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We are going with railpasses we've decided! I don't mind walking places because I agree about getting to see a more local side of the places we go to. Right now we are looking at hostels and getting our hostel cards. As for England, I will be there this November for 2 weeks so that should be fun too.
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Mar 12, 2011 17:20
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GLITTER AND GREASE posted:We are going with railpasses we've decided! I don't mind walking places because I agree about getting to see a more local side of the places we go to. Right now we are looking at hostels and getting our hostel cards. As for England, I will be there this November for 2 weeks so that should be fun too. Don't waste your money on hostel cards. Just use https://www.hostelworld.com
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Mar 12, 2011 21:39
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I will be traveling to Paris for May and June, and I am interested in taking French classes while I'm there. I've taken French before (9 years of it in grade/high school) but because I didn't give two poops while I was in high school, I'm still not fluent. I wanted to take two to three weeks that are intense and immersive, and I come out with the ability to speak semi-fluently. I would like to focus on speaking rather than reading or writing. Does anyone have any recommendations on which course to take? It feels like there are a million of them! A few I have identified are Alliance Francaise, Accord Ecole de Langues Paris, and Ecole France Langue. Any thoughts on these?
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Mar 13, 2011 04:52
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GLITTER AND GREASE posted:My younger sister and I are planning a Europe trip to take in May 2012 to celebrate graduation and marriage and other sisterly bonding things. So far we've hashed out that we can both easily set aside 4 weeks of time to do this and so far we've decided that France, Italy and Greece are our must sees. I am asking you, good Goons, if there are any other must sees you'd suggest for us. Money isn't a huge issue for us and we are interested in seeing the historical side of things. Is it possible in our time frame to add another stop along the way? What are you planning to see exactly in greece ? As said before, 2 days for Athens is enough, except if you know people there. As for the greek islands, they're incredible, but traveling there takes A LOT of time, especially if you use the ferries and want to stay away from the touristy spots. Reaching any island with a ferry usually takes a whole day, and then you have to go back to athens. Not to mention the frequent delays and cancellations in the ferry schedules. If you plan to see Crete, why not fly directly there ? Everything can be done by road there so it's less time consuming and equally beautiful. I short, if the islands are on your roadmap, spare at least one week just for this (not counting Athens). Otherwise i would advise that you take more time for the rest, really france and italy have a lot to offer (i'm from paris btw). And you don't even have to limit yourself to the big cities, the railroad system in france is good (and probably as good in italy) and you can easily reach smaller towns with local trains.
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Mar 13, 2011 16:21
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I have a trip planned for April and I would love some advice on a few of the locations we are planning to visit. My wife and I are flying into Frankfurt and spending two days to get acclimated. Then we are visiting a friend in Luxembourg and traveling with him to visit a friend in Dresden. After Dresden we are going to take trains to Prauge and a city in Poland most likely Wroclaw. From there we are flying to London, visiting Bath and then home. I wanted some advice on Poland. We are looking at Wroclaw because we hear it is more of a Polish city than an international city like Warsaw or Krakow. I was hoping to get some advice from anyone who lives in the area or has visited on things to see that wouldn't be in the Rick Steves book or the wikitravel article. My interests are architecture, local foods and beer. As I said we would be on foot but I would love to rent a bike to get out of town a little ways.
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Mar 13, 2011 19:17
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I'm going to Paris in June for 11 days with my girlfriend. I've been looking at hostels (private ensuite) and they seem to be more expensive than some hotels. While looking into all of this I've found a lot of people suggesting renting an apartment out. Does anyone have experience doing this or know of any legit sites? Waytostay.com keeps popping up but I'd like some info if anyone has it.
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Mar 14, 2011 06:42
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ThePhreak posted:I'm going to Paris in June for 11 days with my girlfriend. I've been looking at hostels (private ensuite) and they seem to be more expensive than some hotels. While looking into all of this I've found a lot of people suggesting renting an apartment out. Does anyone have experience doing this or know of any legit sites? Waytostay.com keeps popping up but I'd like some info if anyone has it. I've personally used vrbo.com and airbnb.com with success (Edit: I have used these in Paris in particular as well). Email 10-20 people, half of them will reply, and then you can choose your apartment (or bargain if you're into that kind of thing, I guess). I know scams exist on all of those types of sites, but I don't think it's any more pervasive than on, say, eBay. I'm partial to apartments vs. hotels/hostels because then we can have some combination of breakfast/lunch/dinner in the apartment with groceries instead of having to spend crazy amounts of money going out every night. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Mar 14, 2011 |
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Mar 14, 2011 07:27
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ThePhreak posted:I'm going to Paris in June for 11 days with my girlfriend. I've been looking at hostels (private ensuite) and they seem to be more expensive than some hotels. While looking into all of this I've found a lot of people suggesting renting an apartment out. Does anyone have experience doing this or know of any legit sites? Waytostay.com keeps popping up but I'd like some info if anyone has it. I can't remember what site we used to find our place in Paris but my wife and I have gotten apartments there, Amsterdam, Krakow and Barcelona without problems. They're great for (as Saladman said) saving money on breakfast and dinner and it's so nice to be able to get coffee and breakfast without having to look at a bunch of other hotel guests. Best way to go by far. Colorblind Pilot posted:I will be traveling to Paris for May and June, and I am interested in taking French classes while I'm there. I've taken French before (9 years of it in grade/high school) but because I didn't give two poops while I was in high school, I'm still not fluent. Again, I can't exactly answer your question but be careful not to expect too much from a 2-3 week course. In the best circumstsances, a teacher is responsible for about 50% of your learning. You have to do the hard work and that comes outside of the classroom. If you just go to class in the mornings (or even mornings and afternoons) but then you hang out with your friends and speak English the rest of the time you won't learn a thing. Do yourself a favour and do a good revision before you go over. You'll get a test when you arrive and you want to rock it so you get into the most advanced class possible. You don't want to waste the first week in an easy class because you forgot how to make the negative passé composé of reflexive verbs.
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Mar 14, 2011 15:50
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Mar 15, 2011 02:47
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GregNorc posted:Is it worth it for a 2 week trip, or should I just suck it up and use FB/aim on my iphone at wifi hotspots to coordinate stuff? You don't need a phone. Just use Skype over WiFi if you really need something. Or you can jailbreak and unlock your iPhone and just use an European SIM card. You can rent apartments for a week. I've seen stuff as little as 3 days. Try AirBnB.com for shorter term stuff.
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Mar 15, 2011 05:12
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I'm going back to Norway in May to help my brother build his new house. Only staying there for a month though, as I've been to Norway the last three times I've gone to Europe and this time I feel like branching out a bit. So, I was thinking about taking the last three weeks of my seven-week trip to go elsewhere in Europe! The problem is, I don't really have a clue where to go, how to get there, how much to expect to spend, etc. I'm a loving retard, I guess is what I'm getting at... Have tried looking around for different festivals and whatnot by country and date, but haven't really found anything good... so... Sell me! Tell me why I should come to your country! (that came out sounding a bit too 'american arrogance'...)
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Mar 15, 2011 05:59
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Help us out, brother... how old are you, where are you from, do you prefer city or countryside activities, beaches or mountains, etc.GregNorc posted:Is it worth it for a 2 week trip, or should I just suck it up and use FB/aim on my iphone at wifi hotspots to coordinate stuff? I think you wanted to visit more than one country and in that case you'll need a new SIM in each so it's probably not worth the hassle. You'll still be able to use the phone and send SMSs in an emergency. You'll have to look around at apartments but I've stayed in some for as little as a weekend.
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Mar 15, 2011 08:15
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brother penguin posted:So, I was thinking about taking the last three weeks of my seven-week trip to go elsewhere in Europe! The problem is, I don't really have a clue where to go, how to get there, how much to expect to spend, etc. I'm a loving retard, I guess is what I'm getting at... The Balkans. The answer is always the Balkans. 3 weeks is enough time to go from Slovenia to Istanbul (my recommended itinerary: Ljubljana -> Zadar -> Split -> Dubrovnik? -> Mostar -> Sarajevo -> Belgrade -> Sofia -> Thessaloniki -> Istanbul). You could always start in Istanbul too. (recommended itinerary: Istanbul -> Thessaloniki -> Sofia -> Skopje -> Ohrid -> Tirana -> Kotor -> Dubrovnik -> Mostar -> Sarajevo -> Zagreb -> Zadar, because you can fly RyanAir cheaply to Dublin and it's pretty cheap to fly from Dublin to the US) It won't be as expensive as three weeks in Western Europe, and you'll get to see tons of different countries with a lot of history and interesting stuff, just as the weather starts to get really nice. greazeball posted:I think you wanted to visit more than one country and in that case you'll need a new SIM in each so it's probably not worth the hassle. You'll still be able to use the phone and send SMSs in an emergency. You don't need a new SIM. At least, assuming you buy a card from a Europe-wide carrier like Vodafone or T-Mobile. Never had a problem with my O2 SIM in any country, either. Even my current mTel (Bulgarian) phone can at least text if not call anywhere I am in Europe because the company is owned by Vodafone. In fact, for some odd reason, texting UK phones while in the UK from my Bulgarian phone cost less than texting Bulgarian phones while in Bulgaria. I don't know.
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Mar 15, 2011 09:46
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:You don't need a new SIM. At least, assuming you buy a card from a Europe-wide carrier like Vodafone or T-Mobile. Never had a problem with my O2 SIM in any country, either. Even my current mTel (Bulgarian) phone can at least text if not call anywhere I am in Europe because the company is owned by Vodafone. In fact, for some odd reason, texting UK phones while in the UK from my Bulgarian phone cost less than texting Bulgarian phones while in Bulgaria. I don't know. But you might not be able to add prepaid credits to it outside of Bulgaria. This could be a problem. If they guy who originally posed the question is willing to jailbreak his iphone and remove the simlock, he can just buy a new simcard when the credits on his old one are gone and he's already in another country. I'd agree though that a lot can be done over wifi, even if it's not as easy to find open networks as it is in the US. But I think most hostels have wifi nowadays and a lot of cafés offer it to their customers as well.
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Mar 15, 2011 18:14
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greazeball posted:Help us out, brother... how old are you, where are you from, do you prefer city or countryside activities, beaches or mountains, etc. Sorry for the lack of info. I'm 26, single, from Iowa. I don't really have a preference for city/countryside. I'm leaning toward city though, as I'll be getting my fair share of naturey poo poo done while in Norway. Not real big on beaches because I'm your typical fatass midwestern guy
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Mar 15, 2011 19:23
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There is no point in carrying around a phone with you when you're on vacation in another country. Are you really that important that people need a direct line of access to you at all hours of the day? Do you really need to be calling your mother/father/brother/friend/bro/girlfriend/coworker/boss/professor more than a few times during the trip (once to say you've arrived, the other to say you're going to the airport to fly out)? Just bring your iPhone and hope that your hostels have wifi. If you've gotta talk to people back home, use Skype. Otherwise just email/Facebook/IM whoever you need to let know you're safe or whatever and then leave the story telling for when you get home.
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Mar 15, 2011 21:26
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I'm an American. If I visit Europe with no planned departure date and just travel around however long I feel like, is there some point where they will look at my passport and tell me I've been there too long? Or can I stay as long as I like?
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Mar 15, 2011 21:33
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Ziir posted:Are you really that important that people need a direct line of access to you at all hours of the day? It's not for people you're talking to back home--it's for people you're talking to when you're on vacation with them in Europe so that you don't have to stick to their hip all the time. E: from VVVVVV Yeah, just use SMS and keep your US number, it's going to be the same price (or even cheaper, when you consider that you will just "waste" unused credit at the end of the trip) than getting a European SIM. Unless you have a Verizon iPhone, in which case you're SOL. Make sure you have data turned off, and leave your phone on airplane mode most of the time. blue squares posted:I'm an American. If I visit Europe with no planned departure date and just travel around however long I feel like, is there some point where they will look at my passport and tell me I've been there too long? Or can I stay as long as I like? You have 90 days. They might look at border crossings by land (but probably not if you're travelling between Schengen states). If you try to catch a plane out of a Schengen state after 90 days though, you'd need a good story, or else you get kicked out of Schengen Zone for 5 years or (and?) have to pay like a €500 fine for having overstayed. Saladman fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Mar 15, 2011 |
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Mar 15, 2011 21:52
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:You don't need a new SIM. At least, assuming you buy a card from a Europe-wide carrier like Vodafone or T-Mobile. Never had a problem with my O2 SIM in any country, either. Even my current mTel (Bulgarian) phone can at least text if not call anywhere I am in Europe because the company is owned by Vodafone. In fact, for some odd reason, texting UK phones while in the UK from my Bulgarian phone cost less than texting Bulgarian phones while in Bulgaria. I don't know. I thought he wanted a data plan but reading back I guess not. Really, GregNorc for two weeks just figure out how much the text message charges are going to be and don't use anything but them until you get on a wifi connection and then you can skype and all the rest. It'll cost a bit but you can save yourself some hassle and it wont really be all that much.
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Mar 15, 2011 21:55
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EricBauman posted:If they guy who originally posed the question is willing to jailbreak his iphone and remove the simlock, he can just buy a new simcard when the credits on his old one are gone and he's already in another country. Do iPhones really have all the right antennas or whatever to actually get reception in Europe? I know they use different frequencies than in the US. I'm going to be spending a long time in Europe soon, and I figured I'd have to buy a cheapo unlocked phone while I was there and just do the whole SIM-swapping thing whenever I crossed a border.
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Mar 15, 2011 22:54
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The EU has mandated really cheap roaming rates between member states so you shouldn't have to change SIMs at every border (unless you need a data plan). I assume you can jailbreak your iPhone and just get a SIM wherever you're based. You're hosed if you go to Switzerland though, they're not part of the EU so their mobile providers are still free to gouge everyone they come in contact with.
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Mar 15, 2011 23:00
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Magic Underwear posted:Do iPhones really have all the right antennas or whatever to actually get reception in Europe? I know they use different frequencies than in the US. Only T-Mobile uses a weird different GSM frequency, so yes iPhones absolutely work in Europe. The Verizon iPhones don't because well, they're not GSM.
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Mar 15, 2011 23:30
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Ziir posted:Only T-Mobile uses a weird different GSM frequency, so yes iPhones absolutely work in Europe. The Verizon iPhones don't because well, they're not GSM. That's really good to know, this will simplify things a lot. greazeball posted:The EU has mandated really cheap roaming rates between member states so you shouldn't have to change SIMs at every border (unless you need a data plan). I assume you can jailbreak your iPhone and just get a SIM wherever you're based. You're hosed if you go to Switzerland though, they're not part of the EU so their mobile providers are still free to gouge everyone they come in contact with. I think I have to dispute your idea of "really cheap" roaming rates. According to this site, just the roaming charge for pre-paid voice is about half a euro per minute. That's a hell of a lot of money. Texts are 13 euro cents, so that's better, but still.
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Mar 16, 2011 00:40
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Magic Underwear posted:I think I have to dispute your idea of "really cheap" roaming rates. According to this site, just the roaming charge for pre-paid voice is about half a euro per minute. That's a hell of a lot of money. Texts are 13 euro cents, so that's better, but still. 5 years ago it was almost €2 a minute so while you still may not consider it to be really cheap, it used to be unpayable. In my case it's still almost 2 francs a minute (€1.50, down from 3 francs a year ago) for me to use the phone when I'm out of Switzerland and 15.90 (more than €12) per MB of data (for real) so I guess we have a different perspective.
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Mar 16, 2011 00:56
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Ziir posted:Only T-Mobile uses a weird different GSM frequency, so yes iPhones absolutely work in Europe. The Verizon iPhones don't because well, they're not GSM. Yes. iPhones work but as the posters above mention - the roaming rates aren't cheap. You can call AT&T (assuming that's your carrier) and get an international plan added for the month which drops the per minute price quite a bit. It's nice for that piece of mind. The other alternative is using Skype but I found that some internet providers in Europe 'block' Skype due to bandwidth. It was hit or miss. Most of the hotels I stayed in blocked Skype - but the wifi spots didn't (except T-Mobile they seemed to always block Skype).
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Mar 16, 2011 03:34
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gankzer posted:Yes. iPhones work but as the posters above mention - the roaming rates aren't cheap. You can call AT&T (assuming that's your carrier) and get an international plan added for the month which drops the per minute price quite a bit. It's nice for that piece of mind. I believe that the international plan is $5.99/month (can be pro-rated). And it drops most calls from $1.29/minute to $0.99/minute. gankzer posted:The other alternative is using Skype but I found that some internet providers in Europe 'block' Skype due to bandwidth. It was hit or miss. Most of the hotels I stayed in blocked Skype - but the wifi spots didn't (except T-Mobile they seemed to always block Skype). Another option is to setup a google voice account and install the official google voice app which allows you to receive text messages for free via wifi. Also, if you install talkatone, you can use your phone to make VOIP calls from your google voice number. This is what I did when I was in Europe for a few weeks just recently and I had no problems with the service being blocked.
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Mar 16, 2011 05:17
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enki42 posted:Some other random Berlin areas to check out for a tourist:
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Mar 16, 2011 09:46
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Boxhagnerplatz is definitely number two on my list of cool sunday flea markets. Did you get brunch? There's an awesome place near there called Intimes. And yeah, Spielewiese is one of my favorite places in Berlin, I can't believe I forgot to mention it. Glad you had a good time!
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Mar 16, 2011 12:02
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We didn't really manage brunch because we had a huge free buffet full of cheese and bread and spicy salami and all that good stuff in the hotel, and also we had to go back to bed after breakfast until noon checkout on account of being out on the town the night before, but it would have been a good idea probably! Instead after the market we had this mad cake about an hour later that was made of I'd say 90% gelatine. Seriously, it was crazy wobbly wtf .  (  Waffleimages is gone?!?!?!)I'd also add the Fat Tire Bike Tour I did I'd highly recommend, great way to get around and see the city .
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Mar 16, 2011 12:18
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EricBauman posted:But you might not be able to add prepaid credits to it outside of Bulgaria. This could be a problem. Even with Bulgarian phones I can add prepaid credit online. With O2 or Vodafone or any other major carrier I can't imagine this being a problem, especially if he'll only be in western Europe where most of these carriers have brick and mortar stores anyways.
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Mar 16, 2011 12:35
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Gonna be in Barcelona for just over 2 weeks at the end of March. Aside from the Ramlas and Gaudi things, what should I try and check out? Also, I'm going to be staying mostly in hostels, does anyone have any recommendations? Considering Graffiti hostel because it's cheap. I like cycling, but looking at the price of bike hire in the city, I think I'm going to buy a cheap second hand bike from https://www.loquo.com (Barcelona's equivilent of gumtree/craigslist) as it'd work out cheaper than 2 weeks of bike hire. Then maybe try and sell it on to someone at the hostel to try and recoup some of my money back. Good idea, or no?
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Mar 16, 2011 14:15
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DreddyMatt posted:I like cycling, but looking at the price of bike hire in the city, I think I'm going to buy a cheap second hand bike from https://www.loquo.com (Barcelona's equivilent of gumtree/craigslist) as it'd work out cheaper than 2 weeks of bike hire. Then maybe try and sell it on to someone at the hostel to try and recoup some of my money back. Good idea, or no? If you know anything about bikes, you're not picky about what you ride and you bring your own lock it sound like a great idea. It's really not that big and every neighbourhood is worth checking out. The wife and I were almost trampled by a parade of people shooting off fireworks as we were just wandering and turned a corner. They went to a square and made a rectangle of fire and played football with a metal cage filled with burning t-shirts. Barca owns for getting lost and finding random poo poo. A bike would be ideal for that.
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Mar 16, 2011 14:25
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DreddyMatt posted:Gonna be in Barcelona for just over 2 weeks at the end of March. Aside from the Ramlas and Gaudi things, what should I try and check out? Graffiti hostel changed owners in the last few months and i have been told it is not cleaned very well anymore and has questionable security, there recent reviews are not very good, however it is cheap so if thats your main priority then yeah its ok. Id be tempted to go for one in the center. I recommend either Barcelona Mar or Sound. Although they might be a bit expensive. The bike idea is good. but remember you are also going to have to buy a lock which can often set you back as much as the bike (my bike was 35€, my locks came to 30€) The cheapest bike rental place is 5€ a day, just off the ramblas by Liceu metro stop. (if i can remember its name ill edit it in later) The main tourist attractions are of course the Gaudi items, Las Ramblas and the beach. parc ciutadella is nice and i recommend Tibidabo (old amusement park on the top of a mountain with a big church and views over the whole city) Now can someone tell me a little about Amsterdam? im moving there in a couple of weeks, i already have a place to stay sorted and a few connections with jobs, but can anyone tell me anymore obscure things that would be good to know?
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Mar 16, 2011 16:40
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HeroOfTheRevolution posted:Even with Bulgarian phones I can add prepaid credit online. With O2 or Vodafone or any other major carrier I can't imagine this being a problem, especially if he'll only be in western Europe where most of these carriers have brick and mortar stores anyways. I hadn't considered online. You're right. I just haven't had a prepaid phone since you had to buy actual cards in shops.
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Mar 16, 2011 18:47
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Skam posted:Graffiti hostel changed owners in the last few months and i have been told it is not cleaned very well anymore and has questionable security, there recent reviews are not very good, however it is cheap so if thats your main priority then yeah its ok. Id be tempted to go for one in the center. I recommend either Barcelona Mar or Sound. Although they might be a bit expensive. Cheers for the advice. I'll look into those hostels and see what info i can find. I'd be packing my own lock, so saving a bit of money there. I'm not really fussed what kind of bike i end up with really, anything's gonna be better than walking.
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Mar 16, 2011 22:03
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DreddyMatt posted:Gonna be in Barcelona for just over 2 weeks at the end of March. Aside from the Ramlas and Gaudi things, what should I try and check out? I stayed in Kabul some years ago. It's a well known hostel next to Las Ramblas. Fun and a bit crazy, especially considering that Las Ramblas get very shady at night so returning to hostel late at night can turn into an adventure.
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Mar 17, 2011 01:00
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Mar 17, 2011 03:31
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GregNorc posted:Is it still fun traveling Europe if you're doing it alone? It's really the only way. See what you actually want to see. Don't get dragged around. I would just recommend staying at hostels that has a decent social reputation so that you can have some options if you are feeling social.
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Mar 17, 2011 03:38
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GregNorc posted:Is it still fun traveling Europe if you're doing it alone? It is the most fun.
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Mar 17, 2011 04:22
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GregNorc posted:Is it still fun traveling Europe if you're doing it alone? I guess but having one or two other people around is nice too. My girlfriend and I were on study abroad "together" (me in Germany, she in France) a couple years ago and we got rail passes and went on a two-week power tour of Central/Eastern Europe which loving owned. At the same time I loved just hoping on a train to Nuremburg (which I guess I could do for free with my student ID, and which was only ~15 minutes away) and just spending an afternoon exploring on a nice day when I had nothing else to do.
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Mar 17, 2011 05:28
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