Okay, first thing you need to know about Eurotrip. If you’re not the type who love history or architecture or meeting people or just to sit back & appreciate things around you, but just wanna go to Europe to take a picture and upload it on Instagram – please don’t go. I pity people like you, you’re not gonna have fun.
Things you need to know about
1. Flight ticket – use Skyscanner please I beg you don’t waste money unnecessarily. Jangan check in bag if possible – make sure your bag fits the dimension guidelines provided by the specific airline you’re travelling with. In Europe the cheapest and most convenient way to move IMHO is by air. There are tonnes of airlines providing cheap airfares – kena rajin set ‘watched flight’ dekat Skyscanner. For Venice-Rome saja beli train ticket, to get a feel how travelling by train feels like katanya. Anyhow here’s my budget on transport.
- KUL-LHR, CDG-KUL (MAS) : RM 2405
- LON-VCE (Ryanair) : RM 231
- VCE-ROMA (Frecciargento) : RM 196
- ROMA-BCN (Ryanair) : RM 144
- BCN-CDG (Easyjet) : RM 215
- TOTAL : RM 3191
2. Transportation in the city – the heaviest bulk of budget goes to this next to flight ticket & hostel.
- London – mohon beli Oyster card & mohon tap the card each time you make an interchange between underground and overground. We did not, thus kena penalty. So dari budget 25 GBP untuk Oyster card tak memasal jadi 50 GBP. Yang penting after habis guna you can get refund for the amount left & card deposit (5 GBP).
- Venice – obviously Vaporetto or water bus. One way costs 7 Euro mahal gila so kitorang pergi by Vaporetto and balik jalan kaki. One thing to take note, most of the cities in Europe is very walkable. Cuma kena tahan je la bila sesat.
- Rome – also very walkable. Tapi kalau malas bole naik train (or bus). Rome punya railway system is not so extensive, senang nak faham. Beli tiket dekat machine, one way cost 1.50 Euro. Cheapest among other cities we’ve been to.
- Barcelona – t-10 for zone 1 cost 9.95 Euro. Similar to Paris, t-10 means ticket can be used ten times.
- Paris – one metro ticket costs 1.80 Euro, a carnet or t-10 costs 14 Euro. I bought a Paris Visite pass for three days five zones (to cover airport and Disneyland) for 50 Euro. You even get 10% off for certain brands at La Fayette gallery.
3. Hostel. Hostel in Europe is so not like hostel in Malaysia. It’s just like a hotel if you book ensuite double private room. Get the ones with wifi and breakfast and you’ll be fine. I booked the hostels at Hostelworld.com, which is very efficient btw. Our total budget for hostel (thankyou Ya sebab kat Barcelona accommodation & food free hehe) is RM916.
4. Entrance fees – RM470 for Harry Potter Studios, Colosseum/Foro Romano/Palatino & Disneyland/Walt Disney Studios entrance. Theatre kitorang beli on the spot (everything is cheaper if you buy online, people). There’s plenty of options for you to go see. Price range is around 30-50 GBP (31 GBP or RM170 for Les Miserables in our case).
5. Lastly is money. Tak pernah pergi tempat where I won’t have extra money when I get home, because admit it we are all kedekut when we’re overseas (except in Mecca & Medina I tend to spend quite a lot for pharmaceuticals hehe). I converted 150 GBP and 400 Euro (to pay for hostels because we only paid deposit) and I came back with 55 GBP and 45 Euro (equivalent to RM490, goes back into the bank yay!). Be sure to check rates and exchange when it will benefit you the most, I usually check at http://moneymaster.com.my/
6. Total budget : RM 3191 intercity transport + RM 119 deposit hostel + RM 470 entrance fees + money converted and used for transport, food, hostels, souvenirs (95 GBP + 355 Euro = RM1938) = RM 5718. Kalau nak include transport KTN-KL-KTN (by car) and the pembaziran I do in between, I'll just genapkan to RM6000.
7. Extra tips – be careful of pickpockets, they are the ones that you least expect them to be (not the black guys okay pffft double standard much). I almost kena, there was these 2 innocent looking white girls asking for directions, I really tried to help but thank god I noticed zip beg terbukak so I took off. Senang cerita, don’t talk to anyone unless necessary and always jaga2 your bag.
That’s all folks! My next huge trip would be to the States, if Allah wills it. I wanted to go there my whole life, so I will. Married or not, with or without company. Obviously I'll do that after housemanship because geez it's not cheap to go there - and with Malaysia's currency right now...... (speechless). Doakan! I wanna go to NY and the vicinity, with a budget of RM10K. And afterwards it will be Haji if not umrah (and if it is umrah, it'll be umrah & ziarah to Istanbul too inshaAllah). Since I don't see myself getting married in the near future (seriously, where are you, future husband?) , I might as well go travel now kan? :)
