Grand European Tours Box Set 1- Tours 1 To 3 (Inc. visits to Budapest, Oslo, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Costa Brava & UK Sites)

(At Petit Cost!)

Grand European Tours Box Set 1 – Tours 1 To 3

(Inc. visits to Budapest, Oslo, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Costa Brava & UK Sites)

Tour 1 – Welsh Marches, Shrewsbury, Wye Valley, Hereford, Monmouth & Birmingham

Tour 2 – Paris, Barcelona, Girona & Coastal Resorts of the Costa Brava

Tour 3 – Liverpool (Beatles theme), Oslo, Prague, Budapest & Glasgow

Caroline Y Preston

Grand European Tours Box Set 1- Tours 1 To 3

(Inc. visits to Budapest, Oslo, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Costa Brava & UK Sites)

Copyright December 2014 Caroline Y Preston

Smashwords Edition 1

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means other than that used by Smashwords and its approved distributors without the prior written permission of the author.

Disclaimer

Although information contained within this ebook is current at the time of going to press inevitably things change over time and it is recommended that you confirm venue opening times and other information on which you may rely, is still current when undertaking your tours.

Although this ebook includes the address of various websites, the author does not endorse, approve, certify or make warranties or representations as to the accuracy of the information on these sites. The author cannot be held responsible in any way, for any loss or injury (however caused) to readers who use the Itinerary’s or information contained within this ebook or visit locations, accommodations, travel mediums and attractions mentioned within it.

Discover other titles in this series and other works by Caroline Preston

on her website at:

http://www.carolineypreston.weebly.com

Contents

Chapter 1 – European Grand Tours (At Petit Cost!) Overview

Chapter 2 – Introduction To The Tours

Chapter 3 – Tour 1 Welsh Marches, Shrewsbury, Wye Valley, Hereford, Monmouth & Birmingham

Chapter 3.1 – Tour 1 Overview

Chapter 3.2 – Shrewsbury Base

3.2.1 Iron Bridge, 3.2.2 Wroxeter, 3.2.3 Shrewsbury, 3.2.4 Church Stretton,

3.2.5 Ludlow, 3.2.6 Leominster

Chapter 3.3 – Hereford Base

3.3.1 Ledbury, 3.3.2 Hereford, 3.3.3 Hay On Wye, 3.3.4 Ross On Wye, 3.3.5 Goodrich Castle, 3.3.6 Symonds Yat

Chapter 3.4 – Monmouth Base

3.4.1 Raglan, 3.4.2 Chepstow, 3.4.3 Tintern Abbey, 3.4.4 Monmouth, 3.4.5 Castell Coch,

3.4.6 Cardiff

Chapter 3.5 – Birmingham Base

3.5.1 Soho House, 3.5.2 Birmingham

Chapter 4 – Tour 2 Paris, Paris, Barcelona, Girona & Coastal Resorts of the Costa Brava

Chapter 4.1 Tour 2 Overview

Chapter 4.2 – Lloret De Mar Base

4.2.1 Lloret de Mar, 4.2.2 Pineda de Mar, 4.2.3 Blanes, 4.2.4 Girona, 4.2.5 Tossa de Mar

Chapter 4.3 – Barcelona Base

4.3.1 Barcelona

Chapter 4.4 – Reus Base

4.4.1 Port Aventura

Chapter 4.5 – Paris Base

4.5.1 Paris

Chapter 5 - Tour 3 - Liverpool (Beatles theme), Oslo, Prague, Budapest & Glasgow

Chapter 5.1 – Tour 3 Overview

Chapter 5.2 – Liverpool (Beatles Theme)

Chapter 5.3 – Oslo

Chapter 5.4 – Prague

Chapter 5.5 – Budapest

Chapter 5.6 - Glasgow

Chapter 6 – Putting Together Your Own Grand Tours

Chapter 7 – Acknowledgements

Chapter 8 – Index List Of Places & Attractions Visited

Chapter 1 – European Grand Tours (At Petit Cost!) Overview

This ebook is an excerpt from my larger book "Grand European Tours (At Petit Cost!) and has been produced to enable readers to purchase a box set of the first 3 tours from the book which they can take with them, and refer to, whilst on tour. The ebook was written at the request of my friends and colleagues who asked me for details of holidays I had put together for myself as they too wanted a different kind of holiday from those currently on offer.

The complete book Grand European Tours (At Petit Cost!) Comprises of the following seven Grand Tours" and visits the European cities and areas shown below. I intend to publish a second box set containing Tours 4 to 6 early in 2015. Should you wish to purchase a tour separately all of the tours are available as separate ebooks.:-

- Tour 1 - Welsh Marches, Shrewsbury, Wye Valley, Hereford & Monmouth & Birmingham (this Tour also includes Church Stretton, Ludlow, Leominster, Ledbury, Hay On Wye, Ross On Wye, Raglan Castle, Chepstow, Tintern Abbey, Castell Coch and Cardiff).

- Tour 2 - Paris, Barcelona, Girona & Coastal Resorts of the Costa Brava (the tour covered in this eBook)

- Tour 3 - Liverpool (Beatles Theme), Oslo, Prague, Budapest & Glasgow

- Tour 4 - Paris & Châteaux, Venice, Rome, Sorrento & Amalfi Coast (this tour also includes the Château of Versailles, the Château de Fontainebleau, Burano, Murano, Lido, Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Amalfi, Positano and Capri)

- Tour 5 - Cologne, Cities & Towns of the Rhine, Berlin & London (this tour also includes Koblenz, Dusseldorf, Ahr Valley, Remagen, Schloss Augustenburg, Bonn and Phantasialand Theme Park Brühl and includes short picturesque journeys by train).

- Tour 6 - Liverpool, Berlin, St Petersburg, Riga & Stockholm (this tour also includes Peterhof and the Catherine & Alexander Palaces at Pushkin (formerly known as Tsarskoe Selo)).

- Tour 7 - Plymouth & Touring Cornwall

I feel the tours in the "Grand European Tours (At Petit Cost!) series are a breath of fresh air in that:

- Unlike some other travel books the individual tours were all planned and conducted on a very tight budget, using budget airlines, discount hotel deals, promotions and vouchers, all of which would appeal to today’s cost conscious viewers.

- Each tour is multi locational and puts together destinations you may not normally find together; additionally some of the tours visit sites and other attractions which are off the beaten track and not usually visited by tourists giving a holiday which is a little different. A couple of the tours also have underlying themes i.e. following in the footsteps of Ancient Rome, links to Napoleon or short picturesque Rhine & Ahr Valley train journeys.

- For the inexperienced traveller sites and attractions at each location within the tour are grouped together with details of how to get between them, ensuring that maximum cost and timescale benefits are achieved.

- It gives the viewer information on how to put together a Grand Tour themselves (including transportation, accommodation, venues to visit, venue information and the best web sites to consult, etc) and how to customise a tour to their own requirements.

- The tours are suitable to all age groups and nationalities (particularly long haul visitors wishing to see as much of Europe as they can in a limited timescale, but not wanting to join a group arranged tour).

- The tours can be made by Single travellers, couples, families and group travellers as well as people working within the travel industry looking for different ideas. Additionally virtual travellers can follow the tours from their armchairs by looking up the cities, attractions and venues on their computer should they wish.

One thing to bear in mind if you feel a little phased about putting together your own Grand Tour, pick somewhere easy to start with in countries you are comfortable with and don’t forget that part of the fun is in the planning and getting to your destinations.

If you enjoy this tour and would like a shorter weekend break, you may also be interested in my European City guides or one of my British Weekend Jaunt series of tours which are also currently available as ebooks in the following titles:

* Tour 1 – 4 Days Touring Snowdonia & the Llŷn Peninsula, North Wales

* Tour 2 – 4 Days Touring The English Lake District, Cumbria

* Tour 3 – 2 Days Discovering The Pendle Witch Trail (Pendle & Lancaster)

* Tour 4 – 4 Days Discovering Bristol, Bath & North Somerset (Wells, Glastonbury, Cheddar Gorge)

* Tour 5 – 4 Days Discovering The Towns, Cities & Villages Of The English Cotswolds & Stratford-Upon-Avon

* Tour 6 – 4 Days Discovering Northumberland’s Coastal Areas - Alnwick to Berwick On Tweed

Or one of my City Break Guides:

* Tour 1 - 2 Days In Barcelona

* Tour 2-–2 Days In Oslo

* Tour 3 – 3 Days In Budapest

* Tour 4 – 2 Days In Prague

* Tour 5 – 2 ½ Days in Glasgow

* Tour 6 – 4 Days in Paris

* Tour 7 – 2 Days in Riga

* Tour 8 – 2 Days in Stockholm

* Tour 9 – 5 Days in St Petersburg, Russia

* Tour 10 – 3 Days In Venice

* Tour 11 - 3 Days In Rome

Chapter 2 – Introduction To The Tours

If like me, you are an independent traveller who seeks adventure, adores culture, antiquities, history and getting value for money, you may find the following multi location holiday itinerary of interest. I put this itinerary together for myself and found it to be one of the most enjoyable holidays I have ever had. I found that visiting a city for a short time gives me a taste of that city and helped me decide whether or not to return for a longer future stay. I find some Cities have the right feeling for me and I feel comfortable and at home in them, others I must admit, despite several visits, I cannot take to. You, I am sure, will experience this for yourself as you explore.

I travelled alone on this tour, but there is no reason why couples, families or groups could not undertake it.

You can make the tour as cheap or expensive as you wish by your own choice of accommodation, restaurants and methods of transport. To assist, as I guide, I have mentioned the accommodations and transport facilities I used, you of course are at liberty to use or amend these to suit your own tastes and requirements.

You can tailor the tour to suit yourself by:

- changing the start/end cities/towns

- changing the order in which you visit the cities/towns

- adding or dropping cities/towns from the itinerary

- changing venues and incorporating ones that have particular interest to yourself

- changing the number of days you spend in some, or all of the locations

In order to maximise my time, I usually decide which venues I wish to visit before I go on holiday and group them due to their location and opening times. I usually leave a couple of hours free though each day to explore, shop or just chill out. You will find you will need to factor in chilling out time each day, particularly in large busy cities, to avoid culture overload and fatigue. I hope you find the tour to be fun and not too gruelling and certainly not, as has been suggested by my Brother, reminiscent of the 1969 film If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.

Please note however, I am a quick walker and tend to get round Museums and Galleries very quickly, particularly as I home in only on the items which I find of interest (I research where these are in the museum/gallery before I go to save time. Most websites have a map of their venues to enable you to find the items you most wish to see). You may wish to spend more time in certain Museums, Galleries, shopping or merely chilling out than I did and need to factor this in when designing your own itinerary of venues to visit.

As I tend to do a lot of walking on my tours, you would be well advised to take a couple of pairs of comfortable shoes (you may wish to consider at least one pair having thick soles, as many old European cities have cobbled streets, which can be a killer on your feet) and comfortable multi layered clothing, as I have been surprised that the weather in some places can either be warmer or colder than expected. I usually take a warm waterproof jacket with me, just in case, particularly if visiting northern climes or visiting countries in the winter, early spring or late autumn.

Simple Travel Guidelines I Follow

In order to get the most from my holidays I tend to use the following tips which you may find useful. Please note I have also included the guidelines I follow whilst travelling on trips abroad to assist international travellers who may wish to take this tour.

- Use the Internet to make bookings and research (including airline city destination guides)

- Use Budget Air Lines

- Book centrally located accommodation (it may cost a little more but it saves on both time and transport costs)

- Travel light (taking clothes which can be rinsed through and dry quickly) and where possible avoid checking in hold luggage (and the additional fees). You may find it cheaper to buy cheap heavy items like shampoo, bubble bath, etc. When you arrive rather than use up your luggage weight allowances by packing them, it also saves you having to lug them around which can be very tiring.

- Use soft, light travel bags rather than rigid suitcases as they are easier to store in overhead aircraft lockers

- When packing, roll clothes rather than folding them to prevent creasing.

- Book well in advance (to get the cheapest deals) and look for (and use) airline, accommodation and event/venue special offers and money off vouchers.

- Evaluate multi venue pass cards (e.g. Stockholm Card) to see if they are cheaper than individual entrance fees, but do bear in mind not all pass cards give free entry to all venues, some only give a % off entrance charges and/or entrance/discount to permanent collections. I have found on more than one occasion the difference between buying a full entrance ticket (to both permanent collections and temporary exhibitions) is only marginally more expensive than buying a ticket to the temporary exhibition, therefore when you add the cost of a multi venue card they may not always give good value for money; unless of course you visit several venues on the card. Take note of the venue’s included in the card (by accessing the cards internet site) prior to purchase, as it may not include sufficient of the venues you wish to visit to make it worth purchasing. As many of the cards are time specific I do not usually purchase them until arriving at the first venue (or if they include transport, immediately prior to first use) to ensure I get the best value from them.

- If not using my own car I evaluate travel cards to see if they are cheaper than individual bus, tram or underground tickets and check if venue pass cards (e.g. Budapest Card) includes transport as well.

- Look at currency exchange rates when putting together an itinerary of countries to visit, avoiding, or only have short stays, in countries where the exchange rates are poor.

- When abroad I tend to use cash, rather than credit cards and shop around for currency exchange rates, watching currency fluctuations for months before I go on holiday. I have also been known to haggle to get slightly better deals than those on offer, particularly if buying more than £500 or more than one currency in one transaction.

- I do not sell back any unused foreign bank notes to currency exchanges after my holiday, I usually keep them for future visits, or if in the case of a country which issues its own currency and I do not anticipate visiting that particular country again, will exchange the notes in a foreign currency exchange whilst on a future holiday for their currency to get a more favourable exchange rate.

- I never use airport/railway station currency exchanges, or exchanges which charge a commission.

- If you are flying with an airline which enables you to select your seat as you book on line, you may find the following Seatguru website at: http://www.seatguru.com handy to let you know which seats are the best to sit in.

- If embarking on a flight taking more than a couple of hours, I usually buy a meal deal type meal (salad, sandwiches, crisps, fruit juice, etc) from the Airport branch of Boots or other similar store (ensure it is in the departure lounge area though or you may find you have to give items up as you go through the airport scanning area) as it usually provides better value, and gives more choice, than purchasing food and drink items on the plane.

- I make use of hotel hospitality trays, and sometimes if I had a hectic day and am tired, I may buy sandwiches to eat in my hotel room with a cup of tea, rather than go out again for an evening meal.

- I bear in mind many Museums, Galleries and other venues in mainland Europe tend to be closed on Mondays, making it a good day on which to travel.

- If travelling to southern Europe (Spain, Italy etc.) particularly in the smaller towns, I factor in local daily Siesta times, as many shops and venues close for extended lunchtimes and public transport may stop or run infrequently between noon and 4pm.

- To give me advance warning of British accommodation promotions I have signed up to receive periodic Travelodge and other accommodation provider email Newsletters.

- As I travel alone, for safety reasons I tend to dress down, not wear expensive jewellery or be seen flashing my money around; usually only carrying small amounts of money in my purse at any one time in case of pickpockets.

- As I take several trips a year, I purchase a comprehensive annual travel insurance policy and always when in Europe, carry an EHIC European Health Insurance Card (formerly known as an E111 card) which can be obtained free of charge (for British citizens) from the following website: http://www.ehic.org.uk. Using this card can sometimes prevent you from having to pay for certain medical treatments upfront and then having to reclaim the amounts (less any excesses) from your travel insurance company on your return home.

- Use airport shuttle buses/underground/rail links rather than taxis to move between airports and cities.

- Use airport/train lockers or Museum/Gallery cloakroom facilities to store baggage when necessary

- I always take a photo copy of my passport (and any Visa’s) which I keep apart from the originals, just in case the originals are lost or stolen.

- As I travel alone, for security reasons, I arrange certain times with loved ones for when I will phone or email home during my trips.

- If I am in the UK and cannot find an internet cafe I will use the local library free internet facilities (as UK libraries have a reciprocal arrangement, although some counties ask you join their library (which is free) this has the added advantage in that you can also borrow items (including maps and guidebooks) and also use library facilities should you wish).

- Depending on the country I am in, I buy sterilised milk and bottled water if I am not certain that milk is fully pasteurised or that local water supplies are safe to drink.

- I always take along a little contingency money just in case of emergency (flight cancellation, transport disruption or hotel mix up) and try not to get too stressed out if such an event happens, try and turn it into an advantage and enjoy it as a further adventure.

- If travelling in Britain and staying in a Travelodge or other hotel which does not include breakfast, I tend to use, where possible, Weatherspoon’s pubs (locations of which can be found on their website at: http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk) or MacDonalds restaurants (please see the following website for locations: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk) for inexpensive breakfasts.

- For details of free Galleries and Museums in the UK I use Martin Lewis’ website at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com.

- Last but not least make I make my holiday a fun adventure and enjoy myself.

Chapter 3 - Tour 1 - Welsh Marches, Shrewsbury, Wye Valley Cities (Hereford & Monmouth) & Birmingham

3.1 Tour 1 Overview

This tour includes following the course of the River Wye, visits castles, Black & White Towns and takes you through the beautiful countryside of Shropshire, Herefordshire, South Wales and Cardiff before concluding, in the bustling city of Birmingham. This tour is an ideal starter tour tour if you are still getting to grips with a multi location holiday and can be undertaken at anytime of the year, I undertook it in October, and due to the large amount of rain we had had in the previous few days prior to the trip, witnessed the rivers particularly the Severn and the Wye in their glory in full flood, churning and gushing rapidly downstream.

Tour Itinerary:

Shrewsbury 2 Nights

Hereford 3 Nights

Monmouth 3 Nights

Birmingham 1 Nights

Total 9 Nights/10 days

Chapter 3.2 – Shrewsbury Base

Duration: 1 night, arrived 11am Day 1 – departed 11.45am Day 2

Transport to: I used my car.

Transport from: I used my car.

Accommodation: Shrewsbury Battlefield Roundabout Travelodge, Junction of the A49 and A53, Shrewsbury, SY4 3EQ on a room only basis. I booked this hotel via the Travelodge website at http://www.travelodge.co.uk, taking advantage of one of their discount offer promotion. (Please note as websites offers are always changing I always advise checking for better hotel deals for your particular travel dates).

General Information : Shrewsbury’s most famous son, Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury