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Buzkashi posted:My girlfriend has been sending me amazon links to lederhosen saying that if we look the part, we'll have a better chance of getting in/staying in, is she loving with me or is this legit? I think she's loving with me. Yes, tons of people wear lederhosen and dirndls. The tourists (i.e. Australians) wear lovely ones they bought for $15 on amazon, locals tend to have actual high quality stuff. In either case, it'll likely end up with bodily fluids of some sort(s) by the end of day 2. This is your chance to get your girlfriend to buy a hot dirndl, so what if you have to wear lederhosen. You don't have to look at yourself. You also don't have to do anything to "get in" except on the first day at the tapping of the keg, where you need tickets that you won't be able to get anyway. Normally you just walk inside the tent. You don't have to do anything to "stay in" besides find a table (note that you can't order beer unless you're AT a table) and not start a fight or get so wasted you can't stand up. Edit: Actually that only applies if you get in before like 5pm, maybe a little earlier on a weekend. If you try going at like 7pm you're going to have an impossible time finding a table. All the tents stop serving beer at ~10 and close at ~11. There is some stuff going outside the tents -- although it's exclusively bratwurst, terrible sandwiches, and standard carnival games. Oktoberfest is fun if you like going to a festival and drinking in a tent around a bunch of other drunk people. If you like drinking with your girlfriend and meeting people when you're out, then you'll have a good time. If you don't like going out drinking and meeting people in bars, then Oktoberfest will be not very much fun after about 3 hours. Either way you'll want to punch someone the fiftieth time you hear the band play "ein prosit" if you're sober, or chug down a liter of beer if you're drunk. Also: Oktoberfest is a marathon, not a sprint. If you get to Oktoberfest when it opens at 10am and drink like you probably drink going out at home, you're going to be one of those idiots passed out in the grass at 6pm. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Aug 3, 2016 |
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Aug 3, 2016 16:16
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sweek0 posted:actionjackson posted: you don't necessarily have to book the train from AMS to Belgium in advance. It can be done on the day as well, but you've done that now and it's probably cheaper that way, so not to worry. I'll echo that Antwerp and Ghent are better than Brussels and Bruges And Lille itself really isn't particularly interesting. I'd rather spend some time in the Netherlands as well if you wanted to fit in more. I'm staying in Ghent. Lille is where the tournament is. I already did the Netherlands. kanonvandekempen posted:I'm pretty sure you can't just get of the train at your leisure and continue on later during the day. So if I take the train to Ostend through Bruges, I can't, for example get off at Bruges on the way back and then get back on to finish my journey later that day?
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Aug 4, 2016 01:23
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actionjackson posted:So if I take the train to Ostend through Bruges, I can't, for example get off at Bruges on the way back and then get back on to finish my journey later that day? Apparently I was wrong and you can, but you have to pay extra, you can choose an extra station to step off at when you book your ticket. Say you go from Oostende to Brussels, it will be €17. If you decide to get off at bruges for the day, you have to make this clear when you buy the ticket (either at the counter or online) and the price will be €18.40 If you are going to be taking trains a lot you could get a Rail Pass (if you're older than 26) or a Go Pass (younger than 26). With the pass you will have 10 rides. Rail pass costs €76, go pass is €51. Oh, and don't expect fancy modern stuff like WiFi on the train.
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Aug 4, 2016 09:42
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OK so my uncle lives in Czech now in a small Jewish town outside of Prague. He invited me and my wife to go and visit, for 10 days, we're looking at February 2017, any of you fuckers around there that time? She want's to experience Europe, we're from South Africa, I just want to not work and be drunk, I don't give a poo poo.
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Aug 6, 2016 14:36
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We are visiting Ireland from Sept 26-Oct 5th, exploring the island with my husband and 3 small children (ages 5, 3, 2). We've been there before about 8 years ago (before kids), so we've done stuff like the Kilbeggan distillery, Newgrange and Cliffs of Moher. Now that we're traveling with kids, I'd love to stay away from big cities and stuff like zoos in favor of animal sanctuaries and hikes/walking tours. I know for sure we want to take them to Bunratty Castle, including the feast, and we also would love to explore Killarney park and the Kylemore Abbey. Any other advice for traveling the island with kids would be much appreciated! We will likely be staying in Air bnb houses all over, maybe the first night in the SE, then 3 nights in the SW and three nights in the NW before heading back to the Dublin area. The Lough Gur / Ballyhoura area was recommended and maybe the Aran Islands. Also, will the weather be kind of mild sweater weather or does it start to get really cold in the fall? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us!
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Aug 8, 2016 00:42
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Ireland never really gets cold, it's right on the Gulf stream. I'd expect around 12-15c during the day and not much less at night. But be prepared for strong winds that make it feel cold, and probably a lot of rain!
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Aug 8, 2016 01:08
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Entropist posted:Ireland never really gets cold, it's right on the Gulf stream. I'd expect around 12-15c during the day and not much less at night. But be prepared for strong winds that make it feel cold, and probably a lot of rain! That sounds like a gigantic San Francisco with micro climates. Northern Europe without being cold? Why isn't it flooded with other euros?
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Aug 8, 2016 01:55
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Most of coastal northwestern Europe is also like that. I guess it depends on what you call cold, I just mean it rarely freezes near the coast (where all the interesting parts of Ireland are) and there's not gonna be snow in october, or hardly ever these days.
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Aug 8, 2016 02:45
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caberham posted:That sounds like a gigantic San Francisco with micro climates. Northern Europe without being cold? Why isn't it flooded with other euros? Presumably because it doesn't properly warm up during the summer and rains constantly, if it's anything like the parts of Canada with moderate winters.
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Aug 8, 2016 04:42
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I'll find myself over in Austria on business, and am planning on taking a 1-week holiday while I'm over in Europe. I'll be in Vienna for 6 days. Then my plan is to train to Prague in the morning, spend the night and the next full day, and then train to Dresden. Stay in Dresden for the afternoon/night and the next full day, and then train to Berlin. I would then spend that afternoon and two full days in Berlin. I would then fly out of TXL the next morning. Does this sound about right? I haven't started to plan out any specific sights or events in the cities; this was just my initial starting point for scheduling.
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Aug 12, 2016 05:46
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Don't visit three cities in six days unless you've done it before and know you're ok with it.
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Aug 12, 2016 06:00
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Yeah that schedule sounds bad, skip Dresden and spend those days in Prague, I'd probably actually just spend all that time in Prague and skip Germany entirely.
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Aug 12, 2016 17:24
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HookShot posted:Yeah that schedule sounds bad, skip Dresden and spend those days in Prague, I'd probably actually just spend all that time in Prague and skip Germany entirely. Otoh if you even think of visiting Dresden you must have a good reason for it.
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Aug 12, 2016 20:10
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Thanks guys. The return flight has already been booked in Berlin, so I need to make it there at some point. Sounds like I'll split the days between Prague and Berlin. I was just looking at some itineraries and Prague-Dresden-Berlin seemed a popular one. I don't have any specifics planned yet, so I'm still flexible. Some folks say spend the entire time in Prague, some say Berlin... looks like I have some more research to do.
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Aug 12, 2016 21:10
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Vienna, Prague and Berlin have very different vibes (and architecture and history and everything else), so your trip already has plenty of variety. 3.5 days in Berlin and Prague sounds fine, and you won't be jet lagged at least.
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Aug 12, 2016 22:51
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Cheers. I just managed to extend the tail-end of my trip for 2 days, so all is well. Now to dive into the itinerary planning!
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Aug 12, 2016 22:59
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Mostly a budget question since I'm letting my friends be my guide. S/O and I are visiting and staying with friends in London and want to make sure I'm planning on saving enough cash. I'll be there March 9-15 since it's for my last birthday of my 20's. They've told me 40 quid a day should be good so $500 if the pound stays at its low. They're going to feed us a little plus planning a dinner party for us and I'm going to help out with groceries since they're putting us up for free. It just seems low. We're also contemplating a day/overnight trip to Paris (just to say we did it. Really just want to see a bit of the city. My expat friend tells me it smells like piss and is overrated). I have no clue how much extra to throw aside for that. Not doing the Louvre, but Eiffel of course. What's the weather like in March? I'm guessing 40F and rainy? Or would we be better off get a car going to Scotland? Basically baby's first overseas trip for the boyfriend and my first not in Mexico so it's hard gauging going where my money is worth less.
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Aug 16, 2016 16:55
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Not the louvre but the Eiffel Tower? Jesus Christ. And Paris is over rated? loving hell. It's the last birthday of the 10's instead of 20's right? 500 is on the low side. Survivable but kinda low for a tourist with his S/O
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Aug 16, 2016 17:11
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caberham posted:Not the louvre but the Eiffel Tower? Jesus Christ. And Paris is over rated? loving hell. For every great thing, there's someone who thinks it's overrated and/or way too expensive. It's not objective.
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Aug 16, 2016 17:19
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Driving for a 2D/1N trip to Scotland from London is barely even feasible, let alone recommendable. Look at a map! Paris is super nice and there's a ton to do there, you don't need to speak French, and Parisians won't be rude and standoffish if you don't. OTOH a lot of it does smell like piss because people piss everywhere (somewhat less than historically). If you don't like museums, no reason to go to the Louvre really except to say you've done it. If you're a student and have a student card you should be able to get in free. This only applies to EU citizens but if you try the guards at all the entrances someone probably won't check your country or care. The louvre's collection is extensive but not nearly as varied as, say, the British Museum (of course British Museum isn't paintings, and Louvre is like 98% European paintings and sculpture). Eiffel is kind of cool, and you'll almost certainly be in the area at some point if you do go to Paris. You can easily go up to the second floor without waiting and without paying much. The top is pricey and will be quite a wait if it's a nice sunny March day, doubly so if it's a weekend, and it's pointless to go up it if it's not a nice sunny day. Otherwise just walk around outside, go into Notre Dame, check out the Latin Quarter, etc. If it's a nice day, don't waste any of that time on a museum unless you're really into [whatever that museum has]. It will probably be around 40F and overcast. You could get lucky though. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 17:26
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great cities often smell like piss ime  £40 a day also seems on the low side to me but I guess it depends on what you're doing vv so did parts of Paris and London and Budapest and New Orleans (and Prizren, but I don't think that's been considered a 'great city' since the Ottoman Empire) The Schwa fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 17:27
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Amsterdam smelled like piss and garbage 
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Aug 16, 2016 17:29
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Personally I don't see the point of 1 night in Paris. And I see even less reason when your budget is so tight. £40 a day isn't much when a double decker bus tour is £30, tower of london is £25, and the london eye is £21. Fish and chips at a pub was £12 when I was there last time, and Tikka Masala at a sit down place wasn't much cheaper (I assume you will want to try both, tho hopefully your friends know a good chippy or two and it will be cheaper). Pints were £5 and mixed drinks more. You might be staying in a cheaper part of London, but it won't be much different I don't think. And even if you had a little bit of money to spare I feel like a rugby or football match, or a trip to Bath and Stonehedge would be a better use of that money.
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Aug 16, 2016 17:48
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I don't really understand the double-decker bus tour. TfL Bus 15 gets you from just north of Canary Wharf near Tower Hamlets via Whitechapel, Tower Hill, Monument and the Strand directly to Charing Cross/Trafalgar Square. Once you are at Trafalgar, it's really, really easy to either walk up Whitehall towards Parliament/Westminster Abbey, via The Mall to Buckingham Palace or via Haymarket/Regent St to Piccadilly Circus and then onward to Oxford Circus or Tottenham Court Road. Alternatively, from Charing Cross, you can walk across to the Southbank. Depending on what you are interested in (e.g. St Paul's/Millenium Bridge/Tate Modern/Lloyds), it might otherwise be worth walking part of the way between Tower and Trafalgar, as well. TfL buses are cheap and absolutely everywhere, especially in the City, the only thing you really need for them is an Oyster Card since they stopped letting you pay with cash, so I don't quite understand expensive touristy bus tours. Another (and much nicer) option compared to the tourist bus would be to take a boat from Tower Pier to Embankment Pier, London Eye Pier or Westminster Pier. An overnight-trip to Scotland is impossible, and I don't see the point of an overnight-trip to Paris, either.
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Aug 16, 2016 18:38
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If you don't want it to be cold and rainy Scotland in March seems like the wrong course of action.
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Aug 16, 2016 18:44
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I think 40 pounds per day is doable for London. A lot of the attractions that charge a lot are fairly missable, save the Tower of London, imo. There's more than enough free stuff to see in London for 5-6 days with a few paid attractions thrown in if you desire. Food would probably be your largest expense, but the fact that you might only need 1 restaurant meal per day if your friends will be feeding you a bit makes 40 pounds per day seem fine to me.
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Aug 16, 2016 18:53
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Hollow Talk posted:buses Yeah I should've mentioned that the bus and the london eye were pretty touristy things that lots of seasoned tourists skip. Another thing worth doing in London for a lot of people is seeing a musical or a play and that's gonna cost you about £40. National Gallery and Natural History Museum are free. Edit: British Museum is free too MagicCube posted:I think 40 pounds per day is doable for London. A lot of the attractions that charge a lot are fairly missable, save the Tower of London, imo. There's more than enough free stuff to see in London for 5-6 days with a few paid attractions thrown in if you desire. Food would probably be your largest expense, but the fact that you might only need 1 restaurant meal per day if your friends will be feeding you a bit makes 40 pounds per day seem fine to me. I agree that it's doable, I just wanted to give some examples of what things cost so the OP could figure out what their priorities are. Someone who loves musicals, football, or going out is going to have a lot better time on £60 a day and skipping Paris. Hashtag Banterzone fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 19:02
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British Museum is free too, which is great because it's massive and could definitely take up multiple days. Here is the London tourism office's list of free stuff to do: http://www.visitlondon.com/tag/free-attractions-in-london#ur3U4WCitbCie7g3.97 Could spend several weeks on all these alone. Nice for me too since I'm moving there in September! The paid attractions that were worth it to me were probably the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, and the Globe Theatre tour. Didn't really think London Eye or St. Pauls was worth the cost. MagicCube fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 19:07
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Hey I'm just quoting a friend. NYC smells like hot garbage, but is still an amazing city. It's easy to bump up the budget. I'm just throwing out a number my local friends gave me. I was thinking more around $1.5k mostly cause I'm also getting tattoo'd on my second to last day. So leaving 1k for myself. I need a number to give to my dude since he needs to start saving ASAP while I have some wiggle room. Maybe $800 for him? We're not against eating in and we're both not huge drinkers. quote:And even if you had a little bit of money to spare I feel like a rugby or football match, or a trip to Bath and Stonehedge would be a better use of that money. Yea my London friend is a huge rugby fan and finishing an anthropology PhD so he has some museums in mind for us. They're going to be taking time off while I'm there. We might be going to a blitz party too. He's mentioned all the free things we could do. Paid stuff will probably be the eye, maybe a boat tour. For an idea on where we're staying they live in Hackney. Paris: I'm more trying to stay away from tourists. I have an art degree and work as a designer so the Louvre would be so cool, but I'm more into weird modern art and design. If I can do maybe a smaller art museum, Notre Dame, etc. That's if we even decide to go. We're focusing on Central and South America or Thailand for our next intl trip so it's more like I don't know when I'm going to Europe again since it's pricey. Good to see all the suggestions. March is too far away. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 19:51
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Any tips for an overplanner about to solo travel for the first time? I'm doing the Buñol tomato festival followed by 4 nights in Barcelona and then 2 in each of Sevilla and Granada. I'm staying in hostels everywhere but Barcelona (Hilton points). In Barca I figure I will try to counter the unsocial hotel choice by doing 1 or 2 of Sandeman's tours, and maybe a day trip to Montserrat depending on how I'm feeling. In Sevilla and Granada I don't have anything planned other than having booked Alhambra. I'm thinking I will bookmark a couple sites, tours, neighborhoods, bars and restaurants in each city to appease my need to plan, but I want to make a real effort to go with the flow. I speak Spanish so I'm hoping that will make things easier.
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Aug 16, 2016 20:42
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cheese eats mouse posted:Paris: I'm more trying to stay away from tourists. I have an art degree and work as a designer so the Louvre would be so cool, but I'm more into weird modern art and design. If I can do maybe a smaller art museum, Notre Dame, etc. That's if we even decide to go. We're focusing on Central and South America or Thailand for our next intl trip so it's more like I don't know when I'm going to Europe again since it's pricey. If you're into modern art you absolutely have to go to the Pompidou Centre. There's also a load of really cool modern art/architecture dotted all over la Défense.
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Aug 16, 2016 21:21
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:Yeah I should've mentioned that the bus and the london eye were pretty touristy things that lots of seasoned tourists skip. Another thing worth doing in London for a lot of people is seeing a musical or a play and that's gonna cost you about £40. National Gallery and Natural History Museum are free. Edit: British Museum is free too Pablo Bluth fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Aug 16, 2016 |
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Aug 16, 2016 21:37
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I was curious so I looked in mint and my 4 days in London included £25 for tickets to an fa cup semi final at Wembley, £60 for Sweeney Todd (yikes that was a splurge), and about £40 a day for eating out and drinking.
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Aug 16, 2016 22:15
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cheese eats mouse posted:Hey I'm just quoting a friend. NYC smells like hot garbage, but is still an amazing city. If you check again, you'll see that everyone here agreed that Paris smells like piss :o. Since you haven't been to Europe before, I'd also recommend staying just around London unless your friend really wants to go to Paris, in which case, the Pompidou definitely sounds up your alley—the nearby area is pretty cool/trendy, so fun to walk around in too. The Tate Modern is OK, although I don't recall their permanent exhibition as being so noteworthy, although I'm a philistine despite having visited approximately 2 million art museums. £40 sounds fine to me since you're not paying for lodging and only minimal food. That said, if there's something you want to do and it costs money DO IT. You'd rather have the memory than $30 when you get home — probably. On that note though, I don't think there's really any reason to go up the Eye unless you love ferris wheels. If you just want a view of town, the Shard will be better, though maybe more expensive. Every time I've been in London since the Shard opened, it's been foggy, and I think I've spent about 8 days there over 2 visits since then, so... well, with a week you'll probably get a clear day. Since you're visiting your friend in a place where he lives, it's probably more polite to defer to whatever he recommends and wants to do, just adding in one or two things of your own choosing if you particularly care (unless he's not taking vacation while you're there and you're on your own during the days?).
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Aug 16, 2016 22:38
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:Any tips for an overplanner about to solo travel for the first time? I'm doing the Buñol tomato festival followed by 4 nights in Barcelona and then 2 in each of Sevilla and Granada. I'm staying in hostels everywhere but Barcelona (Hilton points). In Barca I figure I will try to counter the unsocial hotel choice by doing 1 or 2 of Sandeman's tours, and maybe a day trip to Montserrat depending on how I'm feeling. In Sevilla and Granada I don't have anything planned other than having booked Alhambra. If you want to try and meet people*, walking tours are probably the best bet (after staying in a hostel). *other tourists
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Aug 16, 2016 22:39
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edit: solved
actionjackson fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 01:26
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So foolish American here, I plan on traveling overseas for the first time either this October or November. I only have a week left to use so I want to pick one city and hit it up along with the surrounding area. I'm debating between Rome and London right now, is either one of them easier or harder for a someone traveling over seas for the first time? Also I'm 30, are hostels still an option or would I be the creepy old dude? In the event that I cannot get back to Europe ever again is there some other city I should hit up instead?
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Aug 17, 2016 01:43
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London, Paris, and Rome are all good choices although it's difficult to definitively say which is better for a first time traveller. Can't really make any clear recommendations without knowing what you're interested in because all three are great and have lots to offer. In terms of "easiest" for a first-timer it would probably be London, due to language, culture, food, etc. You wouldn't have much, if any, trouble in Paris or Rome with language or any of the other points though. 30 is totally fine for hostels and wouldn't raise any eyebrows. Some hostels have an upper age limit but it's usually like 40-50. Age doesn't mean much when travelling. I ran into all kinds of people in hostels from teens right out of high school, 50 year old carpenters, and a senior travelling Europe on his own. What kind of things are you interested in? Art, history (Roman, Medieval, Modern), food, culture, etc.?
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Aug 17, 2016 03:03
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My mom still goes to hostels and she's 60. She doesn't sit around glaring at all the youths being loud, she just likes having a cheap bed to sleep in. I don't think she's ever been turned down because of her age. I agree that London is probably "easier", but I'd recommend doing Rome instead, to be honest. Part of the fun of travelling is experiencing things that are totally new and foreign and Rome will definitely have more of that. You won't have any real language problems, etc. I also think the person thinking of doing basically a day trip to Paris should reconsider. HookShot fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 04:00
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I'm 30 and went to hostels in Belgium and it loving ruled, no one noticed or asked my age.
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Aug 17, 2016 04:29
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