[Payaniga]

The Europe trip was always in our minds as a wishlist but it took more than 10 years to execute. When the right time arrived, my wife and I started planning for the same. There were many questions like should we go on our own or through a tour operator, should it be a customized trip or a group tour etc. We spent a lot of time researching for whatever information available so that we can make a decision. Finally we decided to go on a group tour with Kesari Tours. In this post, I’ll share the information on what to expect in a group tour and how was our experience with Kesari and of course on the places we visited. As far as places are concerned, I’ll try to share more pictures with less description. I hope this will provide enough information for anyone who is looking for a similar tour.

The first thing we wanted to decide was - whether to go on our own or through a tour operator. If we have to go on our own, we have to do a lot of planning - for places, tickets, commute, hotels, restaurants etc. Since we have never been to Europe, everything was new and to add to it - the languages are different. Considering these aspects, we decided to go with a tour operator.

The next decision was - which tour operator. We considered Kesari Tours, SOTC, and a few more. We went through a lot of reviews available on various sites. Of course there were both positive and negative reviews for each of these operators. Out of these, Kesari had more positive feedback. To add to it, my cousin and his wife had gone to Europe through Kesari. They provided detailed and valuable information about Kesari tours and their experience. These helped us in taking a decision to go with Kesari Tours.

Like any other operator, Kesari has a variety of tours - varies on places covered and duration. You need to pick the one suits best. Every tour is published on their website with a complete itinerary. I strongly suggest going through the itinerary to get the feeling of how tight/ free the tour will be. This is an important factor before you decide to choose a tour. I’ll explain further below why this is important. We chose a 12-days package which is called “P7 - Images of Europe economy”. This package covers western parts of Europe.

Kesari takes care of everything. We only need to visit their office a few times and of course visit the visa office twice (one for UK visa and the second time for Schengen visa). Kesari takes care of flight booking, visa appointment, local transport in Europe, monuments tickets, local guide (wherever required), hotels booking, restaurant booking for lunch and dinner, sticking to the time (itinerary) and of course most importantly a tour manager who will be with us all the time.

What to expect

Itinerary - 12 days for Europe means it covers some major places across multiple countries (9-10 countries in our case). As I mentioned before, we went through the itinerary in detail. We also calculated driving distance between cities to understand the amount of road travel. This helped us a lot to get the expectation clear on travel. The tour manager sticks to the itinerary.

This group tour is not for you:

• If you are looking for a relaxed tour
• If you are looking for a flexible itinerary
• If you can’t do a lot of walking (on an average we did 11,500 steps daily with 18,500 steps the highest in Rome)

Timings - Kesari follows what they call the 6-7-8 pattern. Get up at 6 am, breakfast at 7 and then start your day at 8. Normally, we’ll be back to Hotel by 7ish and then have dinner at 8 pm. We do get sufficient time for sleep and that’s very important. We made sure that we get at least 7 hours of sleep, so that we’ll be fresh for next day sight-seeing.

Places - All the places were covered as per itinerary. In a few places, we felt the time given was not sufficient. In other places such as the Leaning tower of Pisa, Colosseum etc we had enough time. Of course, this “enough” time is very subjective. What I consider as enough may not be enough for someone else. In a group tour, this factor needs to be considered. In fact, when we went for a tour in Sikkim, it was a customized tour package exclusively made for us. We had liberty to stay in a particular place for as much time as we wanted. We will not have this luxury in the group tour. Also, we went to Europe in September. It turns out, the crowd in Sep was less compared to months like April, May and June. This also matters. The more crowd, the longer the queue in places like Eiffel Tower etc.

Extra Places - The tour manager provided an option to visit additional places (which were not there in itinerary) with whatever actual cost. We chose the Seine river cruise in Paris, Paris by night and Vatican city.

Shopping - Time was given for shopping in specific places. For instance, we got time in a Cuckoo factory in Germany, Lucerne (Switzerland), Swarovski crystal world in Austria, Venice (Italy), and Rome (Italy). In other places like Pisa and Paris, we had very limited time. Our first preference was sight-seeing and then shopping. So we planned our time accordingly.

Food - We got Indian food for lunch and dinner, so there is no problem here (except that we got maida made roti which was not good to eat continuously for 12 days). However, we get enough to fill up our stomach. As for breakfast, we got English breakfast in London and Continental breakfast in other places which primarily includes bread, croissant, cereals, fruits and coffee. For non-vegetarians, there are a few more options. Only in Switzerland, we got South Indian breakfast because the hotel where we stayed had an Indian restaurant. We also carried MTR ready to eat dishes such as Upma, Avalakki uppittu, Shavige bath, Bisibele bath which were very handy for us when we got bored of eating continental breakfast.

Commute - A bus was arranged to travel in Europe. Only from London to Paris we traveled by Eurostar train and the rest was by bus. The bus driver is called Captain and he/she will help in loading/unloading the luggage from the bus. The roads are very good so you don’t feel tired during road travel. The seats will be allotted on a first come first serve basis, so one needs to sit in the allotted seat only.

Hotels - The hotels booked were good. Every hotel had lifts so as long as you have wheeled luggages you can carry your luggage without much problem. There are no helpers in hotels, so we need to carry our luggages from the bus to the rooms and vice-versa.

Washrooms - The tour manager stopped the bus for loo breaks. He tried to stop wherever we could use toilets for free. In only a few places, we had to pay 1 Euro per head to use the toilet.

Drinking water - We can use hotel tap water for drinking. So we don’t need to worry about drinking water. We just need to carry bottles and fill up wherever possible.

Group - It’s a group tour. In our case, we had 18 families (approx 36 people). As the tour progressed, we got to know each other and we also had some fun activities in the bus.

Tour Manager - An important factor in the trip is the tour manager. He’ll be our guide and caretaker for the entire tour. Luckily we got Mr. Raj Salvi as our tour manager. He’s one of the most experienced people in this field and he managed very well. He talked about the places we are visiting, it’s historical importance, do’s and don’ts during the trip, extra caution to be taken care especially in France and Italy (to be careful from pickpockets), making sure that trip is happening on time, coordinating with hotels and restaurants to ensure food is ready by the time we reach the place, coordinating with bus driver for timely pickup and drop, and a lot more. This is the person who ensures that we have a smooth travel experience.

Complimentary Items - Kesari provides complimentary items for each traveler such as Universal Adaptor, Shoulder bag, passport pouch, cap, stroller, wet issue paper, electric kettle, poncho and snacks hamper. Only adapter and poncho are per family and the rest is for each person. The snacks hamper includes a variety of snacks (sweets, salty and spicy). These snacks come handy when we are traveling from one country to another, or whenever we feel hungry.

Overall we had a wonderful experience with Kesari tours and we thoroughly enjoyed this trip. We cherish this experience for a long time, for sure. We express our sincere thanks to the team Kesari (specifically Ms Steffi from Sales team, Mr Vinod from Visa team and Ms Divya from Airline booking team), and Mr. Raj for his excellent guidance and help during entire trip. Do we prefer Kesari for any future tour? Yes, if we have to go for a group tour!

I'll share the photos in the order of our visit.

[Payaniga]

London, United Kingdom

London street



Double-decker bus



London St Pancras International Railway Station - from this station we took Eurostar train to Paris. Just like airport, we need to scan the luggages and go through immigration check.



London Waterloo Station, the busiest railway station in UK.



Tower bridge, a bascule and suspension bridge. It crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London. It is one of the major landmarks in London and sometimes confused with London Bridge.



221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.



Sherlock Holmes statue



Big Ben, a nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style.



Buckingham Palace, a royal residence in London and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. There are 775 rooms, including 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, 52 principal bedrooms and 19 state rooms. It also has a post office, cinema, swimming pool, doctor's surgery, and jeweler's workshop.





Changing the Guard, a ceremony in the Buckingham Palace where detachment of the Old Guard forms up in the Palace forecourt and is inspected. Later, the St James’s Palace detachment enters the forecourt of Buckingham Palace through the South Centre gate and takes up position beside the Buckingham Palace detachment on the South side of the forecourt.



The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom.



There are 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules (like the one shown below). Each capsule holds up to 25 people who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided. The wheel rotates at about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. It does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level.



From an Eye capsule, we get to see panoramic view of London city including prominent structures such as Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, Waterloo railway station, Thames River and many more.






Paris, France

London to Paris in high-speed Eurostar train which travels up to the speed of 300km/hr.



The Arc de Triomphe - to honor those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.



Tomb of Napoleon I



The Eiffel Tower, a wrought-iron lattice tower. Constructed from 1887, it is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.



View from Eiffel Tower. The tower has three levels for visitors. We visited the 3rd level and got a panaromic view of Paris.





River Seine cruise where one gets to see iconic Paris landmarks.





Night view of The Eiffel Tower - illumination and sparkle light show

[Payaniga]

Brussels, Belgium

Brussels streets





The Grand-Place or "Grand Square" is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by opulent Baroque guildhalls of the former Guilds of Brussels and two larger edifices; the city's Flamboyant Town Hall, and the neo-Gothic King's House or Bread House building.







Manneken Pis, a landmark 55.5 cm (21.9 in) bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin.



The Atomium, a landmark modernist building in Brussels, originally constructed as the centerpiece of the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The Atomium stands 102 meters (335 ft) tall, making it one of the tallest structures in Belgium.



Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam city - historic canals, dedicated cycle paths, trams and buildings.













Madurodam is a miniature park and tourist attraction in The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large developments. It is named after George Maduro, a Dutch law student from Curaçao who fought the Nazi occupation forces. A must see place where entire city is created with houses, parks, office buildings, airport, train stations, power plant, shipping yard and many more.







Germany

Cologne Cathedral - the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe. It is Germany's one of the most visited landmarks, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day.





The black forest cuckoo factory in Titisee, which embodies native European bird with pendulum regulated clocks often known as cuckoo clocks.



Yummy Black forest cake in Black forest region!



Houses in a typical Cuckoo clock shape

[Payaniga]

Switzerland

The Rhine falls is a waterfall located on the High Rhine in Switzerland. There are boat tours to the Rhine Falls' rock.







The Kapellbrücke or Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the river Reuss diagonally in the city of Lucerne.





Beautiful Switzerland







At Engelberg - all set to start climbing Titlis mountain in a cable car.



First cable car takes us to the second stage.







To reach the next stage, we need to take rotating cable car 'Titlis Rotair'.









Glacier Cave



The Titlis Cliff Walk is a pedestrian bridge along the cliff of Mount Titlis in the Swiss Alps. Built at around 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level, it is believed to be the highest-elevation suspension bridge in Europe.



Ice Flyer ride. The experience was awesome.



The Lion Monument or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock relief in Lucerne, Switzerland and it commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution.





Swiss - Some more beautiful landscapes.

[Payaniga]

Liechtenstein - 6th smallest nation in the world

Beautiful city Vaduz, capital of Liechtenstein.









Austria

The Alps Mountain range in Austria offers stunning landscapes and picturesque countryside views.











Swarovski Crystal World Museum in Wattens, Austria is an experience attraction created by André Heller for the crystal glass manufacturer Swarovski, consisting of a park, art museum, retail area, and restaurant. It's a different world inside!!! Amazing display of crystal arts.









Old Town of Innsbruck





Katzung House, Innsbruck - The outstanding feature of this 15th century Late Gothic townhouse is its oriel windows.



Golden Roof is a landmark structure located in the Old Town of Innsbruck. Completed in 1500, the roof was decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles.



Innsbruck Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. James is an 18th century Baroque cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Innsbruck in the city of Innsbruck, dedicated to the apostle Saint James, son of Zebedee.

[Payaniga]

Venice, Italy

Going to Venice island in a boat.





This prominent, bronze monument was created in 1887 to honor the Kingdom of Italy's first king.



Piazza San Marco or St Mark's Square is the principal public square of Venice, Italy. One can see St Mark's Basilica, St Mark's Campanile - the bell tower, St Mark's Clocktower and buildings with shops and restaurants.







The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.



Venice gondola ride through narrow canals of Venice.





The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice.



Pisa, Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unstable foundation.



The Pisa Baptistery of St. John.



Piazza del Duomo or The Piazza dei Miracoli recognized as an important center of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world.

[Payaniga]

Rome, Italy

Ruins of Ancient Rome











The place where Julius Caesar was killed.



Monuments of Rome





Today's Rome city





Ancient structure and today's building co-exist!



The Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.



The magnificent Colosseum, an elliptical amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome is still the largest standing amphitheater in the world, despite its age. Despite ruined by earthquakes and stone robbers, the Colosseum is still a renowned symbol of Imperial Rome and was listed as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.



Vatican City, the smallest country in the world and also home to the Pope.

Border of Rome and Vatican City.



Inside Vatican City.













The Pontifical Swiss Guard, an armed force and honor guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City.


End of this travelogue. Thanks for reading.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[shankar.balan]

Well done! Stress free travel. Lots of time to see the sights. Makes good sense to sit in the bus and listen to the commentary and learn. This is indeed a very good option for Travellers and promotes the democratisation of Travel as a Hobby. Only thing is that all these visas and air tickets these days have become rather expensive for us Indians considering our currency conversion rate.

[mobike008]

That must have been a jam packed itenary.

9-10 countries in 12 days seems quite unrealistic.

I can only imagine the pressure of the tour company and on tourists to move 36 people from one location to another within the stipulated timeframe (a few hours in each location).

What is the final feedback? Is it worth cramming 10 countries in 12 days or you wish it was less countries but, a more relaxing experience?

How much was the cost? Btw, nice pictures of the trip.

[ags82]

Fantastic photos and quite a busy itenary. I was planning for a Europe trip but a shorter and relaxed one but this is helpful. What is the total cost including airfare?

[microaubin]

I did the same tour last year with another group and it was fantastic. Met some amazing group of people and we still keep in touch through whatsapp.

Since Europe is easy to travel by road, 10 countries in 12 days is not a big deal at all. Plus the pleasant cold weather doesn't make you feel tired like in countries with hot climate.

I have done such group tours before with an option of extending the stay by a week or so to catch up with friends and relatives and to do some extra sightseeing and I really prefer this option

[Vijay T]

Very crisp yet detailed travelogue.

You got excellent weather throughout your tour.A rather rare event nowadays anywhere in the world.

Very nice photos highlighting all the important landmarks of the tour minus snow capped peaks.

A very meticulously chronicled tour diary with apt description of monuments giving a very useful information to future traveller.

[chandrda]

Nice pictures and weather seems to be excellent through out.

Organized package tours are the best, if one is not sure about navigating through Europe or if planning to cover multiple countries.

I simply recommend these tours to my friends and relatives as you can concentrate on the place and not worry about getting there, accommodation or the food.

Personally, I would have skipped UK and added few more destination in Europe. UK would be a separate Package.

Regards

[PreludeSH]

Would be nice to know the cost and also itinerary day wise and places. Wonder if same can be done thorugh driving (except UK) with few more days added. Good to cover so many places and great pics. thanks.