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Thank everyone for the help. I really hate burocracy.
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Nov 5, 2010 14:13
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I am planning on going to Barcelona (possibly by myself) in February. I am 22 and a girl, and also vegetarian. I mostly want to go to see a football game and my reading week lines up pretty good with reasonably priced tickets. Would I be ok by myself? I speak a little bit of Spanish but I have forgotten most of it since highschool, and absolutely no Catalan. I read this thread and all the joking about robbing and stuff has got me worried just because I wanted to bring a decent point and shoot camera to take pictures. Is going by myself a really stupid idea? I am not a big drinker or anything like that so I probably won't even be going out late wandering the streets or anything. I mostly just want to see the architecture and go see a game. I'm planning on going for 5 days or so. I was supposed to go in May but my mom just wants to go to eastern Europe and has no intention of going to Barcelona. Oh also I would probably be staying in a legit hotel and not a hostel. Thanks for any help guys.
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Nov 5, 2010 16:58
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H floresiensis posted:I am planning on going to Barcelona (possibly by myself) in February. I am 22 and a girl, and also vegetarian. I mostly want to go to see a football game and my reading week lines up pretty good with reasonably priced tickets. Would I be ok by myself? I speak a little bit of Spanish but I have forgotten most of it since highschool, and absolutely no Catalan. Where are you from? Have you traveled to "sketchy" areas before? I use quotes because Barcelona is really cool and I never felt remotely threatened there, but if you go to a football match there will be loads of excited people and if you go to Las Ramblas there will be a bunch of shady small-time pickpocket/scammer types. Nothing dangerous, nothing that should require anything more than a bit of awareness, confident body language and maybe a stern look. Be careful with your bag and your camera will be fine. You won't need to speak Catalan, everybody was happy enough with my broken Spanish (it's only the Spaniards they may resent speaking Spanish with). Seriously, Barcelona is great and unless you let other people buy you drinks or come back to your hotel room I can't see any likely dangers of you being there alone.
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Nov 5, 2010 17:36
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greazeball posted:Where are you from? Have you traveled to "sketchy" areas before? I use quotes because Barcelona is really cool and I never felt remotely threatened there, but if you go to a football match there will be loads of excited people and if you go to Las Ramblas there will be a bunch of shady small-time pickpocket/scammer types. Nothing dangerous, nothing that should require anything more than a bit of awareness, confident body language and maybe a stern look. Northern Ontario. Probably the sketchiest place I have been to is off the strip at Las Vegas, or outside of a resort in Mexico. I am pretty self aware though and probably the most street smart out of any of my friends. Thanks though, that is pretty reassuring! I'll try to brush up on my Spanish before I go though. Is there any particular area I should be looking at getting a hotel by? I don't know how far Camp Nou is from the Sagrada Familia or where would be the best area if I just want to wander around in the day, maybe shop.
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Nov 5, 2010 17:45
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H floresiensis posted:Northern Ontario. Probably the sketchiest place I have been to is off the strip at Las Vegas, or outside of a resort in Mexico. I am pretty self aware though and probably the most street smart out of any of my friends. Thanks though, that is pretty reassuring! I'll try to brush up on my Spanish before I go though. You probably can't go wrong as long as the hotel is on the subway line. As greazeball said, Las Ramblas is a sketchy area but it's also very colorful and it would be a shame to not see it. A simple advice - don't carry anything valuable on your back. I saw gypsy kids walk slowly and silently behind a tourist and softly unzip her backpack while she was admiring scenery. So, be careful about the backpack and don't put your wallet in your back trouser pockets. And don't walk there alone at night. Two guys tried to pick my pockets or mug me and I'm a guy.
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Nov 5, 2010 21:11
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Doctor Malaver posted:You probably can't go wrong as long as the hotel is on the subway line. Thanks, I was watching something on gypsys doing that and some thing with ATMs as well. I'll probably keep a purse on my side and zipped up. Is the public transportation confusing? All we have in my city is a bus, and I don't really pay attention when I am in Toronto with friends riding on their subway. Sorry for all the questions this is my first trip to Europe and my first trip alone.
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Nov 6, 2010 03:04
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I did hear about more people getting their wallets stolen in Barcelona than anywhere else, but without exception the poeple in question were passed out drunk when it happened. If you're planning to go out drinking, I'd recommend making some friends in the hostel to go with first. If you're sober and halfway alert, I think you'd be fine though. I would really recommend a hostel if you're going by yourself. Barcelona in particular has one of the best hostels I've stayed at - Sant Jordi, just north of the Old town. It's well equipped, and for whatever reason always has a ton going on - you could find people to do things with pretty much anytime if you wanted to, but the rooms are seperated enough that you won't be kept awake by partiers. Off the strip in Vegas is a million times sketchier than any part of Barcelona that a tourist is likely to be in.
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Nov 6, 2010 13:19
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H floresiensis posted:Thanks, I was watching something on gypsys doing that and some thing with ATMs as well. I'll probably keep a purse on my side and zipped up. Is the public transportation confusing? All we have in my city is a bus, and I don't really pay attention when I am in Toronto with friends riding on their subway. Sorry for all the questions this is my first trip to Europe and my first trip alone. Yeah it's probably best just to travel light with a purse/shoulder bag thing. Don't do this:  as it screams 'scared tourist' more than anything.
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Nov 6, 2010 13:39
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H floresiensis posted:I am planning on going to Barcelona (possibly by myself) in February. I am 22 and a girl, and also vegetarian. I mostly want to go to see a football game and my reading week lines up pretty good with reasonably priced tickets. Would I be ok by myself? I speak a little bit of Spanish but I have forgotten most of it since highschool, and absolutely no Catalan. I'm a 25 year old girl and I just hitch hiked through Barcelona  you'll be fine if you don't mind being salivated over by every man you meet regardless of how terrible you smell (you don't get a lot of showers when you hitch). On the beach there were these two women going around offering cheap massages and I'm fairly certain it was just a way for one of them to distract people while the other one stole their wallets, so watch out for that. Go see the Gaudi stuff. You won't be dissapointed.On my own note, anyone have any pointers for getting a Schengen visa extended?
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Nov 6, 2010 14:09
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H floresiensis posted:Thanks, I was watching something on gypsys doing that and some thing with ATMs as well. I'll probably keep a purse on my side and zipped up. Is the public transportation confusing? All we have in my city is a bus, and I don't really pay attention when I am in Toronto with friends riding on their subway. Sorry for all the questions this is my first trip to Europe and my first trip alone. I didn't find it confusing. If I recall correctly, Barcelona has a pretty small subway system. I rode buses and night buses successfully, too. I do speak some Spanish, tho. enki42 posted:I would really recommend a hostel if you're going by yourself. Barcelona in particular has one of the best hostels I've stayed at - Sant Jordi, just north of the Old town. It's well equipped, and for whatever reason always has a ton going on - you could find people to do things with pretty much anytime if you wanted to, but the rooms are seperated enough that you won't be kept awake by partiers. I stayed in two hostels in Barcelona and both were great for different reasons. One is a bit out of town and is in a former sanatorium (I think) that looks like a villa. Gardeners working on the beautiful garden, inside very neat and luxurious... The other is called Kabul and is just off the Las Ramblas and is more for the adventurous type. If I were 22 and traveling alone I wouldn't stay in a "legit hotel", even if somebody else paid for it. Just go to a hostel and meet some people!  If you worry about security, read online reviews and pick the one that got the best grades in that area.
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Nov 6, 2010 15:22
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I don't really remember using the public transport in Barcelona too much when I was there. It felt small enough to walk unless you're trying to go directly from La Sagrada Familia directly to the beach I suppose. Absolutely stay in a hostel, even if you are a single girl. I think hostels are perfectly safe and it's an awesome way to meet like minded individuals. If you have a bag, just swing it to your front when you're somewhere crowded like on a subway.
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Nov 6, 2010 17:43
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Thanks for all of the suggestions you guys. I tend to get anxious and overthink and overplan. The only thing I am worried about with a hostel is that I really want to stay in a room by myself, and I am a light sleeper but need sleep or I get kind of cranky. I've never stayed in a hostel, the only ones I've heard stories of in other countries is that they are really rowdy, but that was from my friends who were on trips with large groups of people. And thanks for the warning Soapy Joe, its much appreciated. The only reason why I wanted to stay in a hotel was that I was looking on travelocity and expedia and it was only like an extra $200 from my flight to stay in a decent hotel for 5 days. Getting all of this reassurance and everything is making me feel more secure and more excited to go though, so I am really glad I asked.
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Nov 7, 2010 03:24
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You can get single rooms in a lot of hostels. Some are just the 6/8/10 bed dorms but theres loads that offer 1 bed, A private double bed (you will have to pay for two people) or 3 bed. A 3 bed dorm shouldn't feel too crowded. Go to hostelworld.com and browse the hostels. They will have ratings and reviews and list the different room configurations. On this topic. Where abouts is the main attractions in Granada? Other than the Alhambra I'm unsure where we should look to stay.
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Nov 7, 2010 12:44
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H floresiensis posted:Thanks for all of the suggestions you guys. I tend to get anxious and overthink and overplan. As Fists Up said, lots of hostels offer private rooms. Pick a hostel that has private rooms and a decent common area and you will be able to get privacy at night and also meet people. Check out hostelbookers.com, I've always used them in Europe. e: hostelworld.com is good too, as Fists Up said
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Nov 7, 2010 13:00
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Thanks for the websites, you've all been really helpful.
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Nov 7, 2010 15:57
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One more is gomio.com which I prefer. I still use hostelworld.com as my goto source for information though (more people post reviews there), and then just book with gomio.com if I can.
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Nov 7, 2010 18:24
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Ziir posted:One more is gomio.com which I prefer. I still use hostelworld.com as my goto source for information though (more people post reviews there), and then just book with gomio.com if I can. Why is this? Prices cheaper?
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Nov 8, 2010 04:54
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Okay, I have somewhat of an odd question. I'm planning to explore Western Europe and The Mediterranean with my mother, who turned 50 this year. It has always been a dream of hers to visit and only now is it a possibility. She wants me to tag along and pay half my way. Who could say no to that? We'll mostly be sticking to Spain, France and Italy and will be travelling light and staying in hostels throughout the trip, as we don't want to eat up all of our savings. However, this is already proving difficult, as every single hostel I've looked at so far has a maximum age limit of 40. Is this simply a standard in hostels? What are our options here?
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Nov 11, 2010 01:25
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several wet dogs posted:Okay, I have somewhat of an odd question. I'm planning to explore Western Europe and The Mediterranean with my mother, who turned 50 this year. It has always been a dream of hers to visit and only now is it a possibility. She wants me to tag along and pay half my way. Who could say no to that? most hostels are geared toward younger people but there are plenty that allow old farts like your mom. where have you been looking?
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Nov 11, 2010 02:12
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Omits-Bagels posted:most hostels are geared toward younger people but there are plenty that allow old farts like your mom. where have you been looking?
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Nov 11, 2010 02:29
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several wet dogs posted:Just the websites suggested here; HostelWorld.com and HostelBookers.com. I guess I haven't really looked at much, but after seeing 20 venues in a row all baring the same restrictions I got a little worried! Are these sites in particular geared toward the younger crowds? try http://www.hihostels.com/ I think you need a membership card but they might allow older people.
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Nov 11, 2010 03:06
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Omits-Bagels posted:try http://www.hihostels.com/ However, I no longer care as all I want to do in Europe is Stromboli. Stromboli.
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Nov 11, 2010 04:34
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several wet dogs posted:Just the websites suggested here; HostelWorld.com and HostelBookers.com. I guess I haven't really looked at much, but after seeing 20 venues in a row all baring the same restrictions I got a little worried! Are these sites in particular geared toward the younger crowds? I do remembering one hostel's website saying that guests over 40 had to book a private room, rather than stay in a shared dormitory. A lot of hostels will let you get a 2-bed room to yourselves, and it will still be significantly cheaper than a hotel. So maybe just email some places and ask if that would be okay? And save a copy of their reply for your records 'cause these places aren't always the most organized. I sometimes use WikiTravel to find cheap hotels and hostels in an area, but HostelWorld should be pretty comprehensive. The deal with HI hostels (at least the ones I have looked at) is that they're open to everybody but there's a discount for membership. So if you're staying in a number of HI-affiliated places then a membership could save you money. Josh Rogan fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Nov 11, 2010 |
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Nov 11, 2010 05:50
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I'm a 21-year-old American college student who has never traveled without family and am planning on visiting a friend who's studying abroad in Dublin from Dec. 14th to Dec. 31st (who similarly hasn't traveled abroad without family). We originally planned to spend 3-4 days in Ireland, 3-4 days in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), a week in Italy (2 days Rome, Sienna, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice), and 3 days in Switzerland (Lugano, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne). I'm a little concerned about: 1) time crunch since all the responses in this thread and the "tell me about Rome" thread specify at least 2 days for most cities and 3-4 for the big ones (Rome especially). Should we cut down on countries/cities? 2) how hostels work. I've never stayed at a hostel and neither has my friend. Can you leave stuff there like at a hotel even if the rooms are dorm-style? Would couchsurfing be a better alternative? 3) a good backpack/what to bring. I'm thinking about packing a week's worth of clothes and necessary toiletries (apparently a quick drying towel is really necessary?) Anyone have any recommendations on backpacks? Similarly, do I have to lug everything around if I'm planning on living in hostels? 4) anything else in general that I don't know.I'm sure that these questions are pretty basic for experienced travelers, but as I said, I'm a complete novice and any insight would be really welcome.
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Nov 11, 2010 08:50
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pinegala posted:I'm a 21-year-old American college student who has never traveled without family and am planning on visiting a friend who's studying abroad in Dublin from Dec. 14th to Dec. 31st (who similarly hasn't traveled abroad without family). We originally planned to spend 3-4 days in Ireland, 3-4 days in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), a week in Italy (2 days Rome, Sienna, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice), and 3 days in Switzerland (Lugano, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne). I'm a little concerned about : 1) Definitely, you are approaching a crazy 'a town a day' schedule! I'd cut at least half of your itinerary out. What are you even doing in Sweden in December? 2) You can leave stuff in lockers. It is advisable to bring your own padlocks. Couchsurfing is great but it requires a lot of planning and I wouldn't recommend it to a traveler without any experience. Also it would be Christmas time and less people would be available to host you. 3) I wouldn't bother with a backpack, I'd take a standard traveling case with a trolley. You don't have to lug stuff around.
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Nov 11, 2010 09:30
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Josh Rogan posted:That seems kind of odd. I stayed at a hostel in Holland where one of my roommates was greying at the temples, and I chatted with another American who might be been a retiree (and of course there were younger folks there as well). And I know a guy in his early 40s who does a lot of travel and prefers to stay at hostels.
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Nov 11, 2010 09:30
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several wet dogs posted:I thought it was odd too! Is it possible they list it online but it's never really enforced unless you are some terrifying predator oggling all the 19-year-olds? I saw older folks in pretty much every hostel I've been to. What's even the point in setting the cap at 40? If you want youth only, set it at 29 or something like that.
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Nov 11, 2010 09:38
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pinegala posted:I'm a 21-year-old American college student who has never traveled without family and am planning on visiting a friend who's studying abroad in Dublin from Dec. 14th to Dec. 31st (who similarly hasn't traveled abroad without family). We originally planned to spend 3-4 days in Ireland, 3-4 days in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), a week in Italy (2 days Rome, Sienna, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice), and 3 days in Switzerland (Lugano, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne). I'm a little concerned about :
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Nov 11, 2010 10:53
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You could just do Ireland (to visit your friend), then spend the rest of the time in Italy and perhaps do some of Switzerland. Definitely cut down the number of places.
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Nov 11, 2010 12:35
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pinegala posted:I'm a 21-year-old American college student who has never traveled without family and am planning on visiting a friend who's studying abroad in Dublin from Dec. 14th to Dec. 31st (who similarly hasn't traveled abroad without family). We originally planned to spend 3-4 days in Ireland, 3-4 days in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), a week in Italy (2 days Rome, Sienna, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice), and 3 days in Switzerland (Lugano, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne). I'm a little concerned about : Unless you're a vampire (?) take out Sweden, add 2 days to Rome, a day to Ireland, and a day to Switzerland. Also: go to sleep on your flight. Take drugs if necessary. Jetlag is awful, and Iron Man 2 or whatever other terrible movie they'll show on the plane isn't worth losing a day in Europe over.
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Nov 11, 2010 12:49
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several wet dogs posted:Just the websites suggested here; HostelWorld.com and HostelBookers.com. I guess I haven't really looked at much, but after seeing 20 venues in a row all baring the same restrictions I got a little worried! Are these sites in particular geared toward the younger crowds? I don't know about Europe, but the Backpackers hostel I stayed at in Canada did not have an age limit.
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Nov 11, 2010 15:48
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pinegala posted:I'm a 21-year-old American college student who has never traveled without family and am planning on visiting a friend who's studying abroad in Dublin from Dec. 14th to Dec. 31st (who similarly hasn't traveled abroad without family). We originally planned to spend 3-4 days in Ireland, 3-4 days in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmo), a week in Italy (2 days Rome, Sienna, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice), and 3 days in Switzerland (Lugano, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne). I'm a little concerned about : First off, visit my website: https://www.thesavvybackpacker.com — you're making all the mistakes that newbie travelers make. You have way too many places on your list. Doing a city a day is way too crazy of a schedule. In 14 days I suggest sticking to about 3-4 cities. Why did you pick the cities you picked? Is there a reason? Are you open to other suggestions? Other important things to remember. Everything will be closed December 25th. A lot will also be closed the 24th and 26th.
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Nov 12, 2010 01:46
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Cool, so after discussing this with my friend, we've cut it down significantly: Switzerland for 18-20, and Italy for 21-31st. Bern and Lauterbrunnen for Swiss, and Venice, Rome, Florence, and Naples for Italy. As a specific question, how do you reserve seats for eurail passes? The pass is supposed to cover costs for all tickets, but seat reservations can apparently only be made through an agent?
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Nov 12, 2010 08:21
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pinegala posted:Cool, so after discussing this with my friend, we've cut it down significantly: Reservations can be made at most stations, although only often in country for non-IC trains. If you go in the Bern HBF it'll probably be the best place to make reservations, as the swiss agents are all multilingual and know their poo poo. If you go to Lauterbrunnen and take the tram up past murren to the Schilthorn (I think some mediocre move was filmed around there) you can take what is one of the longest ski runs in the world. It's pretty cool.
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Nov 12, 2010 08:34
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Landsknecht posted:Reservations can be made at most stations, although only often in country for non-IC trains. If you go in the Bern HBF it'll probably be the best place to make reservations, as the swiss agents are all multilingual and know their poo poo. If you go to Lauterbrunnen and take the tram up past murren to the Schilthorn (I think some mediocre move was filmed around there) you can take what is one of the longest ski runs in the world. It's pretty cool. Thanks! Would it be too late to make reservations on the 18th considering it's Christmas/holiday season?
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Nov 12, 2010 08:39
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H floresiensis posted:I am planning on going to Barcelona (possibly by myself) in February. I am 22 and a girl, and also vegetarian. I mostly want to go to see a football game and my reading week lines up pretty good with reasonably priced tickets. Would I be ok by myself? I speak a little bit of Spanish but I have forgotten most of it since highschool, and absolutely no Catalan. I lived in BCN for a year. There are loads of thieves (About a dozen people I knew got robbed), but they're mostly in the old city center and in the metro. Just don't wander around alone in the side streets of the centre after dark. But the good news is that the thieves aren't violent, and pushing them away will scare them off. Also men get hassled more than the girls (the west-African hookers at night double as pickpockets). A nice area to walk around in the evening is Gracia (green line, to the north of the city). Go to the Oveja Negra bar at Catalunya. For the beach, don't go to the Barcelona one (it's dirty and crowded), but take a train from Sants Estacio and go to one of the beaches like 20min out of the city. Sitges is also nice. Go to a hostel if you want to meet people to hang around. And yeah, to have nicer food, don't go near the touristy areas. You're better off going to a residential area like Hospital Clinic or something, and going into a random bar. I suggest Martelo which is at Sants Estacio (bottom of Calle Numancia, right hand side looking North) Have fun
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Nov 12, 2010 14:01
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pinegala posted:Thanks! Would it be too late to make reservations on the 18th considering it's Christmas/holiday season? No. You can even buy them day-of––trains don't really fill up ever. Sometimes they run out of seats and you have to stand if you didn't reserve a seat, but even that is relatively uncommon.
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Nov 12, 2010 14:17
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Okay, so I'm pretty confident the age thing is a non-issue, but now I have another query. What's the deal with the hostel prices I'm seeing online? They are more than I was expecting, from €30 per person per night for a shared dorm, to as much as €70 for a private one (which is what we'd prefer). In regards to the private dorms, I've seen many regular hotels with rooms for the same amount or less! I ask because I once read you shouldn't book hostels in advance, but that seems like asking for trouble to me! I should mention these places are all in Rome. EDIT: After checking out that Savvy Backpacker site it seems this is probably normal and I just need to suck it up! I gotta stop clogging up this thread. several wet dogs fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Nov 12, 2010 |
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Nov 12, 2010 16:38
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Saladman posted:No. You can even buy them day-of––trains don't really fill up ever. Sometimes they run out of seats and you have to stand if you didn't reserve a seat, but even that is relatively uncommon. Friday nights and Sunday nights in Switzerland the trains are packed with all of the military service lads crossing the country. I've been on a couple standing room only trains from Zurich to Geneva. Of course, it's not really a big deal because it's only 3 hours.
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Nov 12, 2010 16:44
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several wet dogs posted:Okay, so I'm pretty confident the age thing is a non-issue, but now I have another query. What's the deal with the hostel prices I'm seeing online? They are more than I was expecting, from €30 per person per night for a shared dorm, to as much as €70 for a private one (which is what we'd prefer). In regards to the private dorms, I've seen many regular hotels with rooms for the same amount or less! Those prices seem rather high to be honest. In my experience it should be closer to 20 € per night for a shared room. I'm not sure why it's coming up at those prices for you. Also keep in mind that if it says something like "private 2 person room for 70€" the total price will be 140€ because it's per person.
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Nov 12, 2010 18:33
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