|
Harley C posted:What is the best telco in the UK? I'm about to move for a 3 month uni exchange. I'll be living in London. I would go with either Vodafone or O2, to be honest. I have heard very little positive about Three, and I am currently on EE (=Orange+T-Mobile), and while it works well enough outside, indoor reception is an absolute joke where I live. They also seem to have gotten rid of Orange Wednesdays for 2-for-1 movie nights. In that regard, I went to a concert the other day in an O2-sponsored venue (O2 Ballrooms or what have you exist all over the place), and they had a special queue that jumped most of the normal queue exclusively for "members", i.e. for people who have O2 as a provider. Vodafone seem to have rather decent coverage.
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 17:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 21:40 |
|
|
Saladman posted:Presumably what you care about is data with phone calls and SMS in case of emergencies or in case you have friends who are are time travelers from 2006 and lack smartphones with WhatsApp and FB Messenger installed? In that case, Three is probably the best. Yeah three looks pretty good! It is by far the cheapest, so I thought there might be a catch to it. Thanks for guessing what I wanted, I work in a telco retail store and get frustrated when people ask me general questions like that. So naturally I did it myself as well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 17:18
|
|
|
Hollow Talk posted:I would go with either Vodafone or O2, to be honest. I have heard very little positive about Three, and I am currently on EE (=Orange+T-Mobile), and while it works well enough outside, indoor reception is an absolute joke where I live. They also seem to have gotten rid of Orange Wednesdays for 2-for-1 movie nights. In that regard, I went to a concert the other day in an O2-sponsored venue (O2 Ballrooms or what have you exist all over the place), and they had a special queue that jumped most of the normal queue exclusively for "members", i.e. for people who have O2 as a provider. Vodafone seem to have rather decent coverage. Thanks for your advice. I am a little scared of three, but it seems quite good (unlimited for 20 pounds, 5 pound a day in europe for data and many countries are completely free to data roam). This report seems to be pretty favorable though, http://www.rootmetrics.com/uk/rsr/london/2015/1H. I think they may be like Australia's Voda, where they are good in urban areas but poo poo in the country, which I am totally ok with. edit: lol sorry bout the double
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 17:23
|
|
|
Harley C posted:Thanks for your advice. I am a little scared of three, but it seems quite good (unlimited for 20 pounds, 5 pound a day in europe for data and many countries are completely free to data roam). This report seems to be pretty favorable though, http://www.rootmetrics.com/uk/rsr/london/2015/1H. I think they may be like Australia's Voda, where they are good in urban areas but poo poo in the country, which I am totally ok with. Yeah, depending on where you live, coverage etc. might not be a concern (i.e., if you move to something like London, Birmingham, Manchester etc.). If you like the price and package, just go for it, if it's only for 3 months either way.  I've heard people complain about Three where I live, but the same can be said for EE, and these are still mere anecdotes, so either of the big(ger) carriers should be fine considering.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 17:36
|
|
|
Looking for somewhere for a reasonably cheap weekend city break in October. I've already been to the usual places like Prague/Budapest/Krakow so they're out, right now I'm looking at either somewhere in the Baltic states or maybe southeast Europe (though tbh I'm not entirely sure what the political situation is down there re: Ukraine). Riga and Vilnius both look promising from what I've been able to find, anyone got any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 19:10
|
|
|
WaryWarren posted:I believe your only other option by train would involve a layover in Vicenza instead of Mestre. I see that the wait in Vicenza is around 20-25 minutes on Trenitalia's website. Yeah, I was thinking of a bus connection between Mestre and Treviso Centrale, but in hindsight, the Venice - > Verona train we took arrived 20 minutes late so a 40 minute connection doesn't seem that bad anymore.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 21:15
|
|
|
I'm traveling to London at the end of the month. I haven't really made any plans at all aside from the plane tickets. Any tips on a place/area to stay that I can walk around and see lots of things? I'd like to get the touristy stuff out of the way early into my trip because I'm going to meet up with some other people I met while travelling. At least, I hope I do, because I haven't heard from them. So, yeah. Any tips or advice would be great.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 22:00
|
|
|
Residency Evil posted:Yeah, Poland is most definitely not "third world." I've been to Krakow many, many times (although not recently) and have never felt unsafe. My understanding is that it (and Poland as a whole) has only gotten safer/more Western with the influx of EU money over the past 15 years or so. You'll be more than fine, especially if you stick to the touristy areas around the Old City. Nth-ing the Poland is awesome sentiment, although I can only speak for Krakow and Gdansk. They were brilliant and I'd go back again no question. Istanbul is amazing, the size, the history, the food, the art, the museums... there's a lot to do. We spent 9 days there and didn't even come close to running out of things to do. We stayed in an Air B&B place about 1km from Taksim square and while it was a moderate trek to get to the Golden Horn and all the tourist stuff there, it was nice to come back to a more "normal" (not exclusively tourists and tourist traps) neighbourhood at the end of the day and see a bit more of the city. Public transportation is crowded but fine. Go into every mosque you can, they're gorgeous and you're very welcome as long as you respect prayer times and any "no photos" signs that may be posted (varies from place to place and the guy gave me no trouble when I apologised and put my camera away immediately). It's probably easier if you're not a vegetarian, meat is in all the restaurants and it's loving brilliant there. Can't wait to go back to Turkey.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 22:18
|
|
|
Julio Cruz posted:Looking for somewhere for a reasonably cheap weekend city break in October. I've already been to the usual places like Prague/Budapest/Krakow so they're out, right now I'm looking at either somewhere in the Baltic states or maybe southeast Europe (though tbh I'm not entirely sure what the political situation is down there re: Ukraine). Riga and Vilnius both look promising from what I've been able to find, anyone got any recommendations? Ukraine should be of no concern to you unless you travel to ... Ukraine. Athens is an interesting option these days, probably cheap as hell. I probably wouldn't pick a Greek carrier though. Belgrade is fun. Istanbul is crazy. Split is interesting. Doctor Malaver fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Jul 13, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2015 22:21
|
|
|
I decided to do my whole trip in Paris, but want to make one long day trip. Anyone have a recommendation? I looked at Calais since it's on the water, which I think would be nice. My other consideration was Lyon. Both train trips are about two hours, which is my upper limit.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 01:50
|
|
|
actionjackson posted:I decided to do my whole trip in Paris, but want to make one long day trip. Anyone have a recommendation? I looked at Calais since it's on the water, which I think would be nice. My other consideration was Lyon. Both train trips are about two hours, which is my upper limit. French people think of the area around Calais, Lille all the way down to Le Havre as the worst place in France, and Calais is not a beautiful city. If you're willing to go that far out from Paris you might as well visit Rennes or something, or the coast of Normandy, like Etretat or some village like that, or maybe even St. Malo in Bretagne, although that's pretty far from Paris. Don't go to the big cities in that area, because they're known as ugly industrial ports. Rennes is an exception. I don't know if this is really possible as a day trip, France is big and while you can get to some places fast by TGV, it's probably better to stay somewhere overnight. If you just want to do a day trip you should probably look for something closer to Paris itself.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 02:08
|
|
|
Shibawanko posted:French people think of the area around Calais, Lille all the way down to Le Havre as the worst place in France, and Calais is not a beautiful city. If you're willing to go that far out from Paris you might as well visit Rennes or something, or the coast of Normandy, like Etretat or some village like that, or maybe even St. Malo in Bretagne, although that's pretty far from Paris. Don't go to the big cities in that area, because they're known as ugly industrial ports. Rennes is an exception. Okay thanks. If you have a recommendation for something closer let me know.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 02:20
|
|
|
The Loire valley is nice if you like palaces. But I'd recommend doing an overnight trip to Mont St Michel, honestly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 02:43
|
|
|
I have an extra day on my trip to central Europe and I don't know if I should spend it in Warsaw, Krakow, Bratislava or Budapest. Which city would benefit the most from more time?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 04:42
|
|
|
How dumb am I walking Europe in winter? What's the earliest in the year I could get through eastern europe without disappearing in a blizzard?
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 05:51
|
|
|
Brinner posted:How dumb am I walking Europe in winter? What's the earliest in the year I could get through eastern europe without disappearing in a blizzard? How dumb am I walking the US in winter? The answer will vary from North Dakota to Florida just like it vary from Estonia to Macedonia.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 08:50
|
|
|
Brinner posted:How dumb am I walking Europe in winter? What's the earliest in the year I could get through eastern europe without disappearing in a blizzard? What does "walking" mean? Like you want to walk the camino de santiago? Or you want to walk from a bus stop to your apartment? I even had to check your post history to make sure you didn't leak over from FYAD like the Los Angeles poster.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 10:56
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:I have an extra day on my trip to central Europe and I don't know if I should spend it in Warsaw, Krakow, Bratislava or Budapest. Which city would benefit the most from more time? I vote Krakow or Budapest.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 14:18
|
|
|
Residency Evil posted:I vote Krakow or Budapest. No personal experience, but my friend did a trip to Bratislava and Budapest last year. Definitely Budapest out of those two, and probably either choice in Poland before Bratislava.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 17:22
|
|
|
HookShot posted:The Loire valley is nice if you like palaces. Yeah a friend of mine just recommended that also. I found a place that does a tour there http://www.francetourisme.fr/tours-day-trip-in-france/mont-saint-michel-tour.html I can get in some sleep on the way there.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 17:51
|
|
|
Got a place on airbnb on Rue Chevert for $57/night including fees 
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 21:29
|
|
|
actionjackson posted:Got a place on airbnb on Rue Chevert for $57/night including fees Don't celebrate until you've escaped with both of your kidneys. E: But really, I bet it's a new host? New hosts are always the cheapest, before people realize what a PITA it is to host people on AirBNB for barely-at-cost.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 22:54
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Don't celebrate until you've escaped with both of your kidneys. She's new yeah. She also has a strict cancellation policy; I would guess that people who use those charge a bit less on average. Given it's proximity to Napoleon's tomb maybe it's haunted 
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2015 22:56
|
|
|
Saladman posted:What does "walking" mean? Like you want to walk the camino de santiago? Or you want to walk from a bus stop to your apartment? I even had to check your post history to make sure you didn't leak over from FYAD like the Los Angeles poster. Haha, sorry that was a pretty vague post. So I'm planning to hike across Europe, from Istanbul to Oslo. It's about 6500KM and absolutely nuts, but I have the funds and the gear/experience to pull it off. Question is, while I can deal with subzero temperatures, I don't really want to have to deal with anything below -5. So really all I was asking is when's the earliest I can get away with starting this trip? Common sense would say Mid March but I'm going to be ready to go by October. Would roads/tracks still be accessible and places to stay be available outside of major city centers around these areas after Christmas? I suppose an alternative would be start in the west and spend christmas in Germany or something, and wait out the worst of winter. Just looking for some local info, last time I hiked in that much snow was Canada some years back.  Route is similar to this, though I plan to go through Bucharest and Budapest. (This is Owen Martel's route, a great blog to check out and a cool dude.)Western europe I'm fine with, kinda know my way around. Eastern europe is totally foreign. queef anxiety fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Jul 15, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 02:05
|
|
|
Your plan looks like it's going to go through the Julian Alps (and then the actual Alps). There it will definitely be snowy, and likely below -5 at least a few times if you're there in the winter. You should be fine until Ljublana though. I'd leave whenever lets you be in Slovenia by around late March.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 02:38
|
|
|
Eastern Europe can get pretty drat cold in winter, even down in Bulgaria and Serbia. The average high temp in Sofia is 4C during winter, so it'll be below -5C plenty. And there were big snowstorms in Serbia last year at least. The only way to avoid this is to walk directly along the Mediterranean coast or something. The west is more friendly in winter, closer to the gulf stream, but even most of Germany can be under -5 during the day.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 03:14
|
|
|
HookShot posted:Your plan looks like it's going to go through the Julian Alps (and then the actual Alps). There it will definitely be snowy, and likely below -5 at least a few times if you're there in the winter. You should be fine until Ljublana though. Yeah crazy dude traversed straight through them, I plan to go around! Entropist posted:Eastern Europe can get pretty drat cold in winter, even down in Bulgaria and Serbia. The average high temp in Sofia is 4C during winter, so it'll be below -5C plenty. And there were big snowstorms in Serbia last year at least. The only way to avoid this is to walk directly along the Mediterranean coast or something. The west is more friendly in winter, closer to the gulf stream, but even most of Germany can be under -5 during the day. So by the sounds of it I either wait till March or just do the usual backpacker hostel routine around the west until it warms up a bit. Thanks for the info!
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 04:16
|
|
|
PT6A posted:No personal experience, but my friend did a trip to Bratislava and Budapest last year. Definitely Budapest out of those two, and probably either choice in Poland before Bratislava. I did both of these cities, Bratislava still is full of crushing reminders of their Soviet past, Budapest on the other hand feels like a proper world capital like Paris and Vienna. Which is surprising because there's a 55 minute commuter train between Vienna and Bratislava.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 04:57
|
|
|
Brinner posted:Yeah crazy dude traversed straight through them, I plan to go around! I know it's probably crazy seeing all the walking you're already doing, but especially if you go in March the alps are absolutely beautiful and hiking through them is definitely something you should do if you're hiking through Europe. Though it sounds like you've done a lot of hiking before and maybe have done the alps...
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 05:11
|
|
|
HookShot posted:I know it's probably crazy seeing all the walking you're already doing, but especially if you go in March the alps are absolutely beautiful and hiking through them is definitely something you should do if you're hiking through Europe. If I do go later in the year I'll make sure to cross through, or at least check out around the Italian border! No never, just worried about the time of year. Now I have to find something to do for another 3 months!
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 05:26
|
|
|
Man I'd love to do a gently caress off long hike through Europe some time. I think I'd want to head up into Scandinavia though, since hiking and camping is pretty much the only affordable way to see Norway and Sweden.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 05:48
|
|
|
Shibawanko posted:Man I'd love to do a gently caress off long hike through Europe some time. I think I'd want to head up into Scandinavia though, since hiking and camping is pretty much the only affordable way to see Norway and Sweden. Of the few people I know who have done it, most end up in Edinburgh or Amsterdam, I figured cutting through Germany into Scandinavia and finishing up there would be better. It's not actually that expensive either, and quite doable. Anyway, I'll stop making GBS threads up the Europe thread. Maybe see you around goons.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 06:20
|
|
|
Brinner posted:Haha, sorry that was a pretty vague post. So I'm planning to hike across Europe, from Istanbul to Oslo. It's about 6500KM and absolutely nuts, but I have the funds and the gear/experience to pull it off. Question is, while I can deal with subzero temperatures, I don't really want to have to deal with anything below -5. If you start in Istanbul you could realistically start much sooner, like right after New Year's even. Just look at the weather forecasts and if there's supposed to be a blizzard, stop in whatever town is the closest. There will be multiple towns to stop in every day on a route like this so there's not really any danger in it unless you try going through mountainous regions. Like, there's no way you're going to hike through the Alps between November and April since there will be 5+ meters of fresh snow everywhere except the few plowed mountain passes which would be exceptionally dangerous to walk on. Though anyway for the timing, walking 6500 km will take a ~year unless you "cheat" or unless you really never stop. Looks cool, but unless you have some specific reason to do this route, you might want to check out major other walking/hiking routes like the Haute Route and Camino de Santiago and the GRs in France. I've never hiked in Eastern Europe, but I'm pretty this route will have you spending a lot of time walking along the side of the road while inhaling truck exhaust.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 08:32
|
|
|
This sounds like an awesome trip. Have you read Leigh Patrick Fermor's travel memoirs? He walked from Holland to Istanbul when he was 18, back before WWII. In winter, incidentally. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253984.A_Time_of_Gifts?ac=1 It's actually a bit of a depressing read, though, since it harks back to a time before globalisation and camping regulations and airbnb and hordes of backpackers.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 11:23
|
|
|
Also I know you say you want to end in Oslo, but Scandinavia's best hiking is up in the north. Abisko in Sweden was absolutely amazing. And yeah, hiking Europe without doing the Alps would be an absolute tragedy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 21:47
|
|
|
HookShot posted:Also I know you say you want to end in Oslo, but Scandinavia's best hiking is up in the north. Abisko in Sweden was absolutely amazing. Could go to Scandinavia over land from Finland, up north around the gulf of Bothnia, and then hike down south to get to Oslo?
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2015 22:11
|
|
|
Every Norwegian I've ever talked to talked poo poo about Oslo. Go to Trondheim or Bergen or something.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2015 00:57
|
|
|
freebooter posted:This sounds like an awesome trip. Have you read Leigh Patrick Fermor's travel memoirs? He walked from Holland to Istanbul when he was 18, back before WWII. In winter, incidentally. Ha, this actually started the whole idea in the first place. You should check out Nick Hunt, he walked the same route a few years back to see what had changed since, well worth a read. http://nickhuntscrutiny.com/ Saladman posted:Useful info There's no particular reason. I haven't been donated thousands of dollars Muerte style for some crazy charity run, no pilgrims path. None of it is set in stone, and I'm sure it will change dramatically as I go. While I like the idea of sticking to a path and walking it from end to end, I'm not doing it for any particular reason apart from my own interest, so can quite easily hop on a bus to somewhere more appealing if I get stuck on a 800km highway. Oslo is more an end goal than anything else, somewhere to say 'Holy poo poo you did it'. I've always wanted to cross Norway from bottom to top, check out all those cool huts. As for timing, I guessed (and budgeted) about 8-12 months. Pipe dreams abound of finding work in Europe and staying for longer but who knows. Camino looks good, especially if I can do it while avoiding the large crowds that now attend. Waci posted:Could go to Scandinavia over land from Finland, up north around the gulf of Bothnia, and then hike down south to get to Oslo? Man that would be awesome!
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2015 02:34
|
|
|
Sulla-Marius 88 posted:What are some good cities to visit in central / eastern Europe? I live in Rome so it's a crying shame I've been focusing my travel on the western half so far. My wife (girlfriend then) visited a couple of different cities in Europe about two years ago and she has nothing but good things to say about Prague, the Capital of the Czech Republic. She brought back a whole bunch of pictures of beautiful buildings and said she liked the local beer.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2015 03:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 21:40 |
|
|
I got a wild hair up my rear end and am thinking of taking a trip to Norway/somewhere in Scandinavia in the next few weeks (early August). I don't know why other than I've never been to that region, northern lights would be awesome to see, and that show Vikings on the history channel is awesome. What are things to do in Scandinavia? For reference I am the stereotypical American tourist, I want to see castles and ruins and history stuff, eat lots of food and chat with people. Also see some fjords and northern lights... If they're going right now. I'll be traveling alone but it won't be the first time I've gone solo so no worries there. Money isn't much of an issue, though I'd like to keep it under 3k for around 10days of travel (not including airfare) If not Scandinavia then I'm thinking Italy for a bunch of ruins tours, or somewhere in Eastern Europe. Suggestions?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2015 06:55
|
|