[2008-10-23] Psychédélices European Tour Audit

[RadioactiveMan]

A question to those more experienced in traveling abroad:

aircanada.ca says that I could buy a round trip ticket from my city to Paris for a little over $460 for Nov7-10. However, that's about the only expense I have a figure for. I'd have then have to get to Nantes and back as well as transport in the city, lodging, food, and more. I'm fairly confident that I can come up with an estimate for some of the basics like flight and lodging but I want to have an idea of what I might spend on more miscellaneous things throughout the trip. Also, I'm hoping that if I can do this I can do it in a group so I'd like to know what others will be doing in Nantes.

[Amigo!]

Originally Posted by Snatcher42

Did you get the tiny legal envelope inside a huge plastic bag too? If so, it's neither good nor bad, just very... weird.

Yeah LOL

At first I thought someone delivered an empty bag to me because I've been waiting for more to show up in the mail besides the tickets

[TheBarrett]

Originally Posted by Amigo!

Yeah LOL

At first I thought someone delivered an empty bag to me because I've been waiting for more to show up in the mail besides the tickets

It could've at least been a souvenir alizée paper bag.

[fsquared]

Originally Posted by RadioactiveMan

A question to those more experienced in traveling abroad:

aircanada.ca says that I could buy a round trip ticket from my city to Paris for a little over $460 for Nov7-10. However, that's about the only expense I have a figure for. I'd have then have to get to Nantes and back as well as transport in the city, lodging, food, and more. I'm fairly confident that I can come up with an estimate for some of the basics like flight and lodging but I want to have an idea of what I might spend on more miscellaneous things throughout the trip. Also, I'm hoping that if I can do this I can do it in a group so I'd like to know what others will be doing in Nantes.

Wow, that's pretty good pricing; you're way out in Western Canada, right?

I haven't traveled in Western Europe for a while, so the only general thing I would say is with a weak dollar, things will surely be pricey.

Probably the next thing to do is to look at some travel guides (e.g., Fodors, Lonely Planet); for instance, here's a web page for Nantes.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/france/nantes/


If you're looking for train fares Paris to Nantes, you can look at:

http://www.raileurope.com

but the fares for that season aren't up yet. Fares for Sept seem to be $70-100 US each way.

Good luck!

[Amigo!]

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/rail_menu.htm

[Fish]

Speaking of first time traveling, can I get some suggestions- namely, what are the best places to book flights and hotels, should I do both at the same time, when should I book, what should I be expecting, pretty much everything. I've never even flown before, so if I go through with this, it will be a whole lot of firsts.

[Amigo!]

Originally Posted by Fish

Speaking of first time traveling, can I get some suggestions- namely, what are the best places to book flights and hotels, should I do both at the same time, when should I book, what should I be expecting, pretty much everything. I've never even flown before, so if I go through with this, it will be a whole lot of firsts.

Well since this would be your first time traveling, I highly suggest that you find out who will have the same travel plans as you, and coordinate the trip (sooner or later we'll all start to communicate with each other and plan things out more carefully) . When we all went to mexico, some booked hotels and flights for others and that help coordinate things a lot.

Here are some sites so you can get familiar with booking travel online
try different dates, times and airlines just to get an idea of prices.

http://www.priceline.com/

http://www.travelocity.com/

http://www.orbitz.com/

http://www.hotels.com/

You have to shop around, don't rush it. you want to find the best prices available, sometimes it's good to book the flights and hotels together. Personally I prefer separate, but thats me.

I've also noticed that booking directly with an airline can sometimes be cheaper then through one of these travel websites. But like I said, shop around!

Uh BTW... you have your passport, right?

[Sir Wood]

The list is growing everyday. There are also ~40 folks from AF that will be going to Paris for the Le Grand Rex concert!

Here's a rough idea of my plans: (obviously subjected to change)
08 November Travel: DEN – CDG
09 CDG – NTE via EuroPass
09 Concert: Nantes , France
(Hotel: 3 days, 2 nights)

11 NTE – BRU via EuroPass
12 Concert: Cirque Royal, Brussels, Belgium
(Hotel: 3 days, 2 nights)

13 BRU – LGG via EuroPass
13 Concert: Le Forum, Liège, Belgium
(Hotel: 2 days, 1 night)

14 LGG – BRU – CDG via EuroPass
(Hotel: 2 days, 1 night)

15 Travel: CDG – DEN

http://www.kayak.com/
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/pa...rance_pass.htm

Last price check for a round-trip air and 1 week Euro rail pass is already ~$1300 USD!

I'm just waiting for the tickets to go on sale for the 3 November venues.

[TheBarrett]

Yeah i'm a bit scared on Belgium, one of the few places in Europe I haven't checked out, but hey, if it's good enough for Van Damme.

[LeFantôme]

Originally Posted by TheBarrett

Yeah i'm a bit scared on Belgium, one of the few places in Europe I haven't checked out, but hey, if it's good enough for Van Damme.

French people are great. I am always very well impressed. Now I know only two Belgian people, but they are even better. So in my experience, Belgians are like French, but have a 110% coolness bonus.

Oh, and those two Belgians were also very generous.