Amsterdam Paris London Manchester

A thread by @hafizsouzaaa

#BpEurope

Okay this was a budget trip i planned involving 7 people. It involves 3 countries (4 cities as mentioned above) within 10 days.

Sebagai penanda, the trip started from Madrid & ended in Madrid.

If ada yang nak itinerary, boleh dm juga

Okay let's start. I think this one i wanna do an itinerary style alright? I try to fill in the budgets as well.

The trip is actually planned for my friend who came over to Europe to see us. Since it was his first time in Europe, i wanna give him the typical European experience.

Like i mentioned before this, the trip started from Madrid, sebab my friend wanna visit Madrid first.

Before the trip started, i encountered macam macam masalah.

1. Airbnb for both London & Amsterdam was cancelled by hosts
2. Wrongly booked flight

But he had fun

Day 1:

Route: Madrid-Amsterdam
By: flight (Air Europa)
Fare: RM222 (Lite) & RM340 (Economy)

We took a later flight from Madrid, as the other flight was at 7 in the morning. The flight took around 2 hours & 30 mins.

We reached Schipol around 6pm.

Here in Schiphol, make sure ambil gambar dekat sini ye. The iconic I Amsterdam sign. Yang lain dah takde.

If you are planning to go around Amsterdam & its nearby region, i recommend you purchase the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket. Public transport here is expensive.

I choose the 2 day pass, sebab cukup je for our 3 days there. Plus, dia start count the days from first check in

Cost: 28€

This one jimat gila sebab you can travel everywhere in this map with it, even the famous trams at Amsterdam City.

We stayed in a very quiet town called Castricum. It's actually further away from the center but it's nearer to Zaanse Schans. This was booked the night before the flight sebab the previous booking was cancelled.

Cost: RM1,050.

Day 2:

Places we visit: Zaanse Schans & Amsterdam City

We took the train to Zaanse Schans, bandar windmill.

This is optional, but i think tak sah kot for me if tak visit Zaanse Schans. Plus, this was my 2nd time there, so memang plan nak pergi after 14 years.

Datang sini kena lah ambil gambar background windmill. It was quite chilly & tourist ramai

The entrance to the town is free but some museums kena bayar. Up to korang if nak masuk or not.

One of the places that is free is the Clog Workshop. Here dia akan tunjuk how they make the clogs. You can also buy as souvenirs. Just a reminder, it's a bit expensive if you are in a budget.

Tak sah kalau tak ambil gambar dekat depan Clog Workshop ni. Gambar tu senget sebab kitorang mimtak Moroccan tourist ambik kan. I guess tu cara diorang kot

You can also visit the cheese museum. It's free as well. They provide free cheese tasting, kenyang weh

Nak beli cheese pon boleh. Tak mur mur lah haha.

Also, near the entrance of the cheese museum, ada kedai tu jual stroop waffels, make sure you try that!!

Dap

Kena pergi okay Zaanse Schans. It's beautiful

Also, if you happen to visit Amsterdam during spring, jangan lupa pergi Keukenhof, boleh tengok Tulips festival. A reminder though, Amsterdam in spring is EXPENSIVE. Word of advice

Next we head to Amsterdam city. Also by train.

We didn't roam that much sebab dah malam. Jalan jalan tengok permandangan. We had dinner here at a restaurant called Wok to Walk. Halal chinese takeaway style.

The night photos i took that night.

Day 3:

Places we visit: Amsterdam City

The next day, we checked out from the airbnb, we head to town, berhenti kat Amsterdam Centraal nak store baggage. For those who travel backpacking style, boleh lah angkut bag memana. If you don't, Amsterdam Centraal ada lockers.

The lockers cost around 7€ for small, 10€ for large. Boleh tahan for 24 hours. Semua pakai card je, just put the bags in & tap with your card. Easy!

First stop was Museumplein. This is where the famous museums are locsted, including the Rijksmuseum. We took the tram from Amsterdam Centraal to Museumplein. Didn't enter though, sebab under budget haha.

A food you should try would be the Oliebollen, it's basically donut but in the shape of a ball. Sedap weh, makan time sejuk sejuk

Another iconic Amsterdam food would be the Herring. It's just cured fish on a sandwich.

Oh i forgot, another Amsterdam favourite, the Amsterdam fries

Kalau nak pergi try, make sure only to go to Vleminckx & try their Oorlog sauce, a combination of mayo & satay sauce

While we are there, rugi kalau tak pergi naik canal cruise. Do you know, Amsterdam canals are a UNESCO site? So if you have time there, make sure pergi.

Cost: RM35/person for 1 hour cruise

TIP: Anywhere in the world, if you happen to be interested in purchasing tickets to any activities, make sure you go buy it from Klook.

Klook ni sangat reliable, cheaper than you pay at the counter.

An app for the traveller.

Next is Bloomenmarkt. This is one of the biggest flower market in Europe.

TIP: If you wanna buy souvenirs, beli kat sini. Murah gila! Tapi jangan beli tanaman ganja pulak Kan ada yang kena tahan dekat airport.

At night, we visited two places. The first is Dam Square. Can take photos cantik cantik here!

The second would be the infamous Red Light District

Yang tak kuat iman tu jangan lah pergi ye, bogel bogel banyak

TIP: Jangan ambil gambar gegirls kat sana ye kalau taknak kena pukul or kena maki. You've been warned.

Overall: Amsterdam is safe place to visit, alot of activities & sightseeing you can do, food to try. Recommended for you to come & spend few days here.

But just beware of pickpockets, major European cities ni pickpocket dia menjadi jadi.

Amsterdam 10/10

Route: Amsterdam-Paris
By: bus (flixbus)
Fare: RM90

We took a late bus (11.50 pm) from Amsterdam Sloterdijk, arriving at Paris Bercy Seine. The bus trip took around 7 hours. We arrive Paris at 7.15 am. The bus sangat selesa & quite spacious. As always beli through Omio ye.

Day 4:

Paris

Ok so the airbnb that we stayed in is located outside of Paris, in the town of Houilles. Still can reach central Paris in less than 15 minutes.

It can fit in 8 people, ada 3 bedrooms tapi 1 bathroom je

Cost: RM840/night

Here, we decided to take the Paris Visite pass because we planned a trip to Disneyland. If you are planning to travel within central Paris, you can opt for Mobilis, it's slightly cheaper.

1. Mobilis
2. Paris Visite

We chose the 2-day Paris Visite pass for 38.50€. To compare, a single RER (train) ticket to Disneyland cost almost 8€/one way. So just imagine how much you're gonna save.

Like i mentioned before, if you happen to visit Disneyland or Versailles, buy the Paris Visite pass.

Continue with the places.

1. Bir Hakiem Bridge.

Kat Paris ni ada banyak viewing spots for Eiffel Tower, this bridge is one of them. If you happen to watch Inception, this bridge is in one of the scenes in the movie.

2. Trocadero

One of the best Eiffel Tower viewing spots.

3. Eiffel Tower

Tak sah tak pergi Paris kalau tak singgah Eiffel Tower. As much as it is overated, kena lah pergi, an icon kot.

Now, dah kena scan bags & body to enter. Fuh.

If nak naik atas, kena bayar ye. We didn't as we had so little time.

4. Museu de Lourve

This one also Paris icon. It's an art gallery & this is where the famous Mona Lisa painting is being displayed. As always, masuk kena bayar.

TIP: If you happen to be there on the first Saturday of any month, it's free from 6pm - 9.45pm. Expect huge crowds!

5. Arc de Triomphe

Paris sure has alot of iconic buildings hahahaha.

We didn't really visited any other main attractions as we had only 1 day to cover + it was raining. So no Notre Dame, no Montparnasse, no Sacre Couer. But if you do have time, please go check it out!

6. Parc des Princes

We football fan kena lah pergi

7. Galeries Lafayette

This one is more for shopping afficianados. But night scene here is beautiful!

Day 5:

DISNEYLAND PARIS!

Before we head to disneyland, we check out from our airbnbs, head towards Gare de Nord, store our bags there. Why? Sebab Disneyland's storage is quite expensive + we don't wanna carry our bags all the way to Disneyland.

Because we still have to catch a flight after that. We decided to book a spot for storage through Luggage Hero. Just pick a location, state how many bags & what time to send & collect.

TIP: Find a place which is near to a metro station, so tak payah nak book taxi or anything.

The train ride to Disneyland takes around 1 hour. Get some sleep in the train haha.

TIP: Make sure to get some food prepared before entering, keropok, sandwich, donut. Just nak bagitahu, kat dalam mahal nak mampos

Oh don't forget water bottle, dalam boleh refill air

So sampai lah kita di Disneyland. The reason i come here is because i wanna return back after 14 years

Disneyland opens at 10 am, come as early as you can.

I love themeparks

Again nak mention, nak beli ticket entrance, please buy it at Klook, jimat dalam RM20-RM30 per person. Not even kidding. Klook sometimes kasi discounts on top of discounts.

There are various tickets you can choose from. We chose the 1 day 2 park off peak ticket.

Cost: RM315

TIP: Each ticket will get you FASTPASS. Fastpass ni function dia so you can book your time slot for selected rides, meaning you can book it beforehand & ride at a selected time without queuing. Cool kan? The catch is, you can only use it once per hour.

Some of the rides you can naik here. It was rainy that day, hence the dark skies & clouds.

Some more rides

We went there during Christmas season, so ada Christmas parade!

I look damn tired after all the travelling + tidur 3 jam je

Malam tu ada fireworks performance. Sumpah cantik gila, nak menangis

You can view it here -->

Ni gambar Sleeping Beauty castle at night

After disneyland, malam tu we visit Eiffel Tower again for some night photography before heading back to the luggage storage, get our backs & head to the CDG airport.

Overall, Paris is a nice city to visit in your typical European trip. But if you happen to have other cities in your plan, please choose the others.

Kat sini quite kotor, i don't even know where the statement "Paris City of Love" came from, more like a City of Smelly Streets

Don't get me wrong, Paris is a must visit for first timers. But 1-2 hari je max. Jangan lelama. If nak make it interesting, put in Disneyland & Versailles so takdelah bosan sangat kat Paris ni hahaha.

Also, Paris ni ibu kota pickpocket. So jaga your bags. Been there

So basically in between Paris & UK ni ada kisah dia, sangat kelakar, sangat stress but one hell of an experience. Should i tell the story? Or should i stick only to the itinerary?

Okay so basically i booked a flight to London at 6am the next day. So after dah pusing pusing jalan Eiffel Tower, we head to back to get our bags at Gare De Lyon. Ada complications where one of us tertinggal phone dekat airbnb. So we sampai at the luggage storage at 11.50 pm.

After dah settle, we took the bags & then baru perasan, metro operates until 12 je

So malam tu kitorang dah buntu nak pergi airport camana. We googled & found out that there is actually a night bus to go there. Bas dah lah tak selesa

So we took that bus, 2 jam jugak lah dari Gare de Lyon nak sampai CDG. Yang kelakarnya, bila dah sampai airport, keluarkan bag semua, nak berjalan, driver bus tu panggil, dia kata "boy, we haven't arrived yet!" HAHAHA

Rupanya tu terminal cargo.

Malu ya Allah. Semua naik balik, semua cranky

Bila dah sampai airport, semua marah

Kat airport, tidur kat kerusi besi yang tak selesa for 3 hours, menunggu nak check in

Tu lah alkisahnya.

Day 6

Route: Paris-London
By: flight (Vueling)
Fare: RM 185 (Basic) & RM 255 (Optima)

We took an early flight (6.55am) from CDG, arriving at Gatwick Airport at 7 am, a 1 hour flight.

We arrived there too early & we couldn't enter the airbnb sebab check in time is at 10am.

Masing masing barai, lepak kat Costa Coffee, minum kopi

This was actually my first time in London, so i was quite excited but tired at the same time.

In order for you to ride the Underground Metro or Tube as they fondly known as, you don't need to buy the Oyster Card, just pakai your debit/credit card.

London Underground ni quite confusing for me as it involves alot of zones + lines.

Price is differ from each zone i guess. Anybody who is a London expert can explain it properly than me?

I learned that the maximum charge for my trip was 8£

What that means is that after multiple trips & my fare is accumulated to 8£, the following trips would not be charge. It has an 8£ cut off fare.

I hope you understand what i'm saying I had trouble with this.

So the house that i booked was in Finsbury Park, near Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

Rumah tu MashaAllah kecik

Imagine 8 orang nak duduk situ.

Dah lah tipu owner rumah sebab bagitahu 7 je (rumah tu max 7 orang, dah desperate, original airbnb cancelled last minute)

Dah lah mahal

Cost: RM1,233 for 2 nights

London semua benda mahal. For someone who wanted to budget their trip, London is not my kind of place.

We slept the whole day, semua kepenatan. Malam tu ingatkan nak singgah tengok Emirates tapi Emirates ada match & we are walking, the fans baru keluar stadium. Lol Arsenal kalah.

Day 7

LONDON STARTS

1. Buckingham Palace

Kitorang had the chance to experience the Changing of Guards ceremony.

Ceremony starts usually at 11 am. The schedule:
1. Daily (June-July)
2. Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sundays (August-May)

2. London Bridge & London Eye

We roam around this area, taking photos like a typical tourist

The scary part was that, when we were there, ada terrorist attack that happen. Boleh baca bawah tu.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-50594810

3. Big Ben

Sedih Big Ben tengah renovate when we're there.

So mampu ambil gambar dengan Little Ben.

4. Hyde Park

Time tu Hyde Park ada Winter Wonderland. Masuk je lah, benda free. Tried this mini pancakes, sedap

While we were there, kena singgah the lake & feed those swans, goose & birds.

After dah penat berjalan, we went to Malaysia hall sebab nak makan

London ni dah macam kesukaan orang Malaysia. Makan nasi berlauk 7£ hahaha ya Allah, takpe layankan aje.

5. Picadilly Circus

Ni shopping district, we were there during Black Friday. Ya tuhan ramainya

6. Stamford Bridge

The best London team in town

We also had fish & chips near the stadium. Dap

I did miss alot of things in London sebab tak sempat nak pusing, we were all tired. Masing masing nak rush buat itu ini. Would visit again, but i have to prepare more money.

Overall, a good city to visit, better than Paris. But still couldn't beat Amsterdam (Sorry Londoners)

Day 8

Route: London-Manchester
By: bus (National Express)
Fare: RM55

We took an afternoon bus (12 pm) from London Victoria station, arriving Manchester at 4.40 pm.

When we arrive there, the first thing kitorang buat, was to find food sebab masing masing kebulur. Near the Manchester coach station, Manchester Arndale shopping mall is just a few minutes to walk.

Sini, KFC, McD, Pizza Hut semua halal So we bought KFC

So the airbnb in Manchester is located in Stockport, around 20-25 minutes away from the city center.

Rumah ni besar cuma jalan kat luar cobblestone so siapa bawa beg tarik, all the best

Cost: RM942/2 nights

Dekat sini, it is similar to London, don't have to purchase any cards, just use your debit/credit card & off we go. We have trams, busses & trains.

For those yang nak jaga budget, boleh naik free bus around town, covers most tourist spots.

Day 9

MANCHESTER

1. The John Rylands Library

Tempat untuk menghabiskan masa sebelum the main agenda of this destination.

Btw, the library looks something out of Harry Potter

2. Old Trafford

We end the European journey to visit the Theatre of Dreams.

As a diehard Man Utd fan, i have always dreamed of visiting here & watching them play with my own eyes.

That dreams was fulfilled.

If you happen to be going there to watch a match, first you have to register as an official Man Utd member. For me, i did mine with @MUFC_Malaysia.

Kalau tak jadi official member, you cannot watch a match.

Bought tickets to a seating area near the away fans The away fans were loud.

Oh the match ended 2-2

Overall, Manchester is a lovely towm, abit boring as compared to London, our only main aim to visit there was to experience a Man Utd match at Old Trafford.

It was a special moment for me.

Bucketlist

Day 10

Return back to Madrid

Route: Manchester-Madrid
By: flight (Ryan Air)
Fare: RM84 (Standard) & RM275 (Plus)

We took an evening flight (5.25 pm), arriving Barajas at 9.05 pm. What to expect for a price that low, cabin dia kecik, the service was bad

But alhamdulillah we arrived Madrid safe & sound. So tamatlah Euro journey kitorang. The next day kitorang ada class, masing masing barai

It's the end of our Euro journey for this time. If anyone wanna share some pics, please do so, so i can retweet it hehehe. Jangan lupa bubuh --> #BpEurope

I apologize for that Paris statement. I have been to Paris before this, a 2 week trip with my family. I had a lovely time there, i even visited most of the places you guys mentioned, even Lourve.

Cuma for this particular trip, i did mention that my friend was the one visiting.

So i had to cramp as much as i can, time & money restrictions also applies. So it's true, you could spend week in each Euro country & you still have alot of things you can do.

But then again, i planned that trip according to their interest.

So i apologize again for saying that. As someone who likes travelling, no place is too short to visit. Thank you again for that comment.

Travel to see the beauty of the world, alright? Thanks for reading. Selamat membaca!

-End of Thread