Hello,
I am planning for a one week vacation in Europe tour for about week with my family in forthcoming Summer.Am planning to cover only few places like Paris,Switzerland,London etc.
Looking for following info:
(1)Affordable group package tour available? Any desi group?
(2)Approx cost for the package tour per person(adult and Child) ..so that I can preplan my budget.
(3)Good website for searching for Europe package deal?
(4)I am a Canadian PR .I know for London separately I need UK visa.How to get the visa for other European countries?

Thanks

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ani

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Orginally posted by ani70


(4)I am a Canadian PR .I know for London separately I need UK visa.How to get the visa for other European countries?

Thanks

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Dimple2001

Browse google for following to get 1st hand info .

"schengen visa"
"switzerland visa"
"swiss railway pass"

"cosmos europe tour"

"sotc europe tour"

After spending 1-2 hours on the sites directed by ur search ud have ample amount of info 2 plan ur vacation .............. All the best .

Manasvi.

PS : I just observed it was ani70 asking for the advise .Appreciating ur contribution and advices 2 the board I d like 2 add my 2 cents :

a. Schengen Visa is needed for 16 European Countries and can b applied from any1 , preferably either from the 1 u intend spending max of ur vacation or from the 1 where u intend 2 enter .

b. Most of the Europe trips are from London 2 London. U need a UK Visa .

c. UK visit visa is granted for 180 days .Schengen is granted till the end of ur trip based on ur return air ticket or for the duration asked for.

d. SOTC is a leading Indian operator.Check their website. Advantage / disadvantage is that u have an all Indian tour and enjoy Indian meals thruout ........ invaluable if u r a vegetarian .......... SOTC is cheaper than Thomas Cook .

e. COSMOS is better than SOTC and is based in the US ....... U have ppl from all nationalities ........... but meals are not Indian at all .............

f. Check for the Swiss Visa @ website .

g. Try and do London on ur own if u can spend 2-3 days .


h. Try tripadvisor forum for specific info.

MY parents did a Cosmos tour some time back and they were very happy. My dad said he liked the fact that they grop outings in cities but also the opportunity to do your own thing.

AFAIK, it is not a desi tour group though so I'm not sure if you'll find too many of our people there.

I have taken COSMOS tours in the past. As above messages say
- Cosmos is not an Indian group so the food will be mainly european. Tough, i believe they do now have some veg options. On our first Cosmos Switzerland tour (that was way back in 1993), the food was mainly pork or beef. However, recently when I looked at the brochure they mentioned that there will be veg options. With COSMOS expect to start your tour at 8.00 to 8.30 in the morning. The dinner/supper will be at 7.30 so the tours end a bit early.

I was told that COSMOS was probably the cheap in the sense you get good value for your money.

I am not sure how the visa things work these days.

As far as budgeting goes, plan for air tkt, cosmos amount as per the brochure. The brochure will tell you how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. You have to budget for the rest as the rest you will have to pay in cash. Usually the brochure will tell you if there are any optional excursions and will list the cost of these optionals. You have to read the description of the optional excursions and see if you like to take these optional excursions. Budget for the excursions. I am a very cautious person so I would add 100 % contingency. You donot need to take this money with you as I am sure you will use your plastic but be mentally prepared if you have to pay that much to the visa later.

I really appreciate for all your feedback ...I'll now try to explore into all possible options

thanks again

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ani

Quote:

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Orginally posted by lana2005

I have taken COSMOS tours in the past. As above messages say
- Cosmos is not an Indian group so the food will be mainly european. Tough, i believe they do now have some veg options. On our first Cosmos Switzerland tour (that was way back in 1993), the food was mainly pork or beef. However, recently when I looked at the brochure they mentioned that there will be veg options. With COSMOS expect to start your tour at 8.00 to 8.30 in the morning. The dinner/supper will be at 7.30 so the tours end a bit early.

I was told that COSMOS was probably the cheap in the sense you get good value for your money.

I am not sure how the visa things work these days.

As far as budgeting goes, plan for air tkt, cosmos amount as per the brochure. The brochure will tell you how many breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. You have to budget for the rest as the rest you will have to pay in cash. Usually the brochure will tell you if there are any optional excursions and will list the cost of these optionals. You have to read the description of the optional excursions and see if you like to take these optional excursions. Budget for the excursions. I am a very cautious person so I would add 100 % contingency. You donot need to take this money with you as I am sure you will use your plastic but be mentally prepared if you have to pay that much to the visa later.

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