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Originally posted by rsk12

Hi

One of my friends took a europe trip with a tour operator called Taj Tours. This operator is based in london UK. He told me that it was very good. But you need to make arrangements to fly to london yourself and from there they will handle the tour. It is a bus tour from london to other european countries. I am not sure if I can give their website address here. If you need more info you can PM me and I will give you the site adress.

Investpro

Can you pls tell me abt this alaskan cruise you talked abt. How many days was it. Did you start from vancouver. Who is the chinese operator who booked the tour for you. any details would be appreciated.

Cheers
rsk

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A Proud Indian Canadian

There is Sita World Travel. They provide Indian food. They have their Maharaj going with the tour. This is what I heard but never travelled by Sita. We have travelled on Globus and Cosmos and like it.

Hi,

I am going on trip to europe by SOTC on this 14th sep 2013. just wanted to find compaining if any body from us/canada have taken this as well ?

also, prior expereince if any have with SOTC the please share.

SOTC has got good reputation from what I have heard ..Last time we traveled Cosmos and missed Indian / veg food ... Next time it will be SOTC ... In Europe , it makes a lot of difference if you have a full stomach after a hard day of touring ..

Please share your experience with SOTC after you have finished your trip ..All the best .

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Fido.

sure I will share my experience. Let me know if any one else taking this tour in sep - 13.

They have at least one desi vegetarian meal a day(on some days two). Non-veg items are also provided, although the dishes are kept separate from one another to the satisfaction of strict vegetarians, I guess.

I am talking about the London-Paris-Brussels-Antwerp-Cologne-BlackForest-Zurich-Jungfrau-Interlaken-Tuscany-Pisa-Rome-Venice-Milan itenary.

I would not recommend this itenary to anybody who is revisiting Europe, as the trip is very hectic and rushed. You don't get to see much of London, Paris and Rome. It is good for first time visitors though and for those constrained by vegetarian diet.

In London you are expected to arrange for your own meals. If they provide accommodation at Wembley Plaza, then there is an Indian restaurant right across the street from the hotel. It has blue/purple neon sign and has a non-desi name, "Blue Room" or something like that.

When ordering drinks, club soda is usually called gas water in Germany, heheheheheh! I don't drink so cannot provide more info on prices in general.

Coffee is served luke warm, so ask for cafe Americano and you will be served coffee mixed with hot water/milk. Ask for hot milk for your coffee during the hotel brunch, otherwise it is not served by default as here in NA.

In Continental Europe(non-UK component), you will have to arrange for your own lunch at least on four or five occasions-- in France when you cross the channel from UK, in Germany(Cologne) when you enter it from Belgium, in Black forest region and in Italy when you enter it from Switzerland.

All these places have limited veggie options.

As TK mentioned earlier, carry loose change in euros. Especially Germany, in Cologne there is MickeyD near the Cathedral and they charge even their customers for using the washroom facilities.

You won't have time to look around for veggie food at this place as it is kind of a transit stop. Another place where veggie option does not exist is at your stop in Black Forest region, Germany. Rhine valley cruise also does not include veggie meals, though you head to meals after that, I think.

We had a tour guide who went by the name Girish. He was good although a bit arrogant at the beginning of the tour, when he assumed everybody was tardy. Very informative chap on cultural aspects and he's organized too(important quality for a tour manager).

I remember what we did was to every 2 days replenish our supply of bread , cucumber , tomatoes and bread and always keep that with us .... sandwiches ready when needed !!

Remember Latte is for milk in Italy or was it Spain .. I had a hard time explaining milk to a local cafe ... Mac D fries were fortunately available every where .

You might wish to reach the origin some days earlier and do it on your own ..Like wise spend some more days at the last destination after the trip gets over ...

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Fido.