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greazeball posted:Any other tips for Istanbul? My wife and I are going to spend 8 days there over Easter so if you've got suggestions for a day trip that would be cool too! There is the obvious stuff like Topkapi palace, Galata tower, taking a ship up the Bosporus. If you are a big on history definitely check out the archeological museum next to Topkapi palace, it is absolutely awesome with tons of stuff from all these millenia of Osman, Roman, Greek & other antique history. Maybe visit a football match of one of the big clubs, should be quite the experience. elbkaida fucked around with this message at 11:06 on Jan 6, 2014 |
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Jan 6, 2014 11:04
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Thanks derelict, I appreciate you feedback! 
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Jan 7, 2014 01:51
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This is not exactly the correct thread but: What's the minimum amount of time for a layover (Europe to India via Emirates) at DXB one would need to be able to rush to see Dubai up close?
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Jan 7, 2014 10:09
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I had a 4h layover, got out of the airport, grabbed a taxi downtown (15min or so) and wandered around for an hour or something before going back. That was early morning so there was no traffic (and it was cool outside). I think just having a cabbie drive you up and down the big boulevard is probably enough to get a feel for the place and can be done in an hour probably.
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Jan 7, 2014 11:31
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elbkaida posted:I had a 4h layover, got out of the airport, grabbed a taxi downtown (15min or so) and wandered around for an hour or something before going back. That was early morning so there was no traffic (and it was cool outside). I think just having a cabbie drive you up and down the big boulevard is probably enough to get a feel for the place and can be done in an hour probably. That seems ballsy, but encouraging. How was immigration/customs/security? Ballpark cost on that cab ride?
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Jan 7, 2014 11:38
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DNova posted:That seems ballsy, but encouraging. How was immigration/customs/security? Ballpark cost on that cab ride? When I was there, immigration was a guy on his cell phone who saw a US passport and just waved us through without even touching them, and security was two guys next to an x-ray machine who went out of their way to not acknowledge us in any way and waited for us to walk away. Cabs were, at the time, about the same price in currency units as in the US, but with a very favorable exchange rate making them dirt cheap. Also all the cabs were late model cars, all clean, all good service. I personally took a good number of them and never had a pushy driver or any meter nonsense or anything like that. If you tell them to hurry, they'll go ~100MPH for you, if you tell them you want to see the sights, they'll show you every single tourist sight. We were there for 3 days, and the cab ride to see the stuff was one of the best parts, to be totally honest. e: I was there 5 or 6 years ago, though, so who knows what it's like in 2014.
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Jan 7, 2014 11:50
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Immigration was <10 minutes wait, same for security back in. But you can check that out when you get there and decide if it is too busy. Taxi cost 10-15€ I think (normal taxi, not the special airport taxi) to get downtown. There is also public transport, but I didn't check fares/times.
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Jan 7, 2014 12:12
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Wow, thanks guys. I am shocked at how easy you guys had it there. I hope that if/when I pass through it's the same because I would really love an hour or two to blitz some of the sights.
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Jan 7, 2014 12:15
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duralict posted:I haven't been to Izmir but I hear it's mostly a beach resort. There's no beach at all, it's a large city. Not that much to see so just eat until you pass out.
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Jan 7, 2014 15:39
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I'm landing in London in June with my wife and 16yo triplets for a couple weeks. We've got a place (HomeAway) already which is in a good location (Holborn) and hopefully not a rat-infested dump. A couple questions: 1 We land kind-of early and can't get into the flat until the later afternoon, so we plan on using luggage lockers at Kings Cross for a few hours. Is there anything stupid about that? 2 I've read in various sources that Oyster Cards are a great idea. From where we'll be staying, I know we can walk to at least half the places we want to go (and walking is really fun). Is it really worth it? How do they work? Will each family member need a card, or can one card get multiple people into the transit system? (I've had the experience in Boston of transit workers shaking their heads at each of my kids having a separate MTA card.) We're mostly going to be doing museums and stuff. My wife and I have been to London before but we're going because one triplet knows more about UK history than, well, anybody I know, so we feel like he needs to go. The other two are going to be problematic, though the multitudes of musical instrument shops and record/CD shops in London will probably keep at least one of the others happy.
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Jan 10, 2014 00:41
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emfive posted:I'm landing in London in June with my wife and 16yo triplets for a couple weeks. We've got a place (HomeAway) already which is in a good location (Holborn) and hopefully not a rat-infested dump. A couple questions: Lockers are a fine idea. You'll all need your own oyster cards.
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Jan 10, 2014 00:57
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Omits-Bagels posted:Lockers are a fine idea. OK cool. Thanks for answering. Also I forgot to ask: prepaid SIM cards for mobile phones. I imagine that there are lots of places at LHR to pick those up, and that they're probably a bad idea. Is it better to try to buy pre-paid SIMs from the US before leaving? I've got a heavily Internet-dependent family, and obviously having Google maps available at all times is a huge deal, so we won't want to be paying the ludicrous data charges that our American blood-sucking carriers will charge. Again, thanks for responding.
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Jan 10, 2014 01:00
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For what its worth walking in London is always longer than it looks and the tube/buses are cheap enough and easy to use. Prepaid sims would be an expensive waste of money unless you are staying 2+ weeks (even then why bother they dont need to be glued to their phones the whole time) and Google maps can be cached easily enough. Plus there is free wifi everywhere. Saros fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 02:46
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emfive posted:I'm landing in London in June with my wife and 16yo triplets for a couple weeks. We've got a place (HomeAway) already which is in a good location (Holborn) and hopefully not a rat-infested dump. A couple questions: For storage near Kings Cross this this probably your best bet, since you should only need to pay for one unit if you can fit it all in there rather than paying £9 per bag. With the oyster cards you will need to put on £5 deposit on each one. This is refundable but you will need to present some sort of ID when you ask for the refund (its a measure to stop people cashing in on stolen cards I think). If you find the £5 per card deposit to be too much hassle you can buy daily paper travelcards for unlimited travel instead, though this will be more expensive than oyster fares (which cap at a lower value). However if you are staying for 2 weeks weekly travelcards may actually be the best option, it all depends on how often you will travel (if you average more than 2 journeys a day). If you buy them from the underground they will have to be 'loaded' onto a Oyster card, so to avoid the deposits you would have to purchase them from a normal train station. Also be aware that Oyster/travelcards are not valid on the fast train services out of Heathrow, only the tube (but if you are going to Holborn/Kings Cross the tube will probably be quicker anyway). This is a special exception for Heathrow only, normally you can ride any train (and bus) in London with Oyster/travelcards. Also prices on trains/the tube depends on which zones you want to travel through, there is no flat fare (except on buses). And if you leave London on a day trip don't try and use your Oyster card to do so. Picking up a SIM in the UK is probably the best idea if you want data, but possibly not in Heathrow specifically. There are vending machines in the arrivals area full of sims. What you could do instead is walk into any mobile phone shop and get something in central London. The best deals right now are: 3: All in One plan - £15 for unlimited data (£10 gives you 500MB) EE: Confusingly contains three separate brands - EE, Orange (Dolphin plan) and T-Mobile (Smartpack plan). They are all the same price, £10 for 1GB, £15 for 2GB and £25 for 3GB (except Orange is £20 for 3GB) If you want 4G from here then you need a EE Sim. These same sims may also be sold at Carphone Warehouse or Phones4U So you could compare these with the vending machines to see if they are overcharging you. I wouldn't bother with the other carriers as they don't offer very good value. In the UK this type of service is normally called Pay As You Go. nozz fucked around with this message at 03:15 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 02:59
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You guys are awesome. Thanks. I'm OK with the walking. We do it a lot, and I already figure in a 20% excess on the Google maps walking time estimates. Even at that, from Holborn there's a tremendous amount of stuff pretty close. (Our flat is a little south of King's Cross on Guilford Street, and I think that's a pretty good spot.) Thanks also for the locker thing and the SIM card advice.
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Jan 10, 2014 04:19
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emfive posted:2 I've read in various sources that Oyster Cards are a great idea. From where we'll be staying, I know we can walk to at least half the places we want to go (and walking is really fun). Is it really worth it? How do they work? Will each family member need a card, or can one card get multiple people into the transit system? (I've had the experience in Boston of transit workers shaking their heads at each of my kids having a separate MTA card.) You would each need a card. The oyster card would probably be the best option, even if you write off the 5£ per card as an expense rather than something you can get back if you bother. 7-day travel cards are worth buying if you think you'll make 15 or more trips each during that week. Day travel cards (not tied to an oyster card, the actual paper ones) are a good idea if you know you wont use public transport at all on most days, but will use it at least twice each on every day you do. As for the walking, while I'm personally a big fan of walking in central London, do note that the weather is likely to be very British for at least some of your trip. Waci fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 04:41
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I would 100% get a Oyster card, it is so much more convenient not having to think about what kind of ticket you need to get to what zone etc and it also makes you more likely to travel to some place that sounds kinda interesting but you cannot motivate your kids to do the 45min walk to. Or if you want to let the kids roam around on their own to avoid them getting bored, it is easier if they have their own Oyster card anyway.
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Jan 10, 2014 10:31
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You asked us is it worth getting an Oyster card and everyone is going YES GET AN OYSTER CARD. So yes. Get an Oyster card. Hope that helps.
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Jan 10, 2014 10:44
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To complicate things a bit, with a paper train ticket or travel card you can get 2for1 vouchers for many attractions, which is very much worth it. For example tickets for the tower for two adult are about £40 without discount and £20 with a voucher and a train ticket/travel card with national rail logo from the day you want to visit. That comes with a catch though. Basically your travel card has to have a national rail logo, so travel cards bought at a london underground station are not ok, travel cards bought at a railway station are ok. Oyster cards however do not work. elwood fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 10:59
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Waci posted:
Yes I'm OK with that. We've been spending time in Boston for the past three years in late spring, and the East Coast has its share of not-like-Texas weather. That's part of the appeal. I was in London years and years ago (prob. around 1980) amidst days of torrential rain. At one point I was forced to stop in a shop and buy new shoes and socks because those I'd brought had literally fallen apart in all the mess. I shocked a shop girl by handing her the package (or label; whatever) of a pair of socks and telling her I was wearing them. I don't know why it surprised her because the city was like totally underwater. Oyster cards sound about right. We won't be in public transit many days, but it's nice to have the option. I'm really looking forward to having 15-hour days, even if they're wet (or sweltering I guess). And I understand that for long-haul rail (I might take one kid up to the IWM Duxford for example) that's a totally different deal.
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Jan 10, 2014 15:52
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I'm doing my research and looking into it but I've been thinking about moving to Europe from the U.S. I'm a U.S./Canadian citizen, brown skinned, MBA, years of experience in supply chain/production planning at major corps, single, etc. My priorities are 1. Job opportunities and quality of life, 2. Dating and relationships and 3. Stuff I haven't thought about yet but I'm sure is important. Was thinking Stockholm, Sweden as my top pick, Austria, Switzerland, and somewhere in Eastern Europe. Tell me I'm being a stupid, please. EDIT: And yes, I'd secure a job first, work out the visa and immigration stuff, and probably take a visit to the location to scope it out. Gatts fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Jan 11, 2014 |
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Jan 11, 2014 22:15
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Eastern Europe pays like poo poo compared to US/Canada and Sweden, Austria, Switzerland. Also, obviously, the quality of life is lower. Also, being a brown skinned person isn't ideal.
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Jan 11, 2014 23:04
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Have you been to the countries you are thinking about, so you roughly know the quality of life you can expect? What languages do you speak? I think this might be a deciding factor because it will limit your job opportunities.
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Jan 12, 2014 01:01
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elbkaida posted:Have you been to the countries you are thinking about, so you roughly know the quality of life you can expect? What languages do you speak? I think this might be a deciding factor because it will limit your job opportunities. My Dad's been all over Europe and had experiences there so he can offer insight. I might have some relatives scattered around as well. I've been to France and the U.K. myself, my intention will be to visit first and obviously once I narrow down the country, learn the language, get my ducks in a row, a job, before making a move and such. I know some countries are facing rough economic times, there's some racial tension/fear of foreigners to "brown people" in some countries like Greece and France due to muslim population and questions on integration, and hence I'd like to find out more outside of my research. Gatts fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jan 12, 2014 |
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Jan 12, 2014 01:58
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None of the countries you mentioned have especially tough economies, and as long as you stay out of Greece/Spain/Portugal/Italy and possibly France you should be ok. Of course, in Eastern Europe there's a big difference between the EU members (or more exactly, the urban centers of those EU members) and the truly eastern countries like i.e. Moldova which are in much worse shape. I mention the urban center thing because even in countries like Poland and Hungary there is a big internal divide and wages on one side of the country can be half of what they are on the other side. In the EU you will have the problem of getting offered a job. By the law, a company is only allowed to hire a non-EU citizen if they cannot find a EU citizen that fits the job description. This sounds ridiculously hard (how do you prove you cannot fill a job from a 450m people pool) but in reality the immigration offices aren't as tough as they could be. But still, there's a bit of bureaucracy involved, I recently read that it costs Swiss companies around 10k USD in legal fees etc to finish hiring somebody from outside the EU (but mind that paying a headhunter to fill a position with somebody that lives in the next town over won't much below that price either).
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Jan 12, 2014 03:02
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Gatts posted:My Dad's been all over Europe and had experiences there so he can offer insight. I might have some relatives scattered around as well. I've been to France and the U.K. myself, my intention will be to visit first and obviously once I narrow down the country, learn the language, get my ducks in a row, a job, before making a move and such. It sounds like you want to move to Europe because you think it will be cool for some reason. You don't even have a place in mind that you absolutely love already. The novelty of living in Europe will wear off quickly. Get it out of your system by spending half a year backpacking. If during that time you fall in love with some place, then attempt to stake a claim. You are overestimating the ease of finding a job and emigrating to Europe, especially with a common skill set and no language (how quickly can you learn a language to a level of competence required to be a professional employee). I think you're really going to have to do that through networking with people who have some power in European companies. And don't underestimate the level of racism Europe-wide (not just France). All that said, plenty of people do it, and some of them don't regret it.
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Jan 12, 2014 07:51
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DNova posted:(how quickly can you learn a language to a level of competence required to be a professional employee) To provide one answer to a not necessarily rhetorical question: 2 (for something like Spanish, if you're already bi- or multilingual, and assuming full time exposure) to 5 years (Hungarian or assuming you only speak English and will waste a year or two learning how foreign language learning works). If France or Francophone Switzerland (Geneva is supposed to be lovely!) were a goal, and since you have Canadian citizenship, I'd say move to Quebec and take French classes for a year or two, then move to the Continent and feel like you learned nothing (but eventually figure it all out). Good luck, Gatts; I support the ''why the hell not?'' motive!
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Jan 12, 2014 10:26
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We're planning a honeymoon to France for July. The plan is at least 5 nights in Paris, and maybe 3 more nights in one (or even two) other cities. I've never been out of the country so this is a big experience for me, still need to get my passport. First of all, how far in advance should I book/commit to the flights and hotels. I assume since its July/summer, that's the most touristy season? I'll have to book pretty far in advance right? Looking at flights, July tickets are like $1,700 round-trip, but things in March are $1,000. Is this price difference due to the season, or due to the proximity to the date? Our target budget is $8,000 for this trip for two people for flights/hotel/meals/activities. Would we be able pull that off if we want to spend 5 nights Paris, 3 nights Nice, and 3 nights in another city(thinking Lyon or Bordeaux), or would we have to cut out a few days. Assuming $1,700/plane ticket that would leave ~4,600. Assuming ~$200/night hotel rates, that leaves ~200 spending money a day between the two of us for food/entertainment/transportation. $200 a day seems like a lot, but I imagine we're going to bleed money so fast. Do my estimates check out? Too conservative or too optimistic? Should I cut out some time or a city? What do you recommend for the 3rd city? I was leading towards Lyon because people said its the best food ever, and I'm a Should I apply for any special credit card for this trip? I only own a Visa Amazon and an American Express Blue card. How much in Euros should I carry on me a day? Finally, can I get away with my above plan without ever having to drive a car? I get stressed driving in crowded downtowns here, I can just imagine that getting tripled when I don't understand the language. Edit: Planning to fly out of Los Angeles (LAX) if that makes any difference. Also, any other general tips based on everything I wrote? Edit2: Is 5 nights in Paris enough, should we axe Lyon and do more in Paris? Raimondo fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 14, 2014 21:16
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Raimondi posted:We're planning a honeymoon to France for July. The plan is at least 5 nights in Paris, and maybe 3 more nights in one (or even two) other cities. I've never been out of the country so this is a big experience for me, still need to get my passport. Congratulations! I think you're going have a magnificent time. I would guess that your flight pricing is due to demand more than date. It's unfortunate that those tickets will cost so much. You're paying for much better weather, though. $200/day for food, entertainment, and transportation should be plenty, depending on your tastes/desires. I don't know what kind of people you are but to me, $200/night hotels are a waste. Are you going to France to experience nice hotels, or to experience France? Maybe consider some lower-end hotels in the 60-100 euro/night range. 5 nights in Paris is great. It's enough to see all the basic tourist stuff, plus amble around slowly, just taking it all in. You can spend more time in museums, or eating slow picnic lunches together. I don't think you'll need more time. Cutting one night off might be ok, but I think 5 is good. I've never been to Lyon but I've only heard good things about it. Bordeaux is amazing if you are into wine. There is a tourist center that will book you on tours of wineries and it's all extremely reasonably priced. My friends and I did a bunch of winery/vineyard tours and we were on a really tight budget. You will get lots of free tastes, and bottles are not expensive, even for some very nice examples. Nice is very... nice! If you are into beach towns, it's perfect, except that the sand is actually large rocks. But it really is quite nice there. It will probably be very hot. If you aren't so much into the beach, maybe consider Marseille instead. If you do end up in Nice, consider a half-day trip to Monaco while you're right next door! About money, you can carry a few hundred euros with you, but most places in France will accept credit cards. Most credit cards have a foreign currency exchange fee of around 3%. Call your credit companies to ask what yours is. If you are unhappy with that, every Capital One credit card does NOT charge any foreign currency fees, and their exchange rates are extremely tight to the real rates. Some of them are even cash rewards cards -- mine pays 1.5%. You don't need a car. Forget that idea. Totally unnecessary complication.
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Jan 14, 2014 22:20
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Raimondi posted:First of all, how far in advance should I book/commit to the flights and hotels. I assume since its July/summer, that's the most touristy season? I'll have to book pretty far in advance right? Looking at flights, July tickets are like $1,700 round-trip, but things in March are $1,000. Is this price difference due to the season, or due to the proximity to the date? 1) $1700 sounds about right. Price difference is due to high season vs. low season. You might be able to get it down to ~$1400 in summer if you shop around or try flying to other destinations in between (London -> Paris or Frankfurt -> Paris) but this will add a few hours to your trip and may not be worth $600 since you already have a huge budget and not very much time. 2) You can't possibly spend $400/day on "spending money" for two people unless you want to buy Louis Vuitton stuff on Champs Elysee or go fashion shopping. Even nice restaurants are not going to run you more than $70pp unless you specifically seek out Michelin starred restaurants. Honestly places that charge $100/plate are a ripoff. I've been to quite a few such restaurants and have never been more impressed with them than places that are 'normal expensive' (~$40-$50/entree). 3) You will particularly not want to drive a car. Absolutely do not rent a car for your itinerary. Parking is a hassle and it will be a ten times more expensive and about half the speed of using public transit and way less convenient. 4) Don't do a third city. In fact if you want to really enjoy your honeymoon. In fact I would even recommend not doing a second city. Just do one or two day trips outside Paris, e.g. to Versailles (easy) or the Loire Valley (a bit further but feasible). Nice and Bordeaux are quite far and you'll lose half a day twice getting to there from Paris and back. For Lyon, I like the city, but I'm not a big fan of Lyonnaise cuisine (mostly their 'famous' and terrible sausages, but even their normal food like coq au vin is... unremarkable). YMMV. 4b) Since this is your first time leaving the country, it's your first time with jetlag. 9 hours is a lot. You will lose a day or two on the arrival, so your time is honestly quite short. Further recommending staying in one hotel the whole time. 4c) Don't get a hotel. They blow. Rent an apartment. Cheaper, better, and way more romantic. e.g. vrbo.com 5) Credit card doesn't really matter, but AmEx's are not accepted at many places. Mastercard and Visa are fine. Make sure you have an ATM/debit card so you can get cash out of ATMs.
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Jan 14, 2014 22:31
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Raimondi posted:Our target budget is $8,000 for this trip for two people for flights/hotel/meals/activities. Would we be able pull that off if we want to spend 5 nights Paris, 3 nights Nice, and 3 nights in another city(thinking Lyon or Bordeaux), or would we have to cut out a few days. Assuming $1,700/plane ticket that would leave ~4,600. Assuming ~$200/night hotel rates, that leaves ~200 spending money a day between the two of us for food/entertainment/transportation. Do my estimates check out? Too conservative or too optimistic? Should I cut out some time or a city? quote:What do you recommend for the 3rd city? I was leading towards Lyon because people said its the best food ever, and I'm a quote:Should I apply for any special credit card for this trip? I only own a Visa Amazon and an American Express Blue card. How much in Euros should I carry on me a day? quote:Finally, can I get away with my above plan without ever having to drive a car? I get stressed driving in crowded downtowns here, I can just imagine that getting tripled when I don't understand the language. DNova posted:$200/day for food, entertainment, and transportation should be plenty, depending on your tastes/desires. I don't know what kind of people you are but to me, $200/night hotels are a waste. Are you going to France to experience nice hotels, or to experience France? Maybe consider some lower-end hotels in the 60-100 euro/night range.
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Jan 14, 2014 22:49
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Waci posted:Paris, peak season, honeymoon. 145€ per night for two people doesn't sound outrageous. It's not outrageous and I think I framed my opinion pretty well given the context.
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Jan 14, 2014 22:56
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I would recommend: Spend 5 nights in Paris, then take the train to Avignon (~3 hours) where you could stay two or three nights. Another 3-hour train ride gets you to Nice, from there you fly back to Paris and home. Next best thing would be staying in Paris and doing short trips to Versailles, Reims, Provins, the Loire valley, etc as Saladman suggested. But I would really recommend going south to Cote d'azure and the Provence, these areas are really beautiful and also a nice change of pace from the urban hectic pace of Paris. Don't rent a car and the idea with getting apartments instead of a hotel is also good.
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Jan 14, 2014 23:06
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Gatts posted:I'm doing my research and looking into it but I've been thinking about moving to Europe from the U.S. I'm a U.S./Canadian citizen, brown skinned, MBA, years of experience in supply chain/production planning at major corps, single, etc. My priorities are 1. Job opportunities and quality of life, 2. Dating and relationships and 3. Stuff I haven't thought about yet but I'm sure is important. Was thinking Stockholm, Sweden as my top pick, Austria, Switzerland, and somewhere in Eastern Europe. Tell me I'm being a stupid, please. Yo, I'm an American that just moved to Zurich, Switzerland with my wife about 4 months ago. I can answer some of your specific questions about that country, or you can go to this thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3558728 where you can read my 6 month long series of panic attacks as I tried to plan the move. Also that thread is full of other Swiss Goons/Goons in Switzerland so they can answer questions far better than a newbie like me. My quick take-home comment is that I work and live in a city where almost everyone knows English, all my co-workers know English, and I haven't had an issue getting anything despite my lack of German....That being said, its a huge detriment trying to live here without knowing the language which is why my wife and I are learning it as fast as possible. It's also very lonely right now because it's hard to make friends or jump into conversations when everyone's casual tongue is in a different language. My wife misses her friends and family immensely, so despite the fact that this is a wonderful country and we are being paid very well, it's also very stressful. Be really sure WHY you want to come to Europe before you decide to move your whole life here. Also, the Swiss claim to totally not be racist, and they certainly aren’t maliciously bigoted…but I sometimes think that's they don't consider some of the weird rear end stuff they do to be racist, where as in the US you wouldn't catch the Reddest Republican pulling it. Case in point: 
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Jan 14, 2014 23:42
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Raimondi posted:What do you recommend for the 3rd city? I was leading towards Lyon because people said its the best food ever, and I'm a Enough has been said about money, etc so I'll give a suggestion on a place to see. Personally, after having been to Paris for 6 days I found that it wasn't nearly enough time to see and experience Paris. July will be brutal with the amount of people and you will most definitely not be able to fit everything you think you could into each day due to lines. For instance, on the day you go to Versailles you will be spending upwards of 2 hours in line (low end estimate). Because of this I'd say it would be best to cut out a third city and just focus on Paris and maybe visit one other city. For that I'd recommend Strasbourg. Strasbourg is one of my favourite cities in France. Grande Île is one of the most beautiful places I saw in all of Europe. The architecture is great, with the wood beam houses and a crazy looking cathedral. Also a plus for you is that Alsatian cuisine is really good and varied with a delicious speciality Tarte Flambee.
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Jan 15, 2014 04:20
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Does anyone have any advice about what to do/see in Budapest and where to go afterwards? I am thinking of heading south to Greece for a little bit then east to Turkey. I am a bit disconnected from the news at the moment but there was a some chatter about more protests in Turkey, does anyone know if they are serious enough to consider delaying a Turkey visit or is it not an issue?
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Jan 15, 2014 11:59
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Saros posted:Does anyone have any advice about what to do/see in Budapest and where to go afterwards? I am thinking of heading south to Greece for a little bit then east to Turkey. I am a bit disconnected from the news at the moment but there was a some chatter about more protests in Turkey, does anyone know if they are serious enough to consider delaying a Turkey visit or is it not an issue? Protests are not really an issue in Turkey for tourists. Same for Greece. Just stay away from Taksim Square if it's filled with a bunch of angry chanting people. Strongly recommended to not go to eastern Turkey or the borders with Syria or Iraq but I guess that's pretty obvious.
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Jan 15, 2014 13:43
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In Budapest spend an afternoon at one of the thermal baths, it's a great way to relax after walking around all the other sights, but the baths themselves are also stunning. Széchenyi baths is very near Heroes Square, and easy to get to via the metro/trams. Szimpla Kert in Kazinczy street is an amazing bar in an abandoned courtyard, furnished entirely with found items, and made up of strange art installations. They're open (but quiet) in the afternoon, and have DJs or live music most nights. For something a bit different there are a bunch of strange room escape games in Budapest. They're a real live version of those flash games where you're locked in a room and have to solve puzzles to get out. They work better with a team of 3-5 rather than a couple/alone though. There are at least 20 different ones to choose from, but I went to TRAP, which isn't the easiest to find (it's behind an unmarked door in a side street), but was a fun way to spend an afternoon if you don't want to spend the whole time looking at architecture. There's also the world's swankiest McDonalds to remind you of the evils of globalisation. 
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Jan 15, 2014 14:34
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Looking for advice on a trip to Austria with a stop in Southern Germany in mid October. The longest I can plan for is 11 days but 10 sounds better. We'd probably leave on Wednesday and return on Friday so we'd have the whole weekend to adjust back to CST before going to work on Monday. Of course you basically lose a whole day on each end of the trip just for actual travel. I'm not 100% certain on where we'll by going to in Germany yet but I'm thinking Munich. My main stops are Salzburg and Vienna so wherever we go in Germany would need to be somewhat close by. I plan on returning to Germany in the future so if I don't see something now it's not the end of the world. It may be the last time I go to Southern Germany though. The main benefit of Munich, besides location, is that I can get a direct flight instead of having to go through Frankfurt. That cuts my travel time by 3 hours on one leg of the trip. Anyone have any suggestions for what we should do in Germany? Whether that be Munich or somewhere else? Maybe go to Fussen? It doesn't seem like there's a ton of stuff to do in Munich. My husband loves craft beer. I realize we'll be missing Oktoberfest but we'll also be missing the crowds and higher hotel rates. Suggestions for Salzburg? My main plans were a little bit of hiking, the fortress and general exploring. Suggestions for Vienna? This would be our first stop. I'd be open to a stop between Vienna and Salzburg if it was really worth it. However, I'm not big on going to a new place every other day. I like to have a little bit of time to relax. My sleep schedule will be so screwed up so I will be losing a lot of time just from that. That's what happened when I went to Stockholm but it wasn't a big deal since we were there for a whole week. We're going to use only public transportation and likely only trains for the main stretches between cities. I want to avoid additional flights if possible. Hotel and restaurants suggestions are also welcome.
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Jan 16, 2014 01:35
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I would say 3-4 days Vienna, 2 days Salzburg, 3-4 days Munich is a nice pace to see the cities. Besides obvious stuff like Hofbräuhaus or the palace, Munich has a bunch of really good museums: Deutsches Museum (science and engineering stuff), the BMW museum, some galleries for paintings and sculptures (free on certain sundays IIRC). The Olympiapark (area of the '72 games) is nice as is Englischer Garten to just walk around in. Around the city are plenty destinations for trips, Tegernsee or Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Zugspitze) are pretty, for example. There is also the KZ Dachau memorial. You could also try asking the Germany thread about Restaurants/Hotels.
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Jan 16, 2014 02:21
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