I received an email from my friend seeking advice on his Europe trip to Italy, Amsterdam-Holland and Paris-France. He would like to know the recommended itinerary and a rough budget include cheapest flight from KL to Europe.

I can’t really suggest a rough budget as it’s very much dependant on the number of days at each place. Anyway, since I’m replying him, I might as well share this with the readers.

I’ve only been to Italy but my brother has been to all three countries mentioned above. With the help from my brother, here are the suggestions:

When making your plan, consider the following:

1. How many days and how many friends are traveling.

2. What kind of activities that interest you, i.e. shopping, photo shooting, friends making, clubbing, etc.

3. What kind of scenery captivates you, i.e. castle, natural landscape, mountain or forest.

4. Visit any travel agency in your country and ask for brochures of the travel route for the desired destination. From the itinerary given by the agency, you can plan your desired routes.

With regards to air ticket, you can always visit Matta fair which will be held in KL soon in March 2010.

Option 1 : You can choose Malaysian Airlines outbound from KL -> Amsterdam and inbound from Rome -> KL. Malaysian Airlines has flight to both place as mentioned. Last year, my brother’s girlfriend bought the air ticket outbound from KL -> Amsterdam and inbound from London -> KL during Matta fair, it costs only RM3.2k.

Itinerary Suggestion :
Route : KL -> Amsterdam (flight). Amsterdam -> Paris (train / cheap flight). Paris -> Milan (train / cheap flight). Milan -> Venice -> Florence -> Pisa -> Rome (all by train). Rome -> KL (flight).

Days of stay : Amsterdam (3 days if don’t want a too rush trip)
Paris (2 days if don’t want a too rush trip)
Milan (1 day only for shopping)
Venice (1 day)
Florence (1 day)
Pisa (1 day)
Rome and Vatican City (2 days)

Option 2 : Check the promotion from Air Asia. Every Malaysian knows they give very good rate every now and then but has to be booked very early in advance. You can fly to London from KL and start your journey from there.

Itinerary Suggestion :
Route : KL -> London (Air Asia flight). London -> Amsterdam (cheap flight) Amsterdam -> Paris (train / cheap flight). Paris -> Milan (train / cheap flight). Milan -> Venice -> Florence -> Pisa -> Rome (all by train). Rome -> London (cheap flight). London -> KL (Air Asia flight).

Days of stay : Amsterdam (3 days if don’t want too rush trip)
Paris (2 days if don’t want too rush trip)
Milan (1 day only for shopping)
Venice (1 day)
Florence (1 day)
Pisa (1 day)
Rome and Vatican City (2 days)