Hi all!
Today I am just going to share a little of the breakdown of my trip, where I stayed and etc.
Firstly please note that these are all based solely on my experiences, so you need not heed my advices if you feel uncomfortable or unwilling.
So here goes ;
For my trip, I took British Airways to London Heathrow Airport.
My air tickets pricing was $1525 to and fro, direct flights with no stop-overs.
Service wise was so-so, as I do feel that the British passengers kinda have more good services/attitudes rendered to them compared to the asians. (mehhhh)
When I was in London for 9 days, I stayed at Montana Hotel at Gloucester Road.
(6 days from 25th Nov-30th Nov, then 4th Dec-6th Dec; I was in Paris from 1st Dec-3rd Dec)
To be honest, other than the hotel rooms, I liked nothing else.
Not the on-off service, not the so-so breakfast, not the fact that room service comes in the room thinking that I'm not around 3 times while during my 9 days stay and not the fact that they do not provide concierge services (this is ridiculous).
Throughout my stay I was not offered any help with my luggage.
When I asked for help, they kept pushing the job around and in the end I did it myself.
So ya, I don't like the people working there tbh.
But who cares, I get a good room at a good location I think that's pretty fair enough.
I paid $200 per night (£100 p/night) for an en-suite room (for 6 days 5 nights) and $110 per night (£55 per night) for a room without bathroom (they have a shared bathroom).
I went to Paris on the 7th day of my trip and stayed there for 3 days 2 nights.
I paid $420 in total for a return train ride from London by Eurostar and a 3D2N hotel stay(without breakfast).
I was very happy with the service rendered by Eurostar.
I missed my train twice (yes because I lost my way one time and another one I just simply was late heh heh) but got my rides replaced twice for free on the next ride to and back.
And the seats are far more comfy that those on British Airways.
The hotel people were nice but hotel seemed run-down (more like a 2 star hotel compared to the stated 3 stars.)
The rooms were located at a building opposite the reception linked by a walkway with a mini balcony (for smokers) but there are no lights (or rather they are sensor lights that apparently cannot detect me -.-) so it was freaking dark and scary to step into the dark building to take the lift up to your room.
I go "phew", each time I make it to my room :'(
But for the price..... okay 我忍 :O
I used data sim card by service provider '3' when I was in London and used data sim card by service provider 'Orange' when I was in Paris.
IMO the London Sim was super well valued?
I think (if I'm not wrong) - I had 10pounds value of credits for calls/sms and unlimited use of data plan for an entire month for the sim card by '3'.
I paid 20 pounds (approx $40) for it.
*DO NOT BUY THE SIM CARDS FROM THE AIRPORT! You will realise after that you can easily get sim cards from post offices etc, and you do not have to pay an extra 10 pound like you do at the airport. So please wait till after check-in, ask your hotel reception where to get sim cards and then purchase after.*
Paris Sim was terrible.
Being kiasu I actually emailed this sim card company Lefrench mobile to have my sim shipped to Montana Hotel in London so I would save some trouble getting it when I'm there in Paris.
Only managed to use it for half a day and the next day it doesnt work anymore when I'm supposed to have some substantial amount of data to last me up to 5 days when I'm only there for 3 days.
Super pissed la.
Then I have to go to Orange Mobile and get a new sim which gave me no problems after.
Urghhhhhhhhh so angryyyyy
In London, I traveled by foot, the tube and the bus. In Paris, I traveled by foot and metro.
Yes I might be a coward and I'm afraid to get onto the cabs no matter where I go.
I mean, I'm a girl going solo. What if they drove me elsewhere other than my destination?
And also, with all that eating, I sure need to do some more than usual walking right? :p
Cabs in London are freaking expensive (that's what I heard) - i.e. I was quoted 50 pounds for a taxi ride to the Airport (S$100 mind you).
I don't know about Paris but I wouldn't take a cab if I can't speak french.
London Bus
London Tube
Paris Metro
In London, I bought this card called the Oyster card.
It's quite straightforward, works like an ezlink card.
So once you use up the value inside, just top-up.
In Paris, they have this thing called travelcard.
Du = From
Au = To
(It doesn't even look like a card to me =.= and I accidentally lost mine on day 2 cos it's so small and easy to lose wth)
So this travelcard allows you to travel to stations within different zones.
The main attractions are within zones 1-3 so I just bought a 3 day travelcard for these zones at about 25 euro (S$40 plus).
To be honest I feel that travelling by tube/bus/metro is a better way to see London and Paris as it gives you a feel of how is it like to lead your lives there (literally) and even if you get lost you get to see what's around at the places you are lost at ( :P make sense right ).
In total I spent $3000 on expenses, shopping and travelling.
Around there.
I bought gifts and souvenirs for my friends and family, stuffs for myself, spent quite a sum on travelling and as I travel solo I didn't really eat much so yup.
Oh and I don't buy branded stuffs so I guess $3k for 14 days is fair enough? :D
Total I have spent -
$1525 Airtickets
$1220 London Hotel
$420 Paris Train Tickets/Hotel Stay
$3000 Expenses/Travelling/Shopping on both countries
Grand Total - $6125
(It was a lot, but it was well-spent and worth it. It has been something I have always wanted to do, and not for anyone to judge on how I spend this sum of money wanting and craving so much so see the other side of this world :D )
I had so much fun despite doing this all alone.
It gave me the sense of satisfaction of feeding my curiosities and even the insecurities I had within myself.
I've found peace and somewhat solace (though I'm not really depressed or distressed) and am craving for more which I hope is more of something good than bad.
I'm planning another trip to somewhere which is around April and I am looking to travel with the hub, or if he can't, alone again :p
Will update this space again soon on places to go/shop/eat in London and Paris respectively, and share some of my outfits too.
Keep a lookout, and follow me on instagram or my facebook for more updates on-the-go :D
Byebye!
All pictures credits to google.com
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