Elaine

Just returned from the Heart of Alpine Europe trip. What a holiday! Absolutely enjoyed it. Scenery was stunning. Trips fantastic. The rest of the group was great, really friendly - thanks to everyone who made my holiday. Gretta, the tour manager, and Artor (not sure of spelling, sorry), the coach driver were brilliant. I was a little apprehensive about going on holiday on my own, but needn't have worried, I had a great time. Will definitely be booking another holiday with Just You, they know how to look after you. Thanks once again to everyone on the trip and to Just You.:thumbup:

Elaine

Hi Elaine,

I am booked on this trip on 14th September my first ever trip on my own. Good to hear what a marvellous holiday it was and how friendly everyone was. It makes me less apprehensive! what a coward I am!Hope I will be booking another holiday too.

Regards, Eileen

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. Like Eileen, I am doing this trip on Sept 14th and am very apprehensive about the whole thing as it'll be my first holiday alone. Really encouraged to hear about your experience, it's helping to put my mind at ease!

Michael.

Well I'm back from my trip to Alpine Europe and I really enjoyed it.

Let me get the negatives out of the way first, because for me there were some. 1) The food at the hotel was quite poor, as a veggie I found it extremely uninspiring and presented as an after thought. 2) I got bitten to death by mozzies that were in my room at the hotel. Such misery from day one.

Phew, apart from that, the trip was fantastic. Stunning, breathtaking scenery, fab weather and a great group!. You generally find that the group splits up into little sub groups, which is natural and I have to say that my sub-group were brilliant, such laughs we had.

The weather was very hot (34 deg on couple of days), we had a couple of evening with rain, which was welcome, but during the day, wall to wall sunshine.

You will need to get some Switz franks to take with you, as not all places there accept euros.

Our coach driver, who we nicknamed Arthur, as a fantastic driver having to get our coach through the tiniest of streets. Well done him!

For your trip, remember to take plenty of sun cream, some Switz franks and lots of mozzie spray and cream, if you are susceptible to bites. Thankfully the itchy bites I got are now easing and hopefully I wont be left with any scars!! (especially the ones on my face).

Good luck, have a great time and let me know how you get on.

Love Soux... xx

Really pleased that you enjoyed your trip and thanks for the tips. It's only 2 weeks before I go so getting even more nervous/excited about the whole thing.

You must be able to read my mind as I was going to ask you if any Swiss Francs were needed! I've also now added the spray and cream to my list of things I need to buy!

I've now received my tickets/travel details. I have one quick question for you - on my details it says the JY rep can be found in the check-in area at Heathrow. I had assumed that I'd have to check in, go through security and find the departure area myself before locating a specific area/lounge where my fellow travellers and rep would be? Or is it simply a case of looking for other JY travel tags amongst the crowd?!

Cheers

Michael.

I was on the trip and really enjoyed it. (Apart from the train incident) Agree the food was not too exciting but as I eat meat I found it ok. I didnt have any problem with mosquitos didnt see one all week ! Anyone on this trip should take Swiss Francs as I think 3 day trips are mostly in Switzerland. Im sure the next trip will enjoy it too, if they are lucky they will get Artor as driver again.

Hello Michael and Eileen,

Well I'm back from my trip to Alpine Europe and I really enjoyed it.

Let me get the negatives out of the way first, because for me there were some. 1) The food at the hotel was quite poor, as a veggie I found it extremely uninspiring and presented as an after thought. 2) I got bitten to death by mozzies that were in my room at the hotel. Such misery from day one.

Phew, apart from that, the trip was fantastic. Stunning, breathtaking scenery, fab weather and a great group!. You generally find that the group splits up into little sub groups, which is natural and I have to say that my sub-group were brilliant, such laughs we had.

The weather was very hot (34 deg on couple of days), we had a couple of evening with rain, which was welcome, but during the day, wall to wall sunshine.

You will need to get some Switz franks to take with you, as not all places there accept euros.

Our coach driver, who we nicknamed Arthur, as a fantastic driver having to get our coach through the tiniest of streets. Well done him!

For your trip, remember to take plenty of sun cream, some Switz franks and lots of mozzie spray and cream, if you are susceptible to bites. Thankfully the itchy bites I got are now easing and hopefully I wont be left with any scars!! (especially the ones on my face).

Good luck, have a great time and let me know how you get on.

Love Soux... xx

Hi Soux,

So sorry about your mozzie bites. Had not thought that they would be a problem in Austria.Hope they are disappearing.What a pity about your food. Was all food poor or just vegetarian? Glad your trips were good.Any tips about foot wear or clothing?How exspensive were the places on trips and does one have to take a lot of euros? Thanks for tip about Swiss money Did you find that some places in Switzerland would take euros? Oh dear what a lot of questions I have asked.Who would guess that I am nervous!! Your weather was certainly very hot-does not look as hot in Feldkirch now. However after the dreadful summer we have had in Scotland it would be nice to have some sun.Hope you have time to reply to an anxious traveller. Love, Eileen x

I flew from Manchester, Michael, and you do notice the blue tags on the suitcases! If that happens you just say hello and everything starts from there! I didn't see any Just You reps at Manchester. When you arrive at Zurich, your tour manager will be standing at the arrivals with a big sign saying Just You, just say hello and they will direct you where to wait for everyone else. Very easy .

We were advised that 20 franks would be enough for the trips in Switzerland, but I found this was not enough as its very expensive there and we made a few trips. If you can pay with euros in Switzerland they will give you your change back in franks. The amount of euros to take is personal to you, however you eat lunch out and pay extra for some trips, eg Cable Car was 17 euros. Tips for the staff at the hotel and driver etc were all extra. Small Beer was 2.90 at the hotel and they had nightly cocktails too.

Eileen, comfy shoes, not that much walking involved, but because it was so hot when I was there, I had sandles on mainly and did find that my feet were swollen so couldnt get any "heels" on, but put this down mainly to the bites I got. We all got dressed up for our evening meal each night. There was some entertainment on whilst we ate, then everyone tended to spend the rest of the evening outside in the garden area. One of our group organised an evening into the town of Feldkirch, which, although I didn't go, seemed to be a great success.

I hope I've covered everything, if there is anything else, just post a reply on here and I'll do my best.

You will have a great time. Don't forget your cameras and plenty of batteries, the views are spectacular and fab memories for when you get home.

Maybe we will meet up on a holiday , that would be great.

Love Soux... xx

Firstly, sorry to hear of your troubles with the mozzies on your holiday (forgot to write that in my earlier post!). Thanks for taking the time to post your reply, the info is really helpful. With regards to francs, I assume there are opportunities to buy souvenirs etc during the days out for those that want to so I guess a bit more than 20 francs might be appropriate!

I'll definitely let you know how I get on, and maybe we'll meet up on a future holiday - it'd be nice to put a face to the name.

Eileen - if it helps I'm just as nervous as you sound about my first trip, hopefully once we meet the others we'll both be a bit calmer!

Michael.

Just reading through your posts - please don't be nervous (easier said than done, I know) - you will have a great time, everything will run smoothly. When I arrived at Manchester airport I was first in the queue and made sure I had my blue Just You luggage tags showing (I also put one on my hand luggage). Before too long I had met three other people on the same trip and we got on really well, spent time in the airport together, then flew out together and spent most of the holiday together. Regarding souvenir shopping, you will have some free time in a few places, but it depends on whether you wish to see the sights. I personally found I didn't have much time for souvenir shopping because I wanted to look around the different places we visited and time did seem to pass very quickly. Having said that, I did manage to pick up a couple of souvenirs. There were some souvenir shops in Lichtenstein, but they were very expensive. There were also some shops in Landau, which were cheaper. You will visit Landau on your day in Germany which includes the Lake Constance boat trip. When you are on this trip, if you like looking at churches, don't miss going into the Roman Catholic church (I think) on the square - the inside is stunning. Not long before you go now - hope you enjoy your holiday. Elaine :thumbup:

Thanks for the info. Yes not long to go now (arrggh!). People such as yourself and Souxie have been friendly and quick to come forward and offer advice and help on here (which is much appreciated) - if that is a reflection of what I can expect whilst on holiday than it's very encouraging. I'll let you know how I get on when I return. :)

Cheers, Michael.

Hi Michael and Eileen

Just reading through your posts - please don't be nervous (easier said than done, I know) - you will have a great time, everything will run smoothly. When I arrived at Manchester airport I was first in the queue and made sure I had my blue Just You luggage tags showing (I also put one on my hand luggage). Before too long I had met three other people on the same trip and we got on really well, spent time in the airport together, then flew out together and spent most of the holiday together. Regarding souvenir shopping, you will have some free time in a few places, but it depends on whether you wish to see the sights. I personally found I didn't have much time for souvenir shopping because I wanted to look around the different places we visited and time did seem to pass very quickly. Having said that, I did manage to pick up a couple of souvenirs. There were some souvenir shops in Lichtenstein, but they were very expensive. There were also some shops in Landau, which were cheaper. You will visit Landau on your day in Germany which includes the Lake Constance boat trip. When you are on this trip, if you like looking at churches, don't miss going into the Roman Catholic church (I think) on the square - the inside is stunning. Not long before you go now - hope you enjoy your holiday. Elaine :thumbup:

Hi Elaine,

Thanks so much for your advice. Can you tell me if there are any shops within walking distance of the hotel as I like to think I can buy anything that I have forgotten. Also are there tea and coffee making facilities in the bedroom?Love looking at cathedrals and churches so will certainly visit the one on the square in Landau.If you have any other advice or tips please fire away. I am sure Michael will also welcome them.

Regards, Eileen

There is a Lidl store just down the road from the hotel (about a 5 minute walk). Although there are no souvenirs there, I did manage to get some Swiss chocolates and biscuits, but there wasn't a lot of choice. There is also a big Spar supermarket, which you will pass quite a few times on the coach. I personally didn't go into it, but someone told me it was a 20 minutes walk from the hotel, but I don't know what you can get there. There are no tea or coffee making facilities in the bedrooms, I think some people did take travel kettles, but apparently the hotel don't really like you using them. I bought some flavoured water from the Lidl store, as there are glasses in the rooms. Having said that the water in Austria is OK to drink. I filled up a water bottle everyday to take on trips with me. If you buy any cheese from the Dairy in Schopannau the hotel will fridge it for you until you leave. There are little gift shops in the Dairy and in the Schnapps Distillery which sell some local produce. There is also a little gift shop near to the entrance to the cable car in Schopannau. A couple of people didn't do all the tours, and caught the local bus into Feldkirch instead. You do have a little free time in Feldkirch on the first day, but I didn't really notice what shops were there, as I was too busy having a coffee and cake before we had to get back to the coach! In fact - here's one tip - on the first day you will visit Feldkirch in the morning (after going to the castle) and then Lichtenstein just after lunch. Try and get something to eat in Feldkirch before going to Lichtenstein as the cafes there are very expensive. There is a Co-op in Lichtenstein where you can get sandwiches, etc to eat and there are seats around which you can sit on. If you buy any fruit, you have to weigh it first yourself before taking it to the till, not like in the supermarkets over here. That's all I can think of for now, but if I think of anything else I will put a post on here for you. Enjoy your holiday. Elaine :thumbup:

Hi Eileen

There is a Lidl store just down the road from the hotel (about a 5 minute walk). Although there are no souvenirs there, I did manage to get some Swiss chocolates and biscuits, but there wasn't a lot of choice. There is also a big Spar supermarket, which you will pass quite a few times on the coach. I personally didn't go into it, but someone told me it was a 20 minutes walk from the hotel, but I don't know what you can get there. There are no tea or coffee making facilities in the bedrooms, I think some people did take travel kettles, but apparently the hotel don't really like you using them. I bought some flavoured water from the Lidl store, as there are glasses in the rooms. Having said that the water in Austria is OK to drink. I filled up a water bottle everyday to take on trips with me. If you buy any cheese from the Dairy in Schopannau the hotel will fridge it for you until you leave. There are little gift shops in the Dairy and in the Schnapps Distillery which sell some local produce. There is also a little gift shop near to the entrance to the cable car in Schopannau. A couple of people didn't do all the tours, and caught the local bus into Feldkirch instead. You do have a little free time in Feldkirch on the first day, but I didn't really notice what shops were there, as I was too busy having a coffee and cake before we had to get back to the coach! In fact - here's one tip - on the first day you will visit Feldkirch in the morning (after going to the castle) and then Lichtenstein just after lunch. Try and get something to eat in Feldkirch before going to Lichtenstein as the cafes there are very expensive. There is a Co-op in Lichtenstein where you can get sandwiches, etc to eat and there are seats around which you can sit on. If you buy any fruit, you have to weigh it first yourself before taking it to the till, not like in the supermarkets over here. That's all I can think of for now, but if I think of anything else I will put a post on here for you. Enjoy your holiday. Elaine :thumbup:

Hi Elaine,

Soux and you have been so helpful and like Michael I thank you both.I am really getting excited about my holiday .Know it will be better after I meet everyone and if all are as friendly as Soux and you we should all have a marvellous time. Please post any other info you think about before next Wednesday. Hope someone was able to help Soux and you before you went.Will certainly let you know how I got on on my return

Regards, Eileen

Hi Eileen

There is a Lidl store just down the road from the hotel (about a 5 minute walk). Although there are no souvenirs there, I did manage to get some Swiss chocolates and biscuits, but there wasn't a lot of choice. There is also a big Spar supermarket, which you will pass quite a few times on the coach. I personally didn't go into it, but someone told me it was a 20 minutes walk from the hotel, but I don't know what you can get there. There are no tea or coffee making facilities in the bedrooms, I think some people did take travel kettles, but apparently the hotel don't really like you using them. I bought some flavoured water from the Lidl store, as there are glasses in the rooms. Having said that the water in Austria is OK to drink. I filled up a water bottle everyday to take on trips with me. If you buy any cheese from the Dairy in Schopannau the hotel will fridge it for you until you leave. There are little gift shops in the Dairy and in the Schnapps Distillery which sell some local produce. There is also a little gift shop near to the entrance to the cable car in Schopannau. A couple of people didn't do all the tours, and caught the local bus into Feldkirch instead. You do have a little free time in Feldkirch on the first day, but I didn't really notice what shops were there, as I was too busy having a coffee and cake before we had to get back to the coach! In fact - here's one tip - on the first day you will visit Feldkirch in the morning (after going to the castle) and then Lichtenstein just after lunch. Try and get something to eat in Feldkirch before going to Lichtenstein as the cafes there are very expensive. There is a Co-op in Lichtenstein where you can get sandwiches, etc to eat and there are seats around which you can sit on. If you buy any fruit, you have to weigh it first yourself before taking it to the till, not like in the supermarkets over here. That's all I can think of for now, but if I think of anything else I will put a post on here for you. Enjoy your holiday. Elaine :thumbup:

Hi Elaine,

Soux and you have been so helpful and like Michael I thank you both.I am really getting excited about my holiday .Know it will be better after I meet everyone and if all are as friendly as Soux and you we should all have a marvellous time. Please post any other info you think about before next Wednesday. Hope someone was able to help Soux and you before you went.Will certainly let you know how I got on on my return

Regards, Eileen

Hi Soux and Elaine

thanks for all yours tips and advise on the trip. They have been most helpful. I ca't wait to go it sounds wonderful

Eileen and Michael see you next week- like yourselves nervous and excited 🙂

Hope you see this before you fly out on what will be a great holiday.

Have a fab time and let me know how it goes.....

Souxie... xx

Hello Michael, Eileen and loobs,

Hope you see this before you fly out on what will be a great holiday.

Have a fab time and let me know how it goes.....

Souxie... xx

Hi Souxie,

Case packed,taxi picking me up at 4-15am to take me to Glasgow Airport for early flight to London.Very excited now and looking forward to holiday although do not think weather will be as good as you had.However after what we have experienced over the last 2 days anything will be better! Only sad face is my 11year old golden retriever. He knows something is about to happen without him. However he is going to stay with a friend so will be spoiled.

Will be in touch on my return. Thank you for all your help.

Love, Eileen

Thanks for your kind wishes and your help over the last few weeks. Both yourself and Elaine C have given us really useful info about the trip and I can't thank you both enough. Of course I'll let you know how I get on! Maybe we'll meet at some point on a future trip, it'd be nice to put faces to the names!

Eileen/Lynda - I'm excited but still very nervous as to what I've let myself in for so if you still feel the same you're not alone!! Looking forward to seeing you at Heathrow in the morning.

Michael x