Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[RooFlyer]

Spooling up for a week of final preparations before heading off for five weeks criss-crossing Europe.

The trip is anchored first by a seven-night Ponant cruise around the arctic island of Spitsbergen, with included flights from/to Paris:

Cruise Fjords and glaciers of Spitsbergen from Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen - June 2025 | Ponant

Somewhere in the High Arctic, between 76 and 80 degrees latitude North, Spitsbergen, meaning "pointed mountains”, awaits you for seven days of unforgettable travel looking out for wild life. You will lift the anchor in Longyearbyen, where colourful wooden

uk.ponant.com

The cruise




This will be my second Ponant cruise, but I have four more booked with them! I like them because they offer >200 cruises with 'no single supplement', which means I only pay for me in a cabin, they are small, expedition vessels (Le Boreal has max 264 pax with 145 crew) and considering they are small vessels, the price is OK, if you book far enough ahead. My Travel Agent booked everything on this trip except for hotels and local sights.

The second anchor is an eleven day Exodus (UK-based) small group tour of Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro with this itinerary:

Bosnia & Beyond

Experience the culture and beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro

www.exodustravels.com

I originally booked this two years ago but had to abandon it to make an emergency return to Australia. I've done one or two Exodus tours before and they have a good reputation. @JohnM has done more and I recall was happy with them also. No-one under 16 and max of 18 pax but of course we hope for fewer (18 would be pushing the definition of 'small group'). I am paying a supplement to have my own room.

In between, I'm seeing a bit more of Paris, spending a few days in the Loire Valley checking out some Chateaux and finishing with a few days in Malta/Gozo, as I missed doing Gozo last time.

So, flights are:



That's CDG-LYR (Longyearbyen) 4+ hrs in chartered economy

 

[Flyfrequently]

On board with you @RooFlyer - enjoy!

 

[Quickstatus]

the price is OK, if you book far enough ahead

How far is "far enough ahead" ?

 

[RooFlyer]

In outlining the below, I'm hoping people might give tips on 'must sees' or 'great coffee' places etc or general tips on any part!

I'm mainly using Accor hotels and my Plat+ status and quite a few nights have been paid for mostly with saved points. International flights and hotels are:

Novotel Melbourne Airport

MEL-SIN: Business, SQ award mainly from VFF transferred points

Night in Singapore at Fairmont - Accor Plat Stay Plus . Deluxe King with balcony S$48 to pay

SIN-DOH-CDG: Business, QR revenue flight, much cheaper per km leaving from SIN rather than Aust, plus my TA's corporate discount on QR. Not QSuites but all daytime flights.

I'm basing myself at the Novotel CDG (five different stays) for a number of reasons - I'm flying in and out four times return in all; I hope to leave luggage there that I don't need on various segments of my trip, as well as weight restrictions on those segments; I can just as easily start my day for trips into Paris on the RER from CGD and will have a discounted multi-trip ticket and, not being one to seek out good dining on trips, I should be able to eat economically from airport outlets (have to see on that one).

In the first two days in Paris I'll be checking out Notre Dame, the catacombs, sewer tour, Musee de Cluny and Montmartre.

CDG-VIE-DBV paid business on OS

A night at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera hotel not far from the airport waiting to join the rest of the Bosnia tour party, who fly down from Gatwick the next morning. On Ryanair. You can see why I didn't just fly to London to meet them there.

During the tour, hotels are a pretty good standard with one or two 'feature' stays.

DBV-VIE-CDG business on OS

Overnight CDG then pre-paid first class train to St Pierre de Corps (one station out of Tours), pick up Avis car to begin three days self-touring in the Loire Valley. Staying at San Souci B&B, a great place found by @VPS . I think one, if not both of the hosts are Australian.

Sans Souci Bed and Breakfast

Bed and Breakfast with Luxe Heated Pool and Restaurant

sanssoucibedandbreakfast.com

Back by train to CDG, overnight there, then join the Ponant charter flights to Longyearbyen to begin the cruise. Let the polar bears come forth!

Back from the cruise, another night at Novotel CDG then CGD-MLA on KM Air Malta in business.

I've been to the main island of Malta before, so the focus here is to take the fast ferry Valetta to Gozo then over a couple of days see some sights on Gozo by Uber (or might rent a car), especially Hal Tarxien and the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. The latter has limited space, so I bought a ticket early. Return to Valetta check out some more things, then fly to CDG. A final day in Paris doing a Paris Walks tour (thanks, @ellen10 ) of The Merais neighbourhood.

CDG-DOH-SIN on QR J, not QSuites,

connect though to SQ business flight to MEL booked on Aeroplan miles. This will be a bit of a poor end to the trip, as I loath SQ's angled beds. Oh well.

 

[RooFlyer]

How far is "far enough ahead" ?

Ponant has a decreasing schedule of discounts (that they call the 'Ponant bonus') that they apply to cabin prices. They start at 30% (as in 30% per person off the base price) and as time goes by, that decreases to 25%, 20% and below.




I book 12-18 months prior to sailing to ensure the 30% (don't always succeed). When the bonuses decrease I don't think can be told in advance, but 'popular' cruises - European school holidays to the Med for instance) will probably decrease earlier. I see my cruise still has a 20% discount and the no single supplement is still available - hopefully that means the pax loading is relatively light.

I also get a 7.5% discount off this and my current booked cruises as I have 4 total booked with them - it applies retrospectively

 

[I love to travel]

2 tips: The Fairmont Lounge in Singapore is fabulous - more like a meal at dinnertime. Afternoon tea also incredible. Bring your appetite.

Second is around dining at CDG. Not a lot of options landside. However there are also lots of buses near Terminal 3 and your hotel. Some of these go to Aeroville which is about 10 mins away and has an abundance of shops, restaurants etc

Aéroville : Shopping, Restaurants et Loisirs

Aéroville est LA destination shopping du nord de l'Île de France. Avec près de 200 boutiques et restaurants, des loisirs et un cinéma Pathé, Aéroville vous accueille tous les jours de 10h à 20h pour une journée shopping extra, y compris le dimanche.

www.westfield.com

 

[RB]

You might find something useful here re the Durmitor area, starts around post 51 Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and Austria | Page 3 | Australian Frequent Flyer

 

[RooFlyer]

Second is around dining at CDG. Not a lot of options landside. However there are also lots of buses near Terminal 3 and your hotel. Some of these go to Aeroville which is about 10 mins away and has an abundance of shops, restaurants etc

Excellent, thank-you.

 

[ellen10]

A wonderful trip to look forward to @RooFlyer
I will look forward to following along.