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Old 11-25-2010, 09:23 AM   #1
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Unhappy Europe Trip

Scott and I have been planning a trip to Europe for ages. We planned to go in September 2011, or somewhere around there. We decided on the tour we want to go on, plus extra time by ourselves, and we wanted to book the trip within the next couple of weeks. I overheard a coworker yesterday telling another coworker that he and his wife are also going to Europe next September. I have just taken one week of vacation this year, and have banked a lot of extra weeks in overtime. I asked today, almost a year ahead of time, for that time off. They said no It's really not fair if they're also giving my coworker that time off (we don't work in the same area so we can both have time off at the same time). Or maybe he hasn't asked yet.

I'm just feeling a little heartbroken. They said if I want to go, to go before June because we are apparently getting some work in June that will last the rest of the year. But I'd have enough savings by September to go, not June. And I don't want to go in the peak of tourist season. I thought September would be perfect because it would still be warm!

Sorry I just needed to rant a little bit. I know my work has the ability to tell me when I can and can't go on holidays but I just thought they'd give me this one since I hardly take time off and I work my butt off for them. I just feel down about it.
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Old 11-25-2010, 10:02 AM   #2
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Cheer up, it could be worse! In Europe, Early May is also a good time to go, Warming up, less kids, less tourists. Italy is great in May, and Oct. What part of Europe are you interested in? Exploring on your own, or with a group? Boat, train, bus package?
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Old 11-25-2010, 10:10 AM   #3
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I agree, that sucks. They denied it a YEAR in advance?

You could always get sick that week, and then they'd have to deal with it with no notice.
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Old 11-25-2010, 01:27 PM   #4
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We are thinking of a Contiki bus tour for the first 18 days (London, Amsterdam, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, French Riviera, Paris). It's a whirlwind and a lot of places to see, but we thought going on a tour might be nicer than trying to navigate alone. We also thought it would be nice to be with a group and make friends around the world. On the other hand, we've also heard Contiki is very party-party-party and that's just not us. I want to go to Europe to immerse in the cultures and see the sights! But there might be other like-minded people on the tour as well.

When that tour ends, we'd like to do 10 days in Scotland and Ireland. My ancestors on one side are from Scotland, and I know the exact little town they came from and would love to check that out. Scott lived and worked in Ireland (Londonderry) for a summer and wants to go back, and I'd also love to see Dublin!

We've been crunching numbers and might be able to go early if we take some funds out of our "wedding savings" (Isn't that sad for a couple that isn't even engaged? Lol!). We'll just need to make sure my parents aren't taking their own holidays so they can take Layla in for a month, and hopefully Scott can get time off earlier at his job! It worked out so nicely for September. Oh well!
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Old 11-25-2010, 01:36 PM   #5
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I agree, that sucks. They denied it a YEAR in advance?

You could always get sick that week, and then they'd have to deal with it with no notice.
Haha I'd have to be sick for a month! I think that might require a doctor's note lol
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Old 11-25-2010, 04:36 PM   #6
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We are thinking of a Contiki bus tour for the first 18 days (London, Amsterdam, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, French Riviera, Paris). It's a whirlwind and a lot of places to see, but we thought going on a tour might be nicer than trying to navigate alone. We also thought it would be nice to be with a group and make friends around the world. On the other hand, we've also heard Contiki is very party-party-party and that's just not us. I want to go to Europe to immerse in the cultures and see the sights! But there might be other like-minded people on the tour as well.

When that tour ends, we'd like to do 10 days in Scotland and Ireland. My ancestors on one side are from Scotland, and I know the exact little town they came from and would love to check that out. Scott lived and worked in Ireland (Londonderry) for a summer and wants to go back, and I'd also love to see Dublin!

We've been crunching numbers and might be able to go early if we take some funds out of our "wedding savings" (Isn't that sad for a couple that isn't even engaged? Lol!). We'll just need to make sure my parents aren't taking their own holidays so they can take Layla in for a month, and hopefully Scott can get time off earlier at his job! It worked out so nicely for September. Oh well!
Your itinerary sounds close to the one we took! London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Germany, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Tuscany, Nice & Paris! When I started researching, we knew we wanted to go April, May, September or October. It would be before heavy tourist season and less expensive!
It sucks that you can't get the time you were planning for and I can certainly understand needing to save what you need!
I'm not that familiar with the company you are looking at, but I have heard it's a party company and younger ages. We took Globus. Have you looked at them or Cosmos or Trafalgar?
We loved our tour group, we had so much fun with them. We didn't want to worry about navigating around by ourselves the first time either and I'm so glad we took the tour!
If I had more time, we would have extended and visited Ireland & Scotland too, that's in the future!
I'm sure you will get it worked out!
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Old 11-25-2010, 06:58 PM   #7
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We have used this outdit, and I can't say enough good things. Tours, small ship cruises, river cruises and family travel adventures at Tauck.com
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Old 11-25-2010, 07:15 PM   #8
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Your itinerary sounds close to the one we took! London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Germany, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Tuscany, Nice & Paris! When I started researching, we knew we wanted to go April, May, September or October. It would be before heavy tourist season and less expensive!
It sucks that you can't get the time you were planning for and I can certainly understand needing to save what you need!
I'm not that familiar with the company you are looking at, but I have heard it's a party company and younger ages. We took Globus. Have you looked at them or Cosmos or Trafalgar?
We loved our tour group, we had so much fun with them. We didn't want to worry about navigating around by ourselves the first time either and I'm so glad we took the tour!
If I had more time, we would have extended and visited Ireland & Scotland too, that's in the future!
I'm sure you will get it worked out!
We looked at Cosmos and Trafalgar. We're looking at Globus right now. It's still more expensive than Contiki, but maybe you get what you pay for... What types of people were on the tour with you? Was it an older group, or families, or were there younger people too?
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Old 11-26-2010, 11:17 AM   #9
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We have used this outdit, and I can't say enough good things. Tours, small ship cruises, river cruises and family travel adventures at Tauck.com
Those look like great tours, I would love the one with a private dinner in the Tower of London! But they are quite a bit over our budget Maybe someday!

I think we have changed our minds again. Scott got his time off from work anytime he wants so we will probably go in May or June, and since last night we've been looking at a lot more tour options. I took another look at Cosmos and I think I found the right one for us... I really wished the other tours included Berlin, and then I found this one that does! Berlin, Venice, Rome, and the French Riviera are high on my list of places to see And it's longer and cheaper than the Contiki one we had looked into. Cosmos - Affordable Escorted Tours & Vacations I also like that it has a list of hotels we'd stay at, and we looked them all up and they had pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor A few of the Contiki forums made it seem like you never know where you'll stay with them... since the crowds can be so rowdy, quite a few hotels have banned them.

I've also been checking out some websites for hostels and bed and breakfasts in the UK so we can hopefully save some money there. Scott wants to stay in hostels to meet other travellers and I want to stay in little family bed and breakfasts to meet locals!
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Old 11-26-2010, 01:42 PM   #10
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We have used this outdit, and I can't say enough good things. Tours, small ship cruises, river cruises and family travel adventures at Tauck.com
Tauck was our first choice, they are first rate, but they were out of our budget!
I would probably use either Insight vacations or Globus who we used this time again!
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Old 11-26-2010, 01:47 PM   #11
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We looked at Cosmos and Trafalgar. We're looking at Globus right now. It's still more expensive than Contiki, but maybe you get what you pay for... What types of people were on the tour with you? Was it an older group, or families, or were there younger people too?
I would have to say that most of the people were older on our tour. The youngest was 29 and I was 2nd youngest and I'm in my early 40s, but most were 50-60s, but we went in October. I'm sure there are more kids in the summertime. I do think in general an older crowd takes tours, unless you do go with a more party type company.
When we arrived in London, the transfer to our hotel, also was taking a couple who were on a Cosmos tour to their hotel. (Cosmos is owned by the same as Globus.) What I noticed was the hotel was further out and not as convenient to things and from what they were describing, the tour did not include a lot of stuff in the price, a lot of things were optional.
Since this was our first trip to Europe, we knew we wanted to see everything, so we wanted things included and having central hotels was very important to us!
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Old 11-29-2010, 06:20 AM   #12
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I think I'm good with a lot of the optionals, because some things I wouldn't mind skipping and doing some exploring on my own instead Scott has actually been to Europe twice before... once on a tour in high school and again working in Ireland, and he has seen a lot of the optional touristy things and doesn't care to see them again. So that works for us if he's not paying for them already. If I want to see them I can, and he can do his own thing! He's also pretty good at getting around and from what I've read, even if the hotels are out of the city center, they're still pretty close to transportation if we did want to go in and see more. And for us, the price is right. We're going to be cutting out three extra months of saving if we have to go early so we have to keep a budget
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Old 11-29-2010, 02:44 PM   #13
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I think I'm good with a lot of the optionals, because some things I wouldn't mind skipping and doing some exploring on my own instead Scott has actually been to Europe twice before... once on a tour in high school and again working in Ireland, and he has seen a lot of the optional touristy things and doesn't care to see them again. So that works for us if he's not paying for them already. If I want to see them I can, and he can do his own thing! He's also pretty good at getting around and from what I've read, even if the hotels are out of the city center, they're still pretty close to transportation if we did want to go in and see more. And for us, the price is right. We're going to be cutting out three extra months of saving if we have to go early so we have to keep a budget
I certainly can understand that! Besides it's Europe, I'm sure you will have a great time!
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Old 11-29-2010, 02:52 PM   #14
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Thanks! I know it'll be an experience! I'm just waiting to hear back from my manager on her final decision. Scott can get time off whenever, but I did tell my manager it will be harder on us financially to go early, plus Scott doesn't quite have the holiday time saved up yet. We'll see what she comes back with! If we need to go early, we'll make it happen somehow!
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Old 11-29-2010, 04:01 PM   #15
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!) That just stinks!

2) I found that May was a great month to go to the U.K. I went with a Britrail pass, a couple of changes of clothes and a credit card, and just a tentative itinerary, and rambled all over England, Scotland, and the Isle of Man (where my dad's family hails from). There were no crowds, yet most of the tourist attractions were open, so I had the best of both worlds. It was pretty cold, especially in the north of Scotland but I bought a coat and got over it. I have to say it was the best vacation I ever took - the people were absolutely wonderful to me, especially on I.O.M. where my last name is common, and I got to see my fave, Gerry Marsden, perform on stage in York.

3) Good on you for making lemonade. I think you will have a wonderful time no matter when or how you go because you have a great attitude about it.
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