Summary of My Solo Trip To Europe & Travel Expenses

A quite number of friends and blog readers of mine actually requested for my Europe trip itinerary. Let me be clear here. It's not that I'm not willing to share but because for this time around, I wrote it down instead of typing in the computer. Yes, a handwritten itinerary like the old-school time. 

Besides referring to the Lonely Planet and few travel books I got from the previous MATTA Fair which held in Kuala Lumpur, most of the times I was fully relied on the sim card I bought from Taobao (my friend helped me to purchase it cause I can't read Chinese. Yes, I'm a banana) 

In case you unable to purchase from Taobao, don't worry cause I found Malaysia's online site that selling travel sim card - Hello1010 (check out their site here). Of course the price would be slightly higher comparing to Taobao but I can't find any better online store than this one. Why I don't use pocket WiFi? Let me do a simple calculation. The cheapest rental rate per day is RM28 and because I will be travelling for 18 days, the total I have to bear all by myself is RM504. One of the downside of travelling alone - no one to share the cost with. 

Here is the summary of my trip to Europe covering 6 different countries and 9 cities:

Day 1: 8th September 2017 BKI → KUL

Initially I supposed to fly with Thai Airways with short transit in Bangkok but due to all the flights delayed caused by MAS, they compensated me by switching to fly with Emirates. Of course, flying with Emirates there would be short transit in Dubai.

Day 2: 9th September 2017 KUL → Dubai → Copenhagen, Denmark

Landed in Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport. Exchanged money in the airport and took train headed to Central Station. Didn't wander around the city much cause not in the mood due to missing luggage.

Stay: Copenhagen Backpacker Hostel

Day 3: 10th September 2017 Copenhagen → Budapest, Hungary

Flew with Norwegian from Copenhagen to Budapest. Took bus 100E from the airport to the city center. Shopping around Vaci street (one of the main shopping and restaurant street in Budapest) cause I don't have any extra clothes to wear. Visited St. Stephen's Basilica, Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion.

Stay: Essential Hostel

Day 4: 11th September 2017 Budapest, Hungary

Kicked off my day by visiting Great Market Hall. Then, proceed to Liberty Statue or Freedom Statue, Liberty Bridge, Shoe on the Danube Bank, Hungarian Parliament Building, Hősök Tere, Széchenyi Thermal Bath and Buda Castle. 

Stay: Essential Hostel

Day 5: 12th September 2017 Budapest → Vienna, Austria

Took train from Budapest-Keleti Railway Station to Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Main Station). Bought Vienna Card (24 hours - €13.90, 48 hours - €21.90 or 72 hours - €24.90) for unlimited public transportation ride and discounts for the museums and art galleries. Visited Schonbrunn Palace, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Graben Shopping Street, Imperial Hofburg, Wiener Rathaus and Vienna Opera House. I even visited Cafe Central for a cup of Viennese style coffee and cake.

Stay: Wombats City Hostel Vienna - The Lounge

Day 6: 13th September 2017 Vienna → Salzburg, Austria

Took OBB train from Vienna to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (Salzburg Main Station). Upon reaching the hostel, I signed up with them for a Panorama Tours: Sound of Music. It offers two tours daily; leaving at 9:15am and 2pm and the duration takes about 4 hours covering Leopoldskron Palace, Hellbrunn Palace, Mondsee and Mirabell Garden. Once the tour completed, I went to Mozarts Geburtshaus (Mozart's birth house) but it was closed by the time arrived. 

Stay: International Youth Hostel Salzburg

Day 7: 14th September 2017 Salzburg → Hallstatt, Austria

Left Salzburg to the magical town of Hallstatt. Took bus #150 from the bus terminal outside of Salzburg Hauptbahnhof (Salzburg Main Station) to Bad Ischl. Once arrived Bad Ischl, board on the train to Hallstatt. Continue the journey by taking ferry to across the Hallstatt Old Town.
Stay: Gasthof Bergfried

Day 8: 15th September 2017 Hallstatt → Cesky Krumlov → Prague

From Hallstatt to Prague, I booked shuttle service from CK Shuttle with a brief stop at Cesky Krumlov before continue another second leg to Prague. If possible, do include this picturesque town of Cesky Krumlov besides visiting Prague. I was utterly regret for didn't plan my trip well.
Stay: Ritchie's Hotel & Hostel

Day 9: 16th September 2017 Prague 

Because my train to Krakow was expecting to depart at 11.09pm, I have almost a day to venture around Prague. Visited Old Town Square, Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, Prague Dancing House and hiked up the hill for Petrin Lookout Tower. Then, continue to Lesser Town for St. Nicholas Church, Prague Castle and John Lennon Wall. Took overnight train to Krakow which takes about 8 hours train ride. 

Day 10: 17th September 2017 Krakow, Poland

Arrived in Krakow Glowny, the Central Train Station of Krakow. Check-in into my hostel for quick bath. Practically I didn't do nothing much when arrived Krakow cause I need to do my laundry. Right after I done with my laundry, I went to Galeria Krakowska, a shopping mall nearby my hostel because it rained whole day and I can't do any sightseeing. 

Stay: One World Hostel

Day 11: 18th September 2017 Krakow 

It's bright and sunny day on the second day in Krakow. Therefore, immediately I went to Old Town for Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) and St. Mary's Basilica in Main Square. Then, continue to picturesque street of Kanonicza for Saints Peter and Paul Church. Next, Wawel Hill for Wawel Castle, Wawel Cathedral and Dragon's Den. Ended my tour in Krakow by visiting Kazimierz, once a former Jewish quarter.
Stay: One World Hostel

Day 12: 19th September 2017 Krakow → Warsaw, Poland

From Krakow to Warsaw, I took PolskiBus which the journey took about 5 hours bus ride and arrived in Dworzec Autobusowy Warszawa Zachodnia (Warsaw West Bus Station). To get to Central Station, board on the train heading to Centrum Metro Station. I was being penalised while taking bus from central station to my hostel. Another bad day again!
Stay: Dream Hostel

Day 13: 20th September 2017 Warsaw, Poland

Did sightseeing around Warsaw including Stare Miasto (Warsaw's Old Town), Wilanow Palace, Chopin Monument and Lazienki Palace in Lazienki Park, Warsaw Uprising Museum and Warsaw Uprising Monument. I bought a 24-hour ticket to get around Warsaw by using the extensive public transportation including bus and train.
Stay: Dream Hostel

Day 14: 21st September 2017 Warsaw → Helsinki, Finland

Flew with airBaltic from Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport to Helsinki with short transit at Riga, Latvia. From Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, I took airport train P or I to get to the city centre.
Stay: Hostel Diana Park

Day 15: 22nd September 2017 Helsinki, Finland

Started my day by taking bus to Sibelius Monument. Then, took bus to the market square (known as Kauppatori in Finnish) for Old Market Hall, Uspenski Cathedral and Helsinki Senate Square. I even took ferry to Suomelinna, a World Heritage Site. Bought a HSL Day Ticket which includes unlimited ride on bus and ferry.
Stay: Hostel Diana Park

Day 16: 23rd September 2017 Helsinki → Copenhagen, Denmark

Finally, back to Copenhagen again by flying with Norwegian, a low cost airline but it offers free WiFi to all passengers on its transatlantic flights. Done with check-in into the hostel, straightly took bus to Nyhavn, The Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Square, Amalienborg Palace and Frederick's Church. Before going back to the hostel, I stopby and wandered around the City Hall, Statue of Hans Christian Andersen, Tivoli Gardens and more. 
Stay: Danhostel Copenhagen City

Day 17: 24th September 2017 Copenhagen → Bangkok → Kota Kinabalu 

My flight leaving Copenhagen was expecting to depart at 2.25pm. Hence, I took the opportunity to visit Christianborg Palace before leaving the capital and largest city of Denmark. Home sweet home on the next day with Thai Airways. 


My virgin experience flying with Thai Airways. And guess what, they served pork as in-flight meal.

CURRENCY
Travelled across 6 different countries, four different currencies were involved. As some of the currencies are not easily found in Malaysia, hence I decided to change to Euro first and changed at the respective country upon arrival.

• Countries like Austria and Finland are using Euro.
• Denmark's national currency is Danish krone. The ideal place to exchange currency is at the Central Station. €1.00 = 6.90 Kr on average*
• The official currency for Hungary is the Hungarian forint (HUF). I found out Great Market Hall offers the best rate. €1.00 = HUF295 on average*
• The currency for Czech Republic is koruna. €1.00 = CZK24.80 on average*  
• Poland's national currency is Polish zloty. €1.00 = PLN4.2350 on average*

*The rate I exchanged in September 2017

TOTAL TRAVEL EXPENSES 
I have shared majority of the breakdown of the total damages in the respective previous posts (refer below). Here, I simplify everything for easy reference - which include means of transportation, hostels, entrance fees, food, shopping and misc I spent throughout the 16 days in Europe.

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	RM
Flight with Thai Airways Cities Budapest – 2 days Vienna – 1 day Salzburg – 1 day Hallstatt – 1 day Prague – 1 day Krakow – 2 days Warsaw – 2 days Helsinki – 2 days Copenhagen – 2 days Transportation CK Shuttle Overnight train Miscellaneous Travel sim card (Bought from Taobao)	2,591 805 496 572 676 318 370 619 1,473 1,286 319 177 95
TOTAL:	9,795

The list of accommodations:

CITIES & COUNTRIES	NAME OF THE ACCOMMODATIONS	NO. OF NIGHTS	AMOUNT
			Local Currency	RM
Copenhagen, Denmark	Copenhagen Backpackers Hostel	1	395kr	276
Budapest, Hungary	Essential Hostel	2	HUF10,000	185
Vienna, Austria	Wombats City Hostel Vienna – The Lounge	1	-	122
Salzburg, Austria	International Youth Hostel Salzburg	1	€22.10	111
Hallstatt, Austria	Gasthof Bergfried	1	€61.70	316
Prague, Czech Republic	Ritchie’s Hostel & Hotel	1	€18.00	92
Krakow, Poland	One World Hostel	2	PLN91.20	116
Warsaw, Poland	Dream Hostel	2	PLN106	131
Helsinki, Finland	Hostel Diana Park	2	€68.00	352
Copenhagen, Denmark	Danhostel Copenhagen City	1	-	204
			TOTAL (RM)	1,905

Bear in mind by the time I exchanged to Euro last year, the rate was €1.00 = RM5.12 which consider very high cause currently the rate for Euro is RM4.76. Deng! Feel like want to cry now. 

As for my travel and shopping haul, most of the times I bought fridge magnets, postcards and stamps in each and every city I visited.

And hereby I'm proud to conclude that this is my final post for my solo trip to Europe travelogues. Like finally! Now I'm thinking which travelogues should I blog next - New Zealand, Tokyo, Hokkaido, Sweden & Norway, Vietnam or even Nepal and Bhutan.

Previous Posts on my 2017 Solo Trip to Europe

• Solo Trip to Europe (Sneak Peek)
• 3D2N in Budapest, Hungary
• Great Market Hall of Budapest, Hungary
• Vienna. Austria Travelogue
• Salzburg, Austria Travelogue
• The Magical Town of Hallstatt, Austria
• Brief Stop in Cesky Krumlov
• Hello Prague Again
• Overnight Train from Prague to Krakow
• 3D2N in Krakow, Poland
• From Krakow to Warsaw & It's Hell Day For Me
• Warsaw's Attractions & Sightseeing 
• Dream Hostel of Warsaw - The Best Hostel I Stayed in Europe
• From Warsaw to Helsinki, The Capital City of Finland
• Copenhagen, Denmark - Where I Started & Ended My Europe Trip
• My Flight To Europe Wasn't Smooth-Sailing

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Europe (2017): Dream Hostel of Warsaw - The Best Hostel I Ever Stayed in Europe

Out of the 10 hostels I stayed throughout my almost three weeks trip in Europe, Dream Hostel in Warsaw is the one I love the most. Therefore I think it deserves to have it own post. Here are the reasons behind why you should choose this hostel if visiting Warsaw:

Location - Dream Hostel is smacked right in the center of Warsaw's Old Town (Stare Miasto). It's really convenient as there are abundant of restaurants, cozy cafes, souvenir shops, convenience stores and more within the vicinity. And the best part, bus stop to airport and city is located right in front of the hostel - which is super handy.

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Europe (2017): Warsaw's Attractions & Sightseeing

Rise and shine, Warsaw! 

As usual, I woke up earlier than the rest for another adventures around the capital city of Poland. Normally, I got up from the bed before the sunrise but then not because I want to chase the sunrise but in order to capture photos without being photobombed - like they said, the early bird catches the worm. 

WARSAW'S ATTRACTIONS & SIGHTSEEING

As I only have one whole day in Warsaw before leaving, I just selected few best places of interest to visit. 

Warsaw's Old Town (Stare Miasto)

The oldest part of the capital city. It is one of the most prominent tourist hubs with cobblestone alley and medieval buildings reconstructed after the WWII such as the city walls, the Barbican and St. John's Cathedral. Right in the heart of the area is the Old Market Place which consists restaurants, cafes and shops. 

#1: Warsaw's Old Town, the finest and most picturesque part of the city. 

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Europe (2017): From Krakow to Warsaw & It's Like Hell Day For Me

It was raining by the time I arrived Krakow.
And when I was about to leave, it was drizzling and miserably cold too.

Well, at least the weather was pretty good to me the day before so that I could managed to cover several notable attractions and popular landmarks around Krakow before leaving. 

I left the hostel right after had the free breakfast provided and walked to the bus station which not far away - less than 10 minutes walk perhaps. This time around, I carried additional thing with me which is the newly bought luggage bag from the shopping mall nearby. In case you're wondering, I actually travel without any baggage throughout my solo trip around Europe for almost three weeks cause the luggage I packed before the trip went missing somewhere in Dubai - not sure whether it's Malaysia Airlines or Emirates's fault (will blog more about this incident in upcoming post) but then always think of a bright side, it's not bad to travel light somehow. 

#1: One World Hostel of Krakow is smack right in between the main market/square and railway/bus station.

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Europe (2017): 3D2N in Krakow, Poland

After experiencing more than 8 hours in the overnight sleeper train from Prague, the train finally arrived in Krakow Glowny, the Central Train Station in Krakow. The first thing I done right after I came out from the train station is directly look for the hostel I booked beforehand. One thing I love about Krakow is the train station and the old town are located just side by side, without have to travel far away. 

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Europe (2017): Overnight Train From Prague To Krakow

After spending more than 24 hours in the beautiful city of Prague, I proceeded to the next country which I never been before - Poland. Poland is a country in Eastern Europe with a rich and eventful history which situated next to Czech Republic. After did my research, I decided to take overnight train from Prague to Krakow. Well, it's not my first time to experience overnight train as I experienced this before in Norway last two years (until now I haven't blog anything about my Northern Light experience yet) but then the difference is, I'm taking alone for this round. It's wise to book everything beforehand than purchase on the spot.

WHERE I BOUGHT MY OVERNIGHT TRAIN TICKET FROM & HOW

Almost majority of my transportation tickets I bought online and for this overnight train from Prague to Krakow, I purchased directly from this particular website - the Czech Railways (CD) website www.cd.cz. It's pretty simple and straightforward to book from this website, just like how you purchase your airticket from AirAsia or Malaysia Airlines website. The train booking normally opens 90 days ahead, or even 60 days for certain routes in Eastern Europe. As I plan to overnight in the train, I chosen the sleeper with 3-berth compartment instead of couchette. Of course then, my choice would be slightly higher in term of the cost but I rather sleep comfortably so that I can have the energy to continue my adventure on the following day. Curious how this train looks like? Watch the video I uploaded at the bottom.

#1: Praha Hlavni nadrazi, the largest and main railway station in Prague which provides international railway connections. 

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Solo Trip to Europe

18 days. 6 countries & 9 cities. Travelling alone all by myself and now, I'm back safe and sound. That's explain why I didn't update my blog for quite sometime. 

It's not like I never travel alone before as I did to Melbourne, Saigon and few places but to be honest, travelling alone is never my favourite kind of thing. However for this time around, it has totally changed my mind and the experience of wandering alone is really different and unique. I can proudly say it has become one of the best things I'd ever done in my life and I really love to do it again, soon. 

It was kinda last minute decision to proceed with this trip alone as I was a little worried and skeptical going to the places which I never been before. Everything was indeed last minute booking - including flight, transportation such as trains and buses and even the hostels. And what worse was right before my trip even started, I actually encountered few obstacles such as my flight being delayed 6 times, then I had to switch from one airline to another, my luggage went missing and I travelled without any extra clothes with me, being fined by bus officer and many more. 

Was supposed to fly with Thai Airways but at the end, being switched to Emirates

What an adventurous and challenging journey but then thinking of the bright side, all of these indirectly trained me to be stronger, tougher and I learned to how to keep calm when something undesirable happened toward me. 

For this 3 week trip, I covered Northern, Eastern and Central Europe which including Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Finland. It might seems packed and tight schedule but for someone like me who can't stay in a same place for longer period, I actually quite enjoy it. Almost every morning I woke up very early like 6-7am to wander around and only back to hostel when the day turned into night time. Sometimes, I don't even feel wanna go back to hostel and prefer to walk around the town instead. 

Here are few sneak peek of my favourite cities:

Budapest - Pearl of the Danube. I fall in love with the capital city of Hungary 

The magical village of Hallstatt

Prague - City of a Hundred Spires 

Krakow - the former capital of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland

Currently, my favourite book. Planning for next Europe trip. 

Regardless the bad incidents and unexpected circumstances, it will never stop my passion from keep on travelling. And right now what I need to do is updating my blog frequently or else, I will have more and more backlog travelogues. Probably I should just update my recent and latest trip instead. What do you think? 😅

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