Russia & Scandinavia plus Start Berlin 29/6/13

2 Feb 2013 Jen asked

• About
• europe
• meeting places
• money
• russia
• scandinavia and russia
• spending money
• travel advice
• weather

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• Answer this question 37 answers so far

• 10 Feb 2013 leigh87 said

  

  and hey – is anyone staying in Berlin after the tour? I am staying 3 days, as it is supposed to be a great city to party in and explore!

  and hey - is anyone staying in Berlin after the tour? I am staying 3 days, as it is supposed to be a great city to party in and explore! or Cancel
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• 10 Feb 2013 Sandra said

  

  Hopefully more people sign up for it so you’ll be able to go
  I plan on going to munich and berlin before our tour and then afterwards i want to do another tour called the European Trail
  I’m from Toronto, where do your friends live?

  Hopefully more people sign up for it so you'll be able to go I plan on going to munich and berlin before our tour and then afterwards i want to do another tour called the European Trail I'm from Toronto, where do your friends live? or Cancel
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• 11 Feb 2013 ezza said

  

  I’m keeping my fingers crossed.I guess I’ll just have to figure something else out if it doesn’t go ahead. My friends are in Montreal

  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.I guess I'll just have to figure something else out if it doesn't go ahead. My friends are in Montreal or Cancel
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• 13 Feb 2013 Jen said

  

  Hi Guys, I’ve been slack lately responding to messages. Nice to meet you Sandra.
  I’ve just seen on the website our tour is full. Only 136 days to go, not that I am counting or anything :)
  I hope it’s a good mixture of guys and girls. I’ve been on one were the guys were out numbered 5 to 1.
  Jen

  Hi Guys, I've been slack lately responding to messages. Nice to meet you Sandra. I've just seen on the website our tour is full. Only 136 days to go, not that I am counting or anything :) I hope it's a good mixture of guys and girls. I've been on one were the guys were out numbered 5 to 1. Jen or Cancel
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• 21 Feb 2013 Jme said

  

  Hey Everyone,

  Just found this forum. I am completely new to contiki and this is my very first tour! So excited. I am going with my friend Tom. I am from Brissy and 22 year old uni student.
  This will be the first time I leave Aus.

  I was wondering what sort of clothes to pack… The temperatures seem to really vary depending on which country / town we will be in. From what i can gather most places have a climate like a Brissy spring, warm days – cool nights. More northern places have MUCH cooler temps. Do we get to experience the midnight sun during our trip?

  We were thinking about staying in Berlin after the tour. I am an animal lover and the Berlin Zoos have some amazing breeding programs for fantastic wildlife. Has anyone been to Berlin before?

  See you all in 128 days =]

  Hey Everyone, Just found this forum. I am completely new to contiki and this is my very first tour! So excited. I am going with my friend Tom. I am from Brissy and 22 year old uni student. This will be the first time I leave Aus. I was wondering what sort of clothes to pack... The temperatures seem to really vary depending on which country / town we will be in. From what i can gather most places have a climate like a Brissy spring, warm days - cool nights. More northern places have MUCH cooler temps. Do we get to experience the midnight sun during our trip? We were thinking about staying in Berlin after the tour. I am an animal lover and the Berlin Zoos have some amazing breeding programs for fantastic wildlife. Has anyone been to Berlin before? See you all in 128 days =] or Cancel
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• 22 Feb 2013 ezza said

  

  Hey there! I’m from Brisbane too! A guy I know from Sweden said we’d be lucky to get a max of 25 during the day and as soon as the sun goes down it gets pretty cold, so that should make packing extra fun. I’m more worried about what to do about money over there since there are so many currencies.

  Hey there! I'm from Brisbane too! A guy I know from Sweden said we'd be lucky to get a max of 25 during the day and as soon as the sun goes down it gets pretty cold, so that should make packing extra fun. I'm more worried about what to do about money over there since there are so many currencies. or Cancel
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• 26 Feb 2013 leigh87 said

  

  Hey Jme, are you a guy or girl? Lol my name is Leigh and I am a 26 yr old uni student from the Central Coast.
  I am also staying in Berlin for a couple of daysd after the tour!

  Hey Jme, are you a guy or girl? Lol my name is Leigh and I am a 26 yr old uni student from the Central Coast. I am also staying in Berlin for a couple of daysd after the tour! or Cancel
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• 26 Feb 2013 Jme said

  

  Hey Leigh and Ezza,
  Thanks for the weather info Ezza, very helpful!
  I was looking at one of those “Cash Passport” cards, multiple currencies and all that but the details are so hard to make sense of. ENGLISH PLEASE?!
  I am a girl, but my lovely traveling companion is a guy.
  Have either of your been on a Contiki tour before?
  Jaymee

  Hey Leigh and Ezza, Thanks for the weather info Ezza, very helpful! I was looking at one of those "Cash Passport" cards, multiple currencies and all that but the details are so hard to make sense of. ENGLISH PLEASE?! I am a girl, but my lovely traveling companion is a guy. Have either of your been on a Contiki tour before? Jaymee or Cancel
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• 2 Mar 2013 ezza said

  

  Don’t think the Cash Passport will be much help cuz you can only use them for the one currency and they don’t have many different ones either. I had to get one to use for the 3 or 4 days I spent in Northern Ireland and London and then another for Euros for the rest of my time there. I’ve been on 3 Contikis so far, one around America, one in Ireland and another through Europe. Had lots of fun on all of them!

  Don't think the Cash Passport will be much help cuz you can only use them for the one currency and they don't have many different ones either. I had to get one to use for the 3 or 4 days I spent in Northern Ireland and London and then another for Euros for the rest of my time there. I've been on 3 Contikis so far, one around America, one in Ireland and another through Europe. Had lots of fun on all of them! or Cancel
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• 4 Mar 2013 Jen said

  

  Hi Jme & Tom, (and everyone else)
  How are you going? Getting excited about the trip?? I’m a bit behind on the forum, I’ve been slack.
  I have spoken to a friend who did this tour about 6 years ago. He said he loved it. Here is some of the things he said so it might help us all prepare a bit better. Don’t worry there is no spoiler alert. LOL.
  The weather is ‘nice’ I asked for temperatures but he is yet to provide that – he was there in June and beginning of July; he withdrew money through ATM’s in each country – i’m not keen on this though as there is a pretty hefty fee each time you use an international ATM, I’m yet to work out what I am going to do as I don’t want to take travellers cheques and spend time trying to find somewhere to exchange them; he did all the optionals and thoroughly enjoyed them – I don’t know if these have changed; Belarus is really cheap and said its the place to stock up if you need toiletries etc; buy alcohol on the ferry from Sweden to Finland; Scandi is a little more expensive (i think by this he means Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland); Russia is also a little more expensive but in all about the same price as what you pay in Australia; and stick to the Vodka in Russia (though I thought this was a given, lol)
  So the tour is booked out now.
  If anyone has any other questions you want me to ask him, let me know. I didn’t want to ask too much to spoil our fun, but wanted to know about the basics to help us with packing since we only have 20kgs (and they do weigh the bags for Europe tours and they do make you take things out if overweight – well they did when I did my Europe tour in 2008 anyway), and the money situation since there are so many currencies.
  Anyway, hoping this is helpful, enough of the serious stuff and can’t wait for the fun.
  Jen

  Hi Jme & Tom, (and everyone else) How are you going? Getting excited about the trip?? I'm a bit behind on the forum, I've been slack. I have spoken to a friend who did this tour about 6 years ago. He said he loved it. Here is some of the things he said so it might help us all prepare a bit better. Don't worry there is no spoiler alert. LOL. The weather is 'nice' I asked for temperatures but he is yet to provide that - he was there in June and beginning of July; he withdrew money through ATM's in each country - i'm not keen on this though as there is a pretty hefty fee each time you use an international ATM, I'm yet to work out what I am going to do as I don't want to take travellers cheques and spend time trying to find somewhere to exchange them; he did all the optionals and thoroughly enjoyed them - I don't know if these have changed; Belarus is really cheap and said its the place to stock up if you need toiletries etc; buy alcohol on the ferry from Sweden to Finland; Scandi is a little more expensive (i think by this he means Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland); Russia is also a little more expensive but in all about the same price as what you pay in Australia; and stick to the Vodka in Russia (though I thought this was a given, lol) So the tour is booked out now. If anyone has any other questions you want me to ask him, let me know. I didn't want to ask too much to spoil our fun, but wanted to know about the basics to help us with packing since we only have 20kgs (and they do weigh the bags for Europe tours and they do make you take things out if overweight - well they did when I did my Europe tour in 2008 anyway), and the money situation since there are so many currencies. Anyway, hoping this is helpful, enough of the serious stuff and can't wait for the fun. Jen or Cancel
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• 25 Mar 2013 ayoung said

  

  Hello! I’m Alex and I’m on this tour too! Lovely to meet you all :)

  Hello! I'm Alex and I'm on this tour too! Lovely to meet you all :) or Cancel
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• 29 Mar 2013 ezza said

  

  Hey Alex, nice to meet you too. Where are you from? Are you travelling alone?

  Hey Alex, nice to meet you too. Where are you from? Are you travelling alone? or Cancel
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• 29 Mar 2013 ayoung said

  

  Hey Ezza, I’m from Sydney :) I see your from Brissy! Yep travelling alone on tour – are many others?

  Hey Ezza, I'm from Sydney :) I see your from Brissy! Yep travelling alone on tour - are many others? or Cancel
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• 31 Mar 2013 Jme said

  

  Hello Alex (And everybody else)
  Lovely to meet you!

  Getting super super excited! How’s everyone else going?

  Jaymee

  Hello Alex (And everybody else) Lovely to meet you! Getting super super excited! How's everyone else going? Jaymee or Cancel
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• 1 Apr 2013 ezza said

  

  Hey Jaymee, it’s crazy how close it’s getting! I’ve spoken to Jen a bit about this, but what’s everyone else doing about money while we’re over there with all the different currencies? I normally get the cash passport, but that won’t really work this time cuz there’s alot of different currencies for where we’re going.

  Hey Jaymee, it's crazy how close it's getting! I've spoken to Jen a bit about this, but what's everyone else doing about money while we're over there with all the different currencies? I normally get the cash passport, but that won't really work this time cuz there's alot of different currencies for where we're going. or Cancel
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• 3 Apr 2013 Jme said

  

  Hey, this is my main concern as well. Tom and I are going to talk to our travel agent about it, see what she says. I don’t think we have many options to begin with. I’ll let you know what she says when we see her.

  It is getting rather close! Very excited!!

  Hey, this is my main concern as well. Tom and I are going to talk to our travel agent about it, see what she says. I don't think we have many options to begin with. I'll let you know what she says when we see her. It is getting rather close! Very excited!! or Cancel
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• 3 Apr 2013 Jen said

  

  Hi Guys,
  I have just collected some small amounts of the currencies for each place we are going (but not Poland and Belarus as the places I have tried don’t carry those currencies). Figured it would be good to have some cash on me incase an ATM isn’t close as we cross borders etc or we arrive late at night and the exchange places are closed – I’m speaking from experience here (public holidays, weekends etc in remote places can cause issues). This isn’t good when all you want is to buy a drink, you are in the middle of nowhere, no EFTPOS and can’t get the drink because you don’t have the currency!! LOL, oh and i forgot to mention the tap water wasn’t safe to drink and it was 30+ degrees!!!
  AUD is at a good rate to convert at the moment so i took advantage of this. It might get better but who knows???
  It’s a hard one since there are so many currencies. I personally don’t want to be wasting time converting money in each country we go to when there will be so much to see and do. But that’s just me. Each to their own and how safe you feel about carrying cash or would prefer travellers cheques.

  87 days to go!!!

  Jen

  Hi Guys, I have just collected some small amounts of the currencies for each place we are going (but not Poland and Belarus as the places I have tried don't carry those currencies). Figured it would be good to have some cash on me incase an ATM isn't close as we cross borders etc or we arrive late at night and the exchange places are closed - I'm speaking from experience here (public holidays, weekends etc in remote places can cause issues). This isn't good when all you want is to buy a drink, you are in the middle of nowhere, no EFTPOS and can't get the drink because you don't have the currency!! LOL, oh and i forgot to mention the tap water wasn't safe to drink and it was 30+ degrees!!! AUD is at a good rate to convert at the moment so i took advantage of this. It might get better but who knows??? It's a hard one since there are so many currencies. I personally don't want to be wasting time converting money in each country we go to when there will be so much to see and do. But that's just me. Each to their own and how safe you feel about carrying cash or would prefer travellers cheques. 87 days to go!!! Jen or Cancel
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