# ED/Bachelor Party - Need help with itinerary



## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

mason said:


> Yes, I have been seeing many Chase cards with annual fees drop FX fees. I wasn't aware of Amex. I do wonder about Amex gold card because it is also annual fee paying. I don't expect my Costco Amex will receive the same treatment because it has zero annual fee.


Please continue the FX fee discussion in this thread (just created).

Amex won't drop the FX fee on the Gold Card - it would mean less differentiation between Gold and Plat. Plat more than pays for itself (see the article I posted earlier re the benefits) - you def. end up with more than $450 back at the end of a year.


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## boothguy (Feb 1, 2007)

Doesn't appear as thouogh anyone has addressed the question of suggested Alpine pass drives. Browse these and see if anythingn appeals to you, since it will be central to your itinerary planning.

http://www.ultimatedrives.net/routes/best_driving_routes.php


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## FastMarkA (Apr 21, 2008)

Having just completed ED yesterday, let me offer you this advice.

I planned a "power driving trip," meaning we did a Fri-Mon, with about 200 miles/day average. We were in Berlin on Saturday night, and while we went out for a while to a club, I was so drained from the driving and time change that I was able to end the night early, knowing that I didn't want to drive another 200 miles with a hangover. 

My friends got to stay out and then take naps while I was driving 120mph+. 

Plan a route that allows you for a few days with no driving so you can enjoy your Bachelor Party.


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## jsciv (Oct 5, 2010)

FastMarkA said:


> Plan a route that allows you for a few days with no driving so you can enjoy your Bachelor Party.


I did a short drive on pickup day (the day after arrival in Europe, 1.5 hrs to Fussen), then a long drive (about 6 hours thanks to weather in the Alps), a rest day, a long drive (5.5 hours), a medium-long drive (5 hours with a break in Munich to drop off snow tires), and ended with a long drive (6 hours), followed by a rest day, dropoff/train day and one more rest day.

In all, I put just under 1400 miles on the car in a week with some really good drives, but we still felt like we had time to enjoy the three cities that we had rest days in.


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## darkstarzero (Jun 20, 2008)

So I E-mailed the people at UltimateDrives.net for their itenerary suggestion and they sent the following.. what do you guys think??

Possible Itinerary

7th June
Arrive Munich / collect car / overnight in Munic (or, if feasible drive direct to Zurich that evening - 2 ½ hours)

8th June
Munich to Zurich direct (arrive in time for lunch / tour walkthrough)
Zurich to St Moritz via the central Swiss Alps, 4 passes 2000M+ including Furka Pass
Overnight in St Moritz

9th June
St Moritz loop - Swiss National Park and Parco dello Stelvio / Stelvio Pass (3 stunning passes 2000M + including the iconic Stelvio pass)
Overnight St Moritz

10th June
St Moritz to Tremezzo / Lake Como, including a loop around the northern shores / visit to Bellagio
Overnight Tremezzo
That evening head into Como, good atmosphere to party

11th June
Tremezzo to Monte Carlo - half the route via the Autostrada, then cut into the Alps Maritimes, and run down the passes to Cote D'Azur, includes Col du Turini (Monte Carlo rally)
Overnight Monte Carlo

That evening, drive a few loops of the Monte Carlo F1 circuit - we have the 1.5KM route marked out in the GPS, though keep the speed down J
Night out in Monte Carlo

12th June
Tour to the French Grand Canyon / Route Napoleon and Col du Pillion
Overnight in Monte Carlo
Second evening out in Monte Carlo, or take the short taxi run to Nice or Cannes

13th June
Drive the 30 minutes to Nice and drop off the car.

The navigation unit would need to be returned to our car compound in Monte Carlo - we would take a 300 Euros credit card deposit on this at the start of the trip, release on its safe return

By the way, as part of this tour, you will drive all the roads featured in this Top Gear video: 




Tour Planning, Support & Touring Pack

At the start of the tour you would be supplied with a touring pack, which consists of:

1) Programmed GPS - has all routes, sights and suggested stop points for coffees and lunches

2) Driving notes - for each day, driving notes showing where you will visit when, and a rough timetable to follow (example attached)

3) Maps - with the routes marked, more as a source of reference, or back up in the event of any problems with the GPS

The touring pack also includes all details of hotel contacts and on call support in case of problems. You will also be given on-call support in case of any problems en route.

Prices

In terms of the pricing, as a rough ballpark, it would work out something like this

All prices in Euros (2 persons sharing a twin room)
Component
Price
Units
Total
Accommodation (3 or 4 star boutique)
Bed / Breakfast and secure parking
250
6
1500
Tour Planning and Support and Touring Pack
150
5
750
Total Package Price

2250

Options / Upgrade (extra cost)

Staying in 5 Star Lux Hotels
250
6
1500


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## mason (Jun 8, 2006)

I wouldn't stop at Zurich. It is out of the way. You can go to Davos or St Moritz directly. Don't leave out Fluella pass.


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## FastMarkA (Apr 21, 2008)

Agreed on skipping Zurich, and if you know how to use Google Maps, you probably don't need to get their GPS (assuming your car has nav). Just enter the coordinates yourself.


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## FastMarkA (Apr 21, 2008)

Oh and that's way too much time in Monte Carlo. I'd do two nights MAX and spend the extra night in Cannes. There are some awesome restaurants and clubs there, much less pretentious than MC with a younger vibe.


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## darkstarzero (Jun 20, 2008)

Thanks, I may do that. The hard part is finding the right hotels in each city and figuring out the best way to reserve the room... either that day, a week before, now, via calling or their website or hotels.com....


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

Did you try the website "www.driveeurope.com"? I have not done a ED and found this website too late in 2009 or I might have. While I believe it could be better, arranging everything myself was more than I wanted to take on, especially in 2009. I think there is a lot to be said in having the issues minimized even if it means you don't have the "ultimate" experience (whatever that is) or spend a few more dollars than you might have otherwise. I don't know if the drive europe site is any good, I am just suggesting it might be another thing to check out.

One of the things I was a bit conflicted about when I was looking at this was trying to get my bimmer up well over 100 mph - legally. It works against the break-in recommendations but seemed like something I wanted to do. If that is something on your "list" you need the proper road. It seems like a noticably worse idea to go well over the speed limit in europe (and get caught).

I am too cheap to stay in "nice" places every night for something like this (maybe with a lady along I would). But I would think seriously about booking a night or two at a 4-5 star. The night before the delivery seems like a good time, or possibly one of the last nights? But thinking for a minute about what I enjoy when I travel, I stay "nice" places sometimes (mostly when my employer is paying) but I enjoy interesting but cheaper places about as much as long as everything works properly, it is clean, and the staff is friendly. You have a better chance at an enjoyable experience when you spend more but it is not a guarantee, in my experience. The odds are worse if you you spend less but again, there are nice exceptions.

Jim


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## neurom (Jan 16, 2005)

Your future wife is a keeper. Does she have a sister?


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## skier (Oct 19, 2004)

AggieKnight said:


> +1
> 
> Bachelor party/ED? Two cities comes to mind - Prague and amsterdam.


Exactly my thoughts. Save the other locations for AFTER you're married. :thumbup:


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## darkstarzero (Jun 20, 2008)

skier said:


> Exactly my thoughts. Save the other locations for AFTER you're married. :thumbup:


Well I already bought my plane tickets so I can't really do that. I'm sure there's some good night life around Southern Europe.

Right now I'm trying to figure out the route, which cities, and then which hotels. Looks like I may be doing Cannes for a few nights instead of Nice or Monaco at the end of the trip. Just seems like a better city.


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## FastMarkA (Apr 21, 2008)

Hilton Cannes is quite nice. Stayed there a few times; it used to be a much more posh place and then Hilton bought it & slapped on their sign. So it's not "boring Hilton" style.

Nice is kind of dumpy, but the best strip clubs are probably there. Cannes will have good strip clubs though.


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## Kar Don (Aug 4, 2004)

this thread just inspired me to get an AMEX plat card. Should be here soon!


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

AlBoston said:


> this thread just inspired me to get an AMEX plat card. Should be here soon!


Amex just introduced a bunch of new benefits - you can read about them here.


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## darkstarzero (Jun 20, 2008)

So I'm looking at prices for 4 star hotels on Travelocity in Munich and for Monday - Wednesday it's $250/night but if I were booking the hotel for say, tonight through sunday, its only $106/night... am I missing something here? Is there a reason I'm going to pay more than double for a Monday - Wednesday? What gives?


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## fishskis (Dec 18, 2004)

darkstarzero said:


> So I'm looking at prices for 4 star hotels on Travelocity in Munich and for Monday - Wednesday it's $250/night but if I were booking the hotel for say, tonight through sunday, its only $106/night... am I missing something here? Is there a reason I'm going to pay more than double for a Monday - Wednesday? What gives?


Munich has a high variability of hotel rates due to the many "fairs" (conferences) they host. I have also found that Frankfurt and Salzburg have extreme rate variances. In general, of course, weekend rates are lower in major cities since business travelers are not there to fill the rooms, and to pay higher rates.


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## Kar Don (Aug 4, 2004)

JSpira said:


> Amex just introduced a bunch of new benefits - you can read about them here.


Thanks Jspira. I was paying for skyclub and AA club before, makes no sense to do that when this card exists!


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## darkstarzero (Jun 20, 2008)

fishskis said:


> Munich has a high variability of hotel rates due to the many "fairs" (conferences) they host. I have also found that Frankfurt and Salzburg have extreme rate variances. In general, of course, weekend rates are lower in major cities since business travelers are not there to fill the rooms, and to pay higher rates.


Do you have any suggestions to get around the high weekday costs?


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