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Carotid posted:My boyfriend and I are going to Germany next week, land April 12th and leave April 19th. We plan to split the trip between Berlin and Munich, with a day trip to the Neuschwanstein castle and probably Dachau as well. We love cool architecture and art/museums, as well as bars and live music. We don't mind walking so anywhere where we can just wander around and stumble into cool stuff works too. Any recommendations for places we should definitely have on our radar? For Munich, you can pretty easily check off the "cool architecture and art/museums" and "anywhere where we can just wander around and stumble into cool stuff" very near the city center. I'm not sure of the names of the area I'm describing, but east and northeast of the main train station is a great area for walking around. You can see a number of interesting and historic buildings (St. Peter's Church has a tower you can climb up for a minimal fee), museums, plus a lot of gardens/parks, including the massive English Garden. If nothing else, check out Rick Steves' walking tour audio guide which will highlight a lot of sights in the area. There's a few beer gardens in the area, too, which you should check out.
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Apr 5, 2016 16:17
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Carotid posted:My boyfriend and I are going to Germany next week, land April 12th and leave April 19th. We plan to split the trip between Berlin and Munich, with a day trip to the Neuschwanstein castle and probably Dachau as well. We love cool architecture and art/museums, as well as bars and live music. We don't mind walking so anywhere where we can just wander around and stumble into cool stuff works too. Any recommendations for places we should definitely have on our radar? In Munich, check out the Kunstareal which combines the three major art galleries (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne) with some smaller museums, and pick whichever one(s) you are most interested in; they are all pretty good. In Berlin, the "Museumsinsel" (museum island) is also centrally located and offers a similar clustering of museums while also being quite scenic in general. From there, you can either strike out into Mitte (walk towards "Hackescher Markt", where you will find lots of bars and good Kebap), or towards the Brandenburg Gate (up the Unter den Linden boulevard) and Holocaust memorial (which I think is a fantastic piece of architecture), from where you can easily go the Potsdamer Platz, which is not the most interesting, but Sony Center is a rather impressive architectural space. On the other side of the Museumsinsel, you can also walk to Alexanderplatz, past the TV Tower and down the former East German parade boulevard towards Strausberger Platz, if you are interested in post-War soviet-style socialist architecture and what the GDR thought Berlin should look like.
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Apr 5, 2016 16:51
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In Berlin, you can also check out the parliament building. You need to book your visit in advance online: http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/visits/kuppel/kupp/245686 The views from the dome are pretty good, and the audio guide is quite good, and points out most of the buildings you can see.
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Apr 5, 2016 17:18
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Hello. I have booked a trip to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague this month, April. Suggestions welcome. I will be packing light, 3 days each country. Any recommendations in each country on where to eat? Where to go? A couple of historic or tourist stops are okay in the morning but otherwise I'm also hoping to know more about the nightlife, cultural items, restaurants, scenic locales, etc. I'm doing my research, like I've heard about Old Town in Prague but do let me know what your recommendations are.
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Apr 8, 2016 01:08
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In Budapest spend an afternoon at Szechenyi baths, then head to one of the ruin bars like Szimpla Kert.
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Apr 8, 2016 12:47
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Going to Catania, Italy to visit a friend for 5d/4n. I'll be relying on her to guide me around, but anything really big that I should take a look at while I'm there?
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Apr 8, 2016 23:19
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Ibblebibble posted:Going to Catania, Italy to visit a friend for 5d/4n. I'll be relying on her to guide me around, but anything really big that I should take a look at while I'm there? 5 days seems like a lot for Catania, but with a local you shouldn't have trouble finding things to do. Even still though, I don't know if there's 5 days worth of things to see. The cathedral and monastery are nice. There's a great archaeology museum, and a couple cool opera theatres. I saw pretty much everything in a day, but I was kind of rushed in Sicily. Mount Etna is nearby which was pretty cool. It was smoking big time when I flew into Catania. Taormina is within day trip range (depending on transport method) as with Siracusa, didn't go to Taormina but heard good things. Siracusa was quite good.The Greek Archaeological Park was neat as was the nearby museum. The old city on the island of Ortigia was also really cool. The people were really helpful, nice, and the food was great. If your friend doesn't drive don't make concrete plans in these places unless your spending the night because the transportation is not good. The buses aren't great and the trains are awful with their timings.
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Apr 9, 2016 00:55
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Thanks guys, these suggestions are great!
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Apr 9, 2016 01:06
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MagicCube posted:5 days seems like a lot for Catania, but with a local you shouldn't have trouble finding things to do. Even still though, I don't know if there's 5 days worth of things to see. The cathedral and monastery are nice. There's a great archaeology museum, and a couple cool opera theatres. I saw pretty much everything in a day, but I was kind of rushed in Sicily. Mount Etna is nearby which was pretty cool. It was smoking big time when I flew into Catania. Thanks! I have a feeling a day or two will be taken up on the beach or some such, but I'll see how the transport situation is like there.
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Apr 9, 2016 16:01
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Sweevo posted:In Budapest spend an afternoon at Szechenyi baths, then head to one of the ruin bars like Szimpla Kert. Thank you. I did have Ruin Bar Instant, castles, etc. If there are any suggestions for Prague and Vienna, I'd appreciate it. Even the seedy stuff...it'll be like a Taken movie! Restaurants, food to try, etc.
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Apr 9, 2016 17:44
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MagicCube posted:5 days seems like a lot for Catania, but with a local you shouldn't have trouble finding things to do. Even still though, I don't know if there's 5 days worth of things to see. The cathedral and monastery are nice. There's a great archaeology museum, and a couple cool opera theatres. I saw pretty much everything in a day, but I was kind of rushed in Sicily. Mount Etna is nearby which was pretty cool. It was smoking big time when I flew into Catania. Taormina is a nice little place. I would recommend hiking on Etna also. Ibblebibble posted:Going to Catania, Italy to visit a friend for 5d/4n. I'll be relying on her to guide me around, but anything really big that I should take a look at while I'm there? Are you staying at Sigonella?
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Apr 9, 2016 23:06
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MagicCube posted:5 days seems like a lot for Catania, but with a local you shouldn't have trouble finding things to do. Even still though, I don't know if there's 5 days worth of things to see. The cathedral and monastery are nice. There's a great archaeology museum, and a couple cool opera theatres. I saw pretty much everything in a day, but I was kind of rushed in Sicily. Mount Etna is nearby which was pretty cool. It was smoking big time when I flew into Catania. Have you been to Lipari? I'll be in Milan for work until the second week of May, and was looking at Lipari afterward, with Catania as departure point.
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Apr 10, 2016 02:42
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TheImmigrant posted:Have you been to Lipari? I'll be in Milan for work until the second week of May, and was looking at Lipari afterward, with Catania as departure point. Unfortunately not, but I do recall someone who posts somewhat often in the thread gave me some good advice about Stromboli and the islands around it when I was planning my time in Sicily. Might have even posted about Lipari, but I definitely remember something about Stromboli.
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Apr 10, 2016 02:48
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sleepy gary posted:Are you staying at Sigonella? No, staying with my friend who lives more or less in the city centre. Means I get homecooked dinners from her mum and will probably explode from food before I leave.
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Apr 10, 2016 03:48
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I'll be in Munich for 24 hours (~3pm to ~3pm). I'm staying right near the Marienplatz-- any suggestions?
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Apr 10, 2016 04:33
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Carotid posted:My boyfriend and I are going to Germany next week, land April 12th and leave April 19th. We plan to split the trip between Berlin and Munich, with a day trip to the Neuschwanstein castle and probably Dachau as well. We love cool architecture and art/museums, as well as bars and live music. We don't mind walking so anywhere where we can just wander around and stumble into cool stuff works too. Any recommendations for places we should definitely have on our radar? My girlfriend and I spent some time in Germany in September and had a lot of fun. In Berlin my favorite museum was probably the Pergamon museum, which I would really recommend if you're into archeology or ancient history at all. The German History Museum, which is just to the west of the museum island, was another good museum and the with so much focus and detail on Germany it's not the kind of thing you would find in any major city. We also enjoyed wandering around the flea market at Mauerpark but I think it's only open on Sundays, so you might be out of luck. Berlin is famous for it's rowdy nightlife but if you're like me (i.e. boring) and would rather have a couple quiet drinks than rage until 7 AM there are of course a ton of places for you too, from the very touristy to the tiny hole-in-the-wall.
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Apr 10, 2016 22:20
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My favourite hobby in Berlin museums is counting the number of times you see signs to the effect of "we had more of these [Turkish/Greek/Egyptian] pieces of history but after World War 2 the Soviets stole them from us and won't give them back" without the slightest trace of irony.
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Apr 10, 2016 22:59
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Moving to Spain in a few months for at least a few years. I know this thread is more catered towards tourists going to Europe but I can't find a thread that would be relevant with my question so here it goes. What do you guy's recommend for a cell phone plan while living in Spain. I know that many companies over there (Vodafone etc) offer cell phone plans + internet for a better price. I will be looking into getting internet as well so maybe kill two birds with one stone. Also, how does traveling outside of Spain work with a cell phone plan - no roaming while in the Schengen Area or?
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Apr 12, 2016 21:13
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This thread isn't really just for tourism, but most of the questions are directed that way. It kind of depends what you want to do with your cell phone. Do you care about data on it, or will you use 99% of your data at home/work and never use a cell phone except for occasional texts and calls? If you do use data, do you think you'd hit 2 GB/month, or even more? you use a ton of data on your phone, then getting a bundle with your home Internet is probably the best deal. WhatsApp is ubiquitously used in Europe. I've heard Viber is a thing but I have only heard of like 2 people who ever use it. I don't remember the last time I made a direct cell-to-cell or cell-to-phone call that wasn't for something administrative, but it's probably been years. I switched to true-unlimited data about a year ago—to the extent that I no longer even have a regular home Internet connection—and I now use a major network carrier and I turn my phone into a wifi router when I'm at home. If you're a single person you might want to look into that. For a couple, this "solution" kind of sucks and it's nice to have a normal home connection. Traveling outside of Spain: right now there are roaming fees in the Schengen area (more or less, it's slightly more complicated), which are moderate but still expensive enough that you probably want to limit phone use "abroad". International roaming ceases to exist within Europe in July 2017, so pretty soon it'll be as much of a historical footnote as out-of-area-code calling is in the United States. Thank God and this can't come soon enough. Fees have been decreasing on-schedule for the past 6 years, so I have no reason to expect that the Jul 2017 date will be delayed by telecom assholery, but you never know. Going from "moderate fees" to "zero fees" is a big jump. Fees were absolutely insane when I moved here in 2009, which sucked because I lived at a country border and occasionally my phone would switch to the "gently caress you in the rear end" foreign cell towers and I could not, at the time, figure out how to disable it ever doing that., Saladman fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Apr 12, 2016 |
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Apr 12, 2016 21:29
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Saladman posted:This thread isn't really just for tourism, but most of the questions are directed that way. Thank you, that's very helpful. Yes, I care about data and I expect to hit at least 2 GB a month or more. I'm assuming that I will mainly be using WhatsApp but it would be nice to have a Spanish phone number just in case. And yes, I will be a single person so I will look into the true-unlimited data. Who is your provider and how much do you pay?
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Apr 12, 2016 22:36
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Would I be correct in assuming that it will be an absolute clusterfuck re: accommodation and booking nice restaurants in San Sebastian around the time of the Film Festival (including the week leading up to it)?
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Apr 13, 2016 02:18
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Just bought a ticket to Milan for the first 2 weeks in June on a whim. Will probably spend a couple days in the city, and couple days around Lake Como, but other than that I have no plan what to do with the remaining 9 days. Anyone have suggestions for northern Italy? I'll be traveling with my GF, both 30, we tend to be into more nature-y hiking stuff than say, art museums/city stuff/shopping, which seems to be what draws most people to Milan. So we are definitely not opposed to visiting small towns or more rural areas. We are also really into the food/wine aspect of Italy too of course. For the main touristy stuff in the "region" It looks like Venice is reasonable distance away. Cinque Terre also seems reasonable, will it be extremely crowded in early June? Are most things reachable by train, or should we plan on renting a car for a bit?
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Apr 16, 2016 15:54
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SonicDefiance posted:Would I be correct in assuming that it will be an absolute clusterfuck re: accommodation and booking nice restaurants in San Sebastian around the time of the Film Festival (including the week leading up to it)? Checking today for the dates of the film festival, booking.com is showing 49% of everything available through them in San Sebastian as booked. Not too bad yet, but you are correct in that trying to book later in the summer could be difficult. hbf posted:Just bought a ticket to Milan for the first 2 weeks in June on a whim. Will probably spend a couple days in the city, and couple days around Lake Como, but other than that I have no plan what to do with the remaining 9 days. Anyone have suggestions for northern Italy? I'll be traveling with my GF, both 30, we tend to be into more nature-y hiking stuff than say, art museums/city stuff/shopping, which seems to be what draws most people to Milan. So we are definitely not opposed to visiting small towns or more rural areas. We are also really into the food/wine aspect of Italy too of course. For the main touristy stuff in the "region" It looks like Venice is reasonable distance away. Cinque Terre also seems reasonable, will it be extremely crowded in early June? Are most things reachable by train, or should we plan on renting a car for a bit? Trains are a feasible option for travelling between major cities, with the usual caveat of having to deal with Italian trains. For visiting smaller towns or rural areas, you want a car.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:20
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Quick question for UK/London goons. I've booked train tickets for London (Victoria) - Brighton. Do I have to print them or pick them up at Victoria station or can I print them at any station with a ticket machine?
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Apr 16, 2016 16:36
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Waci posted:Trains are a feasible option for travelling between major cities, with the usual caveat of having to deal with Italian trains. For visiting smaller towns or rural areas, you want a car. Absolutely this. My rule of thumb for public transport in Italy is the further you are from a major city, the less reliable it is. Going from Milan to Venice by train shouldn't be any sort of problem, but I certainly wouldn't trust the local buses to get you out into the countryside and back home again. If you're planning on doing a lot of outdoor activities it's absolutely worth hiring a car.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:36
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elwood posted:Short question for UK/London goons. I've booked train tickets for London (Victoria) - Brighton. Do I have to print them or pick them up at Victoria station or can I print them at any station with a ticket machine? You can print them at any station with a ticket machine, you'll need the credit card you used to buy them and the code they emailed to you.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:37
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hbf posted:Just bought a ticket to Milan for the first 2 weeks in June on a whim. Will probably spend a couple days in the city, and couple days around Lake Como, but other than that I have no plan what to do with the remaining 9 days. Anyone have suggestions for northern Italy? I'll be traveling with my GF, both 30, we tend to be into more nature-y hiking stuff than say, art museums/city stuff/shopping, which seems to be what draws most people to Milan. So we are definitely not opposed to visiting small towns or more rural areas. We are also really into the food/wine aspect of Italy too of course. For the main touristy stuff in the "region" It looks like Venice is reasonable distance away. Cinque Terre also seems reasonable, will it be extremely crowded in early June? Are most things reachable by train, or should we plan on renting a car for a bit? Do you like driving? If so, rent a car and go around Lake Como, Maggiore, or Iseo (note that Como the city itself has a relatively lousy view of the lake and mountains). Maybe head towards the Dolomites if you REALLY like mountains and hiking, or just go over to Switzerland around the National Park area and do the Macun Lakes hike if you're fit. If you don't like driving, Garda is going to be the easiest to get around. The farther north in Italian mountains you want to go, the more difficult it will be to get there by public transit until you get close enough such that the Swiss handle the transport. IMO the more northern stretches of all those lakes are nicer than the southern parts. I love Sirmione and Bellagio in particular for one-night stays, but they're ultra way too touristy for more than that. How do you handle heat? Cinque Terre will be hot and humid and fairly crowded* and expensive in June, although the same holds true with Milan and basically anywhere else in Italy that's not in the mountains or on the northern lakes. A/C is not ubiquitous, and if you're in a small town, your hotel is reasonably likely to not have it. If you find a Milan hotel without A/C, on the other hand, then it probably has bed bugs and someone who comes in the night to harvest your organs. Honestly it sounds like you would benefit greatly from renting a car, since the trains are only really good for hitting major tourist and museum destinations like Florence Venice etc which sound like they're not really up your alley. If you do go towards mountains, I would recommend going north / northeast rather than northwest. IMO Aosta Valley is pretty boring and not as exceptionally beautiful as some of the other areas, unless you want to go as far as Chamonix to go up the Aiguille du Midi or something. *the major European tourist season starts at the last week of June/first week of July, so you will miss the worst crowds and prices. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Apr 16, 2016 |
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Apr 16, 2016 16:49
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I live in Vienna and some family is coming to visit soon. It will be their first time in Europe. We have already arranged a 2 day trip to Salzburg and a day trip to Bratislava. They would like to go to another country or two as well. My initial suggestions were Brno and Sopron day trips, but I'm thinking maybe Prague and/or Budapest instead. The trouble is both of those are about double the travel time and would be harder to do as day trips, so an overnight stay might be required which would add a lot of expense. I haven't been to Brno or Sopron but I've been to all the others mentioned. Any opinions or suggestions?
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Apr 17, 2016 06:24
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My fiancee and I have 3 days in Stockholm at the end of May -- any suggestions for nice cafés, interesting restaurants, or stuff to do off the beaten path? We've never been before, but Wikitravel's page on it is INSANELY detailed. We don't really care about night life, but we do like indie cafes and checking out non-chain-store shopping (either for clothes or 'stuff'). We've been to a ton of European churches and history/art/culture museums and I'm pretty over it by now, but if there's anything particular exceptional on that note I'd be interested enough to check it out too. E: Wikitravel was full of poo poo saying that 4* hotel prices are competitively low in Stockholm. I couldn't find anything 4* below €250/night, and I couldn't even find any 2* hotels below like €125/night that are within walking distance to the city center. Anyway, I booked a flat in SoFo for €137/night including fees. Private rooms in hostels in city center were around €90/night + €8/ea for sheets. I don't know why anyone besides a young, poor single traveler going for a one night stay in a city would ever go to a hostel Western Europe. I think Berlin and Vienna are the only two cities I've checked where private rooms w/ shared bathroom were at even remotely competitive prices. Saladman fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Apr 18, 2016 |
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Apr 18, 2016 11:20
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sleepy gary posted:I live in Vienna and some family is coming to visit soon. It will be their first time in Europe. We have already arranged a 2 day trip to Salzburg and a day trip to Bratislava. Venice, Split, Sarajevo.
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Apr 18, 2016 13:16
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Doctor Malaver posted:Venice, Split, Sarajevo. How are any of those day trips from Vienna? Or shorter to get to than Budapest or Prague? Honestly though to answer sleepy gary's question I think doing Budapest and Brno are good ideas. Both are relatively short by both car and train depending on which one you want to do, and it's two different countries for your family to experience. Plus it's one capital city and one smaller city, so a bit of variety in the trip too.
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Apr 18, 2016 16:04
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The north of Slovenia, at the edge of the Alps (Bled lake, the wine region around Maribor), is supposed to be very nice too, but that's almost as far as Budapest or Prague I guess.
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Apr 18, 2016 16:29
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HookShot posted:How are any of those day trips from Vienna? Or shorter to get to than Budapest or Prague? The guests would like to see more countries. If it was my first time in Europe I probably wouldn't notice much difference between Austria, Slovakia, Czechia and Hungary. Yes those are four countries but they might as well be one in this situation. A plane trip to Venice with an overnight stay would be more expensive than driving to Brno, but much more memorable.
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Apr 18, 2016 16:47
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HookShot posted:How are any of those day trips from Vienna? Or shorter to get to than Budapest or Prague? Thanks to you and the others who replied. I think this is how we're going to do it.
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Apr 18, 2016 17:34
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Doctor Malaver posted:Sarajevo. Any suggestions on things to do or see? Gonna be there for a day or two in July before heading west by rail.
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Apr 20, 2016 19:59
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Genocide  Come on man, it's the capital of a freaking country there's definitely something you can do for a day or two. Some national museum some historical major building or some history nearby. Or restaurants and decent bars being the capital city.
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Apr 21, 2016 03:17
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People like to bitch about Brussels but there's still enough stuff to do for a day
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Apr 21, 2016 03:17
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Spime Wrangler posted:Any suggestions on things to do or see? Gonna be there for a day or two in July before heading west by rail. Honestly, that's the only major city in the region I haven't been to. I recommended it as a place that's close enough to central Europe but culturally very different and affordable.
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Apr 21, 2016 10:33
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Saladman posted:My fiancee and I have 3 days in Stockholm at the end of May -- any suggestions for nice cafés, interesting restaurants, or stuff to do off the beaten path? We've never been before, but Wikitravel's page on it is INSANELY detailed. We don't really care about night life, but we do like indie cafes and checking out non-chain-store shopping (either for clothes or 'stuff'). We've been to a ton of European churches and history/art/culture museums and I'm pretty over it by now, but if there's anything particular exceptional on that note I'd be interested enough to check it out too. For small shops and indie cafés you should go to Södermalm of course, more precisely around the street Skĺnegatan and around Nytorget/Vita Bergs Parken. Cafés like Kafe String, Blĺ Lotus, Chutney (vegan café/resturant that's is cheap and great). The area is commonly called "SoFo". Wiki A map for cool spots in the area (There is a Google translate option at the top)
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Apr 21, 2016 17:08
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caberham posted:Genocide Oh I'm not at all worried about being bored, this aint my first rodeo. Just looking for some first-hand knowledge of any must-see spots from someone who's been there.
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Apr 22, 2016 16:27
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