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I'm hoping you might be able to help me a bit. I currently live in Paris and my parents and sister are coming from the US to visit. They're going to spend 6-7 days in Paris and then we're wanting to visit Switzerland for 2.5-3 days (this is all the time I can get off work). We're not sure where to go in Switzerland. I've only been to Interlaken but my parents are not exactly big into outdoor sports (but they do like being in nature and all that jazz). I've already ruled out Geneva Zurich as they seem a bit boring but that is about it. Any ideas of where to visit?
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Mar 27, 2012 20:18
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Some things about Switzerland that I didnt saw anyone mention and are actually pretty cool for daytrips (at least I enjoyed them). Montreux with chateau de Chillon, coupled with Aigle close by, with the wine museum in the castle there. Sion is beautifull, especially in autumn with all the vines on the hills and you can tour the underground lake nearby with a boat. Also you could make a small detour in Brigg if you have the time. In summer go up Furkapass and visit the Rhone glasier and enter it. If you are staying somewhere in central Switzerland you can just go back up through Grimselpass(??), if that was the name, and make a full awesome mountain pass circle. Those are some serious passes at 2400m. Go to Appenzell its very beautifull, swiss as gently caress for a tourist like me and close to the diary farm where they make the famous Appenzeller cheese and have a restaurant to stuff yourself with said cheese. If you want to push it, its close to Liechtenstein, so you can go and say you have been to that country. Istrian fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 20:48
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Landsknecht posted:It's mostly because of the N. American media, and general perceptions of what europeans are like, such as: I'm kind of late on this but as an American, Germany has by far the best food in Europe in my opinion. I don't know what basis Saladman had for his post. I can get an awesome Italian pizza in Germany or any other countries dish, Greek, turkish, whatever - - try and find a Jagerschnitzel, spatzle, crocheten (sp? fried mashed potatoes) in Italy or France. You can only get Bavarian food in Bavaria... The Germany comment is funny. In my view none of them are correct. I've seen more Opels and smart cars as well. Rules? Not rules, just efficiency. notaviking fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 21:47
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Is there a daily deal type of site like Groupon for cities like Paris and Amsterdam that is goon recommended?
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Mar 27, 2012 23:01
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Old Crows posted:Germany has by far the best food in Europe in my opinion. I don't know what basis Saladman had for his post. I used to live in Braunschweig, which admittedly is not the center of tourism and culture in Germany. My basis was 'if I walk into a random local cuisine-styled restaurant without researching it, i.e. not a kebab stand, how likely is the food to be good.' In my opinion Italy has the best, followed by France and then Germany and (the worst, at least by a price/quality ratio) Switzerland. I would put German food on par with British food. I don't like pork or greasy meats. YMMV. Regarding Omits-Bagel and Switzerland: Seconding on Chillon (I mentioned on the last page, actually, Istrian). I maybe prefer Gruyeres, since then you can go to a cheese factory and a chocolate factory too, if that's your thing. The scenery near Gruyeres is more stereotypically Swiss (rolling countryside, farms as far as the eye can see) than Chillon, although Chillon is beautiful also and Montreux is quite nice, although not very stereotypically Swiss looking (there are palm trees and stuff). Fribourg and Bern are my favorite "quick visit" cities in Switzerland, both have a very different feel and they're only about half an hour apart. Lucerne comes in a close third. Appenzell is nice but it's like an hour and a half further than Bern/Fribourg are from Paris. Liechtenstein (as Istrian said) is only worth going to to check off a list; I wouldn't drive more than 30 minutes out of my way for it. Their landesmuseum is kind of cool but not worth a major detour.
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Mar 27, 2012 23:32
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Omits-Bagels posted:I'm hoping you might be able to help me a bit. I currently live in Paris and my parents and sister are coming from the US to visit. They're going to spend 6-7 days in Paris and then we're wanting to visit Switzerland for 2.5-3 days (this is all the time I can get off work). I highly recommend the swiss tourism site, it lists almost all places worth of visiting and those that were mentioned here. And it recommends places to your liking. My only personal note is, avoid Interlaken, it really just caters to your stereotypical tourist and doesn't offer anything that Switzerland is good for. And although the Jungfrau can be really wonderfull (on sunny and cloudless days) it costs an arm and a leg to go up there, even for swiss standards.
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Mar 28, 2012 09:19
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Im a US Citizen with a US passport, if I have a half day layover in England (Heathrow) but that's not my final destination, can I leave the airport and check out the city for a few hours? I have heard that it might not be possible which would suck.
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Mar 29, 2012 23:29
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Elendil004 posted:Im a US Citizen with a US passport, if I have a half day layover in England (Heathrow) but that's not my final destination, can I leave the airport and check out the city for a few hours? I have heard that it might not be possible which would suck. Define half day. If it's 6+ hours that might be ok, but anything less than that is iffy. You can take the subway to anywhere in the city from heathrow, so it's easy enough to get around.
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Mar 29, 2012 23:40
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Landsknecht posted:Define half day. If it's 6+ hours that might be ok, but anything less than that is iffy. You can take the subway to anywhere in the city from heathrow, so it's easy enough to get around. land 10 am, depart 8pm. I am not worried about time, I have heard they might not let people out of the terminal if that's not their final destination, that's my concern.
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Mar 29, 2012 23:49
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They check your passport and everything on the way to your connection, you can leave. Some people have to so they can get to Gatwick and get their connection there.
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Mar 30, 2012 00:07
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Saladman posted:Switzerland's not so big on castles, and the food is outrageously expensive, so you might want to cut it from your list unless you're interested in natural beauty and outdoors activities (climbing, hiking, paragliding, whatever). Chillon and Gruyeres in the French part are the only two major tourist attraction castles I can think of in Switzerland. The rest are either private and/or have extremely limited opening hours (e.g. Aarburg's castle, which I think is the most visually impressive in Switzerland, is open literally 2 hours, once a week, and only in spring and summer). If you do go to Switzerland anyway, Bern, Lucerne, Fribourg, and Basel are all pretty interesting cities, but none of them really warrant more than a day of sightseeing; maybe 2 max for Basel. Note that Geneva is an empty shell of a city and should not belong on any tour of Europe unless used as an airport or for official business and Zurich doesn't really have very much either, although it's very pleasant. (Geneva is not pleasant.) Switzerland actually has a ton of castles, drive through a pass and you will see a castle. Besides the 2 mentioned (which are great) also go and have a look at the "3" castles in Bellinzona, they are super impressive. Switzerland is really a country that you goto to look at nature. The cities are amazing if you want to have a coffee and watch people but they are fairly limited as regards to museums, art galleries etc. Geneva is a bit dull but the UN and CERN are well worth seeing if you have any interest in that sort of thing. Also the views across and around the lake are stunning. Jungfrau is the mountain everyone goes up but be aware you need a very clear day and a lot of money to enjoy it. It is great though an if you can I would always recommend it. Rigi is another smaller mountain that I would also recommend, it is the first mountain in the Alps and you get an amazing view from the top because it is surrounded by lakes and mountains on one side and the other is smaller foot hills. It is also a lot cheaper to get to the top of than the Jungfrau.
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Mar 30, 2012 10:17
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Is $970 round trip (one tiny layover) from Atlanta to Dublin a good price? We're going in September.
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Mar 31, 2012 04:59
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With a layover I'm seeing prices between $765 and $920. Air Lingus has some good prices, check them out.
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Mar 31, 2012 05:16
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Jeoh posted:With a layover I'm seeing prices between $765 and $920. Air Lingus has some good prices, check them out. On it - Thanks for the tip!
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Mar 31, 2012 05:18
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Wagoneer posted:Is $970 round trip (one tiny layover) from Atlanta to Dublin a good price? We're going in September. It depends a lot upon when you're going, but I'd expect to pay at least $100 less than that.
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Mar 31, 2012 05:18
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SeaTard posted:It depends a lot upon when you're going, but I'd expect to pay at least $100 less than that. Would waiting until closer to the flight improve the cost? I'm seriously new to this stuff.
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Mar 31, 2012 05:31
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Wagoneer posted:Would waiting until closer to the flight improve the cost? I'm seriously new to this stuff. The great debate of our time. Personally I buy a ticket somewhere between 4 and 6 months in advance if possible. You can try using a service like Farecast (since bought out by Microsoft but still decent) to try and figure out a good time to buy, but once you hit about 4 months out the price tends to go up*. * In general, etc
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Mar 31, 2012 05:37
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I'm flying to Amsterdam on August 27th for a trip of undetermined length. I know about the 90 day thing and I'm planning on being there somewhere between a month and two months. I've bought a one way ticket and will come back whenever. My plan is to hit The Netherlands, Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany in that order, spending about a week in each and getting to Germany in time for Oktoberfest. I'd like to get some cool recommendations from goons who know these places well about stuff to do. I'm mostly into history/mythology and there's no way I'm not visiting some Trappist monks in Belgium. I'll also be looking to attend some music festivals and maybe FACTS in Belgium at the end of October. In addition, what is the best (read: cheapest) way to get from country to country in my route, trains (where applicable) or planes (RyanAir?)
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Mar 31, 2012 13:22
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In regards to travel, with that itinerary I think you would take a train from the Netherlands to Belgium, and the Eurostar from Belgium to England unless you want to go straight to somewhere up north. You seem to be hopping over the sea in a really inefficient way, and planes will almost always be cheaper for England-Ireland Ireland-Scotland and Scotland-Germany especially. Obviously it helps if you can narrow down the dates as soon as possible. If you plan to travel around England/Scotland a bit, then the train can be very cheap if you can book in advance. Compared to the continent we have extortionate walk up fares. If you want to sacrifice more time and comfort don't forget long distance coaches. I know Eurolines can be cheap for cross channel stuff but I have never used them. Also Megabus has just launched some international coach journeys to/from the UK, which will be ridiculously cheap if you can stomach it!
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Mar 31, 2012 16:01
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The reason for hopping in that order is that I'm meeting friends and staying with some in Belgium and England so I have to adjust to fit their schedule. How long in advance would I need to buy tickets to avoid walk up fares? Also can I buy the tickets online or do I need to physically go to the station?
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Mar 31, 2012 18:34
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Has tourist season ended in Paris by late September?
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Mar 31, 2012 20:11
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Miftan posted:I'm flying to Amsterdam on August 27th for a trip of undetermined length. I know about the 90 day thing and I'm planning on being there somewhere between a month and two months. I've bought a one way ticket and will come back whenever. Warning: Oktoberfest is only in Munich and is in the latter half of September, not October. Also reserve your accommodation ahead of time (literally now), because the whole city is crazy for those few weeks. If you're into history there's a shitload of it, but where to go depends on what sort. The welsh border is great if you're into castles/middle ages, but terrible for modern stuff, Berlin has lots of WWII/Cold War but nothing older than 1800s ish, etc.
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Mar 31, 2012 20:16
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Landsknecht posted:Warning: Oktoberfest is only in Munich and is in the latter half of September, not October. Also reserve your accommodation ahead of time (literally now), because the whole city is crazy for those few weeks. For Munich, don't be afraid to stay somewhere away from the Theresienwiese, because you can easily take the U-Bahn anywhere. Last time I was there for Oktoberfest (2010), I stayed near Südpark. Right off the U3 line, and it was 10-15 minutes to get to the Theresienwiese. It was also 200 euros a night less expensive than anything closer to the center of town. Plus, coming in from the south side you miss most of the crowd getting in, because the majority of people come in via the north side.
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Mar 31, 2012 20:33
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Thanks for the replies. I know about the Oktoberfest dates, and I'll be staying with someone (ala couchsurfing) in Munich, so I should be good! I'm more into the medieval history so I'll be sure to check out the Welsh boarder. I'll be in Berlin for a couple of days at the very least anyway so I'll probably hit up the wall and such. What's there to do in Holland? Outside and inside of Amsterdam.
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Apr 1, 2012 00:48
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Well you should be able to find plenty on Amsterdam in this thread. Enough history and old buildings to find there. Also there is the Muiderslot in Muiden (http://www.muiderslot.nl/english). Never been there myself, but seems quite impressive from the outside. And there are two music festivals sept 1. Valtifest and Lief, both house orientated (probably can't buy tickets at the door because they'll be sold out).
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Apr 1, 2012 08:42
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Miftan posted:The reason for hopping in that order is that I'm meeting friends and staying with some in Belgium and England so I have to adjust to fit their schedule. How long in advance would I need to buy tickets to avoid walk up fares? Also can I buy the tickets online or do I need to physically go to the station? Advance prices will just increase as people buy them, and will be available until the day before you travel. They first become available 12 weeks in advance, you should be able to get some drat good prices until around 2 weeks before, depending on dates/exact time of day etc. Significant savings might still be found even a few days before, though always compare with standard tickets to see if you are saving much. Walk up fares are never associated with a particular train so sometimes its worth paying for flexibility within the day itself. You can buy advanced tickets online or at any staffed station for any journey. If you buy online you can pick it up at the station. There are a plethora of different sites to buy tickets from, but to find potential discounts and to avoid credit card fees, using the train operator's own website for that journey is generally the best bet. This is advice mainly for longer distance train travel, for shorter trips advance fares wont be available, so how useful this advice is depends on where you are going.
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Apr 2, 2012 01:17
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Gat posted:train stuff Thanks for this. I'll consult whoever I'm staying with and they'll probably know specifics, but this stuff is good to know anyway. I guess most of the time I'll be paying for flexibility since I have no idea how long I'll really be in each country.
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Apr 2, 2012 10:31
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my l41 m4ss4cr3 posted:Has tourist season ended in Paris by late September? There will be fewer people than in July August but it could still be manic. October is when it will quieten down to reasonable levels....Paris is always full of grockels though.
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Apr 5, 2012 13:03
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So who else has been to Salamanca during the summer?
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Apr 5, 2012 15:26
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I'm actually moving to Switzerland soon for work and have a couple questions. First, I'm going to be living in Bern and was wondering if anyone had recommendations for which quarter to live in. Price is less important than restaurants/nightlife/people under 35. Second, I want to spend my vacation time this summer really seeing Switzerland. I'll get a Halbtax card for public transport for work, but are there other travel deals for SBB? Also, if anyone else wants to go skiing, hiking or anything remotely dangerous that might require medevac, it's highly recommended you check out Rega and pay for the patronage. You don't want to get stuck with the cost of an emergency rescue, even if it does save your life. (And yes, if you aren't a Rega patron and they pick you up, you will get billed, :switzerland:)
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Apr 7, 2012 23:37
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Geizkragen posted:Second, I want to spend my vacation time this summer really seeing Switzerland. I'll get a Halbtax card for public transport for work, but are there other travel deals for SBB? skip the halbtax and get a GA http://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/the-general-abonnement.html It lets you go everywhere on everything, except for a coupla tourist ferries and the jungfrau train, and you get a discount on those. I had one when I was there and I thought it was great.
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Apr 8, 2012 00:15
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My employer provides the halbtax, so I'll get it either way. Is the GA really worth the cost? My concern is I'm not sure how much I'll be spending a month on transit costs. It would have to be pretty high to justify the >CHF3300 I would think. (Is that per year, btw?)
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Apr 8, 2012 04:11
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The halbtax is fine really just a little less convenient as you have to buy a ticket for every trip. The transport is really very good, and it a very easy way to see most of Switzerland. The 3300 CHF is for the whole year and it is probably the only thing I considered good value in Switzerland. The best thing about was instead of waking up Saturday morning and deciding if i wanted to spend X hundred CHF going to see another boring-rear end Swiss town in lieu of grocery shopping I would just get on the train and go cause I already had the ticket. But yeah I travelled around enough with people who had a halbtax, aside from the convenience/just go factor the halbtax is good enough. You can always get a GA if you find you are doing a lot of travel. Bern is pretty well centrally located, you could easily live in another Swiss city and commute. I worked in Zürich and a lot of people I worked with commuted from Basel or other places every day.
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Apr 8, 2012 04:44
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unixbeard posted:probably the only thing I considered good value in Switzerland. That is no joke. Great example: The advice I got from the customs person at the embassy was "don't buy a car here if you can help it. In fact, if you've owned your car for more than 6 months, import and then sell it used for the US MSRP when you leave". I could only laugh when I looked up car prices. Why are cars twice as expensive as in the States?
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Apr 8, 2012 06:44
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Everything is 2x as expensive because salaries are 2-3x higher (I hope you're not here on a US salary). If you can remember that, it makes things somewhat reasonable but gently caress me is it ever difficult to go to a bar or restaurant and not flinch at the bill.
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Apr 8, 2012 09:57
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Geizkragen posted:I'm actually moving to Switzerland soon for work and have a couple questions. The area around the old town is pretty cool. But the nightlife is about what you'd expect for a country full of bankers. Bern is better than the other large cities in that regard though. The housing market is really tight all over Switzerland. You'll probably find the vacancy rate lower than 1%. So you can only be so selective. This is a pretty good site for looking at what's available. It's not exhaustive though and I think its more focused on western Switzerland. http://www.immostreet.ch/en/HomePage
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Apr 8, 2012 17:07
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I was thinking old town or Länggasse because of the Uni. I've been using immoscout24.ch to look and there seems to be quite a few places listed there within my budget. My concern is that they're actually being rented really fast and the website isn't updated as fast to show that they're no longer available.
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Apr 8, 2012 19:28
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unixbeard posted:waking up Saturday morning and deciding if i wanted to spend X hundred CHF going to see another boring-rear end Swiss town in lieu of grocery shopping I just love that. I can finally shop on non-Saturdays but I couldn't my first two years here, and basically every weekend was like what you just described (except for the Swiss towns which are pretty awesome, but those ones don't last for two years' worth of weekends...). Re: Greizkragen: I imported my car from the USA. It's an old Prius and it's worth 2/3rds of what I paid for it (in the USA) in 2004. NB: if you import a car you can't sell it for two years. I would bring a car if you meet the six month requirement and skip the GA. If you don't have a car that meets the requirement, I'd second getting the GA. Gas is about $8/gallon so if it's a gas guzzler it might not be good, though. If you want more info on this PM me; it's kind of a pain in the rear end but it was way worth it, at least for me, since I'm living here 5+ years. Can't help you much on real estate. If you want to live further out from altstadt, mass transit is really very good until about midnight. Then you'll need a bike or walk, which can be awful in the winter. Getting kidnapped in a taxi in Bogota and paying a ransom is cheaper, albeit less convenient, than taking a taxi in Switzerland. Saladman fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Apr 8, 2012 |
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Apr 8, 2012 20:37
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I'm going to Amsterdam and Berlin for a week in May. If I bring my unlocked smartphone with me, I understand I can get a prepaid SIM card that will bone me much less than my providers in Canada ($40 for a 10MB international data package). Is there a particular provider I should look for? If I buy a SIM card in Amsterdam, will it work in Germany as well? And while I'm here asking questions: plane or train from Amsterdam to Berlin? Flying is shorter, but a lot more hassle -- and I've never been on a high-speed train before, so I don't really know what that will be like. What is the border-crossing process on the train for non-EU citizens? I've only done one border-crossing onboard a train before, from Canada to the US, and it was loving HELLISH and long.
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Apr 9, 2012 03:49
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PT6A posted:I'm going to Amsterdam and Berlin for a week in May. If I bring my unlocked smartphone with me, I understand I can get a prepaid SIM card that will bone me much less than my providers in Canada ($40 for a 10MB international data package). Is there a particular provider I should look for? If I buy a SIM card in Amsterdam, will it work in Germany as well? Can't comment on the phone situation. I loaded up Skype with phone credit before I left, it worked for me so I didn't need to worry about sim cards. Obviously you need to be in an area with WiFi, but I just used it at my hotel/hostel or at McDonald's or something. Will you be making a lot of calls, or just to keep in touch with a select few people? Border crossing between countries in the Schengen Area requires no formalities at all. It's just like crossing between states in the US. See the link below for more details. There's no immigration involved in the Schengen Area at all, only if you're entering it from outside, or leaving to a non-Schengen country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area I prefer shorter journeys like Amsterdam-Berlin on the train. You see more of the country and by the time you get to the airport, board, get your luggage at the other end etc. it's about the same amount of time as a plane. The plus-side is that train stations for inter-country travel seem to be in a central area of the city. Airports are often 20-30km out of town and require train rides or taxis to get into the city centre anyway. I believe the train from Amsterdam to Berlin is around 6 hours. A flight would probably only be an hour or so, so it really just depends whether you value saving a couple of hours over sitting back and enjoying the views from your train seat.
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Apr 9, 2012 03:59
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