ITALY
INFORMATION
TRANSPORT
VENICE
TAXI & LAND VEHICLES
You can order any TAXI BOAT from almost everywhere, since Venice was all connected along with one canal
-
For travelling outside Venice, bus stops and other land vehicles
are centralized at
MILAN
TRENORD STIBM TICKET
It's a TICKET PASS that can be used up to 10 TRIPS
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Buying TICKET PASS
at any ticket offices or
SINGLE TRIP TICKET
at any ticket machine
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1 TRIP = 90 minutes
at any public transportation
including trains, buses and trams
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The Milano station is really huge that you might get lost
Platform directory signage can be so confusing and stressful
( up to 12 colors times two )
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During our trip on Italy, we didn't purchase any particular advance pass
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We haven't do any research about the pass, since we only stay at Milan for 2 days
INFORMATION
DINE
BOOKING
Booking is MANDATORY
Pay attention for meal you've craving on Google, especially its date ( less than a month post means higher chance that menu was still listed )
TIPPING
Mostly not required, except they gave exceptional service
However, some servers might ask for tip
LUNCH / DINNER
MOST RESTAURANTS
have TOTALLY DIFFERENT MENU for
Lunch and Dinner
Busted few times about this
SUNDAY
Since we're not travelling during Sunday, we didn't know how it works in Milan.
However, some restaurants that we've listed are open on Saturday and Sunday in Venice
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OUR MEAL HIGHLIGHTS [ SORRY WE ARE NOT A CHEESE FANS ]
ITINERARY
D-08
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EURAIL TRIP
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VENICE ARRIVAL
EURAIL
1
TRAIN
0
BUS
0
STEPS
10K
-
Arrival at Milano Centrale train station 14:40
-
During our train change, we store our luggage to our next 2 day's hotel at Milan, located just across the road
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EURAIL Train heading to Venezia S.Lucia 15:45
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Arrival at Venezia S. Lucia train station 18:12
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Check in and grab dinner at Rio Novo Restaurant. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for Seafood lovers!! 19:00
NOTE :
We stays in Venice for one single purpose, to take the DOLOMITES ONE DAY TOUR.
This is why we are not exploring this city more than 4 hours :)
ITINERARY
D-09
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DOLOMITES
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PEAKS, LAKES & MOUNTS
CABLE C
1
TRAIN
0
CAR
1
STEPS
11k
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Check out from our hotel and keep the luggage there 07:50
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Arrival at meeting point ( at Piazzale Roma ) to take our day tour 08:00
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Trust me 10 minutes from our hotel to this place took you a lot of short breath and tight leg
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Meet our driver Stefani and get ready to go with her Benz car 08:20
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It was so lucky for us, that we eventually get private tour since other 2 participants cancel their booking on the day
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The tour we've paid was only IDR 3.500.000 / person, while private tour usually cost twice higher
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Arriving at Cortina, one of the beautiful city 10:40
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Buying some breads and pastries for us and our driver. PS: there's a LV store here.
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Taking our first Faloria cable car in Italy at Cortina d'Ampezzo 11:20
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Cost 24€ / Round Trip
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Arrived at Tre Cimes 13:00
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During winter the access to get to the top was closed :(
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Arrived at frosted and snowed Lake Braies 14:00
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During winter we cannot see the beauty of its reflection and green colors,
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but we got a chance to literally walk on top of it. This is the first time ever we've ever "WALK" on top of a giant lake
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Arrived at frosted Lake Misurina 15:15
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Thou it was frosted, it was not covered fully with snows, so that we are not taking chances for this lake :p
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Arrived at Valle di Cadore, the ice cream city 15:15
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This is the city where ice cream world competition held annually, as well as the birth city of the waffle cone's inventor
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Arrived at Venice 18:00
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Quick dinner and get our luggage, straight ahead to the train station
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Arrived at Milano Centrale 23:35
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The great thing about Dolomites is that most of the places are historical, not to mention the view surrounds you with large trees and that tingling feeling of edge's canyon ride is just hard to forget and replaced
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Aside of these places that we're stopping by at Dolomites, along the road there were still few places that we can see and enjoy. There's also a hot air baloon ride, but the price is too fantastic that we didn't intended to try :)
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If you are planning to skiing or do any activities in Dolomites, June and September are most recommended by our driver, and of course, staying for few days are required
ITINERARY
D-10
-
MIILAN
-
IL DUOMO CHURCH
TRAM
2
TRAIN
2
BUS
1
STEPS
17k
The least impressed city during our first Europe trip.
Places are mostly dirty, a lot of drunken people in the street at night,
foods are definitely not the best to digged in, reservation is not handy, train station direction is too complicated, the distance to reach one to another area is way too far on foot.
It was relieving that we've only spent one day here, considering we put this on our bucket list just to dine and eat anything.
ITINERARY
D-11
-
EURAIL trip to PARIS
EURAIL
1
TRAIN
0
BUS
0
STEPS
1K
SEAT RESERVATION
20 - 39 US$ / person
To ensure you are seated together with your relatives, always reserve under 1 account
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TICKET not always meant to be printed
If printing required, you can input the reservation code at any SNCF machine
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VOITURE = Carriage number
PLACE = Seat Number
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Reservation can only be made from website
[ not applicable through apps ]
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Ensure your pass linked with your email address, because website login only accept email login
Taking taxi to Milano P.Garibaldi station 05:20
Arriving at Train Platform 05:45
We were asked to show our passport before departure
The perks of having early morning train trip is that we are don't have to find places for our luggages
INFORMATION
VAT REFUND
FRANCE
Thou most popular brands are originally came from here, doesn't mean this country is the cheapest place to buy
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If you buy the item from any OFFICIAL STORE, the price with any EURO currencies will be the same like websites
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VAT refund is varied depend on how much you've spent.
-
You can claim any other countries purchases as long as it was under the same European Union
-
However, the VAT from other countries will can only be given to you by cash
101€ - 8.000€
12%
ITALY
The highest VAT refund country that we've visited
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Stores in Milan are not as crowded as Paris with no que line
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Some people inform that there's cheaper place in Florence city which has a lot of branded items, but we are not having enough time to have a visit.
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Purchases above 8.000 € will get 15% VAT refund
101€ - 8.000€
13.3%
SWITZERLAND
We are not recommend you to bought stuffs from either Switzerland or United Kingdom
-
Aside of its low percentage with high minimum transaction, the currencies are higher compared to Euro
-
Some information from locals, the VAT purchases and refund is not valid to be done outside Switzerland, because it is an independent country aside from European Union.
However this information is cannot be confirmed, because we didn't claim for VAT on any
Switzerland's purchases
265€ / 300 CHF
3.8%
-
Always ask the store's Cashier to make yourself a VAT receipt ( you will need to show your passport )
-
You can choose to claim the VAT via cash or credit cards
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At the airport, bring along the item you purchase ( > 1.000 Euro ) to show it to the VAT refund officer