[Q&A]: Planning a trip to Europe, from a Malaysian point of view.

After the long break from travels due to the pandemic, many of you must have been waiting to visit Europe, particularly the common cities like Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels and London. 

Since we have easy access to the internet and there are so many travel pages for references, I decided to write this blog in regards to all the questions you guys have asked me recently after my 3rd Europe trip on Instagram. This post will be permanent here and hope it will help to clear your doubts in planning a Europe trip soon. 

Q1: How did you plan your trip? Was it by your own or tour group?

A: The recent trip in April 2022 was a solo trip, which I only decided 3 weeks before flying. It's doable. Book your flights first and you can draft the itinerary later (which is not compulsory). Decide your flights based on the price and length of the journey (check the layover duration). 

There are many reliable Malaysian travel agencies for Europe trip from Malaysia (eg. Sedunia Travels, HelloHolidays) in which some packages are worth the price charged because you can save in hotels and transportation costs. However, sometimes you can't spend much time at major attractions due to strict itinerary and hotels located far from the city. Be careful of 'touch and go' kind of itineraries by travel agencies.

Advantage of self-planned tours: more time to spend at preferred locations, able to explore locations with good places to eat, best views and more time for photos and strolling. And of course, you will gradually become an expert traveller. 

Q2: What is the cost of your recent trip? How did you arrange the trip?

As mentioned above, this a self-planned trip. The trip costs me RM8k (flights, hotels, major intercity train, tickets to major attractions) excluding personal expenses.  You can actually save a little more if the hotels are shared by two and if you choose 2-3 star hotels, backpacker hostels or hotels further from the city center. I booked nicer hotels in the city center this time because of Covid-19 concerns and to spend lesser travelling time to the city. You can also remove places that are not a must to see like amusement parks (I removed Disneyland this time).

A summary on getting your trip planned in a sequentially manner:

i) Decide the duration of your trip, dates and book the major flights from your location. Some of the recommended flights from Kuala Lumpur to Europe: Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, and Saudia Airline. 

ii) Book the hotels based on your preference and budget. (recommended sites: Agoda, Booking.com, Traveloka, AirBnB). If you love to spend time at a major location during the day and night, try booking a hotel nearby to the attraction or a train station connecting to the desired location. 

iii) Decide the major activities- some of you do not prefer to pre-plan activities, however you must know that some tickets are cheaper if purchased via online or in-advanced. Google search to guide you on the activities or places to visit. For an example, type "things to do in Paris" and a list of places of interest will appear as a summary in Google. 

Some apps to book activities: Tripadvisor, Klook, Viator, Traveloka. 

iv) Finalise other important things weeks ahead of your traveling date: passports, visa- if required, travel insurance, medicines, suitable clothings according to the travelling season, etc.

Q3: Do you like to travel alone or with friends?

Eventhough I travel solo quite oftenly, I like to travel with a small group of friends. Both have pros and cons.

i) Travelling with friends: fun, cost-effective, shared burden on planning the trip, personal photographer ;-). But you need friends who are adaptable and willing to accommodate to the changes in plans and budget along the trip. 

ii) Solo trip: No hassle of waiting for confirmation from travel partners, no dramas 😂, more time focused on the travelling experience, you learn to appreciate your inner strength.

Q4: The cameras you are using to capture your picture.

Almost 90% of my contents are created with mobile phones only. This is much practical and time-saving. I do have an Olympus digital camera but it is sleeping in the cupboard for almost 2 years. I agree the work of a professional photographer is exceptional but for Instagram purposes, latest mobile phones do produce tremendous videos and photos. 

Regarding my recent trip, I used Samsung Note 20 Ultra and Iphone 12 Pro Max. Some photos from Paris were shot by a professional photographer. You can contact him for some amazing shots in Paris city, https://instagram.com/maxrumeau.photography

Q5: Please share the places you went.

I don't believe in listing out places to visit like a travel book especially when you want to plan it out yourself. However, I know that some of you guys are looking forward to suggestions and inspiration before deciding on a trip. Since this trip was surreal to me (post-pandemic), I shared almost all the places with location tags/ captions along the trip in my Instagram stories and feed. I have highlighted the major stories. So, use it as a guide to plan your trip but it is not mandatory to follow my places of interest. Check my Instagram page for some ideas: www.instagram.com/theroytravels

Q6: Where did you stay?

Cornelisz Hotel Amsterdam, Ibis Hotel Paris (left), Hyde Park Executive Apartment London (right).

                             

Q7: How many days will you recommend to spend in London and Amsterdam?

I would say 4-5 days in each city.. You can do more things if you stay longer and appreciate the local culture. I have been to both of these places before and hence 4-5 days each was fine. Wish I had more time in London to visit the nearby castles and stonehenge, or even trip to Scotland but I could not take long leaves due to my gazettement. 

Q8: Covid-19 related travel requirements.

1. PCR test is not required in most of the European countries now and therefore you need not to do one in Malaysia before leaving KL.  Also Malaysia has removed negative PCR results requirement prior to arrival to fully vaccinated individuals. Basically, I did not do any Covid-19 testing for this trip. However, you need to check the latest updates on the visiting country's requirements via airlines or official embassy websites before travelling.

2. Health declaration form and Covid-19 apps. As for now, all of these are no longer required in the 3 countries I visited lately. Netherlands has a travel ban to non-vaccinated individuals except for certain circumstances (please check https://www.government.nl on the latest updates). No longer travel ban is applied to fully vaccinated travellers from non-EU countries*.

* Definition of fully vaccinated: Completed 2 doses of EU approved vaccine or single dose of Janssen with second dose taken less than 270 days prior to arrival. If second dose is taken >270 days before arrival, a booster shot is needed and does not have an end date for validity.

(criterias are subjected to change from time to time)

Q9: Did you purchase any insurance for your travel? And do they cover for Covid test?

Good question. Even before Covid-19 pandemic, travel insurance is essential. One can claim even when his or her bag is lost or stolen. I took Tune protect for the current trip which covered Covid related hospital admission at a reasonable price. Covid test is not covered because it is a screening test, and not part of the treatment. 

Q10: How was the weather over there?

This depends on the season as Europe has four seasons around the year. I went during spring (my favourite) which is known as the 'flower season' and right after winter. So, you can expect weather around 10-14 degrees during the daytime and around 8-10 degrees at night. Everything may look nice in the pictures but it was quite cold for me on certain days. Bring jackets, coats or wear double layered when needed. And use moisturizers and drink plenty of water to avoid dry skin issues. These are essential if you are not used to cold weather especially during winter. 

Q11: Planning a flight to Paris and then Eurostar to London in July. Any advice?

You must be familiar with the flight protocols. Just would like to remind you to be early to arrive at Gare Du Nord train station for your Eurostar train as you need to pass through immigration and customs clearance. I thought there would be no strict checking like Eu-to-Eu contries (by train) and almost missed my train the other day. 

Q12: How do you get mobile data? In case you need to use Google map.

Well, you really need good internet connection while on a self planned trip. Google map is amazing when it comes to searching routes within the city; it will show the exact metro lines, platforms and the stops. You have 3 options for internet connection:

i) Purchase roaming plans from your existing telco services. Eg. Digi offers 3 days roaming pass for RM25 for most European countries. This is the most convenient way to subscribe at a discounted rate. Call your telco customer service or check their websites.

ii) Buy a local sim card upon arrival. This is quite expensive for Europe but will be easy for those who are not tech savvy. One can consider in Asian countries too.

iii) Rent a pocket wifi device which is available at KLIA (example: TravelRecommends). But you have to take care of the device, otherwise your deposit will be forfeited 

I hope that this Q&A on my recent Europe trip will be helpful as it is written based on all the questions that were highlight by all of you. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to drop a DM via my Instagram page 'theroytravels' and I will try my best to reply. Kindly be aware that this article is written from a Malaysian point of view and may not be applicable if you are not from Malaysia. 

"Before You Run Out of Time"

Powell Roy Louis @ theroytravels

www.instagram.com/theroytravels

Whatsapp for collaboration: https://wa.me/message/B5AJLXA5MRC5P1