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Sounds like we're getting a new card, thanks.
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Jun 15, 2015 19:39
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Kaddish posted:We were totally fine in Ireland with our American credit cards but I assume the continent, Italy specifically, has adopted the chip more. We gonna be ok? Kiosks most likely won't accept chipless cards, Rome metro may be an exception, and may not accept a chipped card if it doesn't have pin. Easy work around it to just carry some cash and use it if required. I only have a chipped ATM card so I can't comment on that, but I'd think worst case you could go to the teller to withdrawal cash. You should have no issue with restaurants or shops, though you may have to assist the vendor. Are you an aggressive driver? You need to be in Italy or you'll end up getting run over by everyone. Other than that just watch out for ZTLs and on the highway there are multiple camera systems tracking average and instantaneous speed. Trains are also a lot more convient and will normally be faster, I think I'd only take a car if you want to go to places that aren't easily accessible by train.
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Jun 15, 2015 20:14
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BogginHarry posted:How feasible does the following general route through south-east Europe look? I will probably be starting in early August and I think I'll want to be getting into Istanbul by the end of September at the latest. I'll be travelling solo, mainly staying in hostels and will be booking things as I go, so it's quite flexible: Definitely do a day trip from Ljubljana to Postojnska Jama, a huge cave system. Split's old town is one of my favourites in terms of where it was built (inside Roman emperor Diocletian's palace walls). If you hike up the hill next to it, you get some great views of the bay and the Adriatic. There's also a slightly dilapidated zoo. On Ul. kralja Tomislava you'll find Froggyland, one of the most bizarre exhibits I've seen - a dude basically spent his life assembling various dioramas of taxidermied frogs and they are on display. In Sarajevo I'd recommend Svrzo's House, the house of a wealthy merchant from the 18th century, built in the Ottoman style. The History Museum is interesting (and depressing) with its large exhibit about the siege of Sarajevo in the 90's. The 1878-1918 Museum (next to the Latin Bridge and the spot where archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed) is tiny, just one room full of stuff from that era - it has Gavrilo Princip's gun though, if that's something you'd like to see. Also go to Morića han and have a Bosnian coffee there. The Tesla Museum in Belgrade is worth checking out and if you go, make sure you join a tour group (the museum isn't large, plus there are some cool demonstrations like wireless electricity etc.). The Temple of Saint Sava is impressive, although the inside is totally unfinished. Tito's mausoleum is a good place to pick up souvenirs and postcards of Tito doing things, but it's a bit remote - I have no idea if the museums next to it are any good. The Kalemegdan zoo is pretty decent. In Novi Sad you can visit the Petrovaradin fortress, it has a great view of the city. There is a beach to the south of the city center where you can swim in the Danube (the current is so strong that there are markers telling you not to go out further than like 10 meters maybe). From Novi Sad you can take a bus or train to Sremski Karlovci, a small, very quaint town nearby. We went to the Zivanovic Bee Museum there, and the owner gave us a private tour of the small museum and let us check out the 300-year-old wine cellar. Afterwards we bought some Bermet, a local dessert wine which is delicious. I'd recommend doing the wall walk in Dubrovnik (starts near the main gate, goes along the city walls), you get some great views of the old town and the sea. If you buy the Dubrovnik card or whatever it was, it'll pay for itself with the wall walk and one or two museums (the Rector's Palace is cool at least; the Maritime Museum is alright, but nothing spectacular). Venture out into the side streets, it's a lot quieter. The main street was rather unbecoming at night in my opinion, as there was party music blaring from bars and restaurants, but it was pretty lively, so... eh. Sofia's archaeological museum is definitely worth seeing, there's tons of stuff from Greeks to Romans to Thracians. Plovdiv is really cool, one of the most positive surprises of our trip. The place is steeped in ancient Roman history - definitely check out the large amphitheatre, the odeon and forum, and the excavated bit of the hippodrome (under the main walking street) which you can walk into. The old town is lovely and quiet, and not at all touristy. If you want to try some Bulgarian cuisine, go to Diana on Knyaz Al. Dondukov-Korsakov street - a good opportunity to try some unusual things like chicken hearts. Istanbul is insane. Some not-as-touristy things include the Theodosian walls (large sections of which still stand today) and the military museum (where you can see the chain which the Ottomans used to block passage to the Golden Horn during the siege of Constantinople, as well as listen to live mehter military music). Try some hookah as well.
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Jun 16, 2015 00:07
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Kaddish posted:We were totally fine in Ireland with our American credit cards but I assume the continent, Italy specifically, has adopted the chip more. We gonna be ok? I was in Ireland with an Italian girl last year, and her Italian bank card didn't fit in the Irish ATM. I mean, physically did not fit in the slot; it was too thick.
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Jun 16, 2015 00:26
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That reminds me, the airport shuttle in Sweden, took my american debit/credit card, but we both stared at the machine as it was asking for a (loosely translated as) "security number", after a couple seconds I had him punch in my CVV code and that worked, the friendly swedish driver was relieved and in his best english exclaimed, "Today is a good day!" TL;DR report your card as "damaged" with your bank and request one with a "chip". That way you get a replacement with the same number/expiration date so you don't have to update Amazon/Ebay/Paypal/ad nauseum.
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Jun 16, 2015 01:31
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Paper Clip Death posted:Some random tips from my interrail in 2012: This is great, thanks very much! How did you find travelling around that region? I've read that the train options aren't great and you're usually better getting the bus. Though I'll be sure to get the train from Sarajevo to Mostar for the views.
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Jun 16, 2015 01:59
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Curl_like_smoke posted:Thanks for the info! We were planning on hitting up Oktoberfest for a day and then doing the usual Munich stuff, so I definitely need to look into hotel rooms soon. I'd love to hear any specific recommendations you have for Vienna. Vienna largely revolved around food. In no particular order I will vouch for the following: Restaurant Inge & Gary - heard a rumor that it's closed, but also that it's simply moved. Find it and be happy with these people. Traditional food, for cheap. The schnitzel is fantastic, as is the service and ambiance. A good place to have a great (cheap) meal. Lunch or dinner. Phoenixhof - shamelessly stolen from the forums here, if Inge and Gary is indeed closed go here. Or even if it isn't go here too. Lunch or dinner. Bitzinger Wurstl Stand - Right on the opera's main plaza area, it's worth the extra pennies. Quality food, a bit pricey. Stop by for a beer and a currywurst or kasekrainer when there isn't a line, and if you like spice be sure to get the little red spicy peppers. Heuriger Kierlinger - A super rad little heuriger, serving young, unfiltered wine. Simple and no frills as well, but friendly enough and a great place to enjoy a couple glasses of their own wine and some sunshine in the big garden out back. Reachable by public transit, but a bit of a hike. Worth it, as you'll see some neighborhoods and scenery you won't see in central Vienna. A description from a goon: "There's a particular kind of Viennese establishment called heuriger. They are little wine taverns owned by wineries to sell their own stuff, plus an assortment of rustic foods." Naschmarkt - Open air market, all kinds of good stuff. Walk it, go see some pretty cool stuff. Pick a little restaurant there for a snack and a drink. A couple of good coffee places exist around here if you're into that kind of thing. Lord knows I am, but I can't remember any specifically. Someone suggested Gegenbauer and Alt Wein once. Not sure if I had either, but I trust coffee in Vienna. It's just good. Which leads me to... Pastry in Vienna - I hope someone else can get specific, but I had all kinds of awesome baked goods there. I mean, seriously good stuff, made with fresh fruit and very quality chocolate. Some of the best I had (haters gonna hate) was from Julius Meinl am Graben. Posh and incredible foodstore. It's just drat pretty inside, and the stuff they make there (or whoever they're contracting to...) is really, really good. Made a lunch out of their cheeses, meats, and apple/plum tarts. Totally worth a visit. On that note: Avoid Cafe Sacher. Head over to KuK Hofzuckerbacker L. Heiner if you want that silly sort of classy joint for cake and coffee if that's your vision of Vienna. Fancy pastry, elevated price, but not absurdly packed nor absurdly high priced. Bars: Not to say I'm not a sucker, as I had a silly good time at Dino's American Bar. Cocktail bar where some of the dudes really seemed to know what they were doing with cocktails, and I had a very, very good time. Good service, good location. The Haus des Meeres was as cool for its location as its exhibits. Located in an old anti aircraft building. Good way to while away a rainy afternoon.
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Jun 16, 2015 03:18
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BogginHarry posted:How did you find travelling around that region? I've read that the train options aren't great and you're usually better getting the bus. BogginHarry posted:Though I'll be sure to get the train from Sarajevo to Mostar for the views. Some general tips: - Try to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. It will be useful in Bulgaria for reading street names etc. and is very easy to learn. Serbia uses both, so you can learn as you go as well. - Serbia, Bosnia and Bulgaria don't get a lot of tourists, so consequently we found very little stuff catering to them. Souvenir shops are rare, if they exist at all (Sarajevo's old town does sell Bosnian coffee cups and pots). We didn't encounter any particularly "scammy" stuff. Pretty much everything is cheap as hell. - This is not the case in the sprawling metropolis that is Istanbul. People will try to sell you fake tickets to Hagia Sofia, and the Grand Bazaar is essentially one big souvenir stand (really cool to wander through!). The vast amount of tourists brings with it the unpleasant side effects as well. All of this probably goes without saying, but it's a little bit shocking to arrive there after a month of the relatively "honest" Balkans, if you know what I mean. That said, Istanbul is an incredible city with tons of interesting history and one of the most amazing places I've been to.
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Jun 16, 2015 10:48
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I would say avoid spending any money in Julius Meinl unless you really just want to get rid of a bunch of euros very quickly or you aren't worried about your budget. It's the same stuff you can find anywhere in Vienna but at an obscene markup.
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Jun 16, 2015 13:17
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Animal posted:Hello friends, I have 15 days off starting monday. I am an airline pilot based in Atlanta and will be flying on standby. I will go from Atlanta to Brussels and take it from there. I have friends in Belgium so its no big deal if I get stuck there. Ljubljana is awesome (see below). So far as going back to Belgium, it really depends on how your eagerness to be with friends on your b-day balances against the hassle of going back to the same place you just left. If you're fine celebrating on your own on the road (maybe having an early b-day celebration in Belgium when you first pass through?) then I'd stay down in by Slovenia rather than bounce back to the other side of the continent. Note too that Venice is a pretty short haul from Ljubljana, if you've never been there before. BogginHarry posted:How feasible does the following general route through south-east Europe look? ... I'd shave a day off Zagreb, but Ljubljana is pretty awesome plus there are cool day-trips to take from there. Ljubljana also has several great museums, lovely areas to rent and ride a bike in, great pedestrian-only city center, etc. Also a ton of indie live music; there's an autonomous collective neighborhood called Metelkova that's packed with little semi-legal music and art clubs, and on weekend nights there's over a thousand people milling around that square block and it's big interior courtyard. Saw some great acts play there. Not to keep beating home the point, but I've been to a good number of cities and I was really impressed with Ljubljana. It's not big and bustling, but it's a chill place that's almost unbearably pretty. It's like a smaller and cheaper Vienna. Here's a building in that Metelkova neighborhood. The whole neighborhood is this strange/fun.  Update on me: I've decided to crash in Porto (second-biggest city in Portugal at 250k people) until I figure out the job situation; really hoping to hear back about the Liberia bid this week to finally resolve that, and if that falls through I'll be job-hunting with a vengeance online. I found an Air BnB for US$174/wk for a private room, living with a musician, so excited about that so I can find all the underground/indie stuff in town, since Portugal is apparently not into flyering for events, and I'm having trouble digging up the indie events on Google. If it looks like I'll be stuck here for July, I think I'll move out to a smaller town nearby (but still mass-transitable back into the city) for cheaper rent, closer to the ocean, and also less distraction from the job hunt and other healthy habits like working out, cooking for myself, getting good sleep, etc. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Jun 16, 2015 |
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Jun 16, 2015 15:34
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Thanks for the advice. I'm already here in Slovenia, in a small village near Begunje. Its very small and beautiful, exactly what I needed. I'll stay here for two days exploring Bled and the adjacent lakes, then I will spend another two or three days in Ljubljan, and depending on the weather I will decide where I will go next, either Vienna or Venice. I'll probably rent a car, but I am a pathetic goon who can't drive shift so renting an automatic will be twice as expensive so I'll leave it for when public transportation becomes too inconvenient to go somewhere I want to see. As far as flying back to Belgium, of anywhere else, I'm an airline pilot so I fly for cheap. That being said, why leave this area if there is a lot to see and the weather cooperates. If anyone is down here let me know and we can meet up!
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Jun 16, 2015 15:42
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Thanks for the info about cards. I'm considering airbnb at least for Rome. Anyone have experience using it? We don't need/want all the amenities you get with a hotel. Seems perfect considering the price.
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Jun 16, 2015 20:30
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Kaddish posted:Thanks for the info about cards. I'm considering airbnb at least for Rome. Anyone have experience using it? We don't need/want all the amenities you get with a hotel. Seems perfect considering the price. AirBNB (and similar websites) is pretty much always superior to hotels if you're staying somewhere for 3+ days.
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Jun 16, 2015 22:04
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I'm planning a short hiking vacation in a month to kind of try and experience the parts of Switzerland I haven't been to yet before I have to move away in September. This mostly leaves the east/southeastish area. I was planning to mostly stay in the Engadin area, starting in St. Moritz and then spending 3-4 days hiking around Sils-Maria. I'm debating whether to add a couple days to see the Swiss National Park, or if that is just too much hiking, or if I should do the park instead of Sils - or stay the whole time in St. Moritz instead. Any suggestions would be great because I'm all over the place right now. e: Also is it worth taking a day/half-day to go down in to Chiavenna? I haven't been to Italy yet and my hotel in Sils would include free transport down there, but I'm not sure if there's really a whole lot to do there. Since we're talking about Airbnb too the past couple of posts, I did check them out for this trip because especially in St. Moritz hotels are not cheap at all. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything that really worked for me - either they were several km from where I wanted to be or they were almost as expensive as the hotels, and I'd rather pay the extra 50 or whatever a night to avoid the more hostel-like experience a lot of them seem to offer (nothing against hostels/shared apartments, I just find it hard to relax in that kind of atmosphere). yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 07:32
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Chiavenna's pretty, but not any more pretty than St Moritz, so there's really no point to go there unless you're going to go farther and make it to Lake Como (e.g. Bellagio/Varenna). I've done a couple multi-day camping/hiking trips up to that area, and I found that the Engadin valley up towards Scuol is much more interesting/unique than St. Moritz. St. Moritz is a cut-and-paste copy of every other rich ski town for foreigners, from Gstaad to Whistler. There's hiking around Scuol (e.g. the Macun Lakes hike was amazing, though you need to be in pretty decent shape to do it). Nearby, Tarasp and Guarda are both lovely little towns and you could easily spend a day just around there. E: And AirBNB usually is not so good for remote areas / rural areas, at least not if you have a specific destination in mind. It's great for large cities though. Saladman fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 09:04
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Saladman posted:Chiavenna's pretty, but not any more pretty than St Moritz, so there's really no point to go there unless you're going to go farther and make it to Lake Como (e.g. Bellagio/Varenna). Thanks for the suggestions- now I'm considering cancelling my reservation in Sils in favor of Tarasp - there's a really nice hotel there for a great (for switzerland) price e: well great is kind of an exaggeration I guess since it's still ~180 CHF/night, but for what you get I think it sounds like a good deal. I'm guessing there's probably plenty to keep me busy there and in the surrounding area by bus/tram for a few days based on what I've been able to find so far. Would you agree, or would you hop around from village to village rather than spending the whole trip in one hotel? In terms of hiking I'm mostly looking for moderate difficulty trails that take up a good chunk of the day but don't destroy me - that Macun lakes one looks great but maybe a little too challenging. Researching these kinds of trips is a lot of fun - I didn't want to get any work done today anyway. yeah I eat ass fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 10:13
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Just chiming in to say that AirBNB is awesome and I've used it in many countries. Here in Slovenia I decided to try Couchsurfing.com for the more social experience and it has been a success, I've made new friends thanks to it. Posting this from the shore of lake Bled  2015_0617_04024300
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Jun 17, 2015 11:14
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Murphy Brownback posted:Thanks for the suggestions- now I'm considering cancelling my reservation in Sils in favor of Tarasp - there's a really nice hotel there for a great (for switzerland) price e: well great is kind of an exaggeration I guess since it's still ~180 CHF/night, but for what you get I think it sounds like a good deal. I'm guessing there's probably plenty to keep me busy there and in the surrounding area by bus/tram for a few days based on what I've been able to find so far. Would you agree, or would you hop around from village to village rather than spending the whole trip in one hotel? In terms of hiking I'm mostly looking for moderate difficulty trails that take up a good chunk of the day but don't destroy me - that Macun lakes one looks great but maybe a little too challenging. Yeah I'd stay in one place the whole time. I camped in Scuol one time and stayed in a hostel (40CHF/night/pp?) the other time and it was very doable. I went with a car both times but didn't really need it, the Rhätische Bahn runs pretty frequently and goes almost everywhere, although often the stop in "your city" is like 300m vertical below the actual town (especially I'm looking at you here, Tarasp; there's a bus though not sure how often it runs). Tarasp has a neat little castle you can visit, and Guarda and, to a lesser extent, Lavin, have really nice Romansch architecture, really it's surprisingly different from the Swiss Alemannic style. Everything else is pretty much for outdoors attractions. There are nice and less grueling hikes around there than Macun Lakes, like you could go up to Samnaun or do one of the lower trails in the SNP. There were marmots absolutely everywhere above about 1600m when I was there last year, they're super cute. E: here are a couple photos I took there last summer. They're not Pulitzer prize winners but may interest you anyway. The left is from the peak overlooking Macun Lakes (the photo is facing almost due northeast and you can see Flüela Pass towards Davos clearly). The other is I think from Lavin, now I can't quite remember, but the colors aren't Photoshopped. Not sure wtf is going on with their fountains, and I'm not sure what happens if you drink from the one on the left.  
Saladman fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Jun 17, 2015 |
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Jun 17, 2015 13:45
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Currently tossing up what to mail home from England and what to keep in my backpack for my Europe summer trip. From late July to early September I'm going to be in, in order: Scotland, Spain, Croatia, Rome, the Greek islands and Istanbul. Do I need a jacket?
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Jun 18, 2015 01:31
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For Mediterranean in the summer - no, generally speaking.
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Jun 18, 2015 10:55
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freebooter posted:Currently tossing up what to mail home from England and what to keep in my backpack for my Europe summer trip. From late July to early September I'm going to be in, in order: Scotland, Spain, Croatia, Rome, the Greek islands and Istanbul. Do I need a jacket? You might want something long-sleeved (like a thin sweater) though if you're the kind of person to go out and party at night. It can get pretty chilly at night even in the Mediterranean in the summer, thanks to the wind from the sea.
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Jun 18, 2015 12:04
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It will rain in Scotland, you will need a light rain coat at least, just in case - I would use this as my thin jumper substitute for Mediterranean evenings, if you are packing light.
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Jun 18, 2015 14:42
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I'm in a not great situation. I'm in London and boarding a train to Paris in a couple of hours and I'm having really bad tooth pain and pretty sure my wisdom tooth is infected and I should see a dentist. No idea what to do. I don't speak French and have never been to Paris before. When I get there, I guess I'll start googling for dentists near my hotel and hope to find a good one. I'm hoping it won't be a problem finding one who speaks English? I'm worried about payment. How does something like that work? I have full health insurance in the US. Will the office bill them, or will they bill me directly and I'm going to have to seek reimbursement from my insurance(ugh)? Has anyone ever been in a situation like this before?
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Jun 22, 2015 09:32
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idontcare posted:I'm in a not great situation. I'm in London and boarding a train to Paris in a couple of hours and I'm having really bad tooth pain and pretty sure my wisdom tooth is infected and I should see a dentist. No idea what to do. Look at the bottom of page 4: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/france/5/acs/paris-doctors.pdf As for payment, you will most likely have to pay out of pocket. Depending on the type of health insurance you have, you will either be able to get it reimbursed when you return to the US or you'll be SOL (the latter is more likely unless you've specifically added some sort of international coverage package to your insurance plan). Total Confusion fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 22, 2015 13:41
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I am going to London in a couple of weeks, and I've read conflicting advice on the net regarding the following two questions: - London Pass. Is it worth it? I've read that it is not financially worth it unless you see a lot of attractions, but that it might be worth it so that you can skip ticket purchasing lines. - Visitor or regular oyster card? I've read that the visitor is marginally cheaper but not worth the hassle.
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Jun 22, 2015 17:28
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joepinetree posted:I am going to London in a couple of weeks, and I've read conflicting advice on the net regarding the following two questions: (1) Probably not. (2) Depends how long you're staying and where your hotel is vs. your destinations. Get an oyster card if you're there 1+ week and plan on taking the tube all the time. Most of the time I walk everywhere; London can be very walkable.
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Jun 22, 2015 17:41
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idontcare posted:I'm in a not great situation. I'm in London and boarding a train to Paris in a couple of hours and I'm having really bad tooth pain and pretty sure my wisdom tooth is infected and I should see a dentist. No idea what to do. Sadly it might be too late for this, but if you can get back to London/UK your best bet might be heading to an emergency room there. I broke my ankle in Portsmouth and didn't have to pay a single thing for the emergency room visit or ambulance ride. Unfortunately it might be a different story for dental work, but here is something I found where you might only be charged roughly 20 pounds: http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1776.aspx?categoryid=74
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Jun 22, 2015 19:02
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone have experience with buying a new SIM card for use in Europe, specifically TIM in Italy? Been doing some research and it seems like the most cost-effective option (one basic prepaid plan is 30 euro for 200 minutes voice, 2GB data, and a small allotment for texts), plus it's convenient as there appears to be a store in Milano Centrale. Everything I've read says it's as simple as presenting your passport to open the account and then popping in the new prepaid SIM once you've bought it. Probably a dumb question, but even if the TIM plan allows for international calling, the person you're calling in the US may get charged for having an international call, right?
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Jun 22, 2015 21:40
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Depends. In some countries you cannot be charged for receiving a call, but I don't know how it's handled in the US.
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Jun 22, 2015 22:21
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Nibble posted:Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone have experience with buying a new SIM card for use in Europe, specifically TIM in Italy? Been doing some research and it seems like the most cost-effective option (one basic prepaid plan is 30 euro for 200 minutes voice, 2GB data, and a small allotment for texts), plus it's convenient as there appears to be a store in Milano Centrale. Everything I've read says it's as simple as presenting your passport to open the account and then popping in the new prepaid SIM once you've bought it. Probably a dumb question, but even if the TIM plan allows for international calling, the person you're calling in the US may get charged for having an international call, right? The process varies from country to country. In the UK, I picked up an already-activated SIM from a corner store for cash. In France, I picked one up from a tobacconist for cash, but had to call in and provide a passport number to activate it. In the Netherlands, I think the SIM was already activated when I picked it up, or at the worst there was some nominal process online. In Germany, I picked up a SIM from a supermarket, had to activate it online (you can also do it by regular mail, when they're not on strike...) and it was only usable a few hours later. In Poland I picked up an activated SIM at a carrier's store for cash. In Andorra I picked up an activated SIM at the (only) carriers (only) store for cash after presenting a passport. I use this wiki to get an idea of the offers in a given country. I don't think there are any extra charges from accepting an incoming international call in the US over and above what you might pay for airtime, same as any other call.
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Jun 22, 2015 22:58
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Nibble posted:Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone have experience with buying a new SIM card for use in Europe, specifically TIM in Italy? Been doing some research and it seems like the most cost-effective option (one basic prepaid plan is 30 euro for 200 minutes voice, 2GB data, and a small allotment for texts), plus it's convenient as there appears to be a store in Milano Centrale. Everything I've read says it's as simple as presenting your passport to open the account and then popping in the new prepaid SIM once you've bought it. Probably a dumb question, but even if the TIM plan allows for international calling, the person you're calling in the US may get charged for having an international call, right? Or you could switch to T-Mobile as they have unlimited loving texts and data in 120 countries included in their loving basic plan for $50/month. Calls are $.20/minute. Goddamn I hate my Swiss mobile provider so loving much.
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Jun 22, 2015 23:00
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Or try getting into Google's Project Fi. I am currently backpacking around Europe and it has been awesome.
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Jun 22, 2015 23:11
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Nibble posted:Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone have experience with buying a new SIM card for use in Europe, specifically TIM in Italy? Been doing some research and it seems like the most cost-effective option (one basic prepaid plan is 30 euro for 200 minutes voice, 2GB data, and a small allotment for texts), plus it's convenient as there appears to be a store in Milano Centrale. Everything I've read says it's as simple as presenting your passport to open the account and then popping in the new prepaid SIM once you've bought it. Probably a dumb question, but even if the TIM plan allows for international calling, the person you're calling in the US may get charged for having an international call, right? The person you are calling in the US will not be charged anything extra because it is an international call. Did you find any other options, by the way? I'm going to Italy for a very short trip and wouldn't mind having data service and a few minutes of voice time but I only need 6 days and don't want to pay 30 euros. Animal posted:Or try getting into Google's Project Fi. I am currently backpacking around Europe and it has been awesome. Hopefully this will catch on and improve but for now it only works with Nexus 6 and only offers 256kbits/sec in Europe. sleepy gary fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jun 22, 2015 |
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Jun 22, 2015 23:18
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joepinetree posted:- Visitor or regular oyster card? I've read that the visitor is marginally cheaper but not worth the hassle. They seem to have the same prices on both if I read it right, just you can get the visitor one mailed to you I think? And I strongly disagree with Saladman, get the Oyster even for a weekend unless you have contactless payment on your credit card (no idea how well it works with international cards), then you can use that instead.
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Jun 22, 2015 23:40
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Hell I collect transit cards for cities I visit, I'd buy an Oyster card no matter what the cost.
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Jun 23, 2015 00:34
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FISHMANPET posted:Hell I collect transit cards for cities I visit, I'd buy an Oyster card no matter what the cost. Same. I was going to get two, one for a souvenir, the other to use and return, but I ran out of time one day, and then was running late to my flight so I ended up with these three. Someday I will get an Oyster card. 
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Jun 23, 2015 01:14
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idontcare posted:I'm in a not great situation. I'm in London and boarding a train to Paris in a couple of hours and I'm having really bad tooth pain and pretty sure my wisdom tooth is infected and I should see a dentist. No idea what to do. And this, kids, is why you always buy travel insurance. As mentioned you're almost certainly going to have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed.
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Jun 23, 2015 02:33
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DNova posted:The person you are calling in the US will not be charged anything extra because it is an international call. You should be able to get a plan for under 20 euro at either Wind or Vodafone. You might be able to find a little cheaper, but you have to pay something like 5 euro just for the sim card so I would expect 15ish minimum. TIM appears to have about the same price so I'm not sure how he got 30 euro though I'm just glancing over the site. The text portion of the plan may be increasing the cost a lot as no one in Italy uses SMS because the telecoms charge way to much for it and Whats App is free. You do need a passport in Italy, but it's overall a pretty easy process.
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Jun 23, 2015 08:43
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joepinetree posted:I am going to London in a couple of weeks, and I've read conflicting advice on the net regarding the following two questions: London Pass: probably not Visitor or oyster card: if you are 2 persons, visitor card, if you are alone, oyster card.
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Jun 23, 2015 13:24
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DNova posted:Did you find any other options, by the way? I'm going to Italy for a very short trip and wouldn't mind having data service and a few minutes of voice time but I only need 6 days and don't want to pay 30 euros. I found this earlier, same site spoof linked above: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Italy Basically, TIM and Vodafone have full coverage, Vodafone has coverage in other European countries as well if that interests you. Wind and 3 sound like they have fine coverage in metro areas and might have cheaper plan options. asur posted:You should be able to get a plan for under 20 euro at either Wind or Vodafone. You might be able to find a little cheaper, but you have to pay something like 5 euro just for the sim card so I would expect 15ish minimum. TIM appears to have about the same price so I'm not sure how he got 30 euro though I'm just glancing over the site. The text portion of the plan may be increasing the cost a lot as no one in Italy uses SMS because the telecoms charge way to much for it and Whats App is free. You do need a passport in Italy, but it's overall a pretty easy process. The specific offer I looked at called TIM Welcome costs 20 euro for the plan but I read that it's a separate 10 euro to get/activate the new SIM. The info on that site is a little confusing but I think it might be cheaper if you get data only instead of data+calls.
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Jun 23, 2015 21:19
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