Europe Package Tour - My Experience with MakeMyTrip
Are you planning to visit Europe and like to stay at an affordable price? Find out more about my experience on Europe package tour with MakeMyTrip.
Just returned after 10 days Europe Package Tour arranged by Make My trip Company, covering, Paris (France), Amsterdam (Netherland), Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Munich (Germany) and Zurich (Switzerland). This was the first trip to Europe along with my family of Four. I Would like to share my experience.Hotels
There are no fixed standards for the hotel. I was surprised to know that one hotel provided to me at Massey Paris was a four star. The room was so small like less than two feet of space on either side of the bed. No nightstand. Only a small table with no drawer on one side of the bed. It was four-star by their standard. None of the Other hotels which were called four-star met the standards of a three-star hotel in India. Some of them were worse than even one star. Hotel at Zurich provided no electric kettle and it was not even air-conditioned, still, it was called four-star.
Moreover, they don't provide anything free like a water bottle. Even toiletries are also not provided, only a bath gel bottle is fixed near the shower and wash basin. Linen is clean though. There is no one to carry your luggage, no trolley, you have to do it yourself. In one hotel there was a Swimming pool, it charged 8 Euros for 90 Mins. You take water from the toilet or spend about 3 euros for a bottle of one liter. Bus Travel
We are under the wrong impression that its Fast in Europe. Although, Road speed is about 100 km per hour We could not cover the distance of more than 60 km per hour due to breaks are taken by the driver. Moreover, the bus provided to us was also very bad. It was a 55- seater bus with normal length, resulting in cramped seats. We in India, expect at least Volvo type bus. So, felt cheated. Every day, you have to spend the minimum of 7 hours on the bus. One day it was 13 hours for a distance of 600 km, another day 7 hours for a distance of 400 km.
Breaks taken by the driver is every two hour. Which is for 15 mins but takes 30 minutes. They misguide that every two hours, a break is mandatory, actually, it's 45 min break after 4.5 hours. That way the driver and tour manager enjoy free food at the cost of your time and money. Wash Room Use
They charge for washroom usage that could be 50 cents to 2 euros. Sometimes you can use the washroom usage slip in buying food from that store. I found that on highways there are properly built parking areas where washrooms were free, but they don't stop there, reasons you may know. In Lucerne Switzerland, I came across a public toilet, which was worse than in India. Unethical Business
The travel Company does all unethical. They quote you some airline but book you for another cheap airline. All the hotels given in quotation are changed arbitrarily. They tell you that group size will be 35 but actually it's 53. Sightseeing
I came to know of a new term in sightseeing called panoramic view. You are sitting in your bus, they hire one local person, who is telling you about the buildings you are passing by. You don't get down from the bus, in an hour or so they will cover the city and that is their local sightseeing. The cities I covered were small cities, some of them had the population of 3-4 lac only. Thereafter, they will leave the group for an hour on the main square of the city.
In my total 10 days trip, if I leave Disneyland and Mount Titlis, for which I paid extra, total sightseeing was
Rest of the time was wasted in traveling or Indian dinner.Indian Dinner
They go for Indian restaurant which may involve traveling time of 30 min to one hour. For me the food was no issue, it was generally, good. But the problem is traveling between the cities you spend 8-10 hours then at 7 pm they directly go to a restaurant. So you have to take dinner without freshening up and at 7 pm it's not evening. Sunset time is 9.30 pm or so.Breakfast
You get continental breakfast. Generally, there is a rush at 8 o'clock. Sometimes, you have to struggle to get a table for your family. In breakfast, you get Yoghurt, tinned fruits sometimes fresh fruits also, the bread of 2-3 types, pastry, boiled egg, butter, ham, beef and cheese, tea coffee etc. Boiled potato and beans sometimes. Cornflakes always. Tea coffee and juice always. Sometimes, there is no toaster even. No Indian dish no omelette.Shopping
Although, it's very costly there, but the more important thing is you don't get time for shopping. In one hour it's very difficult. For chocolates we got the best price at Luscern, we visited after Mt. Titlis. There is a supermarket below one station quite near to the wooden bridge. Timing
Standard departure checks out time are 9 in morning. Breakfast at 8. Dinner at 7 and check in at 9 PM. It's because the driver is not permitted to drive more than 12 hours and he needs a continuous rest of 11 hours. He and the tour manager get separate rooms at the same hotel. Sometimes, you feel that driver is much more important than the group and the tour manager is concerned about the driver only and not the group.Electric Adapter
Our simple two pin plug works well there. It should be plain and thin, basic type. Otherwise, carry an adapter. The electric kettle was available at all hotels except one at Zurich.
Wow! This looks incredible post and information. These are really very best things you shared and beautiful pictures you capture. I would love to go there.