Hi, I just got back from Globus' Essential Europe tour and had a great time. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Did you travel with anyone that shared three to a room? What did they think about it?
Were any of the tours hard walking for older or [u]slightly [/u]handicapped people.

Yes. we had three to a room (my mother, sister and I). . I think we were probably better off having three to a room because we got a larger room. To us anyway, the rooms were a very decent size. Every room was different. Some had three single beds and others had one double bed and a fold out cot (sometimes a regular cot and other times a fold out sofa bed). .

Some of the tours were hard walking. I'd say the worst as far as the amount of walking were Rome and Florence. However our tour guide was pretty good about it and there were several times that she offered to get a taxi for whoever wanted one. Sometimes if there were alot of steps she would show an alternate way around them. There were a few older people in my group and they seemed to keep up ok but we didn't have any seriously handicapped so I can't say. As for the two really big cities (Paris and London) it was more of a bus tour and not near as much walking.

Hope I answered your questions. Feel free to ask as much as you want, I love talking about the trip. I'll try and answer the best I can.

Hi Gryff, I see you are a Harry Potter fan.
What were some of the excursions you took and how much were they?

LOL, the biggest Harry Potter fan ever. Anyway, if you decide to go on the Essential Europe trip they send you a whole booklet on the hotels, itinerary and optional excursions. They offer a long list of opptionals but not all of them are available when you go (most of them are). .

For example, in the booklet there are two choices for opptionals in Rome but when we got there there was only one so almost everyone went. It was called Roman highlights and dinner and it cost $67.00. It was a guided walking tour through all the main squares of Rome (Piazza Navona, the Trevi fountain, the spanish steps etc.) Then we had dinner at the end of the tour.

There were no opptionals for Florence because we had very little time there.

Venice' opptional was a gondola serenade costing$40.00. A forty minute ride, well worth the money, six people to a gondola.

The booklet describes many different opptionals for Lucerne but we were offered two and you should not pass it up. The first was our favorite thing in the entire tour. The Mount Pilatus opptional costing $52.00. You take the steepest railway up the mountain (7,000 ft.). . The views are spectacular with lots of different walking trails, a restaurant, etc. Going down you first take a large cable car (holds about 40) then you change to a smaller one (holds 4). . Amazing experience.

The other opptional for Lucerne was a swiss folklore party. It was ok, we were glad we went. Dinner and a show costing $51.00. There was yodeling, alphorn blowing, dancing, flag throwing and lots of audience participation. Dinner was good, it included traditional cheese fondu.

In Paris we started with a dinner party and illumination drive costing $68.00. It was a nice dinner followed by a drive through the city as everything began to light up. The highlight was the Eiffel Tower all lit up. We got out here to take photos.

The next day in Paris there was an afternoon trip to Versailles costing $66.00. We went not wanting to miss anything and thinking it would be beautiful. Now obviously everyone has a different opinion but we thought it was only so so. The crowds were unbelievable and it made it not very enjoyable. Versailles itself was nice but after you see one room the all start to look the same.

That evening in Paris was the cabaret La Nouvelle Eve costing $138.00. We were glad we went. We had dinner and then as they were bringing dessert the show began. We had a table up against the stage, so close we were being hit by all the feathers. Very nice singing, dancing, acrobats and comedians. I had expected skimpy costumes but not the topless girls. Hard to get used to but still nice. It was right down the street from Moulin Rouge but there you are just paying for the name.

London there was a shownight it was dinner and your choice of shows (either the Phantom of the Opera or the Lion King) costing $139.00. We chose the Phantom of the Opera and it was the most amazing thing ever. Highlight of my trip. Globus had seats reserved in the first five rows so that was awsome too. Don't miss this.

The next day you had a choice between the Tower of London or Windsor castle both costing $54.00. We went to Windsor castle. It was a bit of a long ride and they didn't give us enough time there but it was awsome seeing a real castle. It was beautiful. The dinning room had such a large table that they told us it took three hourse to set.

Finally the last night was a taste of London costing $89.00. Also great. Dinner and then a boat ride along the Thames as London lit up. They pointed out Big Ben and the houses of parliament, the London eye and we went right under Tower Bridge when it was lit up. Beautiful way to end the trip.

Orriginally we hadn't planned on taking all of these excursions but it was so much better to go on them because we got dinner and finding dinner on your own can be a challenge if like us you get frustrated easily. They were all great trips though.

We have Essential Europe scheduled for early Sept and I would like to pick your brain a little. Was there any time for shopping in each city? Was the Moulin Rouge offered as an optional? How were the meals that were included in the tour?

I warned you that I would be picking your brain. Can you provide us with your observations as far as how the women and men were dressed on your tour?

Maybe each tour group varies but for us no, there was hardly any shopping time at all. The only way you would have time would be by skipping some of the opptional tours but the whole point of going is to see as much as possible so we didn't want to do that. We were able to have a little time to pick up a few things but that time was very very limited.

For us Moulin Rouge was not an opptional excursion. We went to the cabaret right down the street from it which they said had just as nice a show. They said that with Moulin Rouge you are just paying for the name.

Dinners were nice. In Italy there were about six or seven courses with each dinner and musicians playing while we ate. We were a little disappointed in the food. It was all pretty good but it didn't really seem authentic with each country. Like in Italy you expect alot of pasta but we only had a little. As a main dish they seemed to give us alot of veal (paper thin in a sauce or gravy). . And then at the cabaret in Paris we had steak, definetly not authentic French food although it was good. Dessert was always good and you get wine with every meal. Once we got to Switzerland they offered beer too.

I heard before I went that nobody in Europe wore shorts and that you would stand out as a tourist if you did, so we didn't bring any. I cannot really tell you if this is true or not. The areas we visited were so crowded that you couldn't right away pick out the locals from the tourists. All I can say is that I did see people wearing shorts although the majority were wearing pants or capris. I can't say what the weather will be like when you go but for us (end of June) it was very very hot. It was about 100 degrees in Italy (not at all what the computer said before I left. Dinners were almost never dressy. The only nights people dressed up (very slightly though) were for the cabaret in Paris and the shownight in London. Have a very light jacket just in case. We used ours on the top of Mount Pilatus (not cold just slightly breezy) and on the taste of London boat ride. Bring a swim suit just in case but only two of our hotels had pools and we only had time for one of them. Comfy shoes are a must.

First time to Europe too! I would like to know what the woman wear on the tours, dinner, etc. I know Capri's are big and I heard that skirts that pheashant type that are style now are popular too! Have no idea!

I didn't see any specific thing. The people in my tour wore whatever they were comfortable in. All dinners on my tour were casual except the cabaret and shownight and even then it wasn't extremely dressy. No suites and ties, no gowns. Some of the younger girls had on a skirt and blouse. Most of the ladies were wearing pants and a nice top. The men were in pants and a nice shirt, one or two also had a jacket.

As for everyday, casual, casual, casual. Don't worry about it too much.

We also just returned (July 13) from the Essential Europe tour and had a great time. We took an extra day at the beginning in Rome, and an extra day at the end in London. I would highly recommend this if you can swing it.

My comments echo those listed above by Gryffindorlion. I would add, however, that I would not recommend this tour for someone who has trouble walking. We had one gentleman who had a severe hip problem and he missed out on much of the tour of Rome, Florence, and Venice because of this difficulty. We had another gentleman, I'm guessing in his mid- 40's, who needed a cane and he was able to keep up, but in the heat I'm sure it was a bit difficult for him. The point is, this tour requires a lot of walking. If you can't do that, then you really won't be getting your full money's worth. Our tour guide (Helga) tried to assist the gentleman with the hip problem, but there was only so much she could do. It may sound cruel, but she couldn't let him keep the rest of the group from maximizing the time we had in each city.

I'm also open to answer questions from anyone since I found this board very helpful before we went on the tour.

For Mangoeater's questions:

We found plenty of time for shopping in most of the city's. We had some people very interested in shopping in our group and they were able to squeeze in a lot. Just don't be late for the bus! You might want to consider an extra day in London, in particular, since that's what this group did. Also, keep in mind that you're only in Florence for the afternoon and evening, and in Venice for just the afternoon (we got into the city at 1:00 p.m. and had to leave by 6:00 p.m.). .

The Moulin Rouge was not offered as an optional, but another show in Paris was, and everyone raved about it. Keep in mind that this is a topless show. We had a 13 year old boy along on the trip with his grandmother and I'm sure it was a little uncomfortable for him! No big deal, however.

The meals that were included in the tour package were not all that great. The breakfast's didn't offer much variety (be prepared for runny eggs!)until we got to Paris and then were great. The included dinners were pretty much forgetable as well. However, the meals included with the optionals seemed to be much better. The only one we did which included a meal was the Phantom optional and the meal was first-rate. However, what really floored us were the seats at the show; a true highlight of our trip. 2nd row - just left of center! One nice thing about this optional was that, after a week with our tour group, we were mixed in with other groups doing different tours for dinner. In fact that's true of all the optionals in London. This gave us a chance to give tips to folks just starting a trip and to share stories and swap ideas with others who were on other excursions. London was very different in this regard. After spending the first week with the same group of people and our tour guide, as soon as we got to London, our tour guide left to start another trip and we were handed over to the hotel's Globus staff. Only the morning tour was done with our normal group. In fact, that's one criticism I have of the trip. We really didn't feel much closure at the end because after the London morning tour we pretty much went off on our own. Few of us realized that our time together was at an end until it was too late. I think that Globus should include a farewell tour for this tour since it really would have added somewhat of a finale for our experience.

[quote="gryffindorlion16"]The booklet describes many different opptionals for Lucerne but we were offered two and you should not pass it up. The first was our favorite thing in the entire tour. The Mount Pilatus opptional costing $52. .00. You take the steepest railway up the mountain (7,000 ft.). . The views are spectacular with lots of different walking trails, a restaurant, etc. Going down you first take a large cable car (holds about 40) then you change to a smaller one (holds 4). . Amazing experience.

The other opptional for Lucerne was a swiss folklore party. It was ok, we were glad we went. Dinner and a show costing $51. .00. There was yodeling, alphorn blowing, dancing, flag throwing and lots of audience participation. Dinner was good, it included traditional cheese fondu.
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Could you provide more details concerning the swiss folkore party?? You mention audience participation??? Would you book this again if you had a choice???

Would I book the swiss folklore party again? Probably not but thats just because I'd want to do something different.

When we got there we were sat at a long table with other members from our group. The wait staff was dressed in traditional swiss costume and they served us fairly quickly.

We ate swiss cheese fondu for starters with (either beer or soda or water) and we had a choice for our main dish, either veal, fish, chicken, or vegetarian. Dessert was a appelsauce, merangue and strawberry ice cream dessert, very good.

The show was sort of a mix of different things. There was yodeling, alphorn blowing, spoon playing, flag throwing etc.

The audience participation was only if you wanted to. They gave audience members a chance to come up and try to blow the alphorn. Then they got a group of audience members to come up and help yodel a song. It also included clapping along to songs and another song where, at a certain part, the audience held hands and stood up on a certain word.

It was a very nice, odd, yet extremely entertaining show. It wasn't something we were going to do because it didn't sound like our thing but we went and were glad that we did. I hope that helps, if not let me know.

Would I book the swiss folklore party again? Probably not but thats just because I'd want to do something different.

When we got there we were sat at a long table with other members from our group. The wait staff was dressed in traditional swiss costume and they served us fairly quickly.

We ate swiss cheese fondu for starters with (either beer or soda or water) and we had a choice for our main dish, either veal, fish, -, or vegetarian. Dessert was a appelsauce, merangue and strawberry ice cream dessert, very good.

The show was sort of a mix of different things. There was yodeling, alphorn blowing, spoon playing, flag throwing etc.

The audience participation was only if you wanted to. They gave audience members a chance to come up and try to blow the alphorn. Then they got a group of audience members to come up and help yodel a song. It also included clapping along to songs and another song where, at a certain part, the audience held hands and stood up on a certain word.

It was a very nice, odd, yet extremely entertaining show. It wasn't something we were going to do because it didn't sound like our thing but we went and were glad that we did. I hope that helps, if not let me know.