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jonboy8871 posted:Any advice on Budapest/Central Europe? House of Terror. I kind of felt sorry for the Hungarians afterwards. At least for an hour:) quote:I was thinking of Croatia, but that's mainly because I've seen some pretty pictures of it. I would go to Dalmatia. Places like Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar... Skip the rest of the country. I went to Zagreb once (the capital) and found the city centre pretty disappointing. It was in the middle of the summer, I haven't visited any museums and i am also very subjective because i am from Central Europe. I would also recommend Sarajevo in Bosnia. quote:I doubt my limited Spanish will be much help. Will I survive? Spanish is useless in Central Europe. It is possible to survive. In fact, it is very hard not to.
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Jan 1, 2012 09:11
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The quality of tap water in Europe? It's a function of geography, not a function of nation states. You don't drink tap water on some small island in Greece. Almost everywhere it makes no sense to buy bottled water.
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Jan 1, 2012 09:20
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I'm currently in Rome and it's New Year's day. Will all the shops be closed? Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, I'm Australian and at home most public holidays mean open shopping malls.
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Jan 1, 2012 10:41
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It's not a dumb question. I don't really know, but my guess would be - closed.
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Jan 1, 2012 10:48
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I am planning a 2 week trip to Austria and Switzerland. I have never been to Europe so I will be compeletly clueless. For those of you that have been to this region where is the best bang for your buck as far as seeing the sights? Also, those who have posted have suggested leasing a car for transporation? Is that a viable option for this region as well? Or should I look into other forms of transporation (i.e. rail)? I like to get off the beaten path and see the picturesque landscape of the region. If anyone knows of any smaller towns off the beaten path I would be particularly interested to hear what you have to say. Thanks in advance for the advice and help.
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Jan 2, 2012 07:15
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Futility101 posted:I am planning a 2 week trip to Austria and Switzerland. I have never been to Europe so I will be compeletly clueless. For those of you that have been to this region where is the best bang for your buck as far as seeing the sights? Also, those who have posted have suggested leasing a car for transporation? Is that a viable option for this region as well? Or should I look into other forms of transporation (i.e. rail)? What's the time of year?
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Jan 2, 2012 16:11
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Hello Goons! My girlfriend and I are trying to plan a Europe trip; we were originally planning on doing Spain, France, Belgium and Germany from ~Aug 15-Sept 19. However, after some initial research, it seems we may be better off skipping Belgium and potentially France. I'm stil struggling to find the cheapest options for the trip. Is it generally worth getting something like the Eurail regional pass, or is flying between countries the way to go? Ideally we would like to visit at least Madrid, Barcelona and Dusseldorf/Cologne as we have family and friends to stay with in these places. Thanks!
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Jan 3, 2012 02:37
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For Sigmar! For the Goon-pire!
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Futility101 posted:I am planning a 2 week trip to Austria and Switzerland. I have never been to Europe so I will be compeletly clueless. For those of you that have been to this region where is the best bang for your buck as far as seeing the sights? Also, those who have posted have suggested leasing a car for transporation? Is that a viable option for this region as well? Or should I look into other forms of transporation (i.e. rail)? How many people are you with? 1 person --> trains are better. 2 people --> up to you, similar pricing if you're over 25 (trains still cheaper if both < 25). 3+ people --> always rent a car. Rail is extremely easy to use and very extensive but offers less freedom and peace of mind than a car, doubly true if you're from a country with car culture. In Switzerland, the best sites I'd recommend are: Locarno & Lake Maggiore (car basically required, make sure to go south a little bit towards/into Italy) Montreux & Lake Geneva (car not required, very different lake scenery than Maggiore) Triftbrucke (car required, near Gadmen, in my opinion much more fun than Jungfraujoch, do the hike at least one way; don't take the gondola both ways) Interlaken/Grindelwald/Jungfraujoch (car/train; not my favorite, but Jungfraujoch is pretty neat if you have an unlimited budget, train required past Grindelwald) St Moritz (train or car, decent car connections to Austria, but awful train connections) Locarno, Interlaken, and Montreux have the advantages of being near cities if you want to do City Stuff. Triftbrucke and St Moritz are great if you want to be in the middle of nowhere (particularly Triftbrucke). Outdoors stuff is best from mid April -> mid October, depending on the year. YMMV especially regarding how much you like or hate snow and how much you like hiking vs. how much you like skiing. I'm big into hiking and Swiss hiking is the most beautiful I've ever done.
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Jan 3, 2012 04:06
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Saladman posted:How many people are you with? 1 person --> trains are better. 2 people --> up to you, similar pricing if you're over 25 (trains still cheaper if both < 25). 3+ people --> always rent a car. Rail is extremely easy to use and very extensive but offers less freedom and peace of mind than a car, doubly true if you're from a country with car culture. Seconding Locarno. Ticino is my favorite Canton in Switzerland. Sights to see: the city of Lugano, Val Verzasca and the hamlet of Corippo, Lago di Como in the east and the best canyoning trips in europe. In Austria I`d recommend Salzburg as your base. Sights to see: Berchtesgaden, the Königsee and the Obersalzberg if you need some Hitler in your vacation, the Salzkammergut (Bad Ischl, Hallstatt, Dachstein), Grossglockner, Castle Hochwerfen If you choose to get a rental car, don't rent one right at the airport - the prices there are much higher than the prices in rental places in the city centres. Dreamboat Zank fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Jan 4, 2012 |
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Jan 3, 2012 16:48
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Hey, anyone going to Venice anytime soon? I was recently there with my wife, and we had a very nice time. Our souvenir from wherever we travel is a Christmas ornament for our tree. After shopping around Venice, we bought a nice glass ornament, and immediately upon getting home my friend accidentally knocked it off the tree, stepped on it and broke it.  If anyone is going to Venice, I would pay you to pick up another one for me. I know this is a little odd, but it was our only souvenir of our 5-week trip in Italy, and I'd love to replace it.
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Jan 3, 2012 22:17
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Saladman posted:How many people are you with? 1 person --> trains are better. 2 people --> up to you, similar pricing if you're over 25 (trains still cheaper if both < 25). 3+ people --> always rent a car. Rail is extremely easy to use and very extensive but offers less freedom and peace of mind than a car, doubly true if you're from a country with car culture. We are planning on going sometime this spring (April - May) We will end up with about 6 people in our group. We have looked at several rail packages, but I think our best bet will be to rent. We will also look into the lease option, as is mentioned throughout this thread. We will be doing a fair amount of hiking. I would assume that having a car would facilitate getting in and out of hiking locations? What would you recommend for loging? I am not too picky about hotels, but I don't want to be sharing a room with Igor either. Is there a general rule of thumb for Euro hotels? The sites that you guys have recommended look awesome online. Thanks for the tips. We are considering expanding into Northern Italy, Southern Germany, or East to Czech. We don't want to spread ourselves too thin considering we only have 14 days, but if there is something truly amazing that we could get to in a day feel free to suggest. Thanks again for all the help.
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Jan 3, 2012 23:28
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Futility101 posted:We are planning on going sometime this spring (April - May) We will end up with about 6 people in our group. We have looked at several rail packages, but I think our best bet will be to rent. We will also look into the lease option, as is mentioned throughout this thread. We will be doing a fair amount of hiking. I would assume that having a car would facilitate getting in and out of hiking locations? I don't know anything about leasing in Europe, but renting split between 6 people (assuming you're > 25 years old and/or can rent a van/SUV at > 21) is going to be pretty drat cheap. Having a car basically saves you an hour getting to the trailhead/hour back from wherever public transit drops you off (although if you plan it really well, you CAN do nice, isolated hikes where public transit drops you off directly at the trailhead). For 6 people, I'd just get a private room (or rooms) in a hostel (usually 4-6 people per room), unless you have couples who would want their own room. You can use booking.com or Priceline or whatever you'd use in the US/Canada/wherever you're from. If you want to spend several days in a single location, you could rent an apartment from somewhere like vrbo.com or airbnb.com. 14 days is plenty of time for throughly checking out the Swiss/Italian/Austrian Alps & Environs.
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Jan 4, 2012 02:59
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Saladman posted:Having a car basically saves you an hour getting to the trailhead/hour back from wherever public transit drops you off (although if you plan it really well, you CAN do nice, isolated hikes where public transit drops you off directly at the trailhead). On the other hand, using public transport doesn't force you the start and end your hike at the same place (i.e. the place you left your car). At least in Switzerland I wouldn't worry about reaching trailheads using public transport, there are public autobuses servicing almost every small valley. To plan hikes, I can recommend http://www.wanderland.ch/en/welcome.cfm. It not only contains a wealth of informations about hiking in Switzerland and route recommendations, but allows access to all official Swiss topographic maps down to a scale of 1:25 000. You can even overlay all marked trails and other information.
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Jan 4, 2012 20:25
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Italian Island of Capri: overrated tourist trap or charming day trip? Goonpinions gratefully received.
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Jan 5, 2012 17:20
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bee posted:Italian Island of Capri: overrated tourist trap or charming day trip? Goonpinions gratefully received. Like almost everything in Italy, it's a little of both. If you can go on a quite, sunny day with calm seas and get into the grotto then it is a brilliant day out. I would say that if you are in the area then you should go, but if it's the middle of August expect it to be rammed. And it will be expensive any time of year.
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Jan 5, 2012 22:15
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So I'm looking into buying a train ticket in the Germany/Austria area with a trip to Prague as well and a bit confused as to what would be the best deal. Can someone advise me. My plan is to fly into Munich, go to Salzburg, Linz, Vienna, Prague, Berlin (maybe Nuremburg) then back to Munich to catch my flight out. What is the best way to do this and best plan to buy?
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Jan 6, 2012 06:23
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Forearm posted:So I'm looking into buying a train ticket in the Germany/Austria area with a trip to Prague as well and a bit confused as to what would be the best deal. Can someone advise me. My plan is to fly into Munich, go to Salzburg, Linz, Vienna, Prague, Berlin (maybe Nuremburg) then back to Munich to catch my flight out. What is the best way to do this and best plan to buy? Most likely a 2 country Eurorail pass would be cheaper than individual tickets. You can price out individual tickets on raileurope.com though.
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Jan 6, 2012 16:44
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Quick question regarding passport expiration. I'll be going to Italy on January 23rd until March 26th. My passport expires on July 19th. From what I've read this shouldn't be a problem, especially since it's more than three months after I return, but I can't find any official sources saying that. Called the airlines and they said it should be alright but I'd like a little more assurance than "should be alright."
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Jan 6, 2012 17:10
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I don't get it. The passport is valid until it expires. What is your problem?
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Jan 7, 2012 08:08
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godrnjavcek posted:I don't get it. The passport is valid until it expires. What is your problem? Because many countries still want your passport to be valid ~3 months after you leave, so you don't get stuck there. Because maximum staying time without visa is also about 3 months, always aim for your passport to be valid at least 6 more months at day of entry. Anyhow, border control into Europe is a joke compared to the US, so you should be fine. I can't give you more guarantees though. I think you will be fine.
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Jan 7, 2012 10:36
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baw posted:Quick question regarding passport expiration. I could only find this on a US gov website but you will be fine, don't worry. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4361.html
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Jan 7, 2012 13:02
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Yeah I've read a bunch online and I think I'll be good. I also found this. It does however seem like there are some lazy travel agents out there who advise people to make sure their passport is good for 6 months after the time of entry, but Schengen countries are way more lax than that. baw fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Jan 7, 2012 |
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Jan 7, 2012 18:09
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I browsed around the subforum and couldn't find any specific answer: I want to go to London with my mom in a few months, and want to get us both there as cheaply as possible. Whether that's flying directly to England, or if it's flying to a neighboring country and then taking some sort of secondary trip to get there I don't really care. In fact, the latter sounds more interesting if it is indeed more economical. For reference, I'm in NYC, she's close enough to Chicago. Right now she has an offer from British Airways to have round-trip $700 flights if she books it within the next few days, which sounds pretty darn good to my ears. Is there a better option? I remember seeing some Kayak deals (before they changed their deals system) for Dublin flights under $500, though I can't remember if they were round-trip or not. From Dublin I imagine it's pretty easy to get to Great Britain, if the case still remains. Yes?
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Jan 12, 2012 07:31
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feedmyleg posted:From Dublin I imagine it's pretty easy to get to Great Britain, if the case still remains. Yes? Yes, but... RyanAir is the loving devil, consistently the worst flying experience imaginable. It's one of those, "we sell 10 seats on each flight for 99p and we treat every customer like they only paid 99p even though most of them paid well over 100 euro" airlines. Hidden fees for every item of checked luggage, not printing your boarding pass out at home (it costs €40 if they print it for you at the airport), and you are totally hosed if your flight from the states is delayed--they don't even give refunds if you were on one of their own flights and it was delayed and you missed another RyanAir connection. Normal airlines flying Dublin to London are AerLingus, BA, BMI, Virgin (?), maybe a couple others. My policy when I lived in Dublin was that I needed to be saving at least €100 if I was even going to consider RyanAir, I assume you'll have suitcases so I'd add €15-40 for the first one and €35-50 for the second one (seriously) to that.
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Jan 12, 2012 11:44
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I take Ryanair constantly and while it is a pain in the rear end, it's only an hour long flight between the UK and Ireland so it is worth it if it saves you £50 or whatever. But yeah, they charge you a tenner for the privilege of paying for the thing and a fiver to print out your own boarding pass and will constantly try to get you to sign up for extras (travel insurance etc) without you realising so be careful while you're doing it. The extras for luggage are mental though so be careful, and bear in mind Ryanair in particular are absolute cunts (depending on the airport - Luton is v bad, Stanstead medium, smaller airports vary) about how big your carry-on bag is, whether or not your duty free will fit in your carry-on bag, whether your carry-on bag is too heavy, whether you can fit the small handbag in your hand in your carry-on bag etc.
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Jan 12, 2012 12:04
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With Ryanair you get the fewest problems if you only have carry-on bags. One of the more annoying things about them is their constant playing of adverts over the tanoy while in-flight. I really didn't want to hear about J2Os at 4am. Also they tend to vastly overestimate flight time (4 hours London to Pisa, really?) so that when they arrive before that time they can claim 90% or whatever of their flights are on time.
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Jan 12, 2012 14:08
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This is true - my sister's flight from Kerry to London was delayed boarding by 30m and landed 5 minutes ahead of its original schedule.
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Jan 12, 2012 14:13
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Since sitting on the tarmac for 8 hours in Dublin once, I never fly Ryanair any more. Aer Lingus is not that much more expensive and at least you have a reasonable guarantee that the plane will be on time.
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Jan 12, 2012 14:24
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Yeah, even when it is running correctly RyanAir can be pretty awful. They are constantly shilling crap like lotto tickets, and the PA system is blaring nonstop, trying to get you to buy poo poo. It's like riding in a giant advertisement.
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Jan 12, 2012 14:54
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Ishamael posted:Yeah, even when it is running correctly RyanAir can be pretty awful. They are constantly shilling crap like lotto tickets, and the PA system is blaring nonstop, trying to get you to buy poo poo. It's like riding in a giant advertisement. It's a little less bad now because they don't play the really lovely music when you get on anymore, but use some classical tune instead. Anyway use Skyscanner.net and see what other airlines are available. In many cases Ryanair is actually a whole lot cheaper than any other airlines and you just put up with the poo poo experience.
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Jan 12, 2012 15:32
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I put up with the crap from Ryanair (and tbh I've never experienced that much of it) as it's worth it for the cheap fare. I never would have been all the places I have been without Ryanair I'm sure, I'm just about to go to Berlin for £30 return. Talking of Berlin, does anyone have any good recommendations? I'm going to do the usual free tour and a bar crawl or two (including the "Alternative" one) but other than that I don't really have any plans.
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Jan 18, 2012 02:34
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aga. posted:Talking of Berlin, does anyone have any good recommendations? I'm going to do the usual free tour and a bar crawl or two (including the "Alternative" one) but other than that I don't really have any plans. If you're into techno go to Tresor. Get some women in your team if you want to visit anything hipper (like Berghain or Watergate) and try to find out what's playing there that evening. Another nightclub tip I've heard was Wilde Renate, but we didn't go there because we had found another party in an old swimming pool (stattbad wedding), which was pretty amazing. I stayed in Kreuzberg last weekend (around schlesisches tor) there is a huge variety of restaurants, bars and what not over there. So that's a great area to find yourself in in the evening. Also the treptower park with it's enormous sovjet statue is nearby to make for a nice walk.
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Jan 18, 2012 10:36
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aga. posted:I put up with the crap from Ryanair (and tbh I've never experienced that much of it) as it's worth it for the cheap fare. I never would have been all the places I have been without Ryanair I'm sure, I'm just about to go to Berlin for £30 return. Take the Fat Tyre Bike Tour - I totally loved it, and it's pretty fun way to spend the day because you can't party CONSTANTLY. It's worth the price. Also, check out Tascheles, eat at Monsieur Vuongs and when you're hungover go to Speelweise Ludothek (sp?), you pay a few quids and they have a huge wall of board games (admittedly in german) you can waste some time playing and drinking coffee! Boxhagnerplatz on Sundays has some nice markets. edit: I am loving bummed I didn't get my rave on properly in Berlin AGH. I need to go back to do so stat. Make sure you go out properly clubbing.
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Jan 18, 2012 13:39
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aga. posted:I put up with the crap from Ryanair (and tbh I've never experienced that much of it) as it's worth it for the cheap fare. I never would have been all the places I have been without Ryanair I'm sure, I'm just about to go to Berlin for £30 return. Badeschiff, a swimming pool on the river with a spa. Totally worth it.
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Jan 18, 2012 20:49
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Need help with an itinerary. Planning on going to Europe during April for 9 full days, excluding the two days that Ill be flying in and out. My plan is to fly from NY to France. I really want to visit at least three cities: Paris, Amsterdam or Bruges (or Brussels) I want to spend at least 4 (or 5, if its better) days in Paris, and at least 2 days in Amsterdam. I heard a lot of good things about Bruges and how picturesque it is, but Im a bit concerned about 2 full days there. I would also be interested in going to London instead of Bruges, since I have some friends there but Im a bit reluctant about spreading myself to thin here. What would you guys recommend, never been to Europe and definitely, dont want to spend my time feeling as if Im being rushed from place to place. Also, does anybody know where that other Europe megathread went? It had a bunch of country specific tips in the OP. VV Thanks, I have 9 full days, aside from my flight days, which would be very short and thus I would not be using to do any sightseeing. skram fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jan 19, 2012 |
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Jan 19, 2012 00:46
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2 days wouldn't do London justice really, so it might be better to spend it in Bruges. Really you need just as much time to do London as you do in Paris. Both of them tick the checkbox of "huge historical European city with loads of landmarks and museums to see, heaving with tourists", so Bruges would offer more variety in your trip. I mean London is great to visit, its different enough to Paris, but its a bit more of a disorganised clusterfuck than Paris, so if you have to choose out one or the other, Paris should fulfil you slightly better. I just noticed that your 9 days doesn't include flying in and out. I guess if your arrival/departure times are convenient and you are hardcore you could incorporate those 2 days into seeing some of Paris, then you might have 2 days extra which could might be long enough to justify a trip to London. I've never visited the Netherlands but I've heard that 2 days should cover Amsterdam, but I also have heard that The Hague might be a bit better to visit generally unless you really wanna do drugs. Bruges does have the advantage of being on the way to the Netherlands so it might be easier to plan time economic journeys compared to going to the UK. You may only need one day there really, its small. You may also want to go to Ghent instead. Edit: Don't go to Brussels. If you are visiting during Easter it may be busier than during the summer on the weekend, as I found out in Paris last year. That was a long wait to go up the eiffel tower. nozz fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Jan 19, 2012 |
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Jan 19, 2012 03:08
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noblergt posted:
Please don't advice things you've only heard and not experienced yourselves. Amsterdam is way more interesting than The Hague for just about every tourist. Bruges has the problem/image that it's not really a young people destination, so depending on your age and interests you might wanna skip that and go to Gent for one day instead. Leave early from Paris, arrive in Gent in the morning, check out the city. Have some Belgian beers and a good meal, stay the night and take the train to Amsterdam early in the next morning.
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Jan 19, 2012 12:01
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Rojkir posted:Please don't advice things you've only heard and not experienced yourselves. Amsterdam is way more interesting than The Hague for just about every tourist. Amsterdam has a total of three museums, all of which can be hit in one day (Rijks, Van Gogh, and Anne Frank; all 3 are tiny). If you're there for two days, I don't know what I'd do the second except avoid getting hit by trams, bikes, and cars while checking out Jordaan or the RLD. Not that I'm recommending The Hague either, but I can't imagine why anyone would travel to Amsterdam for anything other than a flight layover or drug tourism. E: Also they [e: will change] their laws Jan 1, [e: 2013], so weed tourism [e: will be] no longer an option for tourists (locals only). AFAIK smart shops are still available to tourists. VVVV E2: You're right, it goes into effect Jan 1, 2013, unless Amsterdam figures out some way around it by then. I guess I misread earlier articles, or they already successfully delayed it a year. In any case I've been to Amsterdam probably 8 times and I've never liked anything about it except the truffles. But YMMV. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jan 19, 2012 |
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Jan 19, 2012 13:45
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Saladman posted:Also they changed their laws Jan 1, 2012, so weed tourism is no longer an option for tourists (locals only). What? No.
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Jan 19, 2012 14:18
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Saladman posted:Amsterdam has a total of three museums, all of which can be hit in one day (Rijks, Van Gogh, and Anne Frank; all 3 are tiny). If you're there for two days, I don't know what I'd do the second except avoid getting hit by trams, bikes, and cars while checking out Jordaan or the RLD. I was just reacting to the statement that The Hague would be a better visit than Amsterdam. It is not true that weed tourism is no longer allowed, Amsterdam is not taking part in the wietpas (weed pass), for atleast another year (but probably longer). I'm not saying you should go to Amsterdam if only have 9 days in Europe (although if the alternative is a hurried London, I would recommend Amsterdam), but if you go here's some ideas for your second day: - Get some people and rent a small boat, check out the awesome canals and houses from the water (or get a canal cruise). Get drunk while doing this. - Buy a big joint and go to the Vondelpark and take in the relaxing vibes, optional drunkenness and barbeque - The red light district - Walk through the small alleys of the Jordaan - Take a walk along the beautiful houses at the canals, make regular stops to eat or drink - Take a biking trip to a village outside the city and enjoy the flattness of the countryside - Go to the hermitage museum (east of the center), or the stedelijk museum (museum square) - Go to Artis zoo - If it's weekend: Go clubbing or visit a concert (melkweg, paradiso) - Oude kerk, Krijtberg or vondelkerk if you're into churches. That should get you through the day. e; The first two options are +15C degrees only Rojkir fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Jan 19, 2012 |
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Jan 19, 2012 14:37
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