Tips I can share is, book with registered websites. I hope he'd improve his transparency and be more honest. Because if he was honest, I'd have been more than glad to promote his place to people around me.
6) Study on mode of transportation & book or pay accordingly
Around London, it's best to take their public transport. We only tried Tube once. It's an underground train in London. It was quite a struggle for us because there was a toddler in pram. So we preferred the red double decker bus. Love the view from the upper deck 😍
Pros : View, less staircase
Cons : Very time consuming as the bus journey depends on traffic flow
Public transport in London uses Oyster card. Similar to our Touch N Go.
Whereas, other places in England, we rented a car. You could check on Rental Cars
Our rented MPV
From London to Paris (return), we took the famous Eurostar. Similar to Shinkansen in Japan. It's recommended to purchase the ticket in advance from their website Eurostar 👍
And around Paris, we took the train as well as the bus. Convenient enough, other than the language barrier. To go around Paris central, the train service is called Metro. Underground subway. There's another train system that also covers Paris central (at a slightly higher fare) which is known as RER. RER also covers outside of Paris, including CDG Airport, Disneyland Paris. In terms of billet (or ticket in French, please google the pronunciation), we bought it from the counter at Gare de Marne La Vallee (or station of Marne La Vallee, if direct translated). Since we stayed in Disneyland area which is in Zone 5, it was best to buy the unlimited Paris Visite travel pass. We could use all types of public transports, valid for 1,2,3 or 5 consecutive days.
Ah yes, if you'd like to go to Disneyland Paris, it's recommended to buy the ticket in advance from their website Disneyland. Cheaper and faster. When you first open Disneyland Paris website, you have to select which country are you from. I read somewhere, people said that it's cheaper to buy from website of your own country. Apparently, Disneyland UK website offers cheaper price than Malaysia. Mehh.
7) Download apps
My favourite : Citymapper & Google Maps
8) What to bring
- Printed itinerary
- Printed tickets
- Passport (no visa required for these 2 countries)
- The usuals, ie colourful clothes 😂
It can get pretty difficult to cross the border if you show up unprepared. That's why it's recommended to book accommodation from known source like Airbnb, Bookings.com or Agoda. So there would be a printed document to show to the customs as evidence that you're there as a tourist. Not there to sneak in as illegal workers. This is happening apparently. Especially in UK. So it's best to get yourself ready with printed itinerary. It would be easier if the customs ask a lot of questions.
That's all for this entry. Gonna write more in detail on the places we went.
Till then. Toodles ~!
Q
Comments
Post a Comment