Friday, November 28, 2014

9 Countries in 17 Days (Full Itinerary with costs)

Lately, I've been receiving emails and questions on my previous trip to Russia and "other countries" which I didn't quite mention. Most of them requested an itinerary. Hehe. So to answer those inquisitive questions, I decided to answer it with a blogpost.

Day 1 : KLIA - Hanoi International Airport

26 September 2014 - via Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi on the 19:10pm flight. Flight took about 3 hours. I reached Hanoi at 21:15pm and slept at the airport. 

Airport transit time : almost 14 hours. T____T



Day 2 : Hanoi - Moscow, Russia

27 September 2014 - via Vietnam Airlines to Moscow on the 11:05am flight. Flight took about 9 hours. I reached Moscow at 17:55pm and made my way to Friday Hostel near Kitay Gorod Metro Station.


Day 3 : Moscow - St. Petersburg, Russia

28 September 2014 - via train 054Ч Grand Express at 23:30pm and arrive the next morning at 8:35am. Booking of this train ticket can be done here.
Places I covered : Free Walking Tour at 10.45 AM which covered : Varvarka Street, Romanovs Chambers, St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, The Senate Palace, GUM, Kazan Cathedral, Moscow Hotel from the famous Stolichnaya Vodka cover, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Ruins Grotto, The Kremlin.
After the tour, I entered the Kremlin and went shopping at Arbat Street before checking out from my hostel to catch my train. :)




Day 4 : St. Petersburg, Russia

29 September 2014 - checked in at Simple Hostel.  

Places I covered : Church of the Savior and Blood, Winter Palace and Square, The State Hermitage Museum, Nevsky Prospekt, Russian Museum : Marble Palace, St. Micheal's castle, Mikhailovsky Palace




Day 5 : St. Petersburg, Russia - Helsinki, Finland

30 September 2014  - via Train Allegro 785 at 15:25pm and arrived at 18:01pm in Helsinki. Booking of this train ticket can be done here.  I stayed two nights at a couchsurfer house located near the central train station. 
Places I covered while still in St. Petersburg :  St. Petersburg Mosque, Peter and Paul Fortress

Day 6 : Helsinki, Finland - Tallin, Estonia - Helsinki, Finland

1 October 2014 - via Eckero Line at 8:30am and return at 19:30pm. Return ferry tickets can be booked here.
Places I covered : Viru Square, Toompea Castle, Old Town, Katariina Kaik, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and two shopping malls. Haha.


Day 7 : Helsinki, Finland - Stockholm, Sweden

2 October 2014 - via Viking Line - M/S Mariella at 17:50pm and arrived at Stockholm at 10:00am the next morning. I spent a night on that cruise ship. A night on the ship can be booked here.  
Places I covered : Sightseeing Cruise from the Market Square. Rock Church

Day 8 : Stockholm, Sweden - Oslo, Norway

3 October 2014 - via Swebus at 22:20pm and arrived in Oslo at 5:55am the next morning. Booking the bus can be done here
Places I covered before boarding the bus : Old Town, The Royal Palace, Skansen, Hard Rock Cafe (by request)  

Day 9 : Oslo, Norway

4 October 2014  - overnight at Citybox Oslo 
Places I covered : National Gallery, Norwegian Folk Museum, Viking Museum, Fram Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum, 

Day 10 : Oslo, Norway - Reykjarik, Iceland

5 October 2014  - via Norwegian Air at 8:35am and arrive in Iceland at 9:25am. Flight tickets can be bought here. I stayed two nights at the Bus Hostel.
Activities I've Done : Ishestar Horseback Ruding Tour (Afternoon)



Day 11 : Reykjarik, Iceland

6 October 2014

Activities I've Done : Grand Golden Circle 1 Day Tour which covered Gullfoss Waterfall, National Park Thingvellir where LOTR and GOT did their movie shots, Rift Valley.and the Geysir 



Day 12 : Reykjarik, Iceland - Copenhagen, Denmark

7 October 2014 - via Wow Air at 9:25am and arrived in Denmark at 12:05pm. I stayed at Copenhagen Backpackers Hostel for one night. 
Places I covered : After washing my clothes, I rented a bike and cycled to Nyhavn, Then it rained heavily and I got stranded there until dark. Hahaha. Even lost my map so I was also LOST.


Day 13 : Copenhagen, Denmark - Krakow, Poland

8 October 2014 - via Lot Air at 9:25am and arrived in Poland at 14:30pm. i stayed two nights at a couchsurfer house here and spent most of the afternoon and night with her and her friends. :)


Day 14 : Krakow, Poland

9 October 2014
Places I covered : Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (1 Day Tour), Old Jewish Quarter, Old town, and Main Market Square 

Day 15 : Krakow, Poland - London

10 October 2014 - via EasyJet Airlines at 10:30am and arrived in London at 12:00pm. I spent a night at Gainsborough Lodge. as it was near to the airport.
Places I've Covered : London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Victoria Street, Cruise on River Thames.


Day 16 :  London - Moscow, Russia

11 October 2014 - via EasyJet Airlines at 7:00am and arrived in Moscow at 13:55pm. I stayed at the airport until my next departure to Vietnam via Vietnam Airlines at 20:00pm. My long stay at the airport eventually made me shocked to find a mushollah at the airport!!! Hehehe!



Day 17 :  Vietnam - Malaysia

12 October 2014
Homeward Bound. :)




Overall Accomodation/Transportation Costs Between Countries (after conversion to RM) :
  • Friday Hostel : RM68
  • Train from Moscow to St Petersburg : RM254.64
  • Simple Hostel : RM78
  • Train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki : RM379.87
  • Couchsurfing at Helsinki - FREE
  • Cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm : RM310.82
  • Bus from Stockholm to Oslo : RM201.58
  • Citybox Oslo  : RM280
  • Flight from Oslo to Reykjarik : RM263.29
  • Bus Hostel : RM145
  • Airport Bus Transfer (return) : RM124.88
  • Flight from Reykjarik to Copenhagen : RM376.25
  • Copenhagen Backpackers Hostel : RM102
  • Flight from Copenhagen to Krakow : RM459.46
  • Couchsurfing in Krakow : FREE
  • Flight from Krakow to London : RM249.44
  • Gainsborough Lodge : RM196
  • Flight from London to Moscow : RM244.24
Overall Costs : RM3733.47

Flight from Malaysia to Russia = RM1,948.00 

Total = RM5681.47 (excluding entrance fees, Estonia return ferry tickets, food, day tours)

So there's my somewhat full itinerary to countries I've visited. I went to nine countries but if you include Vietnam, it would have been 10 countries but I didn't step out of the airport. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to contact me via email or the comment post below. :P

Happy traveling peeps and stay SAFE!! Always!! 

14 comments:

Hanis Amanina said... [Reply]

Salam sis :) Would love to go to Russia, but can't make the exact dates for travelling there. Huhu.

I've just been told that the visa applied only applicable for the date that we said we would like to go. What happen if we are not able to go at that time or need to postpone the trip? Is the visa cannot be used anymore?

hanisamanina.com

syieda said... [Reply]

Clap....clap.... mmg sgt2 membantu! ! !!

Unknown said... [Reply]

Would love to try couchsurfing one day Jard. I read somewhere in the fb, ada orang share. He went to 18 countries in 37 days. Salute aku sama kamu2 ni.

agip roslan said... [Reply]

wow..kelas ko jard. impress bole kaver those countries with this kind of budget.

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ hanis... salam. :).. In order to make a visa into Russia, it is COMPULSORY to have the dates else you are not allowed entrance. The visa will state when you get into the country and when you're not. Because once you're in Russia, you are required to REGISTER your visa if you are planning to stay more than 7 days.
If you have no date yet.. then you could apply the visa in the country you are in before entering Russia.

Transiberian russian visa.. however is a different matter.

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ syieda... hope it helps :)

@ bibie karim... wow.. if only I can get leave for that long.. I could certainly reach the 18 countries or more mark. hahaha

@ agip... murah ke? rasa mcm overbudget je. hahahaha

Farikica said... [Reply]

Sudah balik ya...? Im happy for u, Jard..! Mission accomplished.. Look at all the countries... wow.. never been to any of those countries except Vietnam...ha..ha...
P/s: waiting patiently for AAX to reopen its London route.. then only can think of Europe and all those scandanavian countries u've been to..:)

Anis Azalea said... [Reply]

Wah. Bestnya. Mana gambar? Hehe. Especially gambar airport.

hcvvorld of Travels, Lifestyle and Photography said... [Reply]

wow..this is very intensive but i am glad that you enjoyed your trip!

Diet Diet Sihat said... [Reply]

wow, memang superb holiday, best betul


jom sertai peraduan TONTON DAN MENANG !!!

chekgu Bani Hassim said... [Reply]

hebat....
ni mmg bebetul travel ni....
backpack traveller ek?

hlga said... [Reply]

ku harus pindah ke KL dulu biar bisa cuti panjang kaya kak jard.

HUFT!!

beda emang kalo traveller sejati..
:p

Ramble and Wander said... [Reply]

Pergh! A very compact itinerary. Not something that I would do nowadays but I would probably have done the same thing in my *ahem* student days, haha!

But yes, I guess I get it when you explained to me how/why you plan to travel this way.

Anyways thanks for the photo of The Scream! It sure brought back memories, heh! ;)

Keep travelling & exploring!

P.S.: Dulu komplen kat blog org suruh do away with the captcha. Tgk2 blog dia ada pulak. Pfftt.

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ farikica.. am waiting for that route too. hehehe

@ anis abdullah.. gambar kurang sebab tak bawa kamera. hahaha. bawa ipod je.

@ hcvvorld.. i certainly did :)

@ dila gebu... memang best :)

@ chekgu banihassim.. yes.. backpacker all the way!! :)))

@ hlga.. hahaha. hayukkkk tinggal di KL aja!!

@ pakcik raw... yes.. when I reach your age (ehemm) I'll certainly take it nice and slowwwwww.. :P