I deliberated for many months if I should go Europe on a tour package with ASA or backpack instead. Eventually, I chose to backpack as I wanted to cover more grounds in a city. The typical tour package only brings you to the famous sights and it is a touch & go affair, which I absolutely hate.
Lessons learnt in my planning for Europe:
1) price of air-tickets increase closer to the date. It takes only 1 night for prices to jack up!
2) price of tour packages also increase closer to the date
3) with the above 2 points, pls plan holidays in advance
4) Swiss Pass goes a long way in Switzerland. Free museum passes & transport. It costs a huge bomb if you were to get point-to-point tickets there
5) Never get the Euro rail pass for Italy. I was cursing & swearing as I still had to wait in line to reserve tickets for the fast trains in Italy. Reservations are mandatory. Point-to-point tickets are the way to go. You need not queue & you can just pay at the self-service machine.
6) Stay in the youth hostels in Switzerland. It is cheap & well equipped with kitchens.
7) The walking distance from the train to hostel may be only 10 min in the guidebooks. But it actually takes 15-20 min when you walk! Bear in mind that the writer is an angmoh & has longer legs. Also, the books will not advise you that you have to walk up a hill! Although it is only 5-10 min more, time passes slowly when you have a 20 kg backpack.
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