DIY Europe Tour for PHP137K / SGD4K

I have been asked a few times about our Europe trip last April/May, so I decided to create a short blog about our itinerary and expenses.

This travel is “sulit” for us because “minsan lang tayo pupunta ng EU, edi sulitin na” – that’s why we decided to come up with an itinerary covering 7 countries / 14 cities. Carpe Diem!

SUMMARY:
This summary includes 2-way Emirates ticket, plane and trains in between cities, hotel fees, entrance tickets and pocket money (which includes pasalubong, daily food, some subway tickets, etc).

EXPENSE	Amount (SGD)	Amount (PHP)*
Plane and Train	1,544.32	50,962.56
Pocket Money	1,230.00	40,590.00
Hotels	823.72	27,182.76
Entrance Tickets	560.89	18,509.37
SUB-TOTAL	4,158.93	137,244.69

*PHP = FX is 1 SGD to 33 PHP (estimate only)
*Since we are currently residing in SG, we paid all our fees in SGD. I just converted it into PHP as estimates.

Here’s the list of cities we’ve been:

City	Country
Paris	France
Brussels	Belgium
Amsterdam	Netherlands
Lisse
Berlin	Germany
Prague	Czech Republic
Vienna	Austria
Venice	Italy
Burano Island
Milan
Florence
Pisa
Rome
Vatican City (independent city state)

Paris

 

Gahd, lovely City of Light! I love how my dreams, how the articles I read in books, how the photos I see in magazines and internet, all turned into reality. Paris has a lot to offer! 3 days were not enough to cover all the places we’d like to visit. Nevertheless, these were the tourist spots we’ve accomplished:

Eiffel Tower

Champ de Mars

Fontaine Saint-Michel

Notre Dame de Paris

Arc de Triomphe

Champ Elysees

Seine River

Louvre Museum

Jardin de Tuileries

Place de la Concorde

Musee de Orangerie

Grand Palais / Petit Palais

Pont des Arts

Pont Neuf

Les Invalides

Pont Alexander

Musee D' Orsay

Centre Pompidou

Disneyland Paris

This itinerary includes a lot of walking so better prepare your feet and comfy shoes.

TIP:

We purchased the 2-day Museum Pass instead of the Paris Pass. This pass allowed us to visit the museums for free, skip the line, and ride the subway and buses. By the way, we computed all the expenses first before deciding between Museum Pass and Paris Pass. It turns out that we’d be able to save more in Museum Pass.

Brussels

 

Basically, we managed to tour the city within a day. What I most enjoyed here were the chocolates and waffles! Hahaha! Though here are the places you can try visiting on a day-tour.

Grand Place (Grote Markt)

Galeries Royale de Saint Hubert

Mannekin Pis

Place Royal (Koningsplein)

Mont des Arts

Notre Dame du Sablon

Atomium

TIP:

Because this is only a day-tour, we left our baggage in the storage area (Left Baggage) in Bruxelles Midi station from morning til night. We also purchased 1-day pass for subway and buses.

Amsterdam

 

Canals, dams, art, museums, marijuana, Heineken, Anne Frank – these are all I can think of here!

Rijkmuseum

Heineken Experience

Dam Square

Anne Frank House

Red Light District Walking Tour

TIP:

If all travellers are adults, I suggest booking a hostel near the red light district because the proximity of the tourist spots is around this place.

We were not able to enter Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt House Museum – you can probably have these in your list as well.

Lisse

Omygad. I love Keukenhof!!! I love flowers!! Beautiful beautiful beautiful!

 

TIP:

Purchase a ticket which includes entrance fee and two-way bus ticket from Amsterdam City to Schipol Airport and Schipol Airport to Keukenhof.

Berlin

 

Pork knuckles and pair it with a beer! Don't forget the German sausages as well.

Btw, I also bought a pair of Birkenstock here. Price is waaay cheaper in SG or PH.

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag

Checkpoint Charlie

Museum Island

Bode Museum

Pergamon

Old National Gallery (Alte National Galerie)

The Berlin Wall Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie

East Side Gallery

Potzdamer Platz (Sony Center)

Alexanderplatz

TIP:

We initially thought Berlin was offering free train rides. However, turned out to be an honesty system. There are no rails or bars or tap-in-tap-outs barricade in the subways. What you need to do is purchase a train ticket but keep it anywhere safe. Some police can randomly check on your ticket.

Prague

 

A short but amazing trip we had in this city. Why? Because we ate a lot, I guess? Around the central area's full of restaurants and small food stalls.

Powder Tower

The Municipal House

The Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock

The Church of Our Lady before Týn

Charles Bridge

The Lennon Wall

St Nicolas Church

St Vitus Cathedral

Petrin Hill

National Museum

National Theatre

The Dancing House by Frank Gehry

Wenceslas Square

TIP: Czech Republic uses a different currency. You might wanna change some of your euros to czech crowns. Although some establishments accept euros as form of payment.

Vienna

 

Feels like a royal place to me because of the experience and learning at Schonbrunn Palace!

Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens

Vienna City Hall

The Imperial Crypt and the Capuchin Church

Collegial and Parish Church of St. Peter

The Belvedere Palace

The Vienna State Opera House

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Kartner Strasse and Donner Fountain

TIP: Buy 2 or 3-day pass for your tickets depending on the number of days you’re gonna stay. Same with Berlin, you can access subways, trams, buses freely. Don’t put yourself into trouble by paying penalty just because you didn’t buy tickets.

Venice

 

Gondola ride was a bit cliché but I don’t mind. It’s one for the books!

St Mark's Basilica

St. Mark's Square

Canale Grande (Grand Canal)

Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge)

TIP: There were delicious and not-so-expensive pizzas near Rialto Bridge. They’re soooo good that we bought a lot for dinner. J

For gondola ride, I believe it’s quite expensive. However, if you wanna save a bit, maximum of 6 people can be accommodated per ride – so you know what I mean..

Burano Island

 

Colored houses! 40minute to 1hour ride from Venice via Vaporetti.

Milan

 

We only had a day here, but we had fun! And I guess I have seen one of the most beautiful and detailed-artwork churches in my life.

Il Duomo (Cathedral)

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: Luxury Shops and Elegant Cafés

Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper

Florence

  

Pizza and gelato are the best things here – atleast for me! J

Santa Maria Novella

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and Piazza

Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St. John)

Galleria dell'Accademia (Academy Gallery)

Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria)

Ponte Vecchio

Piazzale Michelangelo

TIP: I suggest staying near Santa Maria Novella because almost all of the places we’ve visited can be reached by foot.

Pisa

 

So bizarre to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta

Baptistery

Campo Santo (Sacred Field)

TIP: Pisa can be reached by train from Florence by an hour so I believe there’s no need to stay overnight here.

Rome and Vatican City

 

Rome definitely brought back all the memories I had during my history classes. Surreal!!

One thing I’ll cherish is seeing the Pope in person!

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio)

The Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine

Roman Forum

Palatine Hill

The Pantheon

Castel Sant Angelo

St. Peter's Basilica

Sistine Chapel

Vatican Musuem

Papal General Audience - Jubilee Year of Mercy

Piazza Navona

TIP: Check the Vatican schedule because the Pope is having masses at St Peter’s on chosen days. We were just lucky because the Jubilee Year of Mercy was held when we’re there so we got tickets online for free. 

Here’s the summary of our expenses:

Hotels:

EXPENSE	Amount (SGD)	Amount (PHP)*
Paris - Grand Hotel Magenta - 3 nights	142.49	4,702.17
Amsterdam - Hotel 83 - 2 nights	125.26	4,133.58
Berlin - City Hostel - 2 nights	93.14	3,073.62
Prague - White Apartment Masna - 1 night	34.10	1,125.30
Vienna - Apartment Opera - 2 nights	105.68	3,487.44
Venice - Venetian Apartments - 2 nights	149.46	4,932.18
Florence - A Due Passi dal Duomo - 2 nights	88.34	2,915.22
Rome - Hotel Viennese - 2 nights	85.25	2,813.25
TOTAL	823.72	27,182.76

Entrance tickets:

Expense	Amount (SGD)	Amount (PHP)*
Paris - Eiffel Tower entrance	26.79	884.07
Paris - 2-day Museum Pass	111.12	3,666.96
Paris - Disneyland	92.74	3,060.42
Paris - Opera Museum Ticket	17.29	570.57
Amsterdam - 2-day tram/bus pass	20.88	689.04
Amsterdam - Anne Frank House	14.93	492.69
Amsterdam - Keukenhof + Bus	45.77	1,510.41
Amsterdam - Heineken Experience	25.25	833.25
Amsterdam - Rijks Museum	27.62	911.46
Berlin - Berlin State Museum	28.41	937.53
Vienna - Belvedere	22.76	751.08
Vienna - Schonbrunn	35.12	1,158.96
Florence - Academy Gallery	25.93	855.69
Pisa - Cathedral + baptistery + museum + castel	12.88	425.04
Vatican - Vatican Museum	31.44	1,037.52
Rome - Colloseum	21.96	724.68
TOTAL	560.89	18,509.37

Plane and Train Tickets

EXPENSE	Amount (SGD)	Amount (PHP)*
*Plane - SIN to CDG and FCO to SIN	1,069.50	35,293.50
Train - Paris to Brussels	55.30	1,824.90
Train - Brussels to Amsterdam	54.98	1,814.34
Plane - Amsterdam to Berlin	123.75	4,083.75
Bus - Berlin to Prague	42.53	1,403.49
Train - Prague to Vienna	34.76	1,147.08
Train - Vienna to Venice	61.43	2,027.19
Train - Venice to Milan	29.93	987.69
Train - Milan to Florence	45.68	1,507.44
Train - Florence to Pisa and Pisa to Florence	26.46	873.18
Train - Florence to Rome	37.81	1,247.73
TOTAL	1,544.32	50,962.56

*Note: Since we are based in Singapore, the flight we got was SIN-CDG-FCO-SIN. However, my mom's roundtrip airfare ticket from Manila to Singapore is around Php 3,000 via Cebu Pacific. She had a short stay here before we went to EU.


Pocket Money:

EXPENSE	Amount (SGD)	Amount (PHP)*
Pocket Money: I exchanged 2000 SGD to euros. But I was left with 500 euros at the end of the trip. FX: 500 * 1.54 = 770 | 2000 - 770 = 1230SGD	1,230.00	40,590.00

Detailed Transporation:

 

That’s it! Prayers, few savings and confidence + schengen visa = these were what we had back in April and May! :)

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. :)

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Planning on applying a Schengen Visa? You may check out my experience HERE - PH and HERE - SG.

Cheers!

Cha