GROUP TRAVEL:
--Travelling with friends is exciting, but the more that
are in a group, the more personalities we have.
When travelling with a large group, remember to bring along a good
attitude, thoughtfulness, flexibility, patience, and punctuality. Our tour director makes every effort to make
our tour the best possible, but sometimes there are unforeseen events that
cause a slight hiccup in our tour. Just
take them in stride and know they become memorable stories later.
--Always wear a watch set at the time of where we
are. All our destinations are 7 hours
ahead of home. When the tour director
tells us to be back at the bus at a certain time or to meet at a given place at
a certain time, try to heed his instructions.
One person late will cause the entire group to be late for the next activity.
--There is a “vacation” and there is a sight-seeing
tour…we are on the latter! Typically we
will be gone all day when we leave our hotel after an early breakfast and often
return after dinner. It will be relatively
fast paced and requires a lot of walking.
Do NOT wear brand new shoes, but do wear comfortable walking shoes that
are broken in.
--Smoking is not allowed on buses, during meals, in hotel
rooms, or in other shared, enclosed spaces.
--Also be conscious of over people’s allergies, such as
perfumes or other strong smells. If
possible, refrain from using on tour.
PACKING:
--Refer to our
previous
post on packing LIGHT. It IS possible
to pack everything you need for 10 days in 2 carry-on bags. I plan to do so.
Many things a person packs are really not necessary, never used, or in too
large containers. Remember you will be
portering your own luggage in hotels and to and from the bus. Try packing your suitcase and then carry it
around the block a couple of times. If
it is too heavy, leave half the luggage at home and pack twice the money!
--You will be responsible for any luggage fees for too
heavy or too large luggage. Trust me,
you do NOT want to carry around heavy luggage.
Remember you will need to leave space for souvenirs.
--EF recommends that
medications
should be brought in the original containers and clearly labelled. Keep them always in your carry-on bag. Never put medications in checked baggage.
Request “travelling prescription medication” from your pharmacist. These are smaller bottles with prescription
labels. I know some of you said you
talked to your pharmacists and they would not accommodate you. The
Transportation
Security Administration does not require pills in original containers. Read
here
about how others have carried their medications.
--Please leave valuables at home. No need to tempt fate…or pickpockets!
--Pack toiletries, medications, camera, and an extra
change of clothes in your carry-on. Also
swap a set of clothes with a rooming partner before checking luggage. At least if your luggage is delayed you will
still have your necessities and clean clothes.
--If you are checking luggage, tell them to check it all
the way to Berlin. Do NOT let the airline
attendant take your bag until you see a BERLIN tag on it.
--European hotels do not provide wash cloths. If you use them, you will need to bring your
own. Since they take up space in
luggage, consider taking
Handi-wipes and
throwing them away when used. Also try a mini
bath scrunchie that compresses
easily and is reusable.
--Each of you received an EF backpack. It is your decision whether to use it as a
carry-on or not. You are not required to
use it.
--Each of you also received 2 green shamrock fabric
strips. They are to tie onto the handles
of your 2 bags. That way we can easily
tell our group’s luggage in a hotel lobby as there most likely will be other
tour groups staying at the same hotel.
Our bags will also be easy to spot on the airline baggage carousel.
--After mailing the backpacks, I discovered I had extra
fabric. So everyone will receive an
extra narrower strip that you can tie to your day bags. If your bag was mailed, then I will give you
an extra strip when we meet on tour.
Your choice to use it or not.
--Please refer to a
previous
post on bringing and using phones on tour.
Contact your service provider to purchase a one month international plan
if it is important to you. One of our
travelers has called AT&T and purchased one month international service for
about $30. Here are the instructions she
sent: It is only for phone calls, not texts or emails. For an iPhone: upon
arrival, power the phone off and then back on.
That should reset the towers. Go
to settings > general > turn off cellular. In settings > mail, contacts, calendars
> turn off fetch new data. She said
this is to keep you from getting charged for things other than phone
calls.
--Also note in the backpack package there was an ekit
calling card with 5 free minutes to call home and let them know you are having
a great time. Directions are on the card
to order more minutes. These can be used
with any touch tone phone.
--Keep your passport on your body at all times, either in
a neck pouch or waistband pouch with the majority of your money. Make copies of your passport and put in your
carry-on luggage and leave another copy at home. You could also email a copy to yourself for
emergencies.
--I recommend a smaller “day bag” packed in your
luggage. Pull it out to use on our daily
activities to carry your camera, coin purse, water bottle, and other daily
necessities…especially for getting on and off the bus. Make it easy for yourself. I pack my day bag with plane necessities
before packing it in my carry-on. When I
board the plane, I pull this one bag from carry-on and do not need to keep
opening a larger bag. When leaving the
plane, just throw it on my shoulder with no need to repack.
--With the rainy weather the area has been having
recently, pack accordingly – a light jacket, a rain jacket and/or
umbrella. Also pack an extra pair of
shoes in case one pair gets wet. Wear
the bulkiest ones on the plane to lighten your luggage.
--Considering the prospect of rainy weather, it would be
a good idea to
Scotchgard
your luggage, backpack, day bag, jacket, and shoes to protect against the rain.
--Pack extra batteries, memory cards, and a camera you
have practiced with already.
--If you take any electrical appliance, you may also need
a
voltage
converter and the proper plug adaptor.
It seems all our countries use the same continental European adaptor – 2
round prongs. If you have a more
up-to-date device, it may be equipped with dual conversion already. Look on the product to see if it reads
“100v-240v”, then you only need a plug adaptor and not the voltage converter as
that product runs on dual voltage.
--Do not use a traditional luggage lock on your luggage
while in flight. Use a
TSA luggage lock
that can be opened by security officers with a master key and will not need to
be cut. If you do not have one, use a
twist tie to keep the zippers closed while in flight. Once we get on the ground any type of lock
may be used.
--Remember to cover shoulders and knees at religious
sites.
FLIGHTS:
--You previously received flight and hotel
information. Print it out as it is your e-ticket for boarding the
plane. The numbers beside each person’s
name are important. Take it to the
airport with you. DON’T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT!
--The St. Louis group will be flying separately and we
will all meet in Berlin for the walking tour on Tuesday afternoon. United flies out of Lambert-St. Louis from
Terminal
1, Concourse A using gates A14, A16, A18, A21. Check periodically as the gates could change
before take off. I will leave it you
ladies to decide where to meet. If you
plan on parking at the airport, you’ll find
info here. Always confirm flights with
the airport beforehand.
--The DFW group will meet at the gate inside the
terminal.
Lufthansa is
Terminal D, gates D6-D16. Check
periodically as the gate could change before take off. If you plan to park for the duration of the
trip, see this
parking
information.
--Plan to arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance of
departure time in case of unexpected delays.
You would rather be on the inside waiting than biting your nails at the
last minute hoping you don’t miss that flight on the outside of the gate.
--Refer to this site for information on
airline
baggage policies. Check
here for Lufthansa
baggage info and
here
for United baggage info. (Previously I
posted that I found United charged a check bag fee, but
here
you can add the name of departure and arrival cities, St. Louis to Berlin, and
it states the first bag is free!)
--EF cannot guarantee that all our group will be seated
together and the airline will determine seating arrangement upon flight
check-in. You are not allowed to upgrade
seats for our itinerary.
--I went online to see if one could choose a seat, but
never found a web site for that. You
might try closer to departure time and check again.
--The DFW flight to Frankfurt is about 10 hours long,
while the Frankfurt to Berlin flight is only about an hour. There is only 1-1/2 hours layover in
Frankfurt to catch the Berlin flight.
There will definitely be meals on the long flight.
--The St. Louis flight to Newark is about 2-1/2 hours
with just an hour layover to get to your Berlin flight which will be about a
9-hour flight. Meals will also be served
on your long flight.
--The St. Louis group will arrive in Berlin 3-4 hours
ahead of the DFW group. Our tour
director will meet the first group at the airport and may take them on to the
hotel unless he is helping pick up members of another tour group between our
two groups’ arrival times.
--The DFW group follows the same route home, just in
reverse. The St. Louis group is in 3
parts on the return flight: Budapest > Frankfurt > Washington DC (Dulles)
> St. Louis.
HOTELS:
--The four hotels at which we will be staying in each of
the four cities are also listed on the flight and hotel information sheet. There are links to the hotels. The first link for the hotel in Berlin does
not work. Simply do a Google search for
Ibis hotels in Berlin and you will see the one with the matching address. Three of our hotels are in the Ibis/Accor
hotel chain…
Berlin,
Krakow,
and
Budapest.
Hotel Juno is our hotel
in Prague.
--Our hotels are safe, clean, and all have private
bathrooms.
--Typically European hotels have smaller rooms. Sometimes barely enough room to walk around
the beds. Be prepared for the smaller
rooms…and rejoice if it is larger.
--It is common for European hotels not to be air
conditioned…again rejoice if you have it.
--Elevators are typically small in European hotels, so
expect long waits to get you and your luggage (sometimes that is all that will
fit!) upstairs.
--Our hotels will provide breakfast each morning. Sometimes we have had only croissants, jam, juice,
and coffee (just eat more croissants!) and sometimes we have had a feast.
--Dinners are also provided…sometimes at the hotel and
sometimes in a restaurant. Everyone will
be served the same menu. That is why if you have any food allergies, it is
important to let us know immediately. Dinners
are included in your program fee, but if at any time you wish to dine
elsewhere, feel free to do so. Dinner
and transportation there will just be on you.
--Table water in a pitcher/carafe is free with the meal,
however you are required to pay if you order bottled water, soft drinks, or
wine. The table water is safe to drink. Do not ask for iced tea…that is an American
tradition…and so is ice! Highly unusual
if we get it.
--Pack an alarm clock and use it. The hotels may have automatic wake up calls,
but my experience has been that not everybody gets them…and if they did it
was not the time they needed. You know
how much time you need to get up, get ready, and have breakfast to be ready for
the day.
WEATHER:
--If you are keeping tabs on the weather in our travel
area, you will see quite a bit of rain lately and cooler temperatures. But if
you access the weather forecast on the Weather Channel (it usually predicts
longer than a week), then there seems to be some clearing in the weather and a
bit warmer temps. The heavy raining
started north and is headed south so in 2 weeks we are hoping for better
weather.
--That said, I would still definitely plan your wardrobe
for cooler weather than we are having now.
Perhaps plan for a mix of slacks and capris.
--Also take a light jacket and/or a rain jacket just in
case, and carry an umbrella for unexpected showers.
--Although the temperatures will likely be cooler there,
you should still carry water and snacks while out on tour. Meals may be later than you might expect.
--Don’t forget the sunscreen or a hat.
MONEY:
--Our tour director suggests that we have some
currency in all
the four countries before we arrive. Since EF recommends allowing $50 per day, then
get $100 per country. Note that Germany
and Slovakia use the Euro. We most
likely will be buying lunch in Slovakia on that long bus ride through the
country.
--Also if you are near a large city, there are Travelex
Currency Exchange Stores. Use
this site to locate the
nearest store near you. You can also
place an order online or by calling 516-300-1622. Receive free shipping on orders over
$1,500. Check exchange rates at
Oanda and
XE. Travelex may cost more, but you get peace of
mind by having your money when you arrive.
One traveller who has tried this already, found that a Dallas location
had Euro on hand but had to order the other currencies. So save yourself a trip
by calling the office first to inquire about availability, fees, and exchange
rates. If ordered it should arrive in
about 2 days. The clerk also advised not to purchase the foreign currency with
a credit card because it is like a cash advance. Plan to exchange US currency for foreign
currency.
--If you cannot exchange
currency before departure, then you can do it when we arrive. ATMs are everywhere and give the best
exchange rate. Just know and protect you
PIN. Be sure to contact your ATM bank
and let them know to expect foreign transactions.
--US dollars can be exchanged
at banks, but the lines are longer, they are not as prevalent as ATMs, and they
may not be open when you need the cash.
Travellers checks are usually not recommended.
--Just before departure, check
on line for current exchange rates for each country. Make a small “cheat sheet” for corresponding
US dollar amounts that you can check to see if you are getting a good deal.
--Many places will accept US
credit cards. Before you go, call your
credit card company to report the countries you will be visiting so your credit
card company does not put a hold on your account.
--We will be tipping our tour director and bus driver at
the end of our tour. EF recommends
$6/day for tour director and $3/day for bus driver. We will spend 9 days with each. Please carry these in US dollars and
separated $54 and $27. Arrange for some
small bills; we have had 2 different bus drivers before and needed to split our
tip money between them.
--It is also customary to tip a local guide $1-$2 in
local currency for a job well done, so keep some coins handy. Your choice to tip is based on your
experience on the tour.
--It is likely that we will encounter pay toilets on our
trip, so keep some small coins for that.
There may be an attendant at the door and a sign for payment.
--Also if you use any type of transportation on your free
time, then you will need to pay for that.
WHAT ELSE?
--Be reading up on the places we will go, so that when
you see and hear about them you will have a deeper appreciation for the
visit.
--If you have bulky guidebooks, consider tearing out just
the pages you will need (Rick Steves recommends this, but as a retired
librarian I still cringe when I read it!) or simply copy the pages you need
instead of carrying the entire book…especially since we will be in 4 major
cities.
