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Erwin posted:I have a question about international driving permits. The question is: as an American, do I need one in Italy? I'll be renting a car for two days from the Florence airport to drive around Tuscany. Some sites say yes, some say no. I'm mostly concerned about it being a pain in the rear end to get (lots of paperwork, going to Walgreens because I don't have printed pictures of anything, let alone my own dumb face). AAA says I need one, because AAA is the one selling them. My understanding is that it used to be a requirement but now isn't. I plan on getting one anyway just to have another form of documentation and 'just in case'. They're cheap anyway.
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Aug 10, 2015 15:47
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Erwin posted:I have a question about international driving permits. The question is: as an American, do I need one in Italy? I'll be renting a car for two days from the Florence airport to drive around Tuscany. Some sites say yes, some say no. I'm mostly concerned about it being a pain in the rear end to get (lots of paperwork, going to Walgreens because I don't have printed pictures of anything, let alone my own dumb face). AAA says I need one, because AAA is the one selling them. No, you don't need an international driving permit to rent a car in Italy. I've never needed a IDP for anything in my life including renting at several countries across North America, North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Maybe Japan requires them since they hate foreigners renting cars. I bought one too before I moved to Europe and it was a 30 minutes of my time and $15 I'll never get back ;_;.
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Aug 10, 2015 16:57
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Erwin posted:I have a question about international driving permits. The question is: as an American, do I need one in Italy? I'll be renting a car for two days from the Florence airport to drive around Tuscany. Some sites say yes, some say no. I'm mostly concerned about it being a pain in the rear end to get (lots of paperwork, going to Walgreens because I don't have printed pictures of anything, let alone my own dumb face). AAA says I need one, because AAA is the one selling them. I'm a Canadian, when I rented a car in Italy, they asked for my International Driving License at the desk before I was able to take the vehicle. This was through Budget in Venice. Your mileage (hehe) may vary but I would assume it would be the same for a Canadian or US citizen.
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Aug 10, 2015 23:25
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I guess some companies are stricter than others, but I've rented cars in Belgium, France, and Italy through Europcar and was never asked for an IDP. Like many things the IDP seems to have a spotty enforcement record among rental agencies. It might be better to err on the side of caution and get it just in case so you don't mess up your trip if it is needed. Although it would also be prudent to check some different rental car websites or phone them and find out their policy. Enforcement by police is also spotty considering that a couple of years ago Canadians needed an IDP in Florida but it was never enforced and the law was finally repealed. MagicCube fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Aug 11, 2015 |
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Aug 11, 2015 00:14
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It may also depend on whether or not the state of issue for your American driver's license has a reciprocal agreement with the country you're going to be in. If you come from a state that does have a full reciprocal agreement, I'm sure renting a car without the IDL is no issue, but if you happen to come from one of the states that don't, the IDL may make the process a bit smoother? Not really sure myself, to be honest.
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Aug 11, 2015 07:33
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Erwin posted:I have a question about international driving permits. The question is: as an American, do I need one in Italy? I'll be renting a car for two days from the Florence airport to drive around Tuscany. Some sites say yes, some say no. I'm mostly concerned about it being a pain in the rear end to get (lots of paperwork, going to Walgreens because I don't have printed pictures of anything, let alone my own dumb face). AAA says I need one, because AAA is the one selling them. You are required by Italian law to have one or an officially translated version of your license, however rental companies won't care so it's pretty much up to you. I'm not even sure what the penalty is or if the cops will care about it.
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Aug 11, 2015 08:25
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Yeah, Italian laws are more like general guidelines more than hard and fast rules.
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Aug 11, 2015 09:25
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Ok so the final leg of my two week trip is Berlin --> London. Leave for the US the day after. Whats the best option here? Bahn --> Eurostar or just get a flight? I am going out in London on my final night with extended family so just laying up in Heathrow isn't an option.
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Aug 12, 2015 00:26
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Chinatown posted:Ok so the final leg of my two week trip is Berlin --> London. Leave for the US the day after. That's a pretty far train ride. It's almost certainly going to be cheaper and much faster to fly EasyJet into Gatwick.
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Aug 12, 2015 07:36
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A high speed train would take 9 hours and cost more than a flight. If you're buying ahead of time, you should be able to fly to London for less than €100.
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Aug 12, 2015 07:38
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Saladman posted:That's a pretty far train ride. It's almost certainly going to be cheaper and much faster to fly EasyJet into Gatwick. Yeah, even Berlin->Amsterdam made me wish I hadn't taken the ICE just for novelty's sake. Just fly.
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Aug 12, 2015 14:35
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I just came back from Toulouse on the train and it took ~7 hours to get to London, plus I think it was more expensive too. Unless you really really hate flying then the plane is better in pretty much every single way.
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Aug 12, 2015 15:23
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HookShot posted:Italian laws This is the country that put their own seismologists on trial for murder for not properly predicting an earthquake, right?
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Aug 12, 2015 15:29
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Julio Cruz posted:I just came back from Toulouse on the train and it took ~7 hours to get to London, plus I think it was more expensive too. Unless you really really hate flying then the plane is better in pretty much every single way. It really depends on the travel time and connection, location of the airports etc. Trains can definitely be more convenient, and a much nicer experience, for journeys up to 5 hours at least.
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Aug 12, 2015 15:36
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For the Paris museum pass you can just buy it at the airport, correct? I saw that as a vendor but wasn't sure if it needed to be pre-ordered. If I buy it online they charge $26 to ship it to the US 
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Aug 12, 2015 16:46
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Kaddish posted:Our 16 day whirlwind trip of Italy is close to being finalized. It's a lot to do in 16 days and we're spending a fair bit of time travelling but we're somewhat used to vacations like this. I feel like you're not going to have enough time to properly experience Naples, which is a shame since I really enjoyed my time there. If you're doing Pompeii just note that you could easily spend an entire day doing just that, we were there for 3-4 hours and felt like we just scratched the surface (and that's not counting the 40-minute ride each way on the Circumvesuviana). The rest is all stuff I can't really comment on but it sounds like you've got a lot of great stuff in there.
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Aug 12, 2015 22:22
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Gold and a Pager posted:A high speed train would take 9 hours and cost more than a flight. If you're buying ahead of time, you should be able to fly to London for less than €100. Danke.
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Aug 12, 2015 22:24
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Kaddish posted:Our 16 day whirlwind trip of Italy is close to being finalized. It's a lot to do in 16 days and we're spending a fair bit of time travelling but we're somewhat used to vacations like this. You: 9th through 24th, Naples to Milan Me: 13th through 26th, Milan to Rome Look for me in a passing train around the 19th or so. We're doing Milan-Venice-Florence-Naples-Rome. Originally I was going to have Naples be a one day trip in the middle of our time in Rome, do like Rome-Naples-Rome, but the train is so fast that we'll just speed right past Rome and double back.
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Aug 12, 2015 22:39
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Nibble posted:I feel like you're not going to have enough time to properly experience Naples, which is a shame since I really enjoyed my time there. If you're doing Pompeii just note that you could easily spend an entire day doing just that, we were there for 3-4 hours and felt like we just scratched the surface (and that's not counting the 40-minute ride each way on the Circumvesuviana). The rest is all stuff I can't really comment on but it sounds like you've got a lot of great stuff in there. Yeah, we're just heading to Naples for Pompeii and some pizza. We had to make some sacrifices due to time and Naples and everything south of Naples got pretty much cut. I'm not going to miss out on Pompeii though. I figured it's still better than a day trip even if it's going to be a huge hassle, especially coming right off the plane. MC Fruit Stripe posted:I just saw someone else quote this, and this is god drat hilarious to me, because we're doing the same vacation, backwards. Haha, nice man! Maybe we can PM each other with some tips along the way. I'll be getting a SIM card at Rome Termini so I can have my precious internet.
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Aug 13, 2015 13:08
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Im going to Merida next week on a day trip with my aunt, by car from Portugal (approx. 4 hour drive). Primarily to explore the Roman ruins. Is there something else besides the Ruins I should know about or check out? Falukorv fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Aug 14, 2015 |
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Aug 14, 2015 16:50
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My partner and I have a trip planned for Turkey (Istanbul, Cappadocia, and either Pamukkale or Ephesus) in mid September. We're not ones to pay much mind to the overblown perception of danger, but we are concerned now over all the political turmoil developing in Turkey -- the clashing with the PKK, the attack on the US Consulate, and the call for the snap election. Does anyone have opinions on the wisdom of traveling to Turkey in light of this stuff? Are we overblowing it or no?
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Aug 16, 2015 08:39
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Avoid the border regions and known protest areas like Taksim square. Right now the provinces Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Batman, Bitlis, Bingöl, Siirt, Mus, Tunceli, Sirnak, Hakkari and Van are deemed more dangerous than the rest of the country. Touristy places won't be affected.
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Aug 16, 2015 08:53
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Turkey is one of the biggest tourist destinations on the Med. As long as you don't intend to go to the Syrian border or to the Kurdish provinces, you'll be fine. You don't need to avoid Taksim Square in Istanbul unless a protest is happening. That's a good general rule of thumb: if you're in a foreign country keep away from protests unless you know what you're doing.
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Aug 16, 2015 08:57
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Good place to hunker down and maybe find some work (english speaking) over winter that won't cost a fortune? Czech Republic looking good so far.
queef anxiety fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Aug 18, 2015 |
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Aug 18, 2015 00:02
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I returned yesterday from a one-week holiday in Istanbul. Unfortunately, my hotel was in Sultanahmet and I spent my evenings drinking beer in Taksim/Beyoğlu and making the 30 minute walk back. There were no signs of protest in the park/square, just people going about their daily business. I already opted out of a trip there last November, due to the assault on three U.S. Naval officers at the ferry port in Eminönü. I seriously regret that decision now, due to the sweltering weather and obscene crowds.
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Aug 18, 2015 17:05
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Can anyone tell me if its worth going to Dubrovnik in early November? Planning a weekend romantic trip there with the girlfriend.
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Aug 19, 2015 13:07
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Shootout in Instambul, apparently. Hope none of you guys are there atm, stay safe.
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Aug 19, 2015 13:44
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WMain00 posted:Can anyone tell me if its worth going to Dubrovnik in early November? Planning a weekend romantic trip there with the girlfriend. I was in Dubrovnik once or twice in fall and it felt a little deserted but that's a better option than summer when it's packed. I'd say it's a good destination for a weekend thing. Longer than that, you'd maybe get a little bored.
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Aug 19, 2015 14:39
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WMain00 posted:Can anyone tell me if its worth going to Dubrovnik in early November? Planning a weekend romantic trip there with the girlfriend. Personally I would hang out in Split over Dubrovnik and maybe do a day trip in Dubrovnik, both have beautiful city centres and Split has the cool bonus of being in a Roman palace. But then again, Dubrovnik is on that hill I guess and has the Game of Thrones thing going on, I just found it kind of soulless in the Venice kind of way, but maybe it was just because I was there by myself in January. Anyway I'm sure you'll have fun exploring together if it's just a weekend thing.
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Aug 19, 2015 17:16
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i'm going to Greece in a few weeks, hpoping across a few islands on a cheap cruise, maybe some bigger cities as well (i don't know the full details yet unfortunately) but just curious if theres anything we should take into consideration re; the financial crisis and whatnot. Are we gonna be better of with prepaid travel cards, local cash, some combination of the two?
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Aug 28, 2015 06:53
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maxe posted:i'm going to Greece in a few weeks, hpoping across a few islands on a cheap cruise, maybe some bigger cities as well (i don't know the full details yet unfortunately) Foreigners are exempted from the capital transaction controls, so plan your stay as you would in any other Euro country. In some cases there can be supply shortages in pharmacies, so if you need any special medication, bring it with you.
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Aug 28, 2015 11:14
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^ thats good news, cheers
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Aug 28, 2015 15:06
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Just booked flights to Greece for the wife and I. Getting into Athens Sunday morning April 24th and leaving Monday morning May 9th. I'm not sure if 15 days is enough time to road trip around the mainland and also see a couple islands. Current thought is start with the road trip and do something like Athens-Delphi-Olympia-Methoni-Kardamyli-Monemvasia-Nafplion-Mycenae-Athens with a couple of those destinations probably not making the cut. And then I was thinking Santorini, Mikonos and Hydra for the islands but again I might have to cut one. Any weird tricks for avoiding having to return to Athens so much? I want to see the city but would rather not do Athens-Road Trip-Athens-Hydra-Athens-Mykonos-Santorini-Athens if I can avoid it. Also we will be in Greece for Easter. I'm guessing we will want to stay put that Sunday and Monday. Any specific things to do or places to be for Good Friday and Easter?
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Aug 28, 2015 17:30
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You can just buy the Paris museum pass at the airport correct? Has anyone else done this? No point in paying to have it mailed to me ahead of time then. For Mont St. Michel, would you recommend a tour group (and if so which one)? or just taking the train?
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Aug 28, 2015 17:38
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I am going to Prague for a 4 days, of which the last 2 days is a conference I need to attend. I'm interested in Budapest or Vienna but my roundtrip flights are to/from Prague. Trying to take a train from Prague to either of those cities and coming back in time for the conference is too much or worth the hassle?
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Aug 31, 2015 20:55
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:I just saw someone else quote this, and this is god drat hilarious to me, because we're doing the same vacation, backwards. We'll be doing Rome - Tuscany - Florence - Venice from the 4th through the 14th. I'll try to leave some wine for you guys, but I can't make any promises. Question - I assume a 4 hour layover in Copenhagen is not enough time to leave the airport? We arrive in Copenhagen at 7am local time.
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Aug 31, 2015 21:08
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Anarkii posted:I am going to Prague for a 4 days, of which the last 2 days is a conference I need to attend. I'm interested in Budapest or Vienna but my roundtrip flights are to/from Prague. Trying to take a train from Prague to either of those cities and coming back in time for the conference is too much or worth the hassle? Bratislava to Prague was about 6 hours if I recall correctly. Bratislava is about an hour east of Vienna for reference. Vienna might have a more direct route to Prauge but any train ride over 3 hours, you should be seriously considering Ryan air or easy jet instead. Especially round trip, ugh. Vienna to Budapest by train is eye-wateringly boring and about 3.5 hours. Maybe train down to Vienna first thing in the morning, spend the night there, train down to Budapest, spend the night there, then fly to your conference the next morning? Both cities are worth visiting but that's maybe too tight to actually do anything. Nuremberg is a cool walled city about 4 hours by bus from Prague, DB runs a line that stops there. Edit: what if you book a flight to Budapest scheduled for a couple hours after your plane lands in Prauge? Then just train north at a leisurely pace. Or maybe your flight has a layover elsewhere in Europe, and you could just walk off if you're not carrying checked luggage, then train to Prague with stops along the way. I flew to "Sweden" this summer but walked off the plane in Amsterdam during my layover and took the train to Brussels, Paris, flew to Morocco and then trained back up to Madrid and flew from Spain to Sweden to catch my return flight. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Sep 1, 2015 |
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Aug 31, 2015 23:59
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Hadlock posted:I flew to "Sweden" this summer but walked off the plane in Amsterdam during my layover and took the train to Brussels, Paris, flew to Morocco and then trained back up to Madrid and flew from Spain to Sweden to catch my return flight. That's very interesting. I was under the impression that not using a flight coupon cancelled the rest of the segments on the ticket. Which airline was this? Edit: see also YQ dumping.
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Sep 1, 2015 12:50
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Erwin posted:Question - I assume a 4 hour layover in Copenhagen is not enough time to leave the airport? We arrive in Copenhagen at 7am local time. 4 hours is pretty much the worst amount of time you could have. Too little to leave (particularly if you arrive in the morning), and far too much to endure in an airport. Hope you brought a good book 
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Sep 1, 2015 14:59
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inscrutable horse posted:4 hours is pretty much the worst amount of time you could have. Too little to leave (particularly if you arrive in the morning), and far too much to endure in an airport. Hope you brought a good book Yeah, I'll have my kindle and she'll have books. Hopefully we'll be tired enough to catch some sleep. Maybe the airport bar will be open at 7am 
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Sep 1, 2015 15:26
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