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hbf posted:Cool thanks for the info. Just make sure your room does not go towards one of the major roads, the area is always really busy and will be noisy early in the morning and at night.
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Apr 30, 2015 21:53
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DracoArgentum posted:I'm planning a 17 day trip for August to Croatia, Hungary and Romania. I'm trying to figure out how many days we need in what areas. We are flying into Zagreb and out of Bucharest with definite stops in Budapest and Brasov. I've heard Bucharest is pretty boring so we are just getting in the day before we leave probably, planning a day trip to Plitvice from Zagreb so I know we will need at least 2 days there and I've heard Budapest needs about 3. Most of the castles in Romania seem to be around Brasov so I figured at least a few days there as well. Main interest is food, castles and Plitvice. Would have been nice to go to Split or Dubrovnik but it doesn't seem like it will be easily feasible. Any other stops along that basic route we should look into? Here are some suggestions for Croatian castles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senj - On the coast but closer than Split, and home to the Nehaj fortress. The rest are for northern Croatia, which will suit you if you plan on proceeding to Hungary. http://www.trakoscan.hr/ - Trakoscan castle is very well known http://www.veliki-tabor.hr/en - Veliki Tabor castle is in my opinion more authentic http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Tabor - Mali Tabor is falling apart and looks haunted but maybe that's your thing. You probably can't enter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vara%C5%BEdin - Varazdin is a pleasant medium-sized town with a castle (stari grad) in the center http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisak - Also has a castle close to the city and getting there from the city center by boat is nice
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May 1, 2015 16:01
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Speaking of castles, does Germany have any foritifcation type castles? There's a wikipedia article of "castles in Germany" but because German doesn't seem to have the same variety of words for monarchy estates, most of them seem to be Estates like Ludwig's stuff rather than 20 m walls meant to repel invaders etc etc.
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May 1, 2015 17:05
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FISHMANPET posted:Speaking of castles, does Germany have any foritifcation type castles? There's a wikipedia article of "castles in Germany" but because German doesn't seem to have the same variety of words for monarchy estates, most of them seem to be Estates like Ludwig's stuff rather than 20 m walls meant to repel invaders etc etc. I though Schloss was the word for a fortress, but the image search is turning up poncy little princess castles. Burg is giving more rugged results, have you tried that term?
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May 2, 2015 01:13
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Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forts#Germany or if you want to search for more, the German term would be Festung (or Veste in some cases) for fortress and Burg usually means more or less fortified castle. Avoid things with Palast or Schloß in the name, they are the fancy stuff. Can personally vouch for Festung Königstein to be pretty cool to visit and the view is stunning. Also this http://www.quermania.de/deutschland/burgen-festungen.php?startzeile=1&alle=1000
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May 2, 2015 01:17
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Note to self: always check for local holidays before planning vacations. I had planned to get some shopping done today for things I need, but evidently 2 May is a holiday in Madrid and many things are not open. I checked Spanish holidays, but I didn't think to check for each city individually...
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May 2, 2015 13:21
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I'm planning out a Septemberish holiday at the moment which will include some time in northern Spain, and I noticed that my birthday (September 24) coincides with the La Mercè festival in Barcelona (runs 19-24 this year, I think). Good time/place for a visit yea or neh? If yea: 1. How much of an impact will the festival have on my ability to do any standard touristy poo poo (ie crowds, stuff being closed etc). I can always stay on over the weekend after the festival ends, if that would compensate. 2. Is there much of a price spike around the festival? Pretty much everything in Spain seems pretty cheap compared to what I'm used to, but idk if there's any completely outrageous price gouging. 3. Is there anywhere in particular I should stay (in terms of being nearish to major events but still able to sleep without some dude dude dressed as Satan pelting my window with bottle rockets)?
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May 2, 2015 20:54
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Who's been to the Greek islands? Any recommendations? My girlfriend and I want to do some travelling there in summer (it'll be late August/early September) but there are soooo many I don't even know where to begin looking. I realise it will be the high season and also that the beaches won't compare to back home in Australia, but still keen. Not really into the raging early 20s In Betweeners Movie party scene. I was thinking maybe the Dodecanese? Which looks like it has a good mix of quiet islands and livelier places like Rhodes.
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May 3, 2015 19:04
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freebooter posted:the beaches won't compare to back home in Australia You mean they won't be deadly?
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May 3, 2015 20:26
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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May 4, 2015 00:30
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I haven't taken night trains in Germany, but in my experience it depends on how much you pay... I got a Lisbon-Madrid night train with sleeping compartments and had a great night's sleep. It was like staying in a hostel I guess, but more relaxing. In Slovakia/Hungary my night train experience was indeed interrupted by a stern passport check (or ticket check, I don't remember) reminiscent of a cold war movie, and by a drunk guy hanging out in our cabin (we didn't have a whole one to ourselves). However the seats folded down to a flat surface and if everyone worked together people could sleep. To my disappointment this was not the case in a cheap part of a Norwegian night train, where I had a bad night sitting in a normal train seat, which are apparently difficult to sleep in. There will not necessarily be a passport check, it doesn't happen to me very often when crossing borders in western Europe at least, but it can happen, also on night buses/trains. On night trains, a ticket check is more likely, sometimes several. At least you can go right back to sleep. Entropist fucked around with this message at 00:38 on May 4, 2015 |
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May 4, 2015 00:36
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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May 4, 2015 05:54
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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May 4, 2015 05:55
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As much as it pains me to say and without knowing what you want to see, probably Hamburg.
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May 4, 2015 08:01
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Long ago I took the Berlin-Mannheim night train with a friend and we stayed up til 4am in the dining carriage and drank the expensive beer. I recommend it under specific circumstances.
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May 4, 2015 09:30
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Has there ever been a night train that hasn't cost more than a flight? Every year or so I spend a few hours looking up options because I've never done it before and every year I walk away shaking my head with just a flight booked like a normal person. It's cheaper and faster and less hassle, is it really just something you do for the experience? Sleeper trains are always presented as like the cheapo backpacker solution but I've never found that to be the case, at least in Western Europe.
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May 4, 2015 09:40
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GregNorc posted:Also, on an unrelated note if you had to pick between Cologne and Hamburg, which would you visit? Depends on how long you want to stay. Short term Hamburg because, lets face it after you've seen the Cathedral there is not that much to do in Cologne. Longer probably Cologne, but just because you are in day trip range to Belgium and the Netherlands.
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May 4, 2015 09:41
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GregNorc posted:Also, on an unrelated note if you had to pick between Cologne and Hamburg, which would you visit? Unless there's something specific you personally have to see/do in Cologne (in which case you wouldn't be asking), definitely Hamburg.
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May 4, 2015 09:57
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:Has there ever been a night train that hasn't cost more than a flight? Every year or so I spend a few hours looking up options because I've never done it before and every year I walk away shaking my head with just a flight booked like a normal person. It's cheaper and faster and less hassle, is it really just something you do for the experience? Sleeper trains are always presented as like the cheapo backpacker solution but I've never found that to be the case, at least in Western Europe. Trains in general don't seem to be that much cheaper, they're just often more convenient over short distances because it's less of a hassle than getting to and from the airport and dealing with all that airport bullshit.
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May 4, 2015 10:10
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Definitely and I still take regional/fast trains in Italy but I think the distance where it's more convenience for the price is far less than a sleeper train, as far as I've seen. I find that anywhere over 4 hours on the train is better served by a plane.
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May 4, 2015 10:30
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:Definitely and I still take regional/fast trains in Italy but I think the distance where it's more convenience for the price is far less than a sleeper train, as far as I've seen. I find that anywhere over 4 hours on the train is better served by a plane. Absolutely, in my experience. I've actually known people who've done long-distance (like, across the whole country) train travel in Canada, just as a Thing to Do. I think I'd rather be whacked in the testicles than do that, but some people are wired differently. EDIT: It's like that Ron White bit where he's talking about Santorini, and he comes across the guy who says "You can take the donkey to the top, or you can take the tram. It's the same price." "Whoa, buddy, that should be your biggest secret. You should be saying something like, 'The donkey is 3.50 and the tram costs about 2800 euros.'" PT6A fucked around with this message at 10:40 on May 4, 2015 |
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May 4, 2015 10:37
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Trains are also much more flexible. Even if flying is cheaper when booking a month in advance, it sure as hell wont be cheaper if you try to get tickets for the next day. Flying is often the better solution, but exceptions definitely exist. There are also some situations where a long distance train is cheaper than flying, but they tend to be niche cases that don't have enough passengers for there to be regular budget flights. For example, if I wanted to get to Ulaanbaatar, a train would cost around 500€ for non-3rd class, while flights would be >750€.
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May 4, 2015 11:00
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Sleeper trains are good for anything east of Hungary in general. I took an overnight train from Kiev to Odessa two years ago. It wasn't as comfortable or as silent as Western European or even Southeast Asian trains, but with ear plugs it was a lot better than being in a lovely bus all day and night.
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May 4, 2015 11:11
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Waci posted:Trains are also much more flexible. Even if flying is cheaper when booking a month in advance, it sure as hell wont be cheaper if you try to get tickets for the next day. Flying is often the better solution, but exceptions definitely exist. And how long would the long-distance train take? Time is not free, which is (ironically) why high speed trains are often more expensive over short distances than airplanes, but still worthwhile.
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May 4, 2015 11:20
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Over night trains can often be much cheaper than flying when you factor in that you save a nights hotel accommodation. I just took the night train to Copenhagen from Basel and the price was very similar to the cost of a flight, however I didn't have to pay for a hotel so it worked out a lot cheaper.
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May 4, 2015 11:28
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PlantHead posted:Over night trains can often be much cheaper than flying when you factor in that you save a nights hotel accommodation. Good point, I guess I forgot about that.
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May 4, 2015 11:32
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Yeah, the important thing is that you save a night in a hotel. I would recommend trains for anything shorter than 6 hours or so. If you take the plane it usually longer than that - travel to the airport, be there early, fly, then get into the city from the airport... And there are luggage restrictions. In many cases when the distance is shorter than 6 hours by train, it's too close to each other for there to be budget flights. Going from some random city in the Netherlands to a random city in Germany, the train tends to be the best option. It stops right in the center of the city, it's more flexible, you have a nicer view, you can work / watch movies on your laptop for which there are outlets, and when you have to change trains you can get some local food and look around a bit. I took a 14 hour daytime train trip from the Netherlands to Austria once because it was cheaper when I booked it, and didn't regret it!
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May 4, 2015 11:54
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PT6A posted:And how long would the long-distance train take? Time is not free, which is (ironically) why high speed trains are often more expensive over short distances than airplanes, but still worthwhile. Oh, ages, and I absolutely agree that planes are generally better than trains for long distances. Just wanted to point out that there are exceptions to the rule.
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May 4, 2015 12:11
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PlantHead posted:Over night trains can often be much cheaper than flying when you factor in that you save a nights hotel accommodation. I guess it depends on your personal circumstances. For most people they're already losing money by going on holiday so unless you love trains or the act of travelling you'd probably rather arrive there earlier and be able to start your holiday even if it costs a little bit extra (and as discussed, it often doesn't). That's why I tend to fly places rather than take the car - if I only have a week to do something I don't want to lose two days either side getting there. Road trips can be great but they kind of have to be their own thing, where you want to stop at a lot of places along the way and spend a bunch of time listening to audiobooks or talking to someone in the car. If I just want to get to Croatia or France or Germany I'm better off flying rather than taking the car because I lose a few days (even if I save money on accommodation by taking the tent) in transit. The same thing exists (but to a lesser extent) with long train trips.
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May 4, 2015 12:40
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Is it weird that I'm really enjoying watching Spanish dubs of American sitcoms and animations to improve my Spanish listening skills? Because I am, to a strange degree. I feel like I should be doing something more enriching with my time but, gently caress it, I'm here for a whole month.
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May 4, 2015 14:16
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I've taken the Empire Builder in the US from Minneapolis to Portland (basically the American equivalent of a Canadian transcontinental but through much more boring terrain). It's 46 hours (2 over nights) and flying is about 4 hours. I would absolutely not recommend it with transportation as your primary goal. The journey is part of the experience. But in Europe, if you're in City A and want to be in City B in the morning, a sleep car seems like a pretty quick option. While you sleep is the perfect time to travel, because you won't be doing anything else during that time.
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May 4, 2015 16:18
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FISHMANPET posted:I've taken the Empire Builder in the US from Minneapolis to Portland (basically the American equivalent of a Canadian transcontinental but through much more boring terrain). It's 46 hours (2 over nights) and flying is about 4 hours. I would absolutely not recommend it with transportation as your primary goal. The journey is part of the experience. Except I like to sleep in a bed, instead of on a train or plane. If the quality of sleep on a train is decent in comparison to wherever else you'd be sleeping, you'd either be on an exceptionally comfortable train, or staying in an incredibly lovely hotel.
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May 4, 2015 16:27
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v vIf you book right you're sleeping in a bed, not a reclining seat. There are people that say the best sleep they get is on a train, because of the rocking and all. I slept well on the train, for what it's worth. If you're travelling by yourself I'm not sure how expensive it gets to get a bed slash room to yourself, but with multiple people it looks pretty easy
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May 4, 2015 16:31
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Deutsche Bahn / Trains in Germany 5.5.-10.5. (This might be important for a few people in the thread from what I could see from skimming the last few pages) The train drivers union will go on strike from Thursday 5.5.2015 02:00 to Sunday 10.5.2015 09:00 all local time MEST, all 24h hour format. What this means is that a minimum of 2/3 of all trains won't be operated and the normal schedule will go up in flames. You will either find an empty platform (and no incentive to wait for your train because it won't arrive anytime soon, if at all) or one completely full of enraged people willing to hurt you, with a rather unplesant process of boarding the train once it will actually arrive. (Political background from what I know is that the DB wants to get rid of the smaller train drivers union (GDL) via a law that will most likely be passed in the summer (which goes along the lines of "union contract with the largest union is binding for the whole company" so all the smaller specialist unions can get hosed) and plays for time, the train drivers union is therefore in full escalation mode.) TL;DR: If you plan to use the train in Germany in the coming week, plan otherwise or at least have a plan b.
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May 4, 2015 17:49
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That's May 5th to May 10th in case anyone is confused.
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May 4, 2015 17:52
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I'm in Berlin from the 7th to the 12th, is this including the S-bahn? Or are these regional trains?
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May 4, 2015 17:59
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:I'm in Berlin from the 7th to the 12th, is this including the S-bahn? Or are these regional trains? Quoting from http://www.s-bahn-berlin.de/en : quote:There will be a national rail strike in Germany from tuesday (5. May) 2am until sunday (10. May) 9am. Underground, tram and bus services in Berlin will run as normal. The Berlin S-Bahn has prepared an emergency timetable for the whole of the strike period; around 30% of S-Bahn trains will run and these will be particularly concentrated on lines, where there is no other viable public transport alternative. A basic 20-minute frequency will operate as far as possible. From personal experience I'd consider this a rather "optimistic" view of things but YMMV.
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May 4, 2015 19:02
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:Has there ever been a night train that hasn't cost more than a flight? Every year or so I spend a few hours looking up options because I've never done it before and every year I walk away shaking my head with just a flight booked like a normal person. It's cheaper and faster and less hassle, is it really just something you do for the experience? Sleeper trains are always presented as like the cheapo backpacker solution but I've never found that to be the case, at least in Western Europe. For some routes, yes. I took the train from Zurich to Vienna a few times (now there's EasyJet, hurray!) which was about 1/3rd the cost of a plane ticket for the same route if you bought it in advance. It is like 10 hours and pretty terrible though, since you were guaranteed to get harassed by a border guard to get your passport checked--what's up with Switzerland and being in "Schengen" anyway if they check your goddamn passport at 6am every time? E: But yeah if it's for like a 1-2 week vacation it'd almost certainly be worth it to save the time and pay the extra money to take the flight. But if you're doing a 3 month summer trip around Europe, it's probably usually worth it to take the cheaper sleeper trains. Saladman fucked around with this message at 20:02 on May 4, 2015 |
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May 4, 2015 19:58
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dogboy posted:Quoting from http://www.s-bahn-berlin.de/en : I'm leaving Rome to go to Berlin the only loving week of the year they're striking. So mad right now Will have to speak to my mates there and figure out a bus to get me to the U-bahn. Thank you for letting me know! Would have been hosed six ways to sunday if not for you
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May 4, 2015 21:11
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Sulla-Marius 88 posted:I'm leaving Rome to go to Berlin the only loving week of the year they're striking. So mad right now If it makes you feel better train drivers have been striking on and off in Germany for a while now IIRC. edit: also the buses in Berlin are pretty nice, way nicer than the ones in Rome.
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May 4, 2015 22:46
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