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BOE 14 July 30th Roll Call!

Hello everyone! You'll have to forgive me if this isn't normally done but my wife and I have done plenty of cruises where we have a "roll call" to get to know our fellow passengers before the trip. Since RS tours are considerably more intimate we figured a roll call on these forums would net a higher benefit!

We, wife and I, are from Florida. This post ,of course, pertains to the July 30th- Aug 12th Rick Steves' Best of Europe 14 days tour. This'll be our first encounter of a RS tour but use Mr. Steves as our go-to resource for all our travels. First time in any of these places too.

Our general outline as it stands now is fly out the 28th (eve) and arriving in Paris mid-afternoon on the 29th. We plan on staying in the same hotel as the group tour starts in and once we get the packet we'll know what hotel that actually is. That way we can request our room be from the same block of rooms reserved for the RS group. While in Paris we are tentatively going to do Moulin Rouge and see the Eiffel tower. Probably evening (9p) show of the 29th for Moulin and early morning on the 30th for the tower. Other designs for the day have yet to materialize but we hope to flesh it out in the coming months.

From the itinerary seems Rome we also are cut loose pretty quickly on the 12th after breakfast. We will be doing the same thing as in Paris. We plan to fly back on the 13th so we'll have the entirety of the day in Rome. No designs yet on what to do there as we usually chronologically plan out.

So if your booked on this trip make sure to say hi! We'd love to get to know you before and share in all the fun for planning the little things

Posted by
528 posts

Hi, I am not going on this tour, but have been on the 21 day. You will have a fantastic time. I would not expect many tour members to respond. It is surprising how many are unaware of the forum.

I noticed you said you planned to stay in the tour hotel and waiting on the information before booking room. You should already have the first and last hotel information. If you have been confirmed on the tour, there should have been two attachments in your tour confirmation email; one an invoice and the other a member participation form. Along with this, the body of the email had the hotel contact info. If, for some reason, you no longer have this email, I would strongly suggest you contact RS home office and request the info to be resent.

I usually contact the hotel directly via email. I state that I am on such and such RS tour along with the dates. I also, ask to be given the same room as my tour room.

I truly hope it is not too late to book your room. Tour hotels tends to book up, especially if it has been listed in the guidebook.

The tour is really over after the group meal, on the eve of the last day. You may or may not see any of the tour members or the guide the following morning.

Posted by
3 posts

Hi, Sorry we aren't in your tour either. We are doing another RS tour (May 2-11; Venice, Florence, Rome), however. We didn't receive our hotel info "officially" until earlier this month. We called RS office in January, and got the information to book for our first night in Venice. Best Wishes on your travels-

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you both for the replies. It is a shame more people don't use the resources available.

We had just booked our trip yesterday and only just now got our confirmation packet. Unfortunately they listed that my hotel information won't be available until a month out from the date of the trip.
I will have to do as "Socks" suggested and call the RS office to get the low down.

Posted by
382 posts

Wayne, having taken this tour last July, the 14BOE often starts with lodging in the Montparnasse District (14th Arr), due to its central location for Metro and ease of getting to/from sites. In our instance, we stayed at Hotel Apollinaire (no guarantee that'll be your group's hotel). Once RS Dept verifies hotel, in the event you get 'shut out' with pre-tour availability at their facility, not to worry. Paris is an ideal city for breaking the nights into different locales, to experience another arrondissement's flavor, as each of the neighborhoods have unique characteristics onto themselves. What you give up in convenience - having to move from one place of shelter to another - you'll gain by being a local in a completely different hub. Sort of like having two mini-vacations in the same city. We chose Rue Cler (7th Arr) for a couple nights before migrating over to Montparnasse, and it was an entirely different 'vibe'. Similarly, Ile Saint-Louis would provide a different experience, albeit at higher prices. Don't worry if your preferred (tour) hotel is all sold-out before your stay, that could be a blessing.

Posted by
467 posts

Lucky you the discounted trip! Was hoping the date I was looking at would go on sale.

Have you been to Paris? I would not suggest the Moulin Rouge. I don't think it is highly recommended by Rick or others. We have been on 4 RS tours and loved them all. Two were in Paris. We stayed in different hotels before & after for both.

Enjoy your trip