After graduating from college, I have about 10 months of break before beginning my degree course in late August. Since I have so much free time, I decided to join my cousins to Europe for vacation! This was my first time ever going on a vacation so far away from my family for more than 2 weeks! I had so much fun traveling around from country to country, seeing so many things that I wouldn't be able to in Asia and meeting people from different backgrounds. I was there for 15 days and 14 nights (1 night spent on the plane). I will be sharing about the places I've been to in separate posts as I went to 7 different countries - Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Belgium and I don't think I'd be able to fit everything into one post.

It was a budget trip and we managed to keep our total spendings lesser than RM10K, which is pretty cheap for two weeks in Europe! I could've spent lesser than RM9K if I didn't spend so much on souvenirs, food and alcohol. I booked my air tickets from Emirates late so I didn't manage to get any cheap deals: RM2788 on plane tickets. Our hotels were 30Euros (RM144) per night on average: 30 X 13nights = 390Euros (RM1,872 on accommodation). We rented a car to travel around which was a cheaper alternative to using public transportation: RM1190 on car rental. I used 750Euros (RM3,597) on food, drinks, snacks, entrance tickets, souvenirs and car petrol. That makes a total of only RM9,429 for my entire vacation in Europe!! Most of the places I've visited are towns that are much more affordable than expensive cities like Paris, Vienna, Berlin and Munich, which was mainly how I was able to spend lesser than my budget.


While I was in Europe, I was able to stay connected with my family and friends in Malaysia through WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat which explains how I could constantly post photos on my social medias and it was all thanks to Travel Recommends! I rented a portable WiFi router from them which provided me with stable internet connection throughout Europe. It was very useful especially when I needed internet for navigation, translation and impromptu research but there was no free WiFi available nearby. The device can be shared with up to 5 devices, not to mention it has unlimited data! It's super affordable with prices starting from only RM15 per day and they also provide rental services for other countries such as South Korea, Singapore, USA, Thailand and Australia. If you're travelling anytime soon and you want an inexpensive alternative to data roaming, rent a WiFi router from Travel Recommends here now!

I visited at least one place for every day in Europe, which means I visited more than 14 places in total, including:
Netherlands: Amsterdam, Zaandam, Giethoorn, Lisse, Rotterdam

Amsterdam

Germany: Cologne, Heidelberg, Neuschwanstein Castle

Heidelberg

Austria: Innsbruck

Innsbruck

Liechtenstein: Vaduz
Switzerland: Interlaken, Jungfrau

Jungfrau

France: Colmar, Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Belgium: Brussels

Brussels