WMain00 posted:I'm off to Rome on Saturday. How do you get there? Looks less connected with metro lines etc than other districts. For how long? That area is pretty far from the centre of Rome and public transport will take a while. It's probably pretty well serviced but Roman buses are really unreliable. If it's just a few days I'd take a taxi to the city in the morning, and a taxi back at night - it's not super expensive. If it's for a couple weeks I'd really consider renting a car with a GPS. But make sure you spend the cash on the full insurance etc, it's bound to get scratched.
|
|
#
?
Oct 30, 2013 15:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 11:53 |
|
|
don't rent a car if you'd only use it to drive into downtown Rome, no matter how long you're staying. that way madness lies
|
|
#
?
Oct 30, 2013 16:57
|
|
|
Staying there for a week and can't drive anyway! 
|
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2013 09:16
|
|
|
Will it be impossible to find something along the following lines: a vacation rental during the 2 weeks of Christmas break for the south of Spain or somewhere warmish in Portugal (ie somewhere I can get to comfortably from the north of Spain by bus, as plane tickets would be insane), ~30 minutes from the beach by bus, more important that it's cozy than that it's interesting/spectacular? If it's not impossible, which of those search engines would be best? What should I expect to pay? Edit: thank you both, especially Saladman! Mortley fucked around with this message at 15:31 on Nov 2, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2013 18:52
|
|
|
Just use any kind of holiday apartment website to take a quick look, I guess there should be a whole lot of free places in winter. Or check out goon favourite airbnb.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2013 19:53
|
|
|
VRBO also has "by area" maps that are pretty much exactly what you want. You don't even need to know the names of any cities (though you should check and confirm before booking). Protip: Email tons of places, because only 50% of them will reply, and 50% of those replies will be "sorry we booked someone but didn't update the calendar." This is triply true for high vacation periods and when you're booking late (which you kind of are). For long stays like yours, apartments are about ten thousand times nicer than hotels, and way cheaper.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2013 22:48
|
|
|
I just got back from my trip to Paris and Rome. Thanks to HookShot and anyone else who gave me suggestions. The trip was predictably awesome. For anyone interested in history and visiting Paris, I'd definitely recommend getting to the Basilica of Saint Denis. It remains practically vacant all day -- a nice contrast with jam-packed Notre Dame. Wandering around a giant, empty basilica is immensely cool. Plus it's arguably the more important historical site -- it's the progenitor of Gothic architecture and the burial site for all but three French monarchs.  As great as Paris is, Rome is just breathtaking. My favorite site from the whole trip was the Pantheon. You turn the corner in the middle of modern Rome and you're standing before a nearly perfectly preserved, two thousand year old Roman temple and architectural marvel. It's unreinforced concrete dome was the largest until... ever. There's an oculus in the center of dome -- part of me wants to fly through it with a jetpack but the other part knows that jetpack tours wouldn't bode well for the continued integrity of Rome's historic sites. 
hand of luke fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Nov 4, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2013 20:39
|
|
|
(US Male 25 Solo) Never been to Europe and will be going in approx six months for a 2 month trip (Months of May and June). I know pretty much anywhere I go would be an awesome experience. That said, I want to be off the beaten path a little bit. I'm thinking of streaking up central(?) Euro in Czech, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. For those who've been to Czech, would it be a waste for me to only go to Prague? What about the language barriers in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania? Will I have much difficulty outside of the main cities only speaking English, or even in them? Does anyone have any must-experience moments from travelling these countries? I apologize if this is still too vague.. Been struggling with a basic travel path for weeks now. It was hard for me to look at Western Europe without spreading myself too thin. I also wanted to push myself to a more unique experience.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 01:55
|
|
|
In Tallinn, be sure to see Kiek in de Kok, both the tower and the tunnels. You'll get to see/read all the history of Estonia you could want, in English. Wandering around the old town was really cool for me as well. I only spent a few hours in Tallinn because my ferry was just stopping by, but I really would have liked to spend another day or two there.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 06:34
|
|
|
hand of luke posted:
I was kinda surprised that access to the pantheon isn't more restricted. You don't need to buy any tickets. People were sitting next to the columns drinking beer. Instead of being a museum or anything, it's just an active cathedral of sorts. Which is great for the current generation of tourists I guess, but I wonder if that won't hasten its ruin. But then, part of what made Pantheon so durable is its conversion from a temple of the (old) gods to a christian shrine.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 06:57
|
|
|
Anarkii posted:I was kinda surprised that access to the pantheon isn't more restricted. You don't need to buy any tickets. People were sitting next to the columns drinking beer. Instead of being a museum or anything, it's just an active cathedral of sorts. Which is great for the current generation of tourists I guess, but I wonder if that won't hasten its ruin. Also, it being made of concrete.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 07:24
|
|
|
GuavaMoment posted:In Tallinn, be sure to see Kiek in de Kok, both the tower and the tunnels. You'll get to see/read all the history of Estonia you could want, in English. Wandering around the old town was really cool for me as well. I only spent a few hours in Tallinn because my ferry was just stopping by, but I really would have liked to spend another day or two there. Also pay to be able to use your camera in there so you get a sticker that basically says "kick in the cock" for like 1E. When you get to the top of it there's also the worst emergency exit sign I've ever seen, it basically leads you to jump out of a sixth floor window onto grass/rocks in case of emergency. But yeah Tallinn is awesome, definitely spend a couple days there. One of my favourite cities in all of Europe. I did all old town in one long day, but it's almost certainly worth 2 or 3 to really explore all of Old Town and the rest of Tallinn.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 07:56
|
|
|
Anarkii posted:I was kinda surprised that access to the pantheon isn't more restricted. You don't need to buy any tickets. People were sitting next to the columns drinking beer. Instead of being a museum or anything, it's just an active cathedral of sorts. Which is great for the current generation of tourists I guess, but I wonder if that won't hasten its ruin. Huh, every time I have eaten gelato or drank near a site, I have gotten yelled at. It's also great to get the head shake/tsk tsk tsk for drinking in public by well-heeled tourists with three shopping bags in each hand. Happened this weekend to us near the Vienna Opera House. The Pantheon came in handy in August when a series of thunderstorms struck. When I entered, I was greeted to a free performance by a local choir.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 08:56
|
|
|
WaryWarren posted:It's also great to get the head shake/tsk tsk tsk for drinking in public by well-heeled tourists with three shopping bags in each hand. Happened this weekend to us near the Vienna Opera House. They must have been very new to Vienna.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 15:04
|
|
|
Logistical question: will I be able to take money out of regular ATMs in Denmark using my Visa debit card from the US? For example, when I lived in Japan, you could take cash out of ATMs using your American debit card, but only at a post office or the top floor of certain department stores. I'm wondering if there are similar restrictions there as well, or if I'll be able to get cash right away when I get over there, or if I should bring a bit to start and then get more later while there once I figure out where.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 15:19
|
|
|
manwithoutskin posted:Will I have much difficulty outside of the main cities only speaking English, or even in them? Despite what I read before going to Europe that indicated otherwise, I had trouble speaking only English in major cities in Austria and Germany. With this anecdotal experience as my framing to answer your question, yes, I would expect you may have trouble outside of major cities, particularly if you are indeed hoping to travel off the beaten path.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 15:36
|
|
|
Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Mar 13, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 18:07
|
|
|
hallo spacedog posted:Logistical question: will I be able to take money out of regular ATMs in Denmark using my Visa debit card from the US? My MasterCard debit card worked fine at basically every shop and ATM in Copenhagen. No chip.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 19:18
|
|
|
hallo spacedog posted:Logistical question: will I be able to take money out of regular ATMs in Denmark using my Visa debit card from the US? Assuming your American debit card does not have a chip in it, you'll find most (but not all) ATMs will accept your card. It's somewhat easier than Japan. This is assuming it has a PIN (which all debit cards do, maybe?). If it doesn't have a PIN you won't be able to withdraw money basically anywhere.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 19:20
|
|
|
bam thwok posted:My MasterCard debit card worked fine at basically every shop and ATM in Copenhagen. No chip. Saladman posted:Assuming your American debit card does not have a chip in it, you'll find most (but not all) ATMs will accept your card. It's somewhat easier than Japan. Thanks guys. Mine does have a pin so that should be fine then. Japanese really only take cash most places (or was the situation when I was there still), esp. Western Japan, so the money situation is much more annoying. I'm glad to know that it's a little easier in Copenhagen.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2013 22:00
|
|
|
Sand Monster posted:Despite what I read before going to Europe that indicated otherwise, I had trouble speaking only English in major cities in Austria and Germany. With this anecdotal experience as my framing to answer your question, yes, I would expect you may have trouble outside of major cities, particularly if you are indeed hoping to travel off the beaten path. As a tourist doing tourist things? Hard to believe, there are so many people around that speak English in Germany. Also, young people in Poland and the baltic countries are pretty good at speaking English (compared to most other places).
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 00:17
|
|
|
I'm personally of the opinion that you should never skip somewhere because of a language barrier. When I was in Japan a few years ago I spoke like four words of Japanese and met almost no one that spoke English. We still figured everything out and had an amazing time, because as humans we're able to communicate pretty well even if we don't speak the same language.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 00:40
|
|
|
Just brush up on your charades/pantomime skills.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 01:52
|
|
|
Sand Monster posted:Despite what I read before going to Europe that indicated otherwise, I had trouble speaking only English in major cities in Austria and Germany. With this anecdotal experience as my framing to answer your question, yes, I would expect you may have trouble outside of major cities, particularly if you are indeed hoping to travel off the beaten path. You would have absolutely no problem with only English in Estonia, and presumably Latvia and Lithuania as well. In Tallinn and other touristy places certainly not, and even if you were stranded in the middle of backwoods nowhere, then anybody younger than 30 would still almost certainly speak some. The smaller the country and its linguistic group, the better the probability they would speak other languages, i.e. English.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 09:39
|
|
|
GregNorc posted:How much is typical train fare between European cities? The best fares start off when you book 90 days (120 for Eurostar) in advance. Eurostar to Brussels starts at £39 at https://www.eurostar.com rising to £253 on the day. Brussels to Amsterdam on high speed trains starts from €27 from https://www.b-europe.com rising to €80 on the day, or €36 on normal trains when buying at the station. Prague to Berlin is €29, book at http://www.cd.cz/eshop. These prices will be a bit lower if you are under 26. https://www.maninseat61.com has more info for European train travel in general. Also here is relevant info for getting from Heathrow to central London: http://www.heathrowairport.com/transport-and-directions/trains and http://www.heathrowairport.com/transport-and-directions/underground You are travelling quite a lot for the length of this trip (is this like a week?) you should probably just visit one or two countries not four. Staying one night in London, for example, seems a bit of a waste. nozz fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Nov 7, 2013 |
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2013 15:58
|
|
|
Hola folks. Another question from me. Going to be spending three nights in Brussels this weekend. Visiting a friend so wont have all that much time for sight-seeing but would perhaps like to see some slick stuff if anyone knows anything worthwhile. Would like to see some WWI/WWII stuff if that's possible. Cheers.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2013 23:49
|
|
|
Looking at doing a month trip in December & January. Current tentative itinerary: Prague Dec23-29 Krakow Dec30-Jan5 Bratislava/Vienna Jan6-9(Would probably just do a day trip to Vienna) Budapest Jan10-16 Istanbul Jan17-22 Traveling solo, doing hostels. Plan on doing my share of clubbing, also wandering around cities and seeing the touristy stuff, museums, etc. Couple of questions 1. Krakow for New Years? Is Budapest better? Or stay in Prague? Or is it worth spending more for Berlin? 2. I know it is winter and there will be less people and lower rates, but are hostels in these places going to be a ghost town after new years? Since I'm solo, I'd obviously prefer otherwise so there are plenty of people to meet. 3. I'm not really set on Bratislava/Vienna. I could also check out Belgrade and/or Sofia, or anywhere else reasonably between Prague and Istanbul. Prague, Istanbul, and Budapest are the only places I'm certain on. Any opinions?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 16:31
|
|
|
The forest/mountain areas of Romania (Transylvania) are really pretty, and there's loads of old castles to see too. If you go to Bulgaria, almost anywhere else in the country is vastly more interesting than Sofia. I'd recommend Veliko Turnovo (definitely see if you can get out to the Buzludzha Monument too). Unless you're desperate to go to a mediocre beach, there's not much reason to go to the eastern sides of either country.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 17:01
|
|
|
Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Mar 13, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 17:09
|
|
|
With the time it takes getting to/from airports and security you might also want to look into a train from Berlin to Brussels, taking about 6 hours and 40 mins with a change in Cologne, prices starting at €39 on ICE-only itineraries if you book 90 days in advance (https://www.bahn.de). This is competitive with easyjet on price too I think. You can also book the same type of ticket for the same price to anywhere in Belgium, such as Bruges, if you wanted to go there instead. There are also ICE + Thalys fares which take a similar amount of time, you would buy these on https://www.b-europe.com instead. I think these start at €44.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2013 19:58
|
|
|
An easy way to feel robbed is to convert your currency into that of your destination. I know Pounds and Euros go a further distance in day-to-day life than my crummy Australian Dollars (perhaps moreso given my financially conservative nature), but it still doesn't look like much on paper. I do plan on using my card where I can, this is just meant to be 'starter money' to cover the costs of things like taxis from the train station. Plus I now have some shiny new notes to look at. I've never had much of an opportunity to look at or hold foreign currency, it generally being in the possession of parents.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 01:30
|
|
|
Octy posted:An easy way to feel robbed is to convert your currency into that of your destination. I know Pounds and Euros go a further distance in day-to-day life than my crummy Australian Dollars (perhaps moreso given my financially conservative nature), but it still doesn't look like much on paper. I do plan on using my card where I can, this is just meant to be 'starter money' to cover the costs of things like taxis from the train station. Plus I now have some shiny new notes to look at. I've never had much of an opportunity to look at or hold foreign currency, it generally being in the possession of parents. My first big adventure was when the euro was at all-time highs against the US dollar, so I can sympathize. Don't sweat it though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 01:54
|
|
|
DNova posted:My first big adventure was when the euro was at all-time highs against the US dollar, so I can sympathize. Don't sweat it though. My mum was telling me that when we went to England together as a family (1998?) the Australian Dollar was 33 cents to the Pound.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 02:02
|
|
|
Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Mar 13, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 03:11
|
|
|
Sleepers can be nice for long distance but they usually cost as much extra as you would spend on a hostel if not more. You will probly find its cheaper to get a plane + hostel in most places and hostel amenities are usually better.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 05:57
|
|
|
Plus getting a sleeper for a six hour trip is a recipe for like the worst night's sleep ever.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 06:03
|
|
|
There are none anyway, you would have to be going to Paris to get a sleeper.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 10:46
|
|
|
Howdy y'all! I'm thinking about doing a trip after I graduate from university. Money's not a big problem to me, but I've decided that I should do a backpacking tour, so I'm gonna hitchhike with friendly haulers from Estonia to Amsterdam, where I shall chill out for n amount of time. After that, I will probably go and take the good ol' Santiago pilgrimage from Barcelona to Santiago. And finally, maybe go to Portugal and see the BOOM festival! So here are my questions to the experienced friends out there: 1. How the hell do people hitchhike without being all dodgy (and in that case, how to avoid dodgy drivers)? 2. Aside of Amsterdam's weed, are there anything cool related to tulips and windmills in the Netherlands during the summer? It's too bad that tulips bloom during the spring, but maybe is there something out I should look out to? 3. What should I look forward to on the Santiago route? 4. How's BOOM festival? How does it compare to Burning Man? And that's a wrap! Thanks, dudes!
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 15:57
|
|
|
Dumb question, probably, but where's a great place to get a beret in Paris (and for how much)?
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 16:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 11:53 |
|
|
Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Mar 13, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2013 17:03
|
|