BOE 21 Days

Terri, this is a great trip.

Bathroom question first: there will be rest stops every couple of hours, usually at very nice "auto-grills." There will be a toilet on the bus, but only for emergencies; the bus driver has to clean it.

Most people use bus time to visit with new friends, catch up on their journals, peruse the guide books, or just rest. Some of the newer buses have wifi, as well. And your guide will take advantage of the bus time to fill you in on local history, politics, and customs. It's unlikely you'll be bored. My DH and I always spend our bus time enjoying the wonderful scenery.

Have fun!

Build up a cache of small coins; highway comfort stops often have pay toilets.

This tour was our first experience with Europe and you will LOVE it! What are the ages in your party? That might make a difference in what some might suggest as activities.

Number one, IF you want to go up into the Eiffel Tower, you must book it ahead of time. I'm afraid with just a few weeks left if you haven't already done so, tickets will likely not be available. I know I got my tickets as soon as the booking window opened. It's worth a shot, though. Use the official website Official Eiffel Tower Tickets

I purchased a travel blow dryer that took up precious suitcase space. You won't need one as all of the hotels had something available either in the bathroom or at the front desk. You WILL need plug adapters. The generic Europe one will work. I purchased specific ones for Switzerland, Italy, and Germany/France. I also purchased a gizmo that plugged into our adapter that actually could take 3 plugs for our devices as well as 4 USB charging ports. I use this everywhere we travel as I have bulky dSLR batteries, small laptop, and of course other electronic devices.

Bus time is fun time! Your guide will utilize part of this time to acclimate you to the next city. You may have a little language lesson. You may get some history on the sites you are about to see. We made it a point to move around the bus on each leg of the trip. Give everyone a chance to sit up front. This way we got to know many of our tour members along the drive. Of course, if you are my husband, you used bus time as nap time ;) I couldn't sleep if I tried.....my eyes were peeled to the vistas!

If you are wine drinkers and plan to bring some back to the US, bring a Wine bottle bubble wrap. We had two of these and I can happily report both bottles of wine made it back in one piece in checked luggage!

I'm sure there's lots more. Don't go crazy bringing tons of shoes. Two sensible, comfortable, and well-broken in pairs are all you will need. Hubby only had the shoes on his feet! You will see more on this trip than you can ever imagine. I wish we had gotten the chance to go inside Notre Dame. That's a regret. We'll go back to Paris at some point.....we did enjoy climbing to the top of the dome in Florence as well as the Bell Tower. I would climb everything you can so you can really get a birds-eye view of the cities. This was something we did early on a free morning in Florence. We stayed 2 extra nights in Paris and I purchased the Paris Museum pass (48 hour one).....it was very helpful to not have to wait in ticket lines at Versailles (which we did after the tour), Orangerie, and the Orsay. The Orsay was our favorite museum in all of Paris! Hopefully you will arrive a day early in Haarlem, too. We didn't get the chance to visit St. Bavo in Haarlem since it was closed on that day....also, the Corrie ten Boom house in Haarlem is definitely worth a visit too!

Edited to add.....lots of memory cards for cameras if you are bringing something other than your cell phones. And at least one extra battery too!

Just to clarify , you CAN go up the Eiffel Tower without advance tickets , but you will encounter lines .

So you can either arrive about 45 minutes besides it opens , or choose to get in the line for the stairs . The line for stairs is always shorter ! You can climb to the second level , where you can get in a shorter line to purchase tickets to summit . Personally the summit views are overrated , you will love the views from the second level .

The bus time is relaxing and fun , may I suggest looking out the windows instead of screens occasionally , you will only see some of this scenery once in your life sonwhy miss it ?
Buses stop every 2.5 hours as bus drivers are legally supposed to take breaks , so you will be fine . When at testoos go to bathroom first , sometimes there are lines for washrooms , then get snacks or shop ( the highway rest stops are very nice with good food and shops )

There is a bathroom on bus but as noted they are last resort , on my 14 day tour I think a child used them once or twice .

We loved the 21 day tour and you are going to have a blast!!!

The little tickets you get for the toilet are coupons that you can use for discount when buying a drink or chocolate after you come out, so go to toilet before shopping. We sometimes got extra coupons from others not using theirs and got something for free.

DO go up the Schilthorn. I think the cost was around 67 swiss francs each but the tour guide let us all pay him back in a mixture of francs and euros. Take a walk down the sidewalk beside the stream in Stechelberg - beautiful. Even more beautiful if you have packed some water and snickers or breakfast bars so you can have a little picnic. Cows. With bells!

On bus I read a little, talked to others, but mostly looked out the window or listened to the guide.

Only one person used toilet when she had to throw up.

I had no need of a lumbar support on the bus and would not bring anything unless it was blow up.

We pre-booked nothing but I did research about each city to see what to do with our free time. One thing we really enjoyed was the Museo Galileo in Florence. We also visited the Orsay and Rodin on our own in Paris.

Wish, wish, wish we had been able to stay in Paris for a few more days after our tour ended.

You're going to have such fun!

Am also doing the BOE this summer.

Just wanted to clarify one the thing...the tour will not take you inside of Notre Dame in Paris?

I'm staying a few extra nights in Paris at the end and want to know if I should add that to my "list"!

TIA!