Hi. Planning for a France/Italy trip. Thanks to those guys who replied to my PM's Re internet, I was looking around and came upon my-webspot and wippocket wifi - Europe based Skyroam is based in the Philippines right? I also chanced upon flytpack which I believed is also Philippines based. Any experience on theses? Sadly, all would cost around 9000-10000 PHp for a trip of 10 days How do these compare to say Globe/Smart roaming - 550Php per day?
In the end, I just used my Globe roaming, still came out cheaper. My wife would just use hotspot so she's connected, too. Kinda drained my battery fast, though, so I brought 2 power banks all the time. I "bought" 3-5 hours per day, after 24 hours on, I'd turn it off for 3-5 hours since we'd have access to the hotel/airbnb wifi, then turn it on again upon waking up. Out of 10 days, we used roaming for "only" 8 days lang total, hehe. Tipid tipid .
Practically all the shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, museums in Paris are wifi hotspots...and then there are a host of public data connections sans passwords in and around the city so you actually won't be cut-off from the internet at any given time... Even our AirBnB apartment had a 100-mbps wifi connection exclusively for our use...alas, we could only use it for 24 hours before we left Paris for Zurich...
I used my webspot I used a my-webspot pocket wifi during my July 2016 trip (UK, Fra, Benelux, Ger, Swi) and it performed fast and reliably everywhere. A potential problem I see with Globe/Smart roaming is that only certain telcos per country are identified as Globe/Smart partners, not all. In my thoughts anyway (and I am unwilling to verify), there is a possibility that depending on your location, your phone will connect with an "non-partner" telco without you knowing it (until the bill arrives).
This 2018, I plan to visit Europe and Spain. For my summer holiday, I'm looking at Tenerife or Lanzarote.I came across this one article about he place here in https://www.canaryislandsinfo.co.uk/tenerife/places/puerto-de-la-cruz/ I've never been to either and apparently the beaches are fantastic as well as being suitably 'different' to make it interesting.
Question: Is Trafalgar's Switzerland package value for money? I'm looking at their 8 days/7 nights package which already comes with hotel accommodation, daily buffet breakfast, train tickets and the tour itself. Pocket wifi, I will get the Hippocket Wifi which I availed April last year during my first European vacation to France, Italy and Austria. I'm happy with Hippocket Wifi.
Going to Europe in February. Planning to apply for Schengen Visa thru the French Embassy since it will be my port of entry and I'll probably stay the longest there, albeit just marginally. Any tips or heads-up in applying via the French Embassy? Also, how long is the usual processing time? Will be entering Paris from London via Eurostar. Staying in France for around 3 to 4 days and Switzerland, Belgium and Amsterdam for 2 days each before returning to London. Has anyone who have experienced entering Paris from London have any tips? Thanks.
Are you located in Manila? If you are you will not be applying directly to the french embassy but through VFS Global. Application is very easy. Make an account in the VFS website, fill out the necessary forms, make a payment and schedule your appointment. The requirements are basically a passport, flight and hotel bookings, travel insurance, and proof of financial capability. Application process takes less than an hour. Then you’ll get your passport back in about a week or less. By the way London would need a UK visa as it does not accept a schengen visa. UK visa is also handled by VFS.
Yes, I am aware that I will be applying thru VFS for both the French Schengen and UK Visas. I'm almost done with the online application form for both. Last time I got a UK Visa, it also took just about a week. Delighted to know the Schengen Visa takes just a week or so as well. Thanks.
These are some of the countries that offer an easy process and approval of Schengen Visas: The Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Spain. Their consular offices boast a 2-3 day application process and approval of visas good for 30-60 days. Our next jaunt to Europe will be thru the Baltics and I applied our SVs with Germany. Tops is 1 week for processing. Will travel thru Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, then to Finland and Sweden.
Went to Prague , Budapest , Vienna , Slovakia . Czech visa was easy and the weather was beautiful .Best thing prices were cheaper than most European countries.
One last thing guys, would you recommend renting/purchasing a WiFi device? or just go Data Roaming with Globe Roam Surf 599? Data roaming could be quite expensive considering the trip would last at least 15 days. It would also be nice if it that can be used in all the other countries I will be visiting. (UK, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium)
You can if you want but you may find that it sometimes won’t work in other countries. I stick to data roaming in intermittent times, shutting it off when I don’t need it and using it when necessary. Although I actually spent around 15k during a 10-day Europe trip in March 2017 for data roaming charges because we used Waze and Google Maps to get around 5 different countries.
Cherry Mobile has a WiFi router. Less than 7k. Download the app - so many different packages worldwide. Used mine twice already. Quite fast. 5 gadgets can connect. HTH.
Heading out again in late April, London, Brussels, Copenhagen, Norway. Any tips? How's the weather during that period?
Wow Copenhagen. Haven’t been there yet but its almost like Den Haag in The Netherlands. Quaint but vibrant city and if you like food then Danish gastronomic delights are everywhere. Don’t forget to visit the Little Mermaid sculpture, its most iconic landmark. And talk about town is always about soccer, like in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. Oslo in Norway is a modern city and you’d be surprised to see and meet lots of Pinoys there, mostly seamen and hotel staffers. Top on the list is the Royal Palace. Its stunning and grand. Spring is around in April so I guess you get to see blooming flowers and lush trees and if you’re lucky enough, some nude sunbathers in the city parks hehehe
It looks like the Yellow Vests Rebellion in France is not going to let up as it enters its tenth week of violence and anarchy in Paris...would have been a shame not to pass by Paris thru the Baltics when we go there this year...French Embassy released a reminder that tourists travelling to France may instead visit the other tourist places beyond Paris...
