How much does a weekend in Europe's Best Destination cost?

How much does a weekend in Europe's Best Destination cost?

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

The flights from Stanstead were cheap - that's why we originally chose Porto although I later found out  that it has been voted European Best Destination three times including for 2017! I met up with Selena at the airport and made our way to the gate. Selena had an aisle seat and I had a window one so we switched - I love a aisle seat. We arrived into Porto at about 9am and after Selena made it through passport control, everything takes longer because she is from Canada, we were off to explore. [Return Flights with Ryanair: £66/€75.99]

The station is just underneath the airport so we bought a reusable train ticket and headed 15 stops to Trindade. It is the most central station on the airport line and from there, everything is in walking distance. [Train ticket: €2.55]

We started by finding out hostel for the night, The Rivoli Cinema Hostel (More of that in another post) but we weren’t able to check in straight away so it was time to start exploring. We walked just down the road to Majestic cafe which had so many reviews online, it was a “must visit” although when we arrived there was a long queue and it was very overpriced so we decided against it and instead went on the hunt for a Porto specialty - La Francesinha. It wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever eaten but when in Rome and all that. We shared an original one which was was stuffed with different meats and cheese and came with chips.

[Hostel for one night including breakfast: €15 | La francesinha: €9 (€4.50 each)]

Next it was time for dessert and one of the things I was most excited about visiting Portugal for – Natas! These delicious puff pastry and custard tarts are what Portugal is famous for and can be found in bakeries all over the place. Selena lead us to a residential area away from all the touristy stuff and we round a local bakery where we bought our first fix. They were deep filled, just the right amount of brown on top and seriously delicious! We also found the cheapest bottles of water on that street – move away from the tourist spots to save money.
[Natas: €1 each | Water: €0.20]

High on custard, we were off to explore! This, surprisingly, is when we stopped spending money! We grabbed a map, which had all of the points of interest marked out and we made our way through all of them. We saw many beautiful churches covered in Azulejo (blue tiles.) On our free walking tour we found out that, apart from looking pretty, the tiles were originally added to buildings to prevent humidity and help with temperature control, I’d recommend Capelas del almas (just across the road from Balhoa station) and Church of Saint Ildefonso as they were the prettiest. We spend the afternoon learning about the history of Porto and finished up at Louis I bridge in Ribera. [Walking tour: Free | Lift up the cliff as the steps were closed off: €2.50]

For dinner, we hit up a tapas bar and indulged in garlic prawns, bacon and mushrooms and all of the potatoes. They tried to add a dish to the receipt that we didn’t ask for but after kicking up a fuss, they took it off.
[Two tapas dishes and a bottle of water: €12]

The next morning, we had breakfast in the hostel before heading out to explore some more. This time we went straight to Livrera de lello which is a famous book shop in Porto. Remind you of anything? Did you know that J K Rowling lived in Porto for 18 months? Apparently this beautiful bookshop inspired her. It was packed and it cost to even enter but it wasn’t too much and we really wanted to go in so we paid for it. I also stopped off to buy Andrew a shot glass for his collection. [Entrance to the bookshop: €4 | Shot glass: €2.50]

 For lunch, we stopped off in a bakery for a slice of quiche and another nata before heading to my last tourist stop of the trip. The Clerigos Church which again cost to get in. We climbed to the top of the tower and looked out over Porto before exploring the exhibition and church below. Afterwards, it started to rain so, I went back to the hostel for an hour whilst Selena headed to a park for some more exploring. I met her back at the station and we loaded our travel cards up and heading back to the station. 
[Quiche: €1.31 | Nata: €0.65 | Church entrance: €4 | Train top up: €1.55]

So, in answer to my original question, for me, a weekend in Porto costs €127.75

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THAILAND: Tips For Thai Currency, Baht

THAILAND: Tips For Thai Currency, Baht

Monday, 21 July 2014

My recent trip to Thailand was my first holiday without my parents outside of Europe which meant I was in charge of my own money. Euros are easy enough but Baht are completely different. One Baht is currently around 18p which means its around 55 Baht to £1, got it?

I did get to grips with it pretty fast but here a just a few things that I picked up along the way which would have been very helpful to have know before:

Exchange Rates

Whenever I've been away in the past I always got my money sorted in England first, I've never gotten my money changed up in the country itself, so this may be obvious but to me it wasn't haha. The exchange rate is always better from an exchange kiosk rather than the hotel, not that I cared too much while I was away, I normally changed it up in the lobby as it was much easier.

Writing On Notes

Andrew tried to change up a £20 in the hotel but they wouldn't take it because someone had written a number which was partially over the image of the queen. Apparently no where in Thailand will take a note if anything has been drawn over the queen so double check before you leave!

Traveler's Cheques. 

I was clueless before leaving. I really was, all I had was the fact that my dad went to Thailand loads when he was younger so I just went with whatever he said. Wrong move haha of course the world has changed in the years from then to now duh, wish I had realised that sooner. My dad told me to get travelers cheques like he did so before my trip I went to the bank and got £500 worth - don't get me wrong, it was all fine but my life would have been just a bit easier if I did what the modern world do and just use a card and an ATM machine. Every time I wanted to change one up it took 10 minutes of filling in forms plus some places didn't take them and the ones that did took a commission. So it's do-able, I'm just not sure I'd do it that way again haha.

A Penny

I started to realise that now and again we were getting 1 or 2 baht less change than we should have been. Obviously that isn't really a problem but it was just strange. I don't know if they have the equivalent to an English penny or maybe they just don't use them. The bill would always come to something like 300.50 or 300.75 but we would only every get a full baht in change, does that make sense haha I don't know,  just thought I'd point it out.

  

One last thing I had a big of an issue with was getting over excited that I had loads on money when I was holding a 1000 Baht note when in reality I was holding about £20 and getting upset when I had to hand over a 20 Baht note for a bottle of water when in reality, that translates to around 40p. Every now and then I just had to remind myself, this is not England anymore haha relax!

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