Not Really How to Series : How to Milan Bergamo Airport

 This "not really how to series" post will be like a joke, but I will try to write it very detail just in case it is useful. Because this is one of the stuff that confused me a lot when travel. How to reach the airport? How many hours I will need? It stressed me a lot, so I do a lot of research before going to airport.

Just to let you know that there are 3 airports in Milan:

1. Milan Malpensa

It is located in Ferno, Varese. In fact, this is the only airport in Milan that is connected directly by Train. The train called Malpensa Express, and I will explain in another article.

2. Milan Bergamo

It is located in Orio al Serio in Bergamo. There is no train directly connected to this airport.

3. Milan Linate 

Located in Segrate and Peschiera Borromeo, the least popular airport in Milan even it is near Milan city center if we compared between Bergamo and Malpensa. In fact I never been to this airport too, so I dont have too much information about this airport.

How to go to Milan Bergamo Airport ?

First, go to Milano Centrale (train station). Then take the bus to Bergamo.

All the Bus will depart from a place called "Piazza Luigi di Savoia" it is on the side Milano Centrale. Link: https://goo.gl/maps/sU5rRpC6RpRmwmgY8

How to get to the bus to Bergamo:

From the train platform in centrale,  take the free exit, and go to the left side. You will see this sign under the sticker board :

and then you need to take the escalator down, down, down (I did nor remember, but as far as I remember until the last level)

Until you find this sign :

Follow the sign, there will be exit and you will find a lot of people queueing for the bus!

There are 2 ways to get on the bus:

1) Queue with people on the available bus. Buy the ticket directly on the spot (before get on the bus) it will cost 12 Euro, cash or card accepted. This is better if you dont know what time to arrived at the Milano Centrale. Remember the queue is kind a long. You will need 30 minutes or more I think to get on the bus so be ready.

2) Buy the ticket online. I used Terravision and buy the ticket online, it cost 10 Euro only. But remember: you can not buy ticket 30 minutes prior the departure (buy it earlier), you can not missed the bus. You can change the time to depart on the application but once you missed it I think you need to buy again so be very careful. Terravision website link : https://www.terravision.eu/airport_transfer/bus-bergamo-airport-milan/

if you buy 2 ways there will be 2 Euro discount, so each of journey will cost only 9 Euro. If you didnt want to queue better to buy it online, because the seat is prioritized for those that buy the ticket online. They will ask "Online ticket" or if they didnt call you, you can just show them that you already have the ticket.

There are different operators on the bus stop, so if you buy from Terravision, you need to ask the guy near the stall (there will be a stall like mini bus stop, but I dont have the picture, dont worry the guy speak perfect English).

The bus will arrived 10 minutes before the departure time. So it is better to arrive 10 minutes before the departure time. 

After you get on the bus, it will take 50-60 minutes to the airport. 

How many minutes you need to arrived to Bergamo?

This is what I experienced, I will count started from Novara.

I need 40 minutes to arrived to Milan from Novara. 

from the train station to the Piazza Luigi I need 10 minutes (this is half running)

I need 30 minutes to queue before boarding on the bus to bergamo (even I buy the ticket online)

50 minutes on the bus to bergamo. I need 2 hours 15 minutes from Novara to arrived in bergamo (not counting passing the security check).

We arrived I think around 9, and the security is kind a fast, like 30-40 minutes. If you have online check in, when the bus stop, you get off the bus, enter the building using the available entrance. 

The available enterance

Just follow the line and you scan the boarding pass in front of security, going trough security and there you go!

That's it enjoy travelling.

If your flight is early morning like around 6 or 7, it is better to sleep in the airport. Bergamo has a lot of chair for you to enjoy.

"Not Really" How to Greece - Part 2 - Santorini

Greece has 6000 Island, yes, and 3000 is inhabitant island. One of the most famous island is Santoriniii. Hahahaha, first of all when we think of Santorini, we think of lavish holiday with so much money spent. We knew that most Indonesian artist went to their honeymoon trip in this Island. Buttt is that really expensive? Let's see ~

Why we go to Santorini?

For me just because I'm curious, this island is very famous with breathtaking picturesque places and we get affordable flight to Milan, so we just go. Overall, I love nature more than historical places, well I love both but I prefer nature so I am very excited to go to the "Island type place" he-he-he. I have been to Jejudo, Nami Island, Lombok and several different island type so Santorini is definitely one of my bucket list.

How to Santorini

There is a direct flight from Milan Malpensa to Santorini, in low season it will cost like 30-40 Euro, and the flight back if you lucky like us it only cost 9 Euro (ahahhaa Im so proud of this). So back and forth will cost you around 40 Euro. The flight will take like 3 hours. 

The airport is kind a small, in low season like April there will be no queue, but the airport security is very strict, so you have to follow the guide (like putting out your tab, laptop, liquid, etc, otherwise you will need to do the security check more than once).

Santorini Airport only have few flights.

Where to Stay?

Santorini is the whole Island. It means there are different villages (well, its not that big island and going around is not that far), of course each of village has its own charm with different cost of living. So not all places (means villages) in Santorini is expensive. Take a look of this map:

The most expensive villages will be : 

1) Oia (The most touristy one)

2) Fira (The Santorini capital)

The less expensive villages but still main villages will be :

1) Kamari (Beach)

2) Perissa (Black beach)

3) Firostefani - Imerovigli

I didn't put Monolithos and Akrotiri on the list because the bus is less frequent and you will get in trouble of you stay there without renting any car.

April 2022 Santorini Bus Timetable

Where to stay is really depend on the budget, and the transportation system you will take during your stay. If you rent a car, there will be no problem on where you stay. The car rent will cost around 50 Euro per day, and you need international sim for that. If you take bus like I do, always stick to the main village only for your own convenient. 

The truth is it is very easy to go around with bus, you just need to be discipline with the schedule (I will explain about the bus part later).

Oia and Fira are the most famous villages, they are mostly cliffs, and the sunset is from this direction. Perissa and Kamari are beaches with blacksand, the sun rise from this side of the island (we just realized it when we arrived because we use the 6:00 plane and the sun rise at the side of the airport). At that time, I was saying to myfriend, "Tomorrow sunrise will be amazing because we stayed at Perissa".

Staying in Perissa Experience

We decided stay in a hotel (it is actually more like hotel-apartment) in Perissa, because it is affordable. When we look for accommodation we usually tell what we want (my friend want a place with pool, one of them want to stay near the beach and because we are fasting I want a place with kitchenette.. so the best solution is hotel-apartment near Kamari or Perissa.. and since we couldn't find one of with our budget price in Oia and Fira). We found a place called "Sea Waves Hotel", it is 2 stars hotel with pool and kitchenette near Perissa. We read the review and we saw it is very near to the bus stop, and it cost only 49 Euro pernight for the 4 of us, so it is very-very affordable (it is even more affordable than maybe other places, it will be like 12.25 Euro per night). Is it expensive? No, it is a price of pizza and coca cola in the bar in Italy. 

Is the place shady? Not at all. It is very nice warm house, with warm water, very nice clean bed, and clean pool, we also have balcony so some of us stayed there doing nothing is also fine, perfect for the stay-cation type. It is 5 minutes walk to the bus stop and 5 minutes walk to the sea, actually staying in Perissa or Kamari I think not bad at all. Unfortunately I did not take any picture of the room. But I have picture of the pool.

Outside of the hotel where we stayed. The pool is well maintained. The place called, Sea Wave Hotel https://goo.gl/maps/oUWVR9xa6st4NzD6A. We booked using booking.com.

 

The downside is that it is a bit far from the groceries because we couldn't drink tap water, and groceries closed pretty quick in Santorini like 20:00. But there is a bakery nearby that sell water, coffee and pastries.

Perissa, the black sandy beach. 5 minutes walk from my hotel. To sit down near the beach is completely free and not packed with tourist. Here you can have one of the best sunrise ever.

 

The food cost

The food cost "Okay" in Santorini. Not the cheapest, but if you compare it to Northern Italy it is really an "Okay" cost, it is just like you walk into ordinary restaurant and pay, it cost me around 10-15 Euro. But some of the restaurants have very-very expensive meal, it is actually depends on the place you pick. Some in Oia are very expensive but some of them also affordable. 

Actually, there are nothing much to do in Santorini because we are fasting (if I say for the Island type activities perspective), but "the view"... so food is one of the main attraction of course. If you pick wisely, you can go to the place with very huge and nice Mousaka for 10 Euro plus water for 2 Euro, they dont have any service fee so the total of the food will cost you 12-15 Euro. If I compared to Amsterdam or any other touristy place, this is affordable. 

One of the Menu that I took in Oia

It is actually hard to see the proper view without going to the restaurant in Oia and Fira, Santorini design so. Most of the place with nice view is the private properties, so they "forced" you to enter the restaurant and buy. So just check the price first and then check the rating, then you can enjoy nice meal with a "view" without paying that much.

My Food adventure in Santorini :

In Fira ; I have brunch with big omelette cost me 11 Euro but I eat it twice because its too big.
The place is very nice, the food is good and the view is the best. The Place called, "La Scala" in Fira. https://goo.gl/maps/xCbVkXWvk8pKhBAW8 

In Fira: I ate this big Mousaka. We ate during the sunset with the "view" it cost me 10 Euro. The place called "Fanari" the waiter is very very nice and friendly. The place was not packed and the food is good, the price is fair, the view is amaizing. There are a lot british tourist eat in this place. Overall, the experience is amaizing. Fanari Restaurant, Fira : https://goo.gl/maps/PpNgDupstDTYWyWHA 

In Oia, I bought Frappe and Cheese cake recommended by a very nice US tourist with his wife praising this place is very nice. And they do! As a cheese cake lover, this place is recommended. Overall I payed 7 Euro for cheese cake and frappe, and the view is so good. The place in Oia called, "Skiza Cafe" https://goo.gl/maps/KHM1aiVCHZUZLwg99. 

How much is the transport?

We use public transport only in this island. There is bus! Do not worry. If someone told you there will be no bus in the airport, do not ask them, because there is. And the fact they started to operate at 06.00 am. My friend got panicked when she arrived she asked someone randomly and they told her there is no bus. If you meet someone like this, keep calm then walk to the bus stop. The fact they might not know that the bus in Santorini is very affordable and easy to take.

How to take the bus?

You just need to walk to the bus stop sign. The bus sign will look like this:

Local Bus KTEL with flashy yellow sign. This one is the sign in the airport. When the bus stop, you can walk and ask which direction the bus going, most of them will go to Fira. Remember, wherever you are staying you will always need to transit in Fira.

Then, you just enter the bus. Sometimes they ask you to pay in advance, sometimes not. The transport will cost you 1.6 Euro to 2.5 Euro and you need to pay with cash on the bus. The ticket will be sell to you manually when you already sit on the bus so do not worry, you just need to have enough cash with you - if you have coin it will be better. The conductor will ask you which stop you are going and you will tell them the stop. For example, "Fira or Kamari".

the conductor will give you this ticket after you pay.

But... There is but! This is what I learn also during the trip.

The Smaller Stop

 

1) The bus stop sign, this is the smaller stop along the way from Perissa to Fira
2) I used all the bronze coins, the conductor is happy when you pay exact amount.

There will be "Small stop" on the bus track (for example from Fira to Perissa, there are a lot of stops during the way, the bus will not stop only in Perissa, even in Perissa area there will be some small stop or for short... small stop), and in this small stop, it might be closer to the place you are heading. Unfortunately some of the "Smaller stop" did not have the name, and the bus will not always stop on this small stop. My accommodation is also really near to one of the smaller stop

So how do you tell them ? (because there is no stop name or whatever you can use)

First - Open your google map, and show the conductor the bus stop want when you pay. When it is almost your smaller stop, stand up and stand near the exit door.

Second  - You can say to the conductor, "Two stop before Perissa," he will understand. And of course you need to stand beside the door before your stop.

Third - you need to ask the reception on your hotel the name of the stop. In case me my stop name is "Sonotonio". 

Forth - Just follow locals. Just to let you know that there are so many locals living in Perissa, working in Fira. In some of the days we did not need to say anything because locals already told the conductor using greek. You can see that they will always ready to get off the bus just before the stop, so if there is locals ready to stop you didnt need to say anything.

Inside the bus. Ready to get off? Stand beside the door. There are 2 doors (front and the middle one)

For the direction of the bus and the time table, it is stated below :

The timetable is not really exact but more like guideline when the bus will arrive. So for me it is better to be in the bus stop 5-10 minutes before the schedule.

I am staying in Perissa, How can I get to Fira?

This is also mystery during my stay because I did not really know how to take the bus to Fira. Because as you can see above from the time table the "time" is only from Fira to Perissa, and Perissa to Fira. Whereas I stayed in one of the smaller stops (2 stops before Perissa, it is still Perissa but not the "Final stop"). Can I take the bus using the smaller stop? How do I know when the bus come? The bus stop is only in one direction how do I take the bus".

I was so confused, so I decided to go early morning before 9 (because it is said that the second bus from Perisa to Fira is around 9.00 from the time table), to ask around. I asked my receptionist and they said I can take the bus from the smaller stop.

I wait until 09.00 and there is no bus coming. There is a bus but in to the Perissa direction. So I was like confused, until there is a local that is helping us to identify the bus.

She said that to take the bus to Fira from Perissa using smaller stops:

1) You can use the smaller stops to go to Fira (in my case the smaller stop is 2 stops before Perissa main station), but because the timetable is from Perissa main station you need to add 5 to 10 more minutes until the bus come. 

2) The bus that is going to Fira is the same bus from Fira to Perissa. So the track will be : Fira-Perissa (main station), Perissa - Fira. So if you have see the bus to Perissa main station direction it means the bus to Fira will be coming in no time. The direction is your key to pick the right bus, you can always ask the conductor where the bus go. 

3) You need to wave to the bus driver in order to make them stop.

4) Even you are not in the Perissa main station you will need to pay full price to Fira (2.2 Euro).

Once you can master this bus thing. It is super easy. When you are in Fira, you will never know which bus is going where because the sign is not obvious. Just ask random conductor or driver, "Where is the bus to Oia?" they will happily to help. There is a sign board of what bus is coming, but honestly it was not accurate at all, so do not rely on that stuff just ask. The thing you should keep in mind is the bus is honestly on time  and not that frequent so just be discipline (its not that hard) because the taxi can make your bank account cry.

What to do in Santorini

Santorini is the whole Island, there are a lot to see. But we decide to just slow travel and stroll around. This cost zero except for the transport, the sunset and sunrise, the view is free. But remember in Oia and Fira most of the nicer place is private properties.

 

 Fira, Oia, Perissa. The Private area one is in Oia

What to bring as Gift from Santorini?

A lot of stuff. Magnets, keychain, etc etc but I really recommend to buy handmade stuff (because it looks so good and affordable, like 3 to 4 Euro T__T I did not buy any because I already bought stuff in athens which I regret). But, if you visit both Athen and Santorini, I suggest you just buy in Santorini, because they are better in term of quality, with almost the same or even lower price. You want 1 Euro magnet? they have, better quality. You want snacks? They have, dutty free for 2 Euro in the airport. So you will always get affordable stuff as souvenir in Santorini.

 

Lokumi is Yangko ala Greece. But this one is super duper sweet. It cost 4 Euro for 2 box. I bought one with peanut and it is super sweet.

Another Stuff

1. You can't drink tap water in Santorini, buy water.

2. Overall Santorini is cashless society, withdraw cash is Italy will be better.. have a good enough amount for buying groceries, water, pay food, etc. I withdrew there and I was charged 4 Euro for withdrawing, what a shame (I am crying inside).

3. Most of the bakery sell coffee and water, they will still open until midnight.

4. If you want to stroll around Fira, you didnt want to bring your luggage, you can store your luggage to a store 6 hours for 3 Euro for a small bag here (near the train station) :

The lady is super nice, and the price is fair, we can use the toilets too.
J&K Left Lugage Service https://goo.gl/maps/p9ioMF79DWk8o3k47

That's it if something unlcear I am so happy to help. Write me an email to afandi.karima@gmail.com. Honestly planning this trip is not so easy, but this trip is really worthed. 

Not Really How to Greece *Part 1 - Athens

Because I have time, I will spread out the whole preparation and the whole this "Fruitful Easter Trip" that everyone is curious how I managed to visit Santorini, Greece with low low budget..

Why we go to Greece?

During this Easter trip, I really want to go to Balkan countries (Albania, North Macedonia) + Greece. 

First of all, we have a plan to visit Albania and Greece because there are a lot of Muslim in Albania, but the flight is not affordable (more than 30 Euro) and we just realize that Albania is non-EU country, which at that time around February still on the E list of Italy (means we need to do the 10 days quarantine when we go back and our passport will be stamped), so it will be really complicated.

I create an excel sheet by giving my friend options where we can go, affordably (this is what I always do including the potential spending). Yes! And Greece + Santorini was on the list, on the very bottom one. Surprisingly enough, Balkans are not as affordable as I taught to extend it give me a headache. Another thing about Balkans, is... they did not have train to connect each countries, and the information about them is very limited. Because usually I do so much research before going, I was asking myself, "What on earth I am throwing myself into in Ramadhan?" so I was keeping the Balkans trip for the next time due to the fact there is so little that I know about them.

After long discussion and several talks, and also budgeting. We agreed to just cover Greece, Athens + Santorini in 6 days. 

Athens surprisingly very affordable. Personally, I think 2 days 2 night or 3 days 2 nights for Athens is really enough (especially if you have been to Rome and others historical city). Most of the days when we are in Athens it was raining, but even its raining we managed to cover all the lists we would like to see.

How to Athens 

There is a direct flights from Malpensa to Athens, its actually not that cheap because it is around 20-30€, it takes 2 hr 20 minutes but the fact it was 3 hours flight (Italy and Greece is in the different time zone). Unfortunately for peak season started from May to the end of August Athens will be very-very expensive. When I wrote this, I checked the flight tickets and I found out that the flight cost 70 Euro from Milan to Athens... but the price is lower again around September, so if you want to go and in the budget, I suggest you to just go during low season September-April.

This is also apply to Santorini, when we were in Oia, we meet very generous man and his wife, he talk to us because he used to live in Malaysia and he thought we were Malaysian. He said, "You are in the best time to see Santorini, which is end of April. Because during peak season, in Oia (Santorini) for 4 hours people cant move after they watch the sunset, which is not worthed at all." He gave us a lot of travel advice, which is why we cancelled the plan to see sunset in Oia, like he said. Sunset is sunset, which I will explain more in Santorini part.

Our flight ticket costs: Milan to Athens (28 Euro), Athens to Santorini (30 Euro), Santorini to Milan (9 Euro). So for the flights only it cost 67 Euro, but for me its really worthed. We use all ryan air during this trip: https://www.ryanair.com/it/it

Took into consideration we use Ryan Air without baggage except backpack for this trip. If you need the luggage, each of the flight will cost 20 Euro more.

The food cost

The food cost very very cheap. Small Gyros (like a wrap which is not small is like  2.7€), the water cost 0.16€ which make us stunned. Daily cost for one meal in Athens is 4-5€, if you are out of the center. In the center maybe 8€ or 15 Euro is enough. 

Gyros in Athens. There is a place called : kountouriotiko in Athens, which is near our accomodation and we found out they have the best affordable gyros in town.

We didnt buy food from the touristy place like Plaka. We stay near the Kallirois and they have varieties of food and cheap bakery.

The coffee in Athens kind a expensive like 3-4€, the canned coffee is 2.5€, starbucks started 3€ and you can seat as long as you can and charged your phone. So choose your fighter.

You can save more money if you buy on the supermarket, they have ready to prep food meal like 2€ (Grilled beef+potato) and the water is 0.16€ whereas in restaurant they sell the water like 0.5€ (the small one). Overall Athens is very affordable, you just need to find a right place.

 

How much is the transport?

The transport from airport if you took the bus is like 5.5€ and Metro for 9€ for one way. But, if you stay 3 days like me you can buy a package of 20€ including Metro airport transfer! 

If you buy daily pass it will be like 4€. So the 3 days + metro airport transfer is very worthed. You can take any public transportation using this card. This card save so much money if you think the metro transfer is already 18€.

We bought the ticket from vending machine. The machine take cash and card.

We took metro first time but once we knew how to take the Tram we always use it because its closer to the accommodation. When you enter the tram, you just need to tap the card, when you want to stop you need to push the button. It is very easy.

The Blue Thing is the place you should tap your Athena card. Remember the Tram is not frequent (maybe every 30 minutes, so be on time, because they do)

Inside the tram station. When you want to transfer you need to follow the sign. The tram will be coming every 7 minutes, not that frequent. Remember. 

The Metro sometimes makes you confused (because they have different names compared to google and the sign is not obvious, they use Greek alphabet, there is naming like 1,2,3 and colors but they didnt really use it, and the entrance and exit is very confusing, and I can mention how much we struggle the first days because nothing is obvious),
what to do? Ask. All Greek can speak English perfectly. After one day, you will managed. But using Tram is way better after knowing how.

Stay, where?

I suggest you to look for a nice place because its not that expensive. Each of us pay like 12€ per night. If you can come with group of 4 or 3 its better. It will be cheaper. We stay in airbnb near Kallirois and the place is recommended. Its not really center but 10 min to Acropolis with Tram and Metro connection. We have very nice apartment but somehow if you are from Italy the neighborhood is kind a surprising. A lot of place in Athens is kind a shady, so dont be shock. I did tell you in this blog. But inside of the building is very nice. Don't stay in shady place, look near the center that looks fancy but didnt cost too much. You will find one!

This place cost 12 Euro per night per person (we rent this for the four of us)

How to get Free Archeological Sites

We went to Athens when they had free museums and archeological site (which is, coincidence, so we didnt originally plan to be at that “free” time), on the 18th of April which is International Memorial Day. So we pick the sites that we like the most and goes in the morning. The Acropolis cost 0€ (should be around 12€) and museum is 0€ (should be 10€). Was it packed? It was not. We were shocked too. We went to Acropolis in the morning using the side enterance near the Acropolis Museum, and there was no Queue at all.

The Acropolis is including all the slopes, so when you go to Acropolis, you already covered all the sites on the complex. Half day for Acropolis is enough especially if you have been to Colesseum, Acropolis feels like kind a small.

Next we enter the National Archeological Museum. This museum recommended by my friend that have been to Athens before. And it turns out that our guide tour the next day said this museum is the only worthy museum in Athens 🤣, lucky us. This museum have all the artefact from Greece dated 3000BC which is the oldest stuff that I ever see in my life. It is very interesting.

I suggest you to checked the official sites directly to checked the “free dates”. There is no reservation or anything you just need to queue (if there is any) on the locket and they will give you the ticket for free.

There is no queue from the side entrance. I was shocked, I watch some random youtubers that mentioned always go from the side entrance (near Acropollis Museum, the one that we took), and barely any queue. It was worked. Another thing is we go not so early around 10, but when we go back around 13:00 it was packed.

Take a free walking tour. 

Free walking tour will force you to do the 3 to 4hr walking to cover whole Athens with very useful tips. We did book one with Jhonatan and we ended cover so many places with fantastic view and nice guide! (At the end you can gave the tips as much as you like people usually gave from 5 to 20€). Use your comfortable shoes, bring small stuff, water and bring umbrella incase its raining.

During the walking tour these sites are covered : 

Holy Trinity Church - Zappeion Hall - Athens National Garden - Statue of George Karaiskakis - Panathenaic Stadium - Athens Academy - Plateia Syntagma - Omonia Square - Central Municipal Athens Market - Monastiraki Square - Hadrians Library - Roman’s Agora - Stairs Athen - Anaphiotika - Plaka. We also did stops to see the president coming to the office, changing guards and buy coffee in nice place.

We covered almost the whole Athens during this tour. Took the 10am one is very recommended. This is the tour that we use and very recommended: https://www.athens-free-tour.com/book-athens-free-tour. They will send you an email of confirmation and meeting point. 

Remember to always be on time, or ahead of the meeting time. They will always start on time from my experienced and its nice to get an explanation about the city in depth and knows some places recommended by local. 

Some of this part I wrote it on the plane because I feel bored. That's it. I hope you enjoy athens.

Travel Series : Caranya untuk Jalan-Jalan di Eropa dan Tidak Minus

I have been doing and planning I think almost all the travel style. The lux, the crazy, the backpack, the calm, the hustle-bustle. Karena sejujurnya aku pribadi suka jalan-jalan. Seneng aja gitu menghirup udara baru, belajar sejarah dari tempat-tempat baru, ngeliat orang dengan kultur yang berbeda-beda, kadang jalan aja gabut ngga ngapa-ngapain cuma kalo ditempat yang beda, seneng aja gitu.

Guilty pleasure orang beda-beda, kalo aku aku suka jalan-jalan. 

Tapi seperti bestie ketahui kalau jalan-jalan ini membutuhkan waktu, biaya dan tenaga yang tentu ngga sedikit. Dan tentu saja kita harus tetap menjaga kewarasan dompet, karena hidup kita ngga cuma sekarang aja. Nah, ini dia beberapa tips tentang gimana caranya bisa jalan-jalan dengan sedikit lebih hemat.

1. Rencanakan jauh-jauh hari

Bagian perencanaan ini penting banget karena makin jauh kita ngerencanain biasanya lebih murah (tapi bisa tidak berlaku untuk high season ya). Ada 2 hal yang harus dibooking jauh sebelumnya :

a) Tiket transportasi (kecuali kereta regional Italy yang harganya selalu fix).

Pesawat

Untuk pesawat di Eropa ada low cost carrier seperti : Ryan Air, Wizz Air dan Easy Jet. Kalau RyanAir biasanya akan selalu ada low price 5-15 Euro kalau kita beli 2 bulan sebelumnya. Tapi ini ngga berlaku untuk libur nasional kayak natal dan easter kecuali kalian beli jauh-jauh sebelumnya.

Aku saranin langsung cek di website masing-masing, jangan pake skyscanner atau Omio karena banyak enggak akuratnya. Kalau kalian ppunya kartu ESN maka ada diskon 10% + free lugage bisa dimanfaatkan.

Untuk yang naik pesawat aku saranin untuk travel dengan backpack aja, kalau engga additional cost 15-20 Euro yang menurutku ngga seberapa worthed apalagi cuma pergi 1 minggu doang, karena di Eropa itu banyak Laundromart dan kalau kalian di hostel atau airbnb banyak yang ada mesin cucinya juga. Tapi tergantung orang masing-masing sih, kalau menurutku peribadi sih terlalu costly, tapi prioritas orang beda-beda.

Kalau kalian naik LCC dan ngga beli bagasi, jangan pernah bawa bagasi. Orang-orang pada bawa extra bag naik Ryan air akan dicharge 70 Euro dan disebuah penerbangan aku pernah separo pesawat dicharge semua... pinter kan Ryan air, dia jual seat 5 Euro terus orang ga beli bagasi dia dapet 60 Euro untuk 1 hour flight... Nice.

Bus

Bus adalah opsi bagus buat menjelajah Eropa, selain terjangkau juga nyaman. Ada flixbus (satu Eropa), Itabas untuk Italia dan Bla-Bla-Bus untuk area Perancis-Belanda. Harganya beneran naik terus untuk bus, aku saranin beli tiketnya 1 bulan sampe 2 minggu sebelumnya. 

Kalau kalian belinya jauh banget kayak 1,5 bulan sebelum bisa dapet bus dengan harga 2 Euro doang. Aku Bologna Milan-Milan Bologna cuma 4 Euro doang beli 1,5 bulan sebelumnya.

Kalau Flixbus suka ada diskon 10% buat pemegang kartu ESN, yang bingung bisa DM aku nanti aku ajarin caranya. 

Untuk Itabus dia biasanya ada promo Pulang-Pergi. Andata-Ritorno, jadi kalau pulang pergi naik Itabas bisa diskon 30% kalau engga salah tergantung dengan fare. Cek di : https://www.itabus.it/

Protip: 

1) Busnya ada toiletnya tapi biasanya ngga ada airnya atau tisu, jadi bawa tisu basah sendiri. 

2) Kalau Flixbus perancis ngga tau kenapa duduknya ngacak gitu sebel banget, jadi mendingan dateng ke stasiun bus 1 jam sebelum dan 30 menit udah berdiri-berdiri ditempat bapak2 ngecek, sedia greenpass dan juga tiket (nggak harus diprint). Kalau Flixbus Italy duduknya sesuai dengan nomor yang udah ditulis.

3) Stasiunnya biasanya agak antah berantah gitu, jadi pastiin cek dulu lokasi stasiunnya dimana, dateng sebelumnya karena disini busnya ngga ngaret sama sekali, busnya biasanya udah ada 30 menit sebelum jam berangkat.. Karena jam berangkat adalah jam bus "ngeenggg" bukan jam bus dateng. 

4) gate tempat busnya berhenti itu nanti muncul dilayar (kayak pesawat), biasanya 15-30 menit sebelumnya. Terus kalian bisa cek busnya tujuan mana dari nomor bus dan tujuan akhir.

5) Kalau overnight bus dan perlu transfer saranku kalian pasang headset puter lagu tulus kek atau siapa set alarm 10 menit sebelum waktu transfer atau turun (waktunya ada di tiket), nanti kalian bakal ada alarm dikuping sendiri jadi gak kelewatan buat turun. Karena bus berentinya paling lama 15 menit, jadi sebelum berenti nanti diumumin misalnya "Bologna, Bologna" 1x doang pake mic, kalau kebablasan jadinya salah sendiri.

6) di Italy masih wajib FFP2 mask, jadi kalau ngga punya ngga boleh naik ya gengs.. selalu sedia FFP2 mask.

Bla-bla-bus aku baru mau nyoba minggu depan di Perancis, doain ya gengs semoga aman. Bla-bla bus lebih murah tapi katanya lebih kecil juga.

b) Akomodasi (yang ini harganya selalu gerak, jadi makin awal.. makin baik)

Untuk akomodasi kalau kamu pergi sama temen sharing room biasanya bakal jauh lebih murah, aku saranin ber2 atau ber4. Untuk Eropa sendiri ada opsi ber-3 juga dibeberapa tempat kayak triple room buat hotel gitu jadi rajin-rajin cek aja. Kalau kalian solo travelling kalian bisa untuk cek opsi shared room hostel..untuk pembahasan terkait hostel ini akan aku lanjutkan di poin 3. 

Aku saranin untuk akomodasi booking minimal H-1 bulan sih. Makin awal makin bagus. Kalau kalian ada temen baik yang bisa ditebengin makin bagus.

2. Menginap di Bandara

Kalau kalian beli tiket pesawat selalu cek jamnya. Biasanya LCC ini jamnya kurang enak misalnya jam 06:00 pagi berangkat Milan ke Napoli maka kalian harus lewat security check maksimal jam 5 pagi, jadi dibandara maksimal jam 4 pagi. Kalau kalian mau nginep dan berangkat pagi-paginya pastiin ada transportasi dari penginapan ke bandara... tapi rata2 kereta dan bus lokal di Eropa ini mulai kerja jam 6 pagi, jadi kalian harus naik taksi. Jadi aku biasanya pilih nginep di Bandara, selain gratis juga ngerasa aman aja gitu ngga bakal ketinggalan flight. Terus bisa nyantui-nyantui beli makan dll dkk. 

Tidur dimana ? Dimana aja bisa, biasanya orang tidur dibangku-bangku bandara, ada juga yang dilantai sih. Aku biasanya tidur-tidur ayam 3-4 jam dibangku dan kayaknya udah lumayan cukup sih. Sampe dipesawat aku biasanya terkapar pulas. 

Aku biasanya cek diwebsite "Sleeping in the airport" untuk nge-cek medan bandaranya gimana. 

Ini websitenya : https://www.sleepinginairports.net/. Apakah nyaman? yang pasti engga terlalu ya, tapi aku jujur lebih nggak nyaman kalau ketar-ketir ketinggalan pesawat sih. 

3. Hostel Option

Siapa yang lebih suka hostel daripada airbnb? adalah saya hahaha. Kenapa? 

a) Hostel biasanya lebih strategis tempatnya.. dipusat kota, di deket metro. Kalau airbnb walaupun ngga semua sih kadang suka nyempil-nyempil.

b) Hostel bisa drop luggage sebelum jam check in dan drop lugagge setelah jam check out. Biasanya ada loker umum bersama yang kita bisa naroh aja meskipun belum jam check in. Lumayan kan, kalau sewa loker berapa tuh, ada juga beberapa hostel kayak di roma yang punya coin locker, jadi 2 Euro untuk 12 jam. Kalau airbnb nggak bisa.

c) Hostel ada resepsionisnya, walaupun kalau di Eropa engga semuanya 24 jam. Airbnb aku sukanya kalau yang bisa self-check in sih. Kalau engga harus nungguin orang dan sampe dijam tertentu itu kadang sakit kepala hahaha. Agak males aja ngaturnya.

d) Masak-Masak di Hostel. Hostel biasanya ada kitchennya dan lengkap, bisa masak kapan aja. Lumayan kalau mau hemat budget kayak pas di Zurich kita ngga bisa afford restaurant, pergi ke supermarket dan masak adalah jawabannya.

e) Bisa ketemu orang baru. Di Austria hostelnya ada discount coffee di barnya, dan orang-orangnya ramah-ramah banget woii. Jadi enak banget ketemu orang baru dan ngobrol di coffee barnya sambil seruput kopi diskonan.

f) Hostel biasanya ada vending machine, jadi bisa beli-beli makanan lumayan hemat.

g) Lebih hemat! Walaupun ada pengecualian ya gaes. Ngga semua hostel itu murah... misalnya kalian ber2 mau pesen private room di hostel, malahan mungkin lebih mahal daripada di hotel. Misalnya di Roma, hotel-hotelnya started 30-50 Euro per malem artinya kalau 2 orang 15-25 Euro per-orang. Kalu kalian pesen hostel, jatohnya mungkin sama atau mungkin lebih mahal.. jadi pertimbangkan lagi.

Protip: pesen jauh-jauh hari. Di Vienna aku nginep di Wombat City Hostel Vienna yang pas aku pesen 2 minggu sebelumnya harganya 24 Euro per-malem (untuk vienna lumayan affordable), terus pas aku cek seminggu sebelumnya dia udah jadi 40 Euro per person permalem. Emang harganya menukik se-drastis itu. Beberapa kota "mahal" kayak Amsterdam, Brussel, Paris, London, Swiss (satu negara mahal semua) mungkin kalian perlu pikirin jauh-jauh hari karena aku aja nginep di Amsterdam cari yang dibawah 30 Euro itu masyaAllah ampun susahnya, karena amsterdam kota "mahal", ngga cuma Ams sih, seluruh Belanda gitu.

Beberapa lokasi penginapan yang pernah aku tempatin mungkin bakal aku review di post yang lain.

4. Daily pass

Pas sampe ke sebuah kota biasakan ke tourist information center buat at least dapetin peta gratis dan nanya-nanya tips tentang kota. Kadang-kadang daily pass ini worthed, kadang-kadang engga. Contoh yang worthed apa? Zurich pass 21 Euro kalau engga salah, gratis museum, cruise dan semua moda transportasi mahal Zurich. Atau kalau kalian ke Amsterdam lama, menurutku I am sterdam card yang 50 Euro bisa all museum itu worthed, karena di Ams 1 museum itu 20 Euro woii hahaha. Jadi masuk 3 museum aja udah balik modal, ditambah dengan transportasi yang pusing kepala.

Jadi tergantung kalian mau ngapain. Kadang yang butuh cuma daily transportation pass aja, kayak aku di Vienna 14 Euro kalau engga salah 2 hari. Kenapa beli? karena vienna itu model transportnya cuma bisa one way aja (1 jalur) dan 1 tiket (3 Euro) cuma bisa 1 kali jalan. Maka kalau beli daily pass 7 Euro bisa semua moda transportasi Vienna dan semua jalur + ada diskon kereta bandara harganya dari 4 Euro jadi 1,9 Euro aja. Jadi kita save uang banyak.

Kalau di Perancis, aku ngerasa gak butuh pass soalnya 1 tiket (lupa berapa kayaknya 2 Euro deh) bisa untuk 90 menit dan bisa transfer antar metro dan pindah2 jalur selama masih berlaku. Jadi pas di Perancis kan ngga sebegitu mobilitasnya ya, pokoknya kalo udah sampe sekitar Louvre udah tinggal jalan-jalan aja, kayak ngga worthed kalau beli pass. Dan Perancis itu distrik2nya musingin (dibagi-bagi jadi bagian2 gitu kan lokasinya) aku jadi lebih milih buat beli aja lokasinya daripada salah jalur.

Di beberapa negara kayak Belanda kalau beli tiket fisik maka +1 Euro, maka kalian harus bener2 cari tau, kalo aku bilang "belajar" sebelum sampe biar tau mau beli apa, gimana, supaya hemat beb.

Beberapa negara transportnya gratis, kayak Luxemburg atau Genova di beberapa jam-jam tertentu Metronya gratis.

Beberapa kota gak perlu beli tiket cukup kartu debit kayak Milan atau Roma.

Biasakan buat itenary singkat at least mau kemana darimana dan hitung berapa kali butuh naik transportnya dengan mode transport yang ada. Nanti kalian jadi tau kira2 butuh transport pass atau engga. 

5. Makan apa ? dimana ?

Makan ini juga jadi salah satu cost pada saat travel, yang mungkin tertinggi ya hehhehe. Kalau aku pribadi bukan pengejar specialty, kecuali kopi. Ya.. namanya hidup kecualinya banyak. 

Jadi aku biasanya ya cari makan apa aja.. btw aku lebih suka lokal restaurant atau makanan asia sih selama travel. balik-balik beli nasi lagi. Karena kalo aku pribadi udah bayar dan engga suka kalau se-lokal apapun ya gak worthed. Biasanya aku ada budget harian travel, tergantung kota misal 30 Euro atau 20 Euro, terserah kalian. Nah cuma segitu yang bisa dihabisin sehari, kalau abis ya abis. Jadinya nanti budget makannya menyesuaikan. So far sih aku belum pernah yang low-budget banget, cuma kalau kalian low budget banget bawa indomie atau beli pasta atau makanan instan di carrefour terus masak di hostel bisa jadi pilihan. Kalian bisa nge-press biaya makan jadi cuma 5 Euro doang dengan masak dan bawa bekal, dan menurutku ngga ada salahnya sama sekali buat ngga jajan selama jalan-jalan, ya itu tadi sesuai budgetnya berapa dan yang dicari apa. Pas aku di Zurich karena biaya makan di restoran 20-30 Euro per prosi dan groceries mahal pula, kita beli di Luxemburg bahan-bahannya karena dasar si nggak mau rugi. Jadi ya kalian bisa lah kayak gitu kira-kira.

Biasain bawa botol minum karena tap water Eropa itu drink-able. Biaya air putih ini bisa jadi latte factor karena mager bawa botol atau collapsible cups kalo misalnya kamu bawa tas cantik. Misal kayak Roma itu walaupun pancurannya keliatan tua tapi airnya enak banget ngga kalah sama Zurich. 

Tap water Austria enak banget walaupun water fountainnya ngga ada jojong aja ada keran ambil air. So far perut Indonesia ngga ada masalah sih sama tap water.. 1 botol air putih 400 ml di austria 1.8 Euro, bayangin kalau kamu minum 4 botol 7,2 Euro.. banyak juga ya bund.

6. You can't have it all

Ada yang bilang "We travel but we found ourselves" gitu katanya ya... Begitu juga yang aku rasain. Selama jalan-jalan aku expand tolerance dan juga milih mana experience yang mau aku rasain mana yang enggak. Jadi traveling itu bener-bener costumized, person to person. Apa yang mainstream suka, belum tentu kita suka gitu.

Sebelum blow your money to extravagant schedule, enter all museums and attractions, eits.. pilih dulu yang kamu suka. Pelajarin dulu apa bener engga museum itu kamu enjoy? Masuk Colesseum kamu enjoy? Kamu takut ketinggian ngga? Kamu bisa liat apa disana? Gua selalu mempromosikan untuk lebih mindfull ke apapun termasuk pas jalan-jalan. Jangan pengen yang penting "Cekrek" aja.. woww.. walaupun boleh sih, tapi kalau misalnya bisa lebih baik kenapa tidak.

I say no to so many things I can't enjoy. This is what I've learnt. Dan dare to spend on thing you would love to.. ngga mesti mainstream dan ikut temen, itenary pisah gapapa.

Normalisiasi ngga berkerumun walaupun jalan bareng, karena yang dibuang itu duit masing-masing, masing-masing boleh milih apa yang mereka lebih sukai. Misal waktunya cuma ada 2 jam si A suka art si A ke Louvre, si B suka hiking dan view mau ke Sacre-Coure, si C lebih suka wahana maunya ke Disney Land, so why not? Kalau bisa bareng semua menikmati bagus, kalau engga ya gapapa. 

Gua bukan tipikal yang suka wahana. Tapi gua ke Everland di Korea (semacam Disney Land), gua ngantri wahana aja gua mules gitu karena gua takut ketinggian juga. Akhirnya gua balik dari Everland jam 2 siang dan hunting streetfood di Dongdaemun Plaza, cuma gua waste time kan harusnya gua engga berangkat aja dari awall hahaha. At that time I havent learnt to say no to things I cant enjoy.

Salah satu kunci untuk traveling bahagia dan lebih hemat adalah dengan cara memilih mana yang lebih kita sukain. Abis itu baru spend deh... 

 

7. Free Stuff to Do and Free walking Tour

Free stuff to do, emang ada kar? Ada banyak, cuma kita perlu getol nyari aja. Museum di minggu pertama tiap bulan hampir semuanya pada gratis. Di Torino kita pernah ikut walking tour di Palace gitu, di Roma semua church/cathedral gratis, termasuk yang di Vatikan dan Pantheon. kalau Roma mau tour keliling-liling ngga masuk mana-mana juga bisa karena semuanya bisa dinikmatin dari luar.. kalau mau lebih terarah, walking tour. Kayak Roman forum, Colesseum, Arc of Constantin, Piazza Navona, karya-karyanya Bernini, Michael Angelo (Pieta) dll bisa dinikmatin juga secara gratis. Di Vienna, semua palace parknya free kayak Belvedere, Schonbrunn Palace Park, kalian bisa nyantai dan piknik sama foto-foto gemes juga bisa dengan gratis.

Schonbrunn Palace Park, Vienna gratis masuknya. Banyak orang foto2 juga disini , emang dreamy banget. Kayaknya disini kalo autumn bagus.

Free walking tour ini biasanya dilakukan perusahaan atau perorangan gitu yang biasanya advertisementnya ditaroh di website. Nanti kita keliling2 sambil dijelasin tentang kota.. kita bisa juga nanya2 tentang kota dari perspektif orang lokal.. Biasanya mereka kasih kita headset transmitter juga. Free walking tour ini sebenernya ngga free karena di akhir sesi mereka terserah mau kita ngasih tip atau engga.. tapi biasanya kita ngasih, mungkin kalo mahasiswa sekitar 5-10 Euro an, tapi menurutku super worthed banget buat dapet insight terkait kota itu, sejarahnya secara umum dan juga tips2 dari orang lokal. Kalau kamu sendirian Free walking tour ini juga bagus banget buat bisa ketemu orang baru. Biasanya durasinya 2-3 jam. Di beberapa kota yang historynya banyak, kayak Roma, Athens atau mungkin berlin sangat recommended.

Dengerin cerita Mozart di depan patung Mozart di Vienna, diceritain sama bapak guidenya. Hidup Mozart yang berchapter-chapter diceritain dalam 15 menit. Enak pokoknya kalo ada guide *hahha dasar males

Registrasi gratis dulu, tinggal ketik di google "Free walking tour" jadi deh. Contoh website Free Walking Tour: https://www.guruwalk.com/

Kalian bisa juga pake "Self-walking tour" beberapa kota besar kayak Roma gitu dia banyak "Self-walking tour" yang cerita dan panduannya bisa kalian lihat di spotify.

8. Research and Practice make things perfect

Biasanya boncos itu karena engga persiapan, atau ada hal yang mendadak dibeli. Buat yang mau ke kota-kota di Eropa aku rekomendasiin website / Youtube travel vlogger dari jaman dulu namanya Rick Steves https://www.ricksteves.com/.

Biasanya dari om Rick kalian akan dapet banyak insight untuk pergi kemana, nyobain apa. Dia ada juga sample itenary jadi buat yang ngga punya banyak waktu tinggal ngikut aja.

Selain itu beberapa alat yang bakal berguna selama kalian jalan-jalan di Eropa untuk menghemat budget:

1. Handuk kecil. Soalnya di Eropa banyak tempat ngga sedia handuk atau kena extracharge. Biasanya toko chinese jual harganya 1 Euro, jadi beli deh sebelum berangkat.

2. Botol minum dengan alasan yang sudah disebutkan sebelumnya.

3. Fork dan knife (plastik) kalau kalian mendadak mood makan yogurt conad, kalian akan butuh fork/spoon.

4. Payung, percayalah payung di tempat wisata itu mahal2. Kalau kalian ngerasa bawa payung kegedean coba beli payung lipet hnm itu kecil banget bahkan muat ditas yang sangat mini. 

5. Coklat. Coklat atau emergency food ini penting karena kalau kalian shopping atau strolling dalam keadaan kurang gula kalian akan menghabiskan banyak uang. Dan kalian taulah di Eropa ga ada indomaret/alfamaret.

6. Emergency medicine (kayak paracetamol, koyo atau hansaplast).

7. Uang koin. Beberapa hal butuh koin seperti ke toilet. Kalau ngga punya terpaksa masuk restoran. dan harus beli sesuatu kan..

9. Low Season is The Time

Ini pelajaran yang I learn in a hard way. Ternyata season termurah adalah winter untuk hampir setiap destinasi wisata kecuali winter resort yaa, dan kalo kamu kayak aku yang ngga perlu foto cantik terus tiap kota.. yang penting experiencenya dan experiencenya nggak ngiket bulan (misal harus Spring kayak Keukenhof), Low season berangkat sih harusnya.. soalnya Januari itu Ryan air ke Napoli hampir setiap hari 5 Euro loh, sekarang udah gak dapat.. hahaha walaupun emang harus tahan sama hujan dan dingin.. Di saat winterlah ada hotel di Paris seharga 17 Euro, sekarang mana dapet minimal 30 euro.. nangis kan hahaha. Jadi kalau kalian ada waktu luang di saat winter, berangkatlah. Investasilah jaket yang proper dan juga baju wool 1 biji aja, niscaya kalian hangat dan siap menjelajahi eropa disaat semua orang pada gamau pergi. Bulan Juni-Juli udah gila-gilaan gaes harganya.. kalo mau summer break, mungkin mikirnya dari sekarang kali ya..