European Tour 2011: Seeking Guidance
 

I've been visiting this site and message board since 2001, have been a fan since 1995. Being from Pakistan, I have only had the opportunity to see the band live twice; Gateshead 2000 and Barcelona 2008. However I am planning to attend three shows on the European leg next summer and I am looking for guidance of you fine folks who watch the band multiple times during a tour. I'd greatly appreciate if you can guide me here.

Regarding tickets, if I buy online, is the option of collecting tickets from the venue on the day of the concert available in all countries? For example, if I buy online for Spain, Greece, Austria etc., will I be able to collect my ticket from each venue on the concert day?

Right now, I am thinking of going to Greece, Austria and Spain. Is it logistically convenient (and cheap) to travel to Austria from Greece in a short span of one day?

I plan to make a trip of about 10 days. What would you recommend to be the most suitable option logistically for seeing at least three shows? I am pretty much open to consider any territories, and not just the ones mentioned above.

Thanks for your guidance in advance.

To find something cheap in Greece will become quite difficult I guess because July is holliday time and Greece is a country where a lot of people spend their hollidays. Cheap flights are very difficult to get as well as hotels.

Aloha !

I am currently planning a huge trip that covers 8 shows (Mannheim to the end of the tour in Lisbon) but have decided to skip Greece for now as it's completely into the wrong direction. However, I'm driving during the entire trip as I'm renting a van. You're not doing this, so I'll get into it further on;

I haven't looked into buying tickets yet. You have to realize that tickets haven't sold out for any of the dates in years. Some people believe the hype Bon Jovi create but I've always been able to get a GC ticket up to 3 weeks before a show takes place. And with ticket prices like these I strongly suggest you to check out eBay if possible a few weeks or a month before the show takes place. It might save you up to 100E or more. If you're not into that (which I can imagine as some people just want to be secure they have their tickets) I can't help you when it comes to this.

It depends what you consider cheap. As of right now you can get a one way ticket from Greece to Austria (the date in Austria takes place 2 days after the show in Greece) for 110E.

http://www.olympicair.com/Home.aspx?a_id=549

This current tour schedule requires a lot of travelling if you're really doing it for the shows. Previous tours had a tour scheme which allowed you to do many shows in a short amount of time, but the band travels a lot more this time as they're going from one side of Europe to the complete other side of it. Munich for example will always be a great show, but the show after it is Oslo which has a smaller chance of being remotely special. And as you're flying in from Pakistan I'm sure you'd rather do some proper sightseeing as well and Greece would be a wonderful location for that indeed. However, I suggest a bit of a different trip that would, if you're into doing 10 days of Europe, cover 3 shows in 3 different countries as well. Obviously I do not know what your budget is so I have no idea how far you can stretch it.

Fly to Mannheim or Frankfurt on the 15th.
This would cover the show in Mannheim which has a high risk of being special as it's the last show in Germany. Mannheim itself is not that special but it's close to Frankfurt and that's a huge city in Germany. It could keep you busy for a few days, depending on what your interests are.

Fly to Athens on the 18th.
This would mean you'd spend only a few days in Germany, but you'd have more time for sightseeing in Greece. This flight would cost you about 150E. I'm not sure on how special the show will be. Jon has wanted to do Greece for years now but he might just end up playing a 2 hour 10 minute show with a completely standard set. If the show is average you will at least see amazing ancient buildings though.

Fly to Vienna on the 22nd.
Vienna often has great shows as well and Vienna is a wonderful city to end your trip. A flight from Athens to Vienna would cost you up to 120E.

Fly home on the 24th.

This covers 10 days, 3 shows in 3 different countries. You'd see a lot of Europe as well, including different cultures. When it comes to hotels I use booking.com. I've found out that I could always get a proper place to sleep for roughly 35E per night in the center of a city. I haven't checked out Athens though.

If you have more questions feel free to ask, I've been working on my trip for quite a while now. :)

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Thanks a lot, Chris and Seb.

Seb I suppose I'll have to stay in touch with you over the coming months to plan this trip properly :-) Let me share some more details.

I am not particularly looking to be in the GC or as near to the stage as possible, although in Barcelona I was in GC. Still I enjoy the atmosphere of the gig and am not too particular about where I get my seat or where I end up standing after all.

I am aware that lately not every stadium show has been truly sold out, so I am not really that worried about this aspect. Plus there is always a possibility of scoring a ticket even if a show is a legit sell-out.

For this tour, my priority is to attend those shows where potentially the crowds are going to be the biggest and the best. Hence Spain and Portugal fit this category I guess. As compared to the English gig I attended, Spanish one was on a whole other level I thought, because the crowd was so loud and alive throughout. I think Munich will probably be the biggest gig crowd-wise, but it is in early June which probably doesn't suit me, and the next gigs are in Scandanevia, which I don't find appealing to be honest.

As for budget, I suppose I can manage about 1500 Euros for the 10 days trip. If I can find a nice, clean hotel within 40-50 Euros, I'll be happy. Last time in 2008 I started in Manchester, saw Springsteen, then proceeded to France, spent a couple of days there, reached Barcelona, saw the gig, then went back to England and flew home. I've already been to Spain three times, and have travelled across Switzerland as well as countries like the entire UK, Netherlands. So may be I should focus on Austria, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Or Zurich, Udine and Vienna? What do you think?

Waalaikum-us-Salaam.

Tahawar.

There are so many 10 day combinations with 3 shows included you can make, I guess it all comes down to what cities/countries seem to be more appealing to you. If there weren't any Bon Jovi shows involved, where would you like to spend your holidays at?

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about Austrian, Swiss or Belgian crowds, so maybe someone else can help you on that. I can tell you from experience Spanish and Portuguese crowds are very similar. Very lively and gig atmosphere is excellent. Being the last shows of the tour, they'll most likely be fabulous shows as well. All countries you've considered have strong points from a touristic point of view, so good luck with that ;)

If you have any questions regarding Portugal and Spain, feel free to ask.

I probably wouldn't be making this trip if not for the Bon Jovi tour :-) Right now I am tilted more towards attending the last few shows, so let's see.

Thanks a lot for your help. Appreciate it.

Hey Tahawar,

Well, I completely agree with Seb on what he said regarding the tour schedule. I travel to the tour from Israel, so it's always rather expensive and a hussle to organize. My best advise would be not to travel cross-country on the day of the show, unless it's a really must-see show. I've done back-to-back shows that were on different locations several times, and it was always tiring. When the shows are worth it - you don't care, but if the show is a bit on the slow side, it can really ruin your emtire experience. WIth three shows, the best way to go is as Seb said - pick three dates that are a few days apart. That way you can travel with ease to the location, not stress out about getting there on time. That way, you also have more budget friendly choises to choose from for example - sometimes the cheap inter-european flights will be cheaper on a specific date, and higher on another date, so if you have several days apart between concerts you can choose a cheaper flight.

As for greece - Bon Jovi have never played there before, so it might be "historic". However, like in every first concert in a country - Bon Jovi do a greatest hits show - meaning - everything you've already heard. It would still be nice to go - I think the crowd would be awesome, but considering the price of the flights and hotels that eason and the price of the ticket for that show - I would pass. I'm passing that and it's an hour flight away from my house :)

As for hotels: try booking.com for reservations - they have a vast variety of all class hotels, their site is rather easy to use, and best of all - they usually charge you no fee for the reservation, and you simply pay when you arrive at the hotel. Cancelation is also free mostly (but check the hotel discription, cause it sometimes varies). As for hotel quality - try tripadvisor.com. What I always do is find the hotel that fits my budget and location on booking.com and search for its reviews on trip advisor - that way I know that I'm not arriving into a hell hole :)
I do recommend booking hotels as soon as you can. Being summer, every location has to acommedate not only the ususal tourist boom, but also the dozens of thousands who arrive to the Bon Jovi concert. If you do that in advance, you'll have cheaper hotels to choose from.

That's all I can think of right now. Feel free to ask.

Thanks a lot slipgal2. Appreciate your help.