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HookShot posted:You also have the advantage that no families ever buy first class tickets because 30E is nothing but 120E isn't, and on a 7.5 hour trip that is definitely something. If it's longer than 5h I always shell out the extra because being marginally more comfortable for that long is totally worth it. Yeah I hate kids so that's another reason. Anyway the early bird tickets are available for cheap so I'm definitely going to get the upgrade. Thanks. Any thoughts on how to divide time between Venice Florence and Rome? I'll arrive in Venice mid afternoon September 30th. I don't have a departure date from Rome yet. But I'd be splitting up about 9 days.
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Apr 28, 2017 18:10
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Where are the coolest scenic train rides in Ireland and Scotland? I know Scotland has the Harry Potter train which seems pretty sweet but I also kind of want to see the Cliffs of Moher. I'm probably going to go to either one for about a week so where should I head to pretend I'm magic and also hike a good deal?
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May 3, 2017 02:13
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punch drunk posted:Where are the coolest scenic train rides in Ireland and Scotland? I know Scotland has the Harry Potter train which seems pretty sweet but I also kind of want to see the Cliffs of Moher. I'm probably going to go to either one for about a week so where should I head to pretend I'm magic and also hike a good deal? Isle of Skye for pretending you're magic, specifically the Quiraing or gently caress it honestly all of Skye! There's something very special about that place. I absolutely fell in love with it and would go back in a heartbeat, also eat the Cullen Skink!
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May 3, 2017 02:45
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punch drunk posted:Where are the coolest scenic train rides in Ireland and Scotland? I know Scotland has the Harry Potter train which seems pretty sweet but I also kind of want to see the Cliffs of Moher. I'm probably going to go to either one for about a week so where should I head to pretend I'm magic and also hike a good deal? For me it was the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Fort William continuing onto Mallaig after a couple days in Fort William. I was very interested in hiking up Ben Nevis since I heard it wasn't super difficult. Unfortunately it was snowing in May and I hadn't packed for cold weather/wasn't skilled enough for snowy mountain hiking.
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May 3, 2017 21:17
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Thanks guys. I think I might just rent a car after a couple of days in Edinburgh and make my way over to Isle of Skye and hit some things along the way. Going in September for 9 days.
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May 3, 2017 21:37
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Entropist posted:Wifi in the Dutch trains usually functions acceptably, but it's quite slow, and only in regular intercity trains, not local trains or Intercity Direct trains. Wifi is free on ICE trains now, all you do is join their network and accept their policies, then you are good to go. It's a rather recent change, but works well enough. Hollow Talk fucked around with this message at 10:23 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 12:33
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Have some time off next week and looking to take a short trip up to one of the Nordic countries to go on a long day hike. With the price of the flight, my options are either Stavanger / Oslo in Norway or Copenhagen / Stockholm. I don't mind paying a fee to have an all inclusive package of food and transportation as long as it's not too expensive. I'm leaning more towards Stavanger and doing the Pulpit hike. What do you guys think? I found some resources: Stockholm - http://www.stockholmadventures.com/activities/trekking/ Stavanger - https://outdoorlifenorway.com/product/preikestolen-hike-off-the-beaten-track/ Busy Bee fucked around with this message at 19:12 on May 4, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 19:04
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Hiking? Norway wins by default. Go to Stavanger.
Waci fucked around with this message at 19:10 on May 4, 2017 |
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May 4, 2017 19:07
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Looking for a good European Foodie City for end-of-July My companion and I are major foodies who enjoy city trips. So, price is not an issue, good, fine-dining is a must and we like getting a lot of culture and exploring a city on foot. What are some recommended european cities in July? For example, London was great in October. Went to Ledbury and Gymkhana and did a lot of different museums. Kalenden fucked around with this message at 08:03 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 07:56
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Italy? Can never go wrong with Italy or Paris
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May 6, 2017 08:00
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caberham posted:Italy? Can never go wrong with Italy or Paris True but end of July might be a bit hot, I prefer more southern locations outside of the season.
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May 6, 2017 08:05
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I know nothing about fine dining, but looking at which cities have the most Michelin star restaurants should be a good start, I think? http://uk.businessinsider.com/cities-with-the-most-michelin-stars-in-the-world-2016-12 For European cities, from highest to lower, it's Paris, London, Brussels, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan, Antwerp, Rome, Madrid. Of those, I've been to Paris, London and Antwerp, and all three are great to explore and have lots of culture and museums. Carbon dioxide fucked around with this message at 08:18 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 08:14
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greazeball posted:Any tips for Oslo? Restaurants: Most places have vegetarian options, so that shouldn't be too big of a problem. You're probably aware that Oslo is hella expensive, so I'll recommend you some of my relatively cheap favourites: Punjab Tandoori http://www.punjabtandoori.no Very cheap Indian place with surprisingly decent food, great for a quick lunch. Located in Grønland, a multicultural and really cool neighbourhood. Close to the Munch museum. Next door you have Asylet http://www.asylet.no for traditional Norwegian food. Really cool building from 1730. For pizza, check out Lofthus samvirkelag http://www.lofthussamvirkelag.no Vietnamese: https://www.lillesaigon1.com Burgers: http://munchies.no Middle eastern: https://www.thekasbah.no Steakhouse: http://www.hvaskjertorshov.no Good neighbourhood gastro pub: http://www.oslogrisen.no If you want to "do what the locals do" and if the weather permits it, I'd recommending going to a grocery store and buying yourself a disposable grill ("engangsgrill"), some cheese hot dogs ("ostepølser") and "lomper" (imagine a potato tortilla) and some beers, don't forget matches and some water for extinguishing the grill. Find a nice park in order to properly enjoy this gourmet meal, my favourite is Torshovdalen, but Frognerparken is a great choice as well. Language: Everyone understands English and noone expects tourists to speak Norwegian. You'll be absolutely fine. Hip Flask fucked around with this message at 09:48 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 09:46
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Honestly, I would skip Indian food unless it's some British curry house, and skip other South East Asian cuisines because the spices/herbs/ingredients won't be as fresh as what you get or have a super low window of seasonality. I'm sure you can find a decent restaurant, but do remember that locals in Europe have a different palate and don't really have the food reference or knowledge for good non European food. Japanese is mostly a miss, and Chinese is tourist scam. Just like how Pizza/Burgers/Bread/Sandwich is lumped together as "General Western cuisine" in East Asia and locals are kind of clueless about good pizza (Corn Mayonnaise pizza)
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May 6, 2017 11:15
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Kalenden posted:Looking for a good European Foodie City for end-of-July San Sebastian in north-eastern Spain might be worth a shot? There's a huge number of Michelin starred places there, and it's fairly walkable too. And on Thursday, most of the pintxos bars have "pintxo+pote" night, sort of like a happy hour thing where you get a pintxo and a drink for one euro (or two euros, I forget). So you basically just walk from bar to bar, eating the fantastic pintxos and gradually getting drunker. It's definitely a European holiday destination though, so I'd imagine it'll be packed and expensive in July (we were there in April which was fine). Good beaches (by European standards) too if you're into that kind of thing!
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May 6, 2017 11:21
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My girlfriend and I are traveling to Europe in two weeks (wow already). Its my first time. She previously has spent time in south of France and lived in Florence for a study abroad program. We land in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, May 20th at 11:45AM local time. I figure after a ten hour flight we will be tired and stay the day and a single night here. We depart out of Cologne, Germany back home on May 28th at 1PM Local Time. We def both want to do Italy, but are kind of open to a short two or three day stay somewhere else before that I was hoping for some advice on the itinerary from you guys. I do project management so I've built a few different options, but right now this seems to be the top: 1. Cologne on Saturday night, Amsterdam on Sunday night vi train, fly into Rome on Monday. Monday night Rome.Spend tues -wed/thur around Amalfi via train. Train up to Genoa/Cinque Terra/Venice on Friday we are kinda loose here and eventually end up in Milan Saturday night to catch a 6AM flight to Cologne Sunday where we land at 8AM and die infront of the gate of our 1PM flight home. Is this a dumb idea? Too much? anything to avoid or add to the trip? I feel like Rome deserves a few days, but I don't want to do that for my first time, i'd rather get out and see stuff. e: we will also be "backpacking" probably in a loose sense of the word. We aren't bringing luggage but are planning on packing two big rear end hiking/camping style bags. Well one for me to lug around and slightly larger than normal size one for her. any tips/ideas regarding this? Are the little regionals going to be super strict on carry-on size and stuff and we are going to end up paying to check? Waroduce fucked around with this message at 16:14 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 16:12
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I like Amsterdam, I live there, but you won't get much out of it going there for such a short time, unless it is because the flights are more convenient from there. It's quite a distance from Cologne and you'll have to drag all your luggage to some place, check in there etc. You'll only have time to walk around a bit in the evening (but maybe that's enough for you) and you'll probably be tired. It's also quite tricky to find a place to sleep in Amsterdam at such short notice, the city is overcrowded. The cheap airlines are generally quite strict on carryon size because that's how most of their customers travel. And the fees to get the stuff checked in once you are at the airport are obscene.
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May 6, 2017 16:16
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Entropist posted:I like Amsterdam, I live there, but you won't get much out of it going there for such a short time, unless it is because the flights are more convenient from there. It's quite a distance from Cologne and you'll have to drag all your luggage to some place, check in there etc. You'll only have time to walk around a bit in the evening (but maybe that's enough for you) and you'll probably be tired. It's also quite tricky to find a place to sleep in Amsterdam at such short notice, the city is overcrowded. Well I mostly just want to walk around and see the red light district and check out the weed stuff, pretty basic tourist.txt so I thought one night would be enough. Also partially because flights into Rome are cheaper but thats a secondary positive Google maps also says theres a train we can take for like 45 Euros each to get there in 3 hours or so. Considering AirBnB for lodgings. dumb?
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May 6, 2017 16:19
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Well that works for an evening guess, just don't OD and sleep for 24 hours like many people end up doing. Indeed there is a direct ICE train which is pretty fast. Even using airbnb on such short notice you might have to look outside the center or at nearby cities such as Haarlem.
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May 6, 2017 16:26
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Waroduce posted:My girlfriend and I are traveling to Europe in two weeks (wow already). Its my first time. She previously has spent time in south of France and lived in Florence for a study abroad program. We land in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, May 20th at 11:45AM local time. I figure after a ten hour flight we will be tired and stay the day and a single night here. We depart out of Cologne, Germany back home on May 28th at 1PM Local Time. We def both want to do Italy, but are kind of open to a short two or three day stay somewhere else before that You're doing that typical tourist thing where you think all of Europe is one single country and you can just hop from capital to capital. I mean you could, but you won't get to see much. Why would you want to spend such a large part of your holiday time on several international flights? The area around Cologne has a bunch of lovely cities, each of which you could spend days in. Also nice countryside. You only have a week. You could visit Maastricht, Trier, perhaps some cities in Belgium, or Luxemburg, to name just a few cool places. And even that would already be a larger radius than I'd ideally be comfortable with. But it's up to you.
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May 6, 2017 16:29
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Kalenden posted:Looking for a good European Foodie City for end-of-July Berlin?
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May 6, 2017 16:31
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Waroduce posted:My girlfriend and I are traveling to Europe in two weeks (wow already). Its my first time. She previously has spent time in south of France and lived in Florence for a study abroad program. We land in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, May 20th at 11:45AM local time. I figure after a ten hour flight we will be tired and stay the day and a single night here. We depart out of Cologne, Germany back home on May 28th at 1PM Local Time. We def both want to do Italy, but are kind of open to a short two or three day stay somewhere else before that IMO that is way, way, way too much to be packing into a week trip, especially if you're going to be carrying large bags around with you. If you're dead-set on seeing Amsterdam I'd forgo all of Italy until you've got more than 4 days to see it and use the rest of your time in Germany/Netherlands/Belgium.
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May 6, 2017 16:33
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webmeister posted:San Sebastian in north-eastern Spain might be worth a shot? There's a huge number of Michelin starred places there, and it's fairly walkable too. And on Thursday, most of the pintxos bars have "pintxo+pote" night, sort of like a happy hour thing where you get a pintxo and a drink for one euro (or two euros, I forget). So you basically just walk from bar to bar, eating the fantastic pintxos and gradually getting drunker. I would second this recommendation bigly. Plus, it's quite easy to combine with any other Spanish cities you might consider visiting, all of which are fairly easy to explore on foot and have a lot of culture. I like Spain.
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May 6, 2017 16:47
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Julio Cruz posted:IMO that is way, way, way too much to be packing into a week trip, especially if you're going to be carrying large bags around with you. If you're dead-set on seeing Amsterdam I'd forgo all of Italy until you've got more than 4 days to see it and use the rest of your time in Germany/Netherlands/Belgium. I am quite wary about having to travel too much, but I am not interested in doing the area around Germany for my first time and still would like to make a portion of Italy happen. Would a better idea be than to fly from Cologne to Rome/Milan/cheap flight into italy and take a lazy 4-5 day train tour around?
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May 6, 2017 17:15
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Amalfi-Venice-Genoa is a 14 hour day of travel on trains that will likely be delayed. For a week long trip you really should to pick a region and not overextend. Benelux, Northern Italy, or Rome/Naples/Amalfi. Even Genoa to the first town of Cinque Terre is up to a 2 hour train ride.
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May 6, 2017 17:20
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Waroduce posted:
Basic tourists are mostly retards with boring itineraries, have no bullshit radar, and are at mercy of random tripadvisor recommendations. Not to say you are dumb or anything caberham fucked around with this message at 17:39 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 17:36
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caberham posted:Basic tourists are mostly retards with boring itineraries, have no bullshit radar, and are at mercy of random tripadvisor recommendations. I've never been so this is why I'm asking. My girlfriend is also a terrible loving planner so my having 0 experience at traveling this extensivly for non-buisness related purposes where my company isn't paying for everything is why i am asking. So if we HAD to pick a single region it would probably be Rome/Amalfi and we'd come in Sunday some time and leave to Milan Saturday for a single night there and a 6AM flight back to Cologne
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May 6, 2017 17:43
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amalfi and cinque terre are so overrated. and the locals hate the tourists there. not that an american tourist would be self-aware enough to notice. there was an article in the guardian this week about venice planning to ban fast food/kebab shops in a fruitless effort to retain some of their distinct culture. also, a lot of "tourists go home" flyers plastered on buildings. last time i was there, i noticed that there is a large disney store near san marco. lol also saw this wandering around:  i had more fun when i lived there going to ravenna (8 unesco sites), bologna, genoa, bergamo, lucca, catania... so many great, smaller cities where you can avoid a lot of the tourist crush. gently caress piacenza though.
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May 6, 2017 17:50
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Hell, for a first time trip to Europe why even go to Italy? Moldova's only a couple hours flight away from Cologne and there's even less tourists than the smaller Italian cities.
MagicCube fucked around with this message at 18:04 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 18:01
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Waroduce posted:I've never been so this is why I'm asking. My girlfriend is also a terrible loving planner so my having 0 experience at traveling this extensivly for non-buisness related purposes where my company isn't paying for everything is why i am asking. Honestly man, just spend a few days in Rome and a few days in the Amalfi coast (Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Pompeii, Capri) then fly straight back to Cologne.
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May 6, 2017 18:11
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I'm thinking of burning some credit card points on a Lufthansa first class flight to Scandinavia. There's a catch, though: the seats only become available 14 days out (since I'd be using United miles). How much am I going to regret trying to book everything at the last minute during tourist season in Sweden and Norway?
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May 6, 2017 19:44
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Waroduce posted:I've never been so this is why I'm asking. My girlfriend is also a terrible loving planner so my having 0 experience at traveling this extensivly for non-buisness related purposes where my company isn't paying for everything is why i am asking. Rome is unique and cannot be overrated. 3 days in Rome and 3 in Naples sounds reasonable. I would not bother with Milan; it's not that far on the high velocity train, but it's fairly expensive and 3 days in Rome and 3 in Naples is not even close to enough time for either. Milan is nowhere near as unique as either Naples or Rome, although OTOH if you've never been to Italy, it will still feel super cool and it is extremely distinct from either Rome or Naples. Amalfi coast is nice. Positano is nice (but a hassle to get to by public transit). Sorrento is nice and easy to get to. See both Pompeii and Herculaneum if you go, and if you get up early enough in the day to have time, hit Villa Oplontis as well. You're off the height of the tourist season, so everywhere will be fine, even Cinque Terre, although it's massively out of your way so I would not recommend it, and also it's really a lot like the Amalfi coast but less accessible and the towns are way smaller. I agree with you skipping Germany/Benelux and going to Italy if it's your first time in Europe. I mean it's annoying you're going into Cologne which is completely out of the way, but that's the breaks. There's a reason literally no one ever goes to Luxembourg on their first one-week trip to Europe. Brussles is nice, as is Cologne, but neither of them would come anywhere close to the top of a list of "where to go in Europe" supposing someone had 2 weeks to spend in Europe every 8 years.
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May 6, 2017 21:21
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Tbf the tickets into Cologne were 339$ round trip each so.... I greatly appreciate the feedback
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May 6, 2017 22:32
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Just as a note, I have no idea if you can just buy last-minute tickets to Italy when you arrive in Cologne. If you're planning to do a flight from Cologne to some other place in Europe, I strongly suggest to book tickets in advance. They'll be cheaper and it'll be way less hassle at the very least.
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May 6, 2017 22:46
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Yeah we are trying to do that between today and tomorrow
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May 6, 2017 23:08
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I think we've settled on one night in Amsterdam just to see it and than flight into Rome on Monday. So building out from Rome, we would prefer Amalfi, but are open to suggestions. So we have Mon-Sat available and we need to be in Cologne at roughly 11AM on Sunday to depart. So Rome -> Napoli -> Pompeii -> 2/3 days in Amalfi ->??-> Cologne My exit strategy is a 6-8AM flight from Milan into the Cologne airport we depart from but since are doing soutern italy perhaps we will need to fly out of a different city. Any ideas for a 5 day italian itinerary? Obviously I am googling this but would appreciate any direction on my skeleton structure above. Good places to stay would be very appreciated Waroduce fucked around with this message at 01:45 on May 7, 2017 |
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May 7, 2017 01:20
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Waroduce posted:Any ideas for a 5 day italian itinerary? Don't try and see 4/5 different places.
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May 7, 2017 01:58
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Julio Cruz posted:Don't try and see 4/5 different places. I'm going to do that, but I have 10 days :p
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May 7, 2017 03:38
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Waroduce posted:I think we've settled on one night in Amsterdam just to see it and than flight into Rome on Monday. So building out from Rome, we would prefer Amalfi, but are open to suggestions. So we have Mon-Sat available and we need to be in Cologne at roughly 11AM on Sunday to depart. Go to a maximum of two places. I also wouldn't try to connect to an international flight on a budget airline in under 5 hours. Probably 95% of the time you're fine, but the other 5% you're completely screwed.
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May 7, 2017 04:12
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Waroduce posted:I think we've settled on one night in Amsterdam just to see it and than flight into Rome on Monday. So building out from Rome, we would prefer Amalfi, but are open to suggestions. So we have Mon-Sat available and we need to be in Cologne at roughly 11AM on Sunday to depart. Isnt that just one day in Rome, and isn't that one day the same day you arrive from Amsterdam? Also if all things are equal try to fly into Rome city airport and not FCO which is quite a lot farther away. One day in Rome, as the same day you fly in, is enough time to see like one thing and get out. So colosseum or old city or vatican, but not both. I had three days in Rome my first time there and hoo that was a rush getting to the major "must see" sites, all of which are fantastic. Forum might be skippable since you're going to the Vesuvius ruins (though it's still quite different) but missing the medieval city or saint peters, even if you're not remotely religious, would be a bummer. The colosseum could be appreciated from the outside of you're in a huge rush or money crunch, I guess. You can also get an idea of the forum by walking around the outside (it is next to the colosseum, though quite large). Again better to buy the ticket and walk through but it'll take you 3 hours you don't seem to have. 2-3 days in Amalfi is IMO too much on this crushed itinerary. id suggest one day there and add the other 1-2 days to Rome (if you really only had a half day same as flight in day). If you really want to do Capri you can get a ferry direct from Naples. It is expensive and if money is a significant issue id just do sorrento by train. Large parts of Italy are hard to plan since it's a tough trade off between seeing more in one place, or seeing different parts of it that are very distinct. People who travel a lot around Europe always recommend the first, but i don't know if that's because of experience for the latter being a miserable itinerary of rushing to and from planes and trains (which it is) or because of a mindset of "well I'll probably be back soon anyway". Many of my American friends when they visit seem to think they'll never be back and they have to see all of Europe in that one week every 5 years they come over. It's amazing to remember the differences between their first Eurotrips and what they're planning now (about 10 years since I moved, and have had maybe 10-15 friends come over)
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May 7, 2017 08:20
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