Somebody asked me before our trip, What do you want to see in UK?” Without thinking, I immediately blurted “The Stonehenge.” Then he sarcastically said, “Really? But those are just stones.”
Well, indeed that was true, they are just stones, but there’s more to that which made me want to see it. Continue reading “A Trip to Roman Baths and Stonehenge Last Summer | Golden Tours UK”
The cobbled stone pavement of the Royal Mile was filled with street performers and viewers, as the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Event (annual military performance every August) was celebrated by the city that time. We were a bit exhausted and hungry after visiting some places, so we took a break and decided to eat at Oink. It is a small eatery located at one of the famous streets in Old Town called Victoria Street. They are known for their hog roast rolls which is kinda unique for my taste. Continue reading “Our Two-Day Itinerary in Edinburgh (Part 4) | Exploring the Rest of Royal Mile”
The city of Edinburgh has two well known areas, they call it the Old Town and the New Town. Most of the tourist attractions can be found at the Old Town which is also considered the historical and medieval part of the city. The New Town on the other hand was the result of an expansion made during the 18th century since the Old Town was beginning to be overcrowded. It was named as such since it was “new” during that period, but not at present time. Classical Georgian style buildings dominate this part of the city, which apart from being a residential area, it also houses some restaurants and shops. Continue reading “Our Two-Day Itinerary in Edinburgh (Part 3) | Exploring the Rest of Royal Mile”
Edinburgh was the second city we visited during our UK trip last August 2016. It is the capital city of Scotland and we were fortunate enough to spend 2 full days at this beautiful and historic place. A popular annual event (every August) called the Edinburgh Military Tattoo was also celebrated when we were there. The reason why there were performances and events happening all over the city. Continue reading “Our Two-Day Itinerary in Edinburgh | Part 1: Exploring Edinburgh Castle”
I always keep on saying that Titanic has been one of my favorite movies. Well it is true, that is why I really got so excited when we went to the Titanic Museum last year during our visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Not sure if I’m just dumb, but I only learned that Titanic was built in this city when I was researching on the activities to do there. Anyway, here are some of the pictures of what we have seen and explored inside. Continue reading “What to Expect on your Titanic Belfast Experience?”
Technically, it is a requirement for every Filipinos to secure a visa whenever they travel to a Schengen region, unless you’re one of those lucky exempted people because you might be using a different passport. But what I am going to discuss here is, if it’s just layover, do we still need to get one?
This scenario happened during our UK tour last August. Since we intended to visit UK only, then we just acquired a UK visa, which is different of course from a Schengen visa. We purchased a reasonably priced ticket from Lufthansa Airlines with this itinerary:
We didn’t have any problem going there. The flight was smooth, our visa was fine and the layover time was sufficient for us to reach the boarding gate, despite the distance. Anyway, we arrived safely in UK and spent 15 wonderful days there.
On our last night, we tried to check-in online as our flight was around 7:25 am the following day. It didn’t work as it keeps on popping that a visa is needed. We initially thought that what they are requiring is our resident visa in Doha, which we provided, however the same message keeps on showing. We tried doing this many times, but nothing happened.
We arrived at the Heathrow Airport around 2:30 am. I was surprised to see that it does not operate as early as that time. In UK, self service check-in is widely used, that is why we tried using that. But still, we see the same message over and over.
When the check-in counters opened, which was around 3:30 already, that was the only time we knew what was happening. They cannot accept us because we need to have a Schengen visa. Why? Because based on our travel itinerary going to Doha, we have 2 layovers. And those two places happened to be in a same country and in a Schengen region, thus a visa is needed, even though we will be staying only at the airport.
One of the guys at the customer service area explained this to us. If you have 2 or more layovers within a Schengen area, regardless of whether it is on the same or different countries, then a Schengen visa is required. They treat it more like a domestic flight, since you only need one visa to move from one country to another.
We were already worried and nervous during that time, and my mind was already calculating how much we might spend to buy or rebook a ticket. I even tried to argue, that we were clueless that there’s such a requirement. Anyway, I don’t know if I got them through my charm (haha) or Lufthansa Airlines got a good heart (indeed, thank you), but they rebook our tickets for free, yes, FREE! Instead of going Munich – Frankfurt – Doha, they rebook it directly to Frankfurt – Doha, so only 1 layover in a Schengen region and lesser waiting time. We were very fortunate because the airline we chose didn’t took advantage of our situation. Anyway, we arrived safely in Doha and ready to get back to our daily normal lives.
I hope you read the whole blog, it’s kinda long, I know but it’s informative. So the next time that you will book your tickets or plan for your trip, make sure that you already got all the necessary visas and requirements, so you will have a worry free travel.
When we were preparing our 16 day UK trip itinerary last time, we had an ambitious intention of visiting all the 4 countries, just to say that we went all around UK. Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule and budget (yes, transportation is very expensive), that is why we did not make it to Wales. Anyway, we scheduled our first weekend to visit the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland, Belfast City. During our first day, we took a Game of Thrones tour which I already shared with you last month on this post. Then, the following day was spent within the city. Continue reading “Our Last Day in Belfast City”
The sun was slightly peeking through the clouds on the last day of our tour to the Highlands, but that did not stop the rain from giving us showers from time to time. We checked out from our accommodation early in the morning, and started with the tour lined up for the day. Continue reading “Discover the Beauty of Scotland – Highlands (Part 3)”
Maria Ingrid 