|
Anyone have recommendations for Corsica? My wife and I are going for about a week at the end of April. We have our ferry tickets and hotels booked for our first and last nights on the island and other than that we just want to enjoy the scenery, do some walking (nothing too extreme though), stop in at some farms and eat all their cheese, visit vineyards, stuff like that. We're not going to plan things out too much, I don't think, so if you have any highlights at all that you'd recommend, please do!
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2016 20:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 16:53 |
|
|
So, I've been thinking of adjusting my trip a little bit (but still keeping the inefficient parts) to eliminate Vigo and add in Porto. So: Madrid->Jerez de la Frontera->Madrid->A Coruna->Porto->Madrid This is all contingent on a cheap flight from Porto to Madrid on Ryanair. I've heard some horror stories, but realistically how bad will they gently caress me over for a 1hour flight (their "business plus" service is within budget, if that makes a difference)? The other option would be to return from A Coruna to Madrid directly, which might be a bit simpler.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 19:20
|
|
|
I haven't been to Spain (going for the first time in late August), but personally I would try to avoid stopping in Madrid for a 3rd time. You can fly direct Seville to A Coruna, and Seville is really close to Jerez.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 19:25
|
|
|
Hashtag Banterzone posted:I haven't been to Spain (going for the first time in late August), but personally I would try to avoid stopping in Madrid for a 3rd time. You can fly direct Seville to A Coruna, and Seville is really close to Jerez. I was planning to use my first stay in Madrid just to get my bearings and get over my jetlag in a somewhat familiar place (I spent a month there last year), then head south, then go back to Madrid and get a short-stay apartment for a while, and then go onward from there. But your way definitely makes a lot of sense too. I'll have to think about it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 19:48
|
|
|
Did you already buy your ticket? It might make sense to just shell out the extra $200 or so to get an open jaw ticket from Canada -> Madrid ; Porto -> Canada. It doesn't look like Madrid has direct flights to anywhere in Canada, which is actually super odd, so this shouldn't add any inconvenience on the return trip. Or you could fly from Malaga back to Canada, if you do the trip in that direction. Either way, it'll save you a day of train/travel time and avoid going back to Madrid for a third time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 20:22
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Did you already buy your ticket? It might make sense to just shell out the extra $200 or so to get an open jaw ticket from Canada -> Madrid ; Porto -> Canada. It doesn't look like Madrid has direct flights to anywhere in Canada, which is actually super odd, so this shouldn't add any inconvenience on the return trip. Or you could fly from Malaga back to Canada, if you do the trip in that direction. Either way, it'll save you a day of train/travel time and avoid going back to Madrid for a third time. That's a possibility, but it would involve flying Air Canada and I'm not a fan of theirs at all, nor of flying through Frankfurt. The connections don't line up properly for KLM, and with BA I'd have to switch from Gatwick to Heathrow on the way home. BA is also the least expensive doing a straight YYC-MAD roundtrip, by about $200. Provided Ryanair is tolerable for a one hour flight, the extra day/evening in Madrid doesn't really bother me that much -- I did a similar thing once before, and the area by the airport is actually pretty nice. I also like being able to pick up duty-free in Madrid rather than Frankfurt.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 21:04
|
|
|
RyanAir is fine. The flight will probably be delayed a bit and cramped, but for an hour the price is worth it. Just make you know what they charge fees for and either avoid them or add them in.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 22:28
|
|
|
asur posted:RyanAir is fine. The flight will probably be delayed a bit and cramped, but for an hour the price is worth it. Just make you know what they charge fees for and either avoid them or add them in. Cool. I might just go for Business Plus and hope that avoids the worst of the nickel-and-diming. Although now I'm considering knocking off Porto altogether, so there's that too. Indecision ahoy! EDIT: Pulled the trigger. Madrid for 3 days, Jerez for 4 days, Madrid for 7 days again, A Coruna for 3 days, then home. PT6A fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Mar 11, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2016 23:03
|
|
|
PT6A posted:Cool. I might just go for Business Plus and hope that avoids the worst of the nickel-and-diming. Make sure you know what Ryanair Business Plus is. The seats are exactly the same. The airline is fine in that the planes are safe and you will get there, but don't expect it to be comfortable. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11057948/Ryanair-introduces-business-class.html
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2016 13:17
|
|
|
sweek0 posted:Make sure you know what Ryanair Business Plus is. The seats are exactly the same. The airline is fine in that the planes are safe and you will get there, but don't expect it to be comfortable. I ended up cutting Porto out, so no Ryanair for me. I'm flying BA to and from Madrid, taking the train to and from Jerez, and Air Europa to and from A Coruña.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2016 16:20
|
|
|
I'm looking at flights now too. The price fluctuations are ... really confounding. Yesterday it was 1345 for a (non-aeroflot) set of flights: Los Angeles -> Istanbul Istanbul -> Split Zagreb -> Los Angeles (after bussing it up to zagreb from Plitvice Lakes because holy hell that's pretty) Today? Like 1700, with worse times. What the hell, airlines.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2016 18:34
|
|
|
You might want to try booking it separately, e.g. in mid-April flying mid-week, I see $999 for an open jaw LAX -> IST ; ZAG -> LAX with decent flight times through Frankfurt, and then I see $230 for a flight from Istanbul to Split (same price for Dubrovnik, in both cases flying through Zagreb). That's even cheaper than the $1350 one you found yesterday for the same route. Istanbul is also like the cheapest airport in the entire world. I see a $500 round-trip LAX->IST with decent flight times and one stop for just under $500, which is insane. You could take that and then get a separate open jaw ticket IST -> Split; ZAG -> IST for $250. So, you could get your entire itinerary for $750, including taxes and fees and everything. Sounds a lot better than $1700. Flights in/out of Istanbul are always crazy cheap, on any carrier though especially Pegasus. Edit: there's also a sticky thread about getting airline tickets at the top of the T&T subforum. Saladman fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Mar 11, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2016 19:42
|
|
|
Saladman posted:You might want to try booking it separately, e.g. in mid-April flying mid-week, I see $999 for an open jaw LAX -> IST ; ZAG -> LAX with decent flight times through Frankfurt, and then I see $230 for a flight from Istanbul to Split (same price for Dubrovnik, in both cases flying through Zagreb). That's even cheaper than the $1350 one you found yesterday for the same route. Thanks, I'll check it out! Been busy with work and throwing myself against a bunch of different websites looking at fares. I have yet to see anything as cheap as you mention, though - where have you been checking, if you don't mind me asking? Edit: Ah, one key difference I noticed: I don't have super flexible travel dates - I need to leave at the end of May, I'm holding down a full-time job before my field camp in turkey starts in early June. So leaving late may is my best option. I looked around a week or so in late May, but prices didn't seem to change that much. I've been looking at flying out mid-week, the 31st. Rodenthar Drothman fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Mar 12, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 04:49
|
|
|
I use Google Flights. I'm now seeing more like $750 as the best price LAX<->IST for the same mid-April dates I used before though, no idea what that magical $500 flight was. It was with Turkish and a codeshare with something I can't remember, but I don't see it again and it's also not your date at all. I should've taken a screenshot. Anyway, I have frequently seen flights in/out of Istanbul though that probably don't even cover the price of the fuel and airport taxes, so I would have hope that you can get something way cheaper. For your approximate dates right now, I can't find anything better than around $1200 just for the LAX->IST roundtrip... unless you fly Aeroflot, which saves like $300. Edit: just now got myself a ZRH -> IST ticket for $95, round-trip, beginning of April. It's a 3 hour flight each way. So cheap. Saladman fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Mar 12, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 10:35
|
|
|
Hey, Saladman, you're a walker, aren't you? Ever been to Corsica? Have fun in Istanbul, it's incredible!
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 11:49
|
|
|
greazeball posted:Hey, Saladman, you're a walker, aren't you? Ever been to Corsica? Nope. I made a post here and also made its own thread last year, and got 0 replies. For some reason, I don't think anyone in T&T has ever been to Corsica, or if they have, the Corsican mafia buried them deep. I think nothing in the inside of the island will be open by end of April though, so you're 'limited' to the coast which should still be awesome. One of my good friends has gone every April/May for a week and raves about it as a vacation spot. You'll want to rent a car (or drive down there and take the ferry), public transit on the island sucks. We wanted to do part of the GR20, but ended up not going at all because the Cirque de la Solitude was closed and there was no good alternative route at the time. I see now that the Cirque is now permanently soft-closed—i.e. they've removed all the safety equipment and guide marks etc to discourage people from doing it ( http://www.corsematin.com/article/ajaccio/dans-le-cirque-de-la-solitude-la-variante-devient-gr-officiel.1971280.html ). Information on Corsica is surprisingly hard to find, even searching in French.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 13:19
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Nope. I made a post here and also made its own thread last year, and got 0 replies. For some reason, I don't think anyone in T&T has ever been to Corsica, or if they have, the Corsican mafia buried them deep. I think nothing in the inside of the island will be open by end of April though, so you're 'limited' to the coast which should still be awesome. One of my good friends has gone every April/May for a week and raves about it as a vacation spot. You'll want to rent a car (or drive down there and take the ferry), public transit on the island sucks. Yeah, we've been noticing the lack of information but I figured you'd have considered the GR20 at some point. We are bringing a car and we'll just wing it for the most part. Coastal walks or easier alpine stuff are what we're after so I'm sure we'll find plenty to do and see.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 13:38
|
|
|
Oh god I just bought a one way ticket to Europe, what am I doing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 23:14
|
|
|
ddiddles posted:Oh god I just bought a one way ticket to Europe, what am I doing. Good luck. I hope you make it in.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 23:30
|
|
|
ddiddles posted:Oh god I just bought a one way ticket to Europe, what am I doing. I did that about 7 years ago and now I've gone full blown native, looking at citizenship and everything. God help you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 00:46
|
|
|
Saladman posted:I did that about 7 years ago and now I've gone full blown native, looking at citizenship and everything. God help you. I did that three and a half years ago and had my contract expire in October. Now I'm back and lovin' it. Trump '16
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 05:36
|
|
|
Oh god no why. Go to uspol march
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 08:09
|
|
|
Im already a British citizen, so I at least get to skip that part.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 08:09
|
|
|
ddiddles posted:Im already a British citizen, so I at least get to skip that part. EU citizen for three more months then, eh? 
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 15:05
|
|
|
greazeball posted:Anyone have recommendations for Corsica? My wife and I are going for about a week at the end of April. We have our ferry tickets and hotels booked for our first and last nights on the island and other than that we just want to enjoy the scenery, do some walking (nothing too extreme though), stop in at some farms and eat all their cheese, visit vineyards, stuff like that. We're not going to plan things out too much, I don't think, so if you have any highlights at all that you'd recommend, please do!
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 15:26
|
|
|
My girlfriend and I have been invited to a wedding in Serbia, and we thought we'd visit some of the rest of the Balkans while we're there - does anyone have reccomendations for things to see?
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 17:52
|
|
|
I'm moving to London next month, I have a close friend there who offered his sofa, no attachments, and a bunch of experience in my field (software development) that should land me an easy job, and enough savings to last me several years without a job. I'm an european citizen, nearing 30, native english speaker with some latino accent, but white as gently caress (doubt I'll run into the british KKK but you never know). How's the city? I already got the basics from my friend (Get a National Insurance appointment, rent a shoebox studio flat, get bank account, get perm job, eventually do contracting through agency and umbrella company). What's it like moving there? Anyone done it before? Keep in mind I'm coming from the third world so the wages there will be incredibly high for me, so if the deal is "the weather is lovely and you will feel lonely but you will also make (relative) mad bucks" I'll take it. Also chances are I will grow a lot professionally. What's the web dev scene? How easily can I get a perm/contractor job if I'm a real good nodejs/angular/react dev with 12 years of experience (obviously only 3-4 with full-js stacks), but all of it in South America (I do have some nice github OS projects cred)?
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 20:08
|
|
|
Me and friend are trying to get from Krakow to Vienna on Tuesday ideally by train, sleeper or not. The only ticket's we're finding involve physical shipping by mail, which isn't really an option with this short timeframe. There is always the bus as a last alternative. Does anyone know of anything we aren't finding?
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 22:18
|
|
|
I did a night train from Berlin to Krakow. It was many moons ago now but we just got tickets on the day. A late train midweek should have availability.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 22:49
|
|
|
Struensee posted:My girlfriend and I have been invited to a wedding in Serbia, and we thought we'd visit some of the rest of the Balkans while we're there - does anyone have reccomendations for things to see? Go look a page ago for some Croatia porn.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 23:28
|
|
|
HookShot posted:Go look a page ago for some Croatia porn. Actually, that's Bosnia but close to Croatian border. Pochoclo posted:What's the web dev scene? How easily can I get a perm/contractor job if I'm a real good nodejs/angular/react dev with 12 years of experience (obviously only 3-4 with full-js stacks), but all of it in South America (I do have some nice github OS projects cred)? You probably have a better chance asking about that in the web dev megathread. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3554791&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=155 Doctor Malaver fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Mar 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2016 23:36
|
|
|
Doctor Malaver posted:Actually, that's Bosnia but close to Croatian border. Ha, go figure, I always thought Kravice Falls were in Croatia. Looks like I also need to visit the Balkans...
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 04:44
|
|
|
Go to Croatia and let this fine goon be your guide through Zagreb.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 11:43
|
|
|
Pochoclo posted:I'm moving to London next month, I have a close friend there who offered his sofa, no attachments, and a bunch of experience in my field (software development) that should land me an easy job, and enough savings to last me several years without a job. I'm an european citizen, nearing 30, native english speaker with some latino accent, but white as gently caress (doubt I'll run into the british KKK but you never know). How's the city? I already got the basics from my friend (Get a National Insurance appointment, rent a shoebox studio flat, get bank account, get perm job, eventually do contracting through agency and umbrella company). I don't really know if a travel thread is the best place for this kind of stuff, but it does sound like you have everything covered. Most people move here without anywhere near as many of the boxes already ticked, so congratulations. Getting a bank account is always a little tricky without any bills or rental contracts in your name, but Lloyds seem to be the most foreign-friendly which is why I started with them. Web Dev scene is huge and you will be fine in this regard. Not my area but I know plenty of people out there in that area. Being latino is absolutely no issue, this is an incredibly multicultural city and I, while racism exists, it's definitely one of the most tolerant places I've ever been. With apartments it's important to set your expectations and to realise that even on a decent salary you may well end up living with housemates in a shared place, and rents are incredibly high. Depending on what you're into I can give you advice on particular areas where you might want to live. Best value for money is definitely going to be in the South-East or East.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 14:23
|
|
|
What's the best area to spend 5 days in Istanbul If we're interested in the major touristy stuff and in good food? No interest in cheap Turkish street food really, I can get enough of that in Europe already. Anyone have particular high-end or medium-high end restaurant recommendations (20-50€/pp main course)? Neither of us cares about nightlife or bar districts.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 17:18
|
|
|
Anyone have any understanding on why Aeroflot flights to Europe & back from JFK are so cheap?
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 18:22
|
|
|
Normal Person posted:Anyone have any understanding on why Aeroflot flights to Europe & back from JFK are so cheap? Aeroflot flights to and from anywhere are always dirt cheap, e.g. a few posts back they're selling LAX <-> IST tickets for like $400 less than the next cheapest carrier. You usually (always?) have to transfer in Moscow though, which will make your flight like twice as long. I don't know if Russia subsidizes it somehow like Etihad in Dubai, or if it's just that they save money by not maintaining any of their planes*. *Just a joke, kind of. They must maintain their planes since they're allowed to fly in the EU. Edit: You won't find the actual answer though, all that stuff is pretty hush-hush since it'd be easy to be found afoul of international open skies agreements, which do not permit / greatly restrict subsidies that can be provided to national carriers. I don't know how it's handled for companies that openly subsidize their planes fuel and etc, but the only such examples I can think of offhand are Argentina and Venezuela's national carriers, and they're both so hosed that maybe no one even cares to bring them to court. Saladman fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Mar 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 18:44
|
|
|
Palpek posted:Go to Croatia and let this fine goon be your guide through Zagreb. Yikes
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 19:25
|
|
|
Saladman posted:What's the best area to spend 5 days in Istanbul If we're interested in the major touristy stuff and in good food? No interest in cheap Turkish street food really, I can get enough of that in Europe already. Anyone have particular high-end or medium-high end restaurant recommendations (20-50€/pp main course)? Neither of us cares about nightlife or bar districts. Sultanahmet is obviously where all the major sights are but it just seemed like a wall-to-wall tourist trap with scammers and hawkers and beggars and that type of thing everywhere. I felt like there just wasn't anybody there who wasn't a tourist or hustling tourists. It was nice to go back across the river where things were less predatory. We stayed in an Air BnB north of Taksim, it was quiet and there was a nice place to get fresh Börek and tea for breakfast each day but it was rather far. I think Galata or Karaköy could be good spots, kind of in-between tourist Istanbul and "realer" Istanbul: İstiklal Avenue seemed like the centre of town (up to 3 million visitors a day at weekends) and there are tons of restaurants around there and up past Taksim which seemed to be full of people who weren't tourists. We were on a modest budget while we were there so I can't really recommend a top top restaurant but if you eat meat, you'll want to find a Ocakbaşı. Goddamn can they grill some meat. The food was just spectacular everywhere, I think you may be overestimating Euro street food or underestimating Istanbul's. You'll see locals in suits lining up in the evening rush hour near all the ferries to get fish sandwiches from the street vendors and they were a treat--get one. If you get street food like that in Zurich, spill the beans cos I would go nuts for something like that! And the sweets! Oh my loving god the sweets. Go in every mosque you can, I thought the architecture and geometry and mosaics are amazing and each one is really unique. They were super chill as long as it wasn't prayer time and you were only taking photos where it was allowed. Walking the city walls was a good day too, it was cool to get a feel for some of the other neighbourhoods that weren't so touristy.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2016 23:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 16:53 |
|
|
Awesome, thanks. Yeah I wasn't sure I actually wanted to -stay- in Sultanahmet. We're going to do the AirBnb thing too, so upscale residential / commercial areas sound good. I'm sure I'll end up getting at least a couple street kebabs. I just moved to ZH, but there's a a Turkish kebab place on Rue de la Mèbre in Renens just behind the gare thats really good and it's always packed with Turks (and I found out about it because of a couple independent Turkish people who agreed on it). The kebab shop in Lausanne at the corner of Maupas and Rue des Echelettes is pretty good too. I never found anything that good in Geneva but I never spent all that much time there either. I guess what I was really hoping for was Turkish food that's distinct from the kebab+doner+durum+pizza choices that are ubiquitous in Europe. Presumably theres more to Turkish food than those 4 menu items. I've never heard of ocakbaşı so that sounds like a good start. My phone keeps switching between good and food when I slightly mistype things in this post. Very appropriate.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2016 10:17
|
|