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HookShot posted:I went to a similar area, went to Abisko to see the midnight sun. It was absolutely amazing, the landscapes there are incredible. But yeah, 20 hours by train is the downside... I was in Kiruna a couple years ago in January. Absolutely beautiful, but seriously take a plane there. SAS flys there round trip for under $200 while train prices are $230+. e; Just fiddled with the train prices and the cheapest I found is still only a $10 difference.
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Feb 9, 2012 01:46
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I'm going to be on study abroad in Salzburg next semester; is there anything I should know for the stay there?
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Feb 10, 2012 05:29
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Ishamael posted:Hey, anyone going to Venice anytime soon? I don't know if you're around anymore or not, but my girlfriend and I just booked a trip to Italy and were going to be in Venice for a few days in late April. We would love to get a replacement, just tell me where to get it.
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Feb 10, 2012 07:35
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The Lord of Hats posted:I'm going to be on study abroad in Salzburg next semester; is there anything I should know for the stay there? Salzburg is one of the most expensive (but also very beautiful) cities in austria. Make sure to take trips to Graz and Vienna. Go hiking a lot in the area of the Salzkammergut.
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Feb 10, 2012 09:44
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Thaumaturgic posted:I don't know if you're around anymore or not, but my girlfriend and I just booked a trip to Italy and were going to be in Venice for a few days in late April. We would love to get a replacement, just tell me where to get it. Oh man! That is awesome. You would be my hero, and I could surprise my wife for her birthday. Drop me a line at gone now at nothing and I will send you the info and payment. Thanks so much!! Ishamael fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Feb 29, 2012 |
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Feb 10, 2012 14:22
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The Lord of Hats posted:I'm going to be on study abroad in Salzburg next semester; is there anything I should know for the stay there? If you're going for the sommersemester try and head out a bit early, all the big ski areas (including Saalbach near Salzburg) start having big parties and cheaper skiing around this time, which owns
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Feb 10, 2012 18:27
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So I'm traveling to Italy to help film a mini-series on Roman archaeology for 3 weeks. I will be in Orvieto (about an hour north of Rome) for most of the time. I'm staying an extra 2-weeks after filming wraps and I was thinking about taking a week to go to Paris. Now, I haven't traveled internationally since pre-9/11 so apologies if this question is stupid. Can I travel to France without visa or anything from Italy? What do they ask you when you get into the country? Will I need to have a hotel booked beforehand or can I play it by ear? Any suggestions on what to do would be welcome as well. Should I just stick with Paris or is a week enough time to take a day-trip or two outside of Paris?
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Feb 12, 2012 21:38
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France and Italy are both Schengen countries, which means that your visa is valid for both of them and that there are no border checks between them. You won't need to have a hotel booked.
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Feb 13, 2012 05:57
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kissekatt posted:France and Italy are both Schengen countries, which means that your visa is valid for both of them and that there are no border checks between them. You won't need to have a hotel booked. Well, and I in no way mean to sound racist here, that assumes that you're white. Both countries have been flouting Schengen law in the last year, for the purposes of catching illegal immigrants. You might get checked at the border, but your visa will be fine. You wont need a booking or anything like that.
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Feb 13, 2012 11:06
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The Viper posted:Well, and I in no way mean to sound racist here, that assumes that you're white. Both countries have been flouting Schengen law in the last year, for the purposes of catching illegal immigrants. You might get checked at the border, but your visa will be fine. You wont need a booking or anything like that. I am white. If I am going to Italy for less than 90 days, so I get a visa or how does that work? Sorry about these simple questions, but like I said I haven't traveled in awhile. Thanks for that link The Viper.
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Feb 13, 2012 22:48
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Marxist Glue posted:I am white. If I am going to Italy for less than 90 days, so I get a visa or how does that work? Sorry about these simple questions, but like I said I haven't traveled in awhile. There are 42 countries (including the US and Canada) from which the citizens do not need a visa if they stay in the European Union for less than 90 days for tourism or business purpose. Rules for the UK are slightly different. You still need a passport. Within the European Union, there is a group of countries that have signed the Schengen treaty and have abolished all passport checks between them. So if you are from the US you don't need a visa to enter Italy. They might ask some questions about your purpose, give you stamp with entry day, and that will be it. You can then travel to France, Germany, Spain, etc, as long as you leave again within 90 days. http://europa.eu/travel/doc/index_en.htm
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Feb 14, 2012 20:34
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OperaMouse posted:There are 42 countries (including the US and Canada) from which the citizens do not need a visa if they stay in the European Union for less than 90 days for tourism or business purpose. Rules for the UK are slightly different. Fantastic! Thank you so much for that information! This clears up all my concerns.
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Feb 15, 2012 01:43
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I'm living in the Czech Republic and I want to do some traveling around Europe this semester. It looks like Ryan air doesn't fly out of Prague, what other websites/airlines should I be looking at for cheap flights around Europe? Edit: Also, i'd like to check out some less touristy cool stuff to see in Prague. Any suggestions? I've mostly been going to castles and bars :| Econosaurus fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Feb 15, 2012 |
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Feb 15, 2012 01:46
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Econosaurus posted:I'm living in the Czech Republic and I want to do some traveling around Europe this semester. It looks like Ryan air doesn't fly out of Prague, what other websites/airlines should I be looking at for cheap flights around Europe? Are you planning on travelling around for a few weeks and touring a lot or do you want to fly to one city & stay there for a while, then go back and repeat the same a month later?
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Feb 15, 2012 02:45
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musical monkey posted:Are you planning on travelling around for a few weeks and touring a lot or do you want to fly to one city & stay there for a while, then go back and repeat the same a month later? I was thinking Thursday-Sunday trips. I have a two week break at one point, not sure what I'm doing then.
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Feb 15, 2012 02:56
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Econosaurus posted:I'm living in the Czech Republic and I want to do some traveling around Europe this semester. It looks like Ryan air doesn't fly out of Prague, what other websites/airlines should I be looking at for cheap flights around Europe?
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Feb 15, 2012 03:01
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Econosaurus posted:I'm living in the Czech Republic and I want to do some traveling around Europe this semester. It looks like Ryan air doesn't fly out of Prague, what other websites/airlines should I be looking at for cheap flights around Europe? Wizzair. It doesn't have great connections, but they're OK and crazy cheap. Also it's easyjet quality, not ryanair nightmare. http://wizzair.com/flights/Prague/ (but doesn't look like the complete list? or they killed their Paris flight, which I took from Prague about 2 years ago for like $10.)
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Feb 15, 2012 09:12
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Doctor Malaver posted:Dubrovnik is a good choice. It's not well connected to the rest of Croatia, though. No highway or train, so you'll want to leave it by plane or by sea. I would recommend a ferry to the island of Mljet - park of nature, nice seawater lakes. Good for renting bikes or funny little socialism-era cars. Also island of Hvar - a popular resort, some fancy restaurants and clubs (not sure how many of them will be open in May), very nice old town. Don't know if there is a direct Mljet > Hvar line. Chikimiki posted:Indeed, the coastal towns are pretty top-notch. Pula and Split have loads of roman architecture, and if you're into that, Opatija has upper-scale health and spa resorts. Also, Trogir is a small medieval town and pretty relaxing, so it's worth a visit too. Great information folks, exactly what I was looking for. Any idea what the weather is like towards the beginning of May? Will it be sunbathing weather, or sit-on-the-beach-with-a-shirt-and-shorts weather? And any chance of swimming or will the water be too chilly?
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Feb 15, 2012 17:59
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Schleep posted:Great information folks, exactly what I was looking for. Any idea what the weather is like towards the beginning of May? Will it be sunbathing weather, or sit-on-the-beach-with-a-shirt-and-shorts weather? And any chance of swimming or will the water be too chilly? This is southern Europe, so May should be quite sunny and around 20-25°C, so sunbathing should be ok. Water may still be a bit chilly though.
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Feb 16, 2012 11:19
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The Viper posted:If you're going to Slovenia, go to Lake Bled. It's a little bit touristy, but seriously one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.  There's also the Vintnar Gorge just up the road to trek up, and some fantastic views from Bled Castle.  Thello posted:Does anyone know much about car rentals and age restrictions within the UK or Ireland? My girlfriend is 20 with a full license; I'm 25 and a giant baby without a full license. Information online seems to conflict somewhat, stating that the age requirement could be anywhere from 18-21. Anybody have a confirmation on that?
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Feb 16, 2012 12:42
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I could use some help deciphering the various overnight train options out of Italy. I'll be on my honeymoon traveling from Venice to Paris, and we're trying to find the best option that gives us the most privacy and comfort. I'm using trenitalia.com to book, and this site to try and sort through the options. I think I have it narrowed down to either a standard single seat compartment or a double seat compartment without even knowing what the difference is except that the single seat is more expensive. Am I on the right track? We basically want to avoid sleeping in the same room as other people at the very least.
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Feb 21, 2012 22:54
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Can I get some suggestions on where to go in Italy? My boyfriend and I are going there in late April/early May and we have 10 days. I'm lucky enough to work with and be friends some Italians from different regions, but they're all pretty gung-ho about their own home cities and from a more local perspective. I'd love some additional perspective. For some background, I have never been to Italy but have done some traveling before. I have a degree in archaeology so any ancient sites are of huge interest to me. My boyfriend has never been outside of North America so I'm excited and nervous about how he'll handle a foreign country. Besides the archaeological sites, neither of us care too much about the typical tourist sites. We both speak a little French and I'm trying to learn some key Italian phrases before I go because I always get huge tourism-guilt about going to other people's countries and making them speak my language to me. Here's the itinerary I've mapped out. The only inflexible things are the arrival/departure city (already bought the tix) and the timing of Venice and Rome since we're meeting people there. We plan to travel on train from city-to-city and buses/walking within. Day 1: Arrive in Milan in the afternoon, get to a hotel and recuperate from flight. I'm not really into fashion so I don't know if there's anything worth seeing, but I imagine we'll be beat from the flight and jetlagged anyways. Day 2-3: Arrive in Venice in the AM, meet up with boyfriend's parents. I've been told Venice itself is not the best city and the Disneyland analogy has been made more than once. See the canals, maybe take a gondola ride for the novelty. Apparently pub crawl dinners are a fun thing to do. Day 4-6: Arrive in Rome in the AM, meet up with friend. Do the "Caesar Shuffle" as it's apparently called. Eat at the Pizzarium (it was on The Layover and that pizza looked incredible). Hopefully take a day trip to Tivoli and see Hadrian's Villa. Neither of us is religious so the Vatican doesn't hold much appeal, so unless it's truly incredible, I think we can pass. I would love to visit more local venues, especially the night scene. Day 7-8: Arrive in Naples in the AM. Visit the Archaeological Museum. Somehow decide between a day trip to Pompeii, Herculaneum, or the Amalfi Coast. Unless there is a way to get more than one in without going insane. Days 9-10: Arrive at [?] in the AM. I know we want to go to a city in the Tuscan region on route back to Milan, but choosing is hard. Florence seems like the obvious pick, but my friend from Bologna says she likes her city better (not unbiased, though...) and that it has a younger vibe, from being a college town. I've heard Siena is lovely, and my supervisor says Lucca is his all time favorite city. I'm leaning towards Chiusi at the moment because I am a dork for Etruscan stuff. Leave for Milan in the late afternoon/evening, sleep and leave in the morning for home. It's not a complete list at all, so I'd love some input. Are we trying to cram too much in? Are somethings really not doing, or did I miss anything obvious?
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Feb 22, 2012 05:52
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Drei posted:Can I get some suggestions on where to go in Italy? My boyfriend and I are going there in late April/early May and we have 10 days. I'm lucky enough to work with and be friends some Italians from different regions, but they're all pretty gung-ho about their own home cities and from a more local perspective. I'd love some additional perspective. e: Also going to the Vatican is less about being religious and more about being interested in the Renaissance. You shouldn't skip it unless your historical interests absolutely stop at the Ancient era.
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Feb 22, 2012 06:51
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If I were moving there, I'd go to Bologna - it's got a better vibe, a lot fewer tourists and a big student culture. But since you're just visiting, if you have to pick between them, Florence is vastly superior. Few cities in the world can compete with its architectural, historical and artistic offerings, it's overflowing with stuff to see. (It is almost entirely Renaissance-era stuff, though. Bologna is a tiny bit older but not much.) Florence has arguably the best Renaissance art collection in the world; Bologna has the world's longest portico. You get the picture. Milan is mostly a modern city, based on what you've said you'll probably have enough of it after the ducal palace and the cathedral area. You can reasonably feel like you've seen Venice in a day, too. It's definitely worth visiting but it does start feeling theme parky pretty quick. Honestly though if you're more interested in pre-medieval stuff than you are in the Renaissance, you'd be better off spending more time in Rome and the south than up in Veneto and Tuscany. And you're definitely overbooking for 10 days but with all these meetups you have scheduled it sounds like you don't have much choice with that.
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Feb 22, 2012 08:23
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kissekatt posted:I would cut out one or two cities from your itinerary. You are going to lose a lot of time and energy unpacking/repacking, travelling and getting installed in your new abode every other day. Totally agree. I might skip out the first day of Milan and go for a hardcore first travel day that ends early in the evening in Venice. You can then move the whole schedule a day forward so you can stay in Rome/city x for a day longer.
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Feb 22, 2012 10:09
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you would be absolutely nuts if you spent 3 days in rome and didn't go to the vatican/vatican museum. By far one of the coolest places I've been in europe and im not religious. Being in the sistine chapel is worth the price of admission alone.
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Feb 22, 2012 11:36
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GZA Genius posted:you would be absolutely nuts if you spent 3 days in rome and didn't go to the vatican/vatican museum. By far one of the coolest places I've been in europe and im not religious. I have to recommend against the guided tour, we were just sprinting through the museums to get to the Sistine Chapel, and ended up having an really un-enjoyable time. Plus, everyone was loud and obnoxious in the Chapel, which really was annoying - I recommend wearing headphones and listening to some music to help that part. Also, we were there on a Saturday, which must have made it worse. We couldn't even get to the Pieta because there was such a crush of people.
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Feb 22, 2012 15:10
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jerkstore77 posted:I could use some help deciphering the various overnight train options out of Italy. I'll be on my honeymoon traveling from Venice to Paris, and we're trying to find the best option that gives us the most privacy and comfort. I'm using trenitalia.com to book, and this site to try and sort through the options. I don't know about italian trains, but I thought I would recommend raileurope.com if you have not already looked there. Train tickets on their site in France were just as cheap as going to the specific lines' websites and they were easier to navigate. Hashtag Banterzone fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Feb 22, 2012 |
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Feb 22, 2012 15:19
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Ishamael posted:I have to recommend against the guided tour, we were just sprinting through the museums to get to the Sistine Chapel, and ended up having an really un-enjoyable time. Plus, everyone was loud and obnoxious in the Chapel, which really was annoying - I recommend wearing headphones and listening to some music to help that part. Yeah, the crush of tourists is one of the reasons the Vatican has less of an appeal to me, and I'm really not a guided tour type of person. I certainly wouldn't mind checking it out, just that given my limited time I wouldn't want to sacrifice something I was really psyched about for it. Based on the feedback so far I'm trying to figure out where I can cut and add days. The suggestion to go straight from LIN to Venice isn't a bad one, provided we actually have the energy to enjoy the city that evening a bit instead of just crashing. Then we can leave Venice the next evening, or the morning after and have more time in Rome. The only other place I can see to cut time is not to stop in Tuscany, and have an extra day in Naples. I would be kinda bummed to see less places (and I wanted to break up the train ride), but would an extra day in Naples be worth it, over seeing one place in Tuscany? I also have a train question - I gathered from the website that most stations have luggage lockers, which would be good for pre/post hotel checkout when we still had time in the city. How secure are these, how big are they, etc? I think we'll each have a small piece of carry-on luggage and maybe a backpack. willkill4food posted:I don't know about italian trains, but I thought I would recommend raileurope.com if you have not already looked there. Train tickets on their site in France were just as cheap as going to the specific lines' websites and they were easier to navigate. One thing I didn't see on Rail Europe is the Mini Fare option, which is awesome if you know when exactly you want to go, You can get tickets for as low as 9 € on the Mini fare rate. Drei fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Feb 22, 2012 |
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Feb 22, 2012 18:06
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Speaking of Rome, I'll be there in a few weeks. Any of you guys ever rent a scooter there and motor around? I've always wanted to do that.
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Feb 22, 2012 18:12
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TheWevel posted:Speaking of Rome, I'll be there in a few weeks. Any of you guys ever rent a scooter there and motor around? I've always wanted to do that. Unless you're an experienced scooter driver, it's a good way to get into a horrible traffic accident. The roads are filled with buses, taxis, trucks, apathetic/suicidal locals and ignorant/confused tourists. Anyway, whoever mentioned not going to the Vatican, at least pop into the San Pietro and climb it. It's probably the most beautiful building I've been in in my life, climbing to the top is an experience in itself, and the view from the top is pretty good too.
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Feb 22, 2012 18:26
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So is it possible to walk all around the Vatican and not be on a guided tour? I hate guided tours, but I'd like to sightsee.
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Feb 22, 2012 18:30
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To be honest I'd say take the guided tour. You skip the queue and more importantly you'll actually know what the hell you're looking at. You'll probably be stuck behind a tour group anyway so may as well be told the interesting history behind stuff instead of just looking at pretty things.
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Feb 22, 2012 20:25
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Drei posted:
We did Herculaneum and Pompeii in the one day. My advice is to skip Pompeii, just go to Herculaneum instead because it is way better preserved, there are far less tourists to have to dodge, and if you're going to see the Archaeological Museum in Naples you will get to see a lot of things from Pompeii in there anyway. If you have time and you're into archaeology, I strongly recommend going to Paestum. We spent about 3-4 hours walking around the site and checking out the museum and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Getting to explore a really, really ancient city was pretty special! Re: The Vatican - take a guided tour just to skip the line, unless you want to spend hours of your trip queuing up. You can always ditch the tour group once you're inside, and get your deposit for the headset back at the tour guide's office after you leave.
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Feb 22, 2012 23:02
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bee posted:We did Herculaneum and Pompeii in the one day. My advice is to skip Pompeii, just go to Herculaneum instead because it is way better preserved, there are far less tourists to have to dodge, and if you're going to see the Archaeological Museum in Naples you will get to see a lot of things from Pompeii in there anyway. Cool. Thanks everyone for the Vatican advice. I'm a Classical Archaeology student so going to Paestum really intrigues me. What's the best way to get there from Rome?
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Feb 23, 2012 01:40
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Econosaurus posted:I was thinking Thursday-Sunday trips. I have a two week break at one point, not sure what I'm doing then. Woops I completely forgot that I asked this question, sorry. For the two weeks it might be an idea to buy an unlimited train-card. Not all countries participate but if you like travelling around it is a very cheap way of visiting a lot of different cities across Europe and enjoying the trip through the different areas at the same time.
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Feb 23, 2012 04:06
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Marxist Glue posted:Cool. Thanks everyone for the Vatican advice. We were staying in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, and we had a hire car so we just drove there. However, it would be a pretty long drive from Rome. There is a train station in Paestum, but I have no idea how long a train from Rome would take to get there, sorry. You would probably be better off trying to get to Paestum from Naples, as a train ride from there would take about 90 minutes. Yeah, it's a bit of a hassle to get to but I guarentee you won't be sorry you made the effort to go, especially if the classics is your thing. I was blown away by what great condition all the buildings are in, considering they are thousands of years old. You can even spot the cart-wheel ruts in the paved stone roads, which was pretty neat.
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Feb 23, 2012 04:55
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I am going to Paris for 4 nights and then taking the train to Amsterdam to spend 4 nights there. I intend to take the train, is it cheaper to buy a ticket in advance or just show up at the train station and buy it the day of? Cheers!
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Feb 26, 2012 02:25
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In advance. International train tickets tend to get more expensive as the train fils up.
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Feb 26, 2012 02:44
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Definitely in advance.
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