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Entropist
Dec 1, 2007
I'm very stupid.
In Amsterdam the fine depends on how long you park without paying - it starts at about €50 for less than one hour, but goes quite crazy if they catch you again in the same spot some hours or days later, and the fine includes the parking costs. There are always problems in the center with people camping out in their cars or taking a spot without paying, even though parking is very expensive there and there are limited spots. That's why they had to make it dependent on the parking costs, to prevent what Saladman did :v:

They don't tow in the same day though. I think you need to rack up 5 parking fines for that, and then be clamped for 24h without paying. If you're in the same spot it'll only be 1 fine, so no towing. Unless you are in the way of a reservation for construction work, or the exit of a place, or the tram, or somewhere else that is deemed a dangerous spot where parking is not allowed.

Entropist fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Feb 12, 2019

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reitetsu
Sep 27, 2009

Should you find yourself here one day... In accordance with your crimes, you can rest assured I will give you the treatment you deserve.

HookShot posted:

LOL even the periphery of Rome is going to destroy you if you can't stand driving in American cities. Just take the train from Florence, it takes two hours and is a zero-stress situation.

Eh, I complain, but I'll be fine. I'll just make sure we don't have any deadlines when dropping off the car. Like I said, if I had a good solution for our detour to Bomarzo on the way from Florence to Rome, I'd be public transit all the way. We'll figure it out though.

Saladman posted:

E: In any case for Morcant, the Italians are not serious about parking fines, but they are serious about ZTLs, especially in Florence. If your hotel is in a ZTL, you will need to have your car license plate pre registered with the ZTL. Do not drive to the hotel and assume that afterwards they can validate your ZTL entrance.

Noted! I figured it was something like that. Fortunately I've found a couple parking spots outside the Florence ZTL, so worst case we park a bit away and walk the remaining distance to our hotel, not a big deal.

HookShot
Dec 26, 2005

morcant posted:

Eh, I complain, but I'll be fine. I'll just make sure we don't have any deadlines when dropping off the car. Like I said, if I had a good solution for our detour to Bomarzo on the way from Florence to Rome, I'd be public transit all the way. We'll figure it out though.

You could always take the train to Attigliano and then a cab for the last like what, two kilometers?

Nam Taf
Jun 25, 2005

I am Fat Man, hear me roar!

Parked in a mostly-empty carpark in Kelheim and copped a 10€ fine. The 1.5 hours of walking through the town asking how I pay it firstly at the courts, then the bank (who told me I could totally pay it, they just needed my account number), then the town hall was way more of a lesson in reading German than the initial fine. The lesson here is that if you’re non-EU, paying it is a loving pain, just avoid it on that basis.

I assume the bigger cities are far tougher.

Nam Taf fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Feb 12, 2019

webmeister
Jan 31, 2007

The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly. There has to be a bit of sport in this for all of us. In the psychological battle stakes, we are stripped down and ready to go. I want to see those ashen-faced performances; I want more of them. I want to be encouraged. I want to see you squirm.
I got two speeding fines in Germany and paying them was a complete nightmare. For one of them, I sent a Google Translate email to the contact person who said if I couldn't make it to a post office then a direct transfer to a German or Swiss bank account would be fine (it wasn't). In the end I sent them the 15 euro fine in notes via the post. The second one - nobody ever replied :shrug:

At least the fines I've gotten in France and Spain have both been collected by a national authority rather than whatever podunk town caught you, so paying online with credit card was easy and painless.

I also got clamped once in a tiny town in the mountains of Slovakia, not realising that the entire town was "locals only" parking. At least when I called the cops and said "uhh .. wheel clamp" they knew who was calling :laugh:
That fine was a princely 5 euros per day, literally cheaper than the parking lot on the edge of town.

Nam Taf
Jun 25, 2005

I am Fat Man, hear me roar!

I also got flashed in Bremen by a stationary camera (15 km/h over, i missed the sign dropping from 70 to 50) but thank god that hasn’t come through from Europcar in the 2.5 years since it happened so either I’m sitting on an arrest warrant next time I visit or they somehow didn’t catch my face in the pic. No idea what the sting on that was.

In any case, paying them as a foreigner is a gigantic gently caress-around and on that basis alone you should just avoid as much as possible.

reitetsu
Sep 27, 2009

Should you find yourself here one day... In accordance with your crimes, you can rest assured I will give you the treatment you deserve.

HookShot posted:

You could always take the train to Attigliano and then a cab for the last like what, two kilometers?

:cripes: A cab, of course. I take them so infrequently...I completely forgot that was an option. I'll definitely have to check this out... Because yeah, otherwise hopping off/on the train at Attigliano sounds like an ideal situation. The less driving we do, the fewer chances we have of blundering into a ZTL.

HookShot
Dec 26, 2005

Nam Taf posted:

I also got flashed in Bremen by a stationary camera (15 km/h over, i missed the sign dropping from 70 to 50) but thank god that hasn’t come through from Europcar in the 2.5 years since it happened so either I’m sitting on an arrest warrant next time I visit or they somehow didn’t catch my face in the pic. No idea what the sting on that was.

In any case, paying them as a foreigner is a gigantic gently caress-around and on that basis alone you should just avoid as much as possible.

Haha yeah, I'm pretty sure we got flashed in Bosnia at one point since there were traffic cameras every 20 meters it seemed like, but never got anything from Sixt either. It was also about 2.5 years ago now, summer of 2016.

Thoguh
Nov 8, 2002

College Slice

Drone posted:

I've travelled on four continents and only in the United States have I ever had to collect and then recheck my luggage while making a connection.

That being said, give yourself plenty of layover time in CDG anyway. It's... certainly an airport.

Yeah, I think that was part of why it was so tough to find info about it online. Everybody just kind of assumes you know the drill and it doesn't need to be explained. I've just been lucky up to this point and I've never had to make a connection outside the US. Always made a connection stateside to a hub and then a direct flight to wherever I was going internationally, and likewise on the way back.

It's a 10 hour layover in CDG so the plan is that as long as we don't have a three hour wait to get through immigration or something we'll take the RER in to Paris for a few hours. I've been there before but my wife hasn't so it'll be worth it to see the eiffel tower and a couple other high points, have a drink at a Cafe, and then head back to the airport.

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Feb 13, 2019

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010
I’ve never seen anyone talk about Scotland here. Has anyone been up to the highlands and has any favorite places to recommend that aren’t in Rick Steve’s? We’re plannjng to take 10-15 days from mid to end of May to go around and have no interest in any of the cities beyond maybe two days in Edinburgh.

Also any ideas for the benefits and drawbacks of camping+car, vs camper van vs lodging? I have lots of experience driving on narrow track roads so am not concerned about the road quality, and lovely roads are honestly a plus in that they’re usually less trafficked.

Is It worth it to bother going to the Orkneys or outer Hebrides or should we just stick to Skye and the highlands proper? I spent 10-ish days driving around Iceland 3 years ago and absolutely loved it, with every other day camping alternating with lodge, but my wife didn’t join, so the idea is to do kind of the same thing conceptually but without me having to repeat the same itinerary so soon, plus so we can see castles and whatever if the weather sucks.

dennyk
Jan 2, 2005

Cheese-Buyer's Remorse

Saladman posted:

I’ve never seen anyone talk about Scotland here. Has anyone been up to the highlands and has any favorite places to recommend that aren’t in Rick Steve’s? We’re plannjng to take 10-15 days from mid to end of May to go around and have no interest in any of the cities beyond maybe two days in Edinburgh.

Also any ideas for the benefits and drawbacks of camping+car, vs camper van vs lodging? I have lots of experience driving on narrow track roads so am not concerned about the road quality, and lovely roads are honestly a plus in that they’re usually less trafficked.

Is It worth it to bother going to the Orkneys or outer Hebrides or should we just stick to Skye and the highlands proper? I spent 10-ish days driving around Iceland 3 years ago and absolutely loved it, with every other day camping alternating with lodge, but my wife didn’t join, so the idea is to do kind of the same thing conceptually but without me having to repeat the same itinerary so soon, plus so we can see castles and whatever if the weather sucks.

The Highlands are awesome. Definitely don't miss Skye; even if it's all Rick Steves and poo poo, it's absolutely beautiful. The landscapes on the Trotternish peninsula are unreal.

Orkney is great as well; it doesn't really have the spectacular landscapes, but there are tons of Neolithic and Iron Age ruins, and it's a lot less crowded. Getting there is a little tricky, though; it's either a long drive and long ferry ride, or a long drive and a *really* long ferry ride, or you'll have to book a flight and rent another car there.

I wouldn't take a campervan, personally, unless your wife is following in another car; it'll be a pain in the rear end to get anywhere for sightseeing driving something like that. As you noted, where the roads aren't basically nonexistent, they'll be packed full of tourists, and good luck reversing a campervan through the maze of abandoned vehicles at the Quiraing when you encounter a tour bus coming the other direction. Can't speak for camping since I have no interest in it myself, but it'd probably be easier logistically, at least. Or there should be plenty of options for real lodging with running water and electricity and all that if you start booking now.

Carbon dioxide
Oct 9, 2012

Saladman posted:

I’ve never seen anyone talk about Scotland here. Has anyone been up to the highlands and has any favorite places to recommend that aren’t in Rick Steve’s? We’re plannjng to take 10-15 days from mid to end of May to go around and have no interest in any of the cities beyond maybe two days in Edinburgh.

Also any ideas for the benefits and drawbacks of camping+car, vs camper van vs lodging? I have lots of experience driving on narrow track roads so am not concerned about the road quality, and lovely roads are honestly a plus in that they’re usually less trafficked.

Is It worth it to bother going to the Orkneys or outer Hebrides or should we just stick to Skye and the highlands proper? I spent 10-ish days driving around Iceland 3 years ago and absolutely loved it, with every other day camping alternating with lodge, but my wife didn’t join, so the idea is to do kind of the same thing conceptually but without me having to repeat the same itinerary so soon, plus so we can see castles and whatever if the weather sucks.

Skye is great, go there.

Other than that, of the tour I did, the Cairngorms was my favorite part. You can find lots of beautiful hikes there, short ones that take a couple hours but also multi-day ones if you're up for that. Cairngorm mountain itself is worth a visit. It's not very tall for a mountain, but being so far north, in the winter it's a skiing place, while you can often find patches of snow on the summit even till summer. At the end of the road you can take a railway further up, but note that they have environmental protection rules that say you cannot leave the summit station without a guide. There's a little museum and cafe in the station and that's it. To actually explore the mountain you either need to hike up yourself (which is quite the walk) or book a tour in advance (which is what I did - it's not too expensive and they can point out a lot of wildlife and stuff). If you do decide to hike to the summit yourself, you can ring a bell around the back of the summit station and they will let you in and you can take a train back to the car park.

Another place I visited was Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain of Scotland. You can hike your way to the summit. I didn't do that because all the information told me that the sudden appearance of fog combined with steep ravines next to the path, combined with a complete lack of shelter makes it a treacherous hike if you don't have any mountaineering experience. I did do the walk to Steal Falls on the side of Ben Nevis. It's a beautiful area. Just note that Fort William, the town next to the mountain, is very touristy and lodging prices there are higher than elsewhere.

There's lots and lots and lots of castles in Scotland. I visited the Eilean Donan castle which is right on the road to Skye and Cawdor Castle which is a bit east of Inverness.

Also, while you're in Scotland, consider visiting a whisky distillery. Many of them have interesting tours. It's worthwhile to look for smaller, less-known brands because their tours are often a little more personal.

Edit: drat, that reminds me, I had dinner at Saucy Mary's lodge in Kyleakin, Skye, and I ordered the day special which was mussels prepared in pear cider. I didn't really know what to expect of such a combination but it turned out to be fantastic, and I was a bit tipsy when I was done, despite not ordering any alcoholic drinks with my meal.

Carbon dioxide fucked around with this message at 08:23 on Feb 15, 2019

Democratic Pirate
Feb 17, 2010

My wife and I are about to book a one day tour with Rabbie’s out of Edinburgh - they also offer longer tours of the whole country. My family did the Highland Lochs, Glens, and Whisky day tour a few years back with them and it was great. Based on my one experience, their tour groups are small and the guides are good about commentating during the drives and then saying “ok here’s a stop, meet back here in an hour or so, go have fun.”

webmeister
Jan 31, 2007

The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly. There has to be a bit of sport in this for all of us. In the psychological battle stakes, we are stripped down and ready to go. I want to see those ashen-faced performances; I want more of them. I want to be encouraged. I want to see you squirm.

Saladman posted:

I’ve never seen anyone talk about Scotland here. Has anyone been up to the highlands and has any favorite places to recommend that aren’t in Rick Steve’s? We’re plannjng to take 10-15 days from mid to end of May to go around and have no interest in any of the cities beyond maybe two days in Edinburgh.

Also any ideas for the benefits and drawbacks of camping+car, vs camper van vs lodging? I have lots of experience driving on narrow track roads so am not concerned about the road quality, and lovely roads are honestly a plus in that they’re usually less trafficked.

Is It worth it to bother going to the Orkneys or outer Hebrides or should we just stick to Skye and the highlands proper? I spent 10-ish days driving around Iceland 3 years ago and absolutely loved it, with every other day camping alternating with lodge, but my wife didn’t join, so the idea is to do kind of the same thing conceptually but without me having to repeat the same itinerary so soon, plus so we can see castles and whatever if the weather sucks.

We did about 10 days in the Highlands in 2017 and that was pretty good, Skye is definitely the highlight. We had a small car the whole time (Kia Picanto) and just did Airbnbs. It can be tough to find accommodation on Skye as it's pretty popular these days, but there's quite a few places that aren't on hotel aggregater sites yet, you actually have to call around like it's the 90s.

We did the Orkneys as a long day-trip from Inverness on an organised coach tour (I know, I know, I hate those things too, but this was just the easiest way of organising it). Basically the coach picked us up from the main bus station at 6am, then it's a 3 hour ride to John O'Groat's, an hour's ferry, then you get taken to the main highlights of Orkney like the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, and others. A bit of "free time" wandering around the main town, but mainly spent at the neolithic sites which is what we wanted. My video is here if you're interested - apologies the sound is really lovely as it was loving windy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKbNoZyUnFw

Then it was basically the journey in reverse and we got back to Inverness around 9pm. So it's a long-arse day, but doable.

dennyk
Jan 2, 2005

Cheese-Buyer's Remorse

webmeister posted:

We did about 10 days in the Highlands in 2017 and that was pretty good, Skye is definitely the highlight. We had a small car the whole time (Kia Picanto) and just did Airbnbs. It can be tough to find accommodation on Skye as it's pretty popular these days, but there's quite a few places that aren't on hotel aggregater sites yet, you actually have to call around like it's the 90s.

We did the Orkneys as a long day-trip from Inverness on an organised coach tour (I know, I know, I hate those things too, but this was just the easiest way of organising it). Basically the coach picked us up from the main bus station at 6am, then it's a 3 hour ride to John O'Groat's, an hour's ferry, then you get taken to the main highlights of Orkney like the Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, and others. A bit of "free time" wandering around the main town, but mainly spent at the neolithic sites which is what we wanted. My video is here if you're interested - apologies the sound is really lovely as it was loving windy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKbNoZyUnFw

Then it was basically the journey in reverse and we got back to Inverness around 9pm. So it's a long-arse day, but doable.

Oh hey, ya have an SA account as well, eh? Good to see ya over here, man. :v:

So that's where the bus tours on Orkney come from. One showed up when we were checking out Brodgar; I felt kind of bad for 'em because everyone just piled off the bus and stood around for like five or ten minutes and then they were all herded back on and driven away. Didn't have time for anything more than a couple snapshots, really. Looks like your group got a little more time there, at least. Did y'all make it up to the Broch of Gurness? It's a really well-preserved Iron Age broch and settlement on the north side of the Mainland. Really cool as you can freely walk through the whole thing, and it has some lovely views of Rousay as well.

Pascallion
Sep 15, 2003
Man, what the fuck, man?
Going to be in Helsinki for work, in two weeks then have a week off after. Basically Friday night + free and flying out of Helsinki next Sunday morning (3-1 to 3-10).

Anyone have experience with going on trips or tours of St Petersburg/Estonia or Lapland, which seem like the two obvious options if exploring in the area of Helsinki?

dennyk
Jan 2, 2005

Cheese-Buyer's Remorse
Don't know about tours, but Tallinn would definitely be worth a visit. The old section is really lovely and beautifully preserved/restored, but there's also a big modern city full of skyscrapers and all, neighborhoods full of unique architecture like Kalamaja with the old wooden factory workers' apartment buildings, and a cool little hipster artsy district in an old industrial complex behind the train station if that's your sort of thing. The Lennusadam is pretty cool as well; they have a genuine pre-WWII submarine you can explore (as long as you ain't claustrophobic) and lots of interesting interactive exhibits on maritime history, and several other Estonian ships outside in the harbour or dry-docked, some of which you can also go aboard. There's also plenty of really good and really cheap food to be found; don't think I had a bad meal anywhere.

Ras Het
May 23, 2007

when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child - but now I am a man.

Pascallion posted:

Going to be in Helsinki for work, in two weeks then have a week off after. Basically Friday night + free and flying out of Helsinki next Sunday morning (3-1 to 3-10).

Anyone have experience with going on trips or tours of St Petersburg/Estonia or Lapland, which seem like the two obvious options if exploring in the area of Helsinki?

For Petersburg you'll either have to get a visa or get on one of those visa-free cruise trips, which apparently exist but which I don't know anything about. But it's one of the great cities of the world and definitely worth a few days. To Tallinn it's a two hour ferry ride, so a day trip is perfectly doable

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

webmeister posted:

sically the journey in reverse and we got back to Inverness around 9pm. So it's a long-arse day, but doable.

You look familiar. Have you posted videos here before?

Thanks for the suggestions all. Will probably get a normal car and do a mix of tent camping and lodging in that case. Is a 4x4 or high clearance useful at all like in Iceland or is everything paved, albeit with pavement done in 1995 and destroyed by the elements? I’ve done terrible roads in tiny cars but it’s nice in a 4x4/high clearance vehicle since then you can safely drive a lot faster.

webmeister
Jan 31, 2007

The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly. There has to be a bit of sport in this for all of us. In the psychological battle stakes, we are stripped down and ready to go. I want to see those ashen-faced performances; I want more of them. I want to be encouraged. I want to see you squirm.

dennyk posted:

Oh hey, ya have an SA account as well, eh? Good to see ya over here, man. :v:

So that's where the bus tours on Orkney come from. One showed up when we were checking out Brodgar; I felt kind of bad for 'em because everyone just piled off the bus and stood around for like five or ten minutes and then they were all herded back on and driven away. Didn't have time for anything more than a couple snapshots, really. Looks like your group got a little more time there, at least. Did y'all make it up to the Broch of Gurness? It's a really well-preserved Iron Age broch and settlement on the north side of the Mainland. Really cool as you can freely walk through the whole thing, and it has some lovely views of Rousay as well.

Yeah, I've been a goon for years! I only use r****t on occasion as I find people there way too serious and spergy.

I don't think we made it up to the Broch of Gurness, though looking at photos I wish we had - looks great! We definitely made it to Skara Brae, Brodgar and Stenness which were the main ones we wanted. I think I was the last back on the bus at every stop haha. I'm not sure why we chose that option - I think it was difficult/expensive to get our car onto the ferry or something.

Pascallion posted:

Going to be in Helsinki for work, in two weeks then have a week off after. Basically Friday night + free and flying out of Helsinki next Sunday morning (3-1 to 3-10).

Anyone have experience with going on trips or tours of St Petersburg/Estonia or Lapland, which seem like the two obvious options if exploring in the area of Helsinki?

Tallinn is fantastic and well worth a couple of days. The old city is beautiful, and the surrounding districts are interesting too. It's a quick ferry from Helsinki and the boats run every 20 minutes or something, so you can be pretty flexible about when you visit. One other thing - check the cruise ship schedule before you head to Tallinn, as it's centre of the Baltic cruise circuit these days. 1-2 ships is okay, but when it's 5+ in port the city becomes holiday-weekend-at-Disneyland busy.

St Petersburg is great, and you can get visa-free entry to Russia if you enter via the boat from Helsinki. There's a short time limit (72 hours I think) and you might need to stay on a cruise ship (I can't remember), but it's definitely worth investigating. I'd spend the max amount of time in SPB and then head to Tallinn via Helsinki.

One other thing to consider: Riga in Latvia is only a couple of hours on the train from Tallinn, and another interesting city. The medieval stuff is cool, but Riga had a massive boom in the 1900s and spent heavily on art nouveau buildings, as you do. Something like a third of all buildings in the city centre are art nouveau, and a huge percentage of the world's art nouveau buildings are located in Riga. Might be something worth considering!

webmeister
Jan 31, 2007

The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly. There has to be a bit of sport in this for all of us. In the psychological battle stakes, we are stripped down and ready to go. I want to see those ashen-faced performances; I want more of them. I want to be encouraged. I want to see you squirm.

Saladman posted:

You look familiar. Have you posted videos here before?

Thanks for the suggestions all. Will probably get a normal car and do a mix of tent camping and lodging in that case. Is a 4x4 or high clearance useful at all like in Iceland or is everything paved, albeit with pavement done in 1995 and destroyed by the elements? I’ve done terrible roads in tiny cars but it’s nice in a 4x4/high clearance vehicle since then you can safely drive a lot faster.

Yeah I've posted a few, though I post them on Reddit occasionally as well if you read r/travel.

From memory our tiny Kia had no problems, and I don't think there was anything we felt was risky or couldn't do because of it.

Being able to see over the hedges would likely be a big plus! Don't expect particularly fast speeds somewhere like Skye though, since it'll be crowded with cars. We saw people at crowded viewpoints like Quiriang just stop their car in middle of the road and take photos, despite the honking and queue behind them.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

webmeister posted:

Yeah I've posted a few, though I post them on Reddit occasionally as well if you read r/travel.

From memory our tiny Kia had no problems, and I don't think there was anything we felt was risky or couldn't do because of it.

Being able to see over the hedges would likely be a big plus! Don't expect particularly fast speeds somewhere like Skye though, since it'll be crowded with cars. We saw people at crowded viewpoints like Quiriang just stop their car in middle of the road and take photos, despite the honking and queue behind them.

We’ll be there in mid to late May though so I guess/hope traffic should be lighter compared to when you were there.. I absolutely loved Iceland and Namibia since you can often go an hour or more without seeing another car. One of the reasons I like self driving is so that I can just stop wherever to take a photo or dick around in a field looking at rocks or whatever. Crowds kind of negate the appeal of nature for me, so I can’t handle bus trips at all; my limit is like 10-15 people. There’s some threshold where suddenly I’d rather be looking at google image search than being there in person. For castles and whatever crowds are fine but I definitely prefer to go somewhere possibly less objectively beautiful if there are fewer people there. Like in Switzerland I strictly avoid Rigi and Pilatus and the other jam-packed mountains with tour buses of foreign tourists. The Golden circle was also far and away my least favorite part of Iceland, even at like 1am some of those sites were crowded in June.

Grape
Nov 16, 2017

Happily shilling for China!

Drone posted:

I've travelled on four continents and only in the United States have I ever had to collect and then recheck my luggage while making a connection.

That being said, give yourself plenty of layover time in CDG anyway. It's... certainly an airport.

I've definitely had to recheck luggage before in Europe. Not every time, but enough of the time that I stay concerned about it. I missed a flight over it in Germany.

Sand Monster
Apr 13, 2008

Does anyone have experience renting a pocket WiFi device while traveling in Europe, e.g. something like this offering https://hippocketwifi.com/en/pocket-wifi-europe-rental/ ?

I'm finding that most don't disclose the actual speed and instead say like the one above that it is "up to 100 Mbps". Just curious what the reality is, and any experiences / pros and cons.

Waci
May 30, 2011

A boy and his dog.
Depends on where you are and whst networks you connect to.

"How fast is mobile data in Europe" isn't really a question you can get a super precise answer to.

Shut up Meg
Jan 8, 2019

You're safe here.
I looked into something like that and decided it was easier to get a suitable SIM for my phone and use that as a hotspot.

Waci
May 30, 2011

A boy and his dog.

Shut up Meg posted:

I looked into something like that and decided it was easier to get a suitable SIM for my phone and use that as a hotspot.

As long as your phone's not locked to a specific carrier like a lot of American phones and has a decent battery, yea that's usually the case.

Shut up Meg
Jan 8, 2019

You're safe here.

Waci posted:

As long as your phone's not locked to a specific carrier like a lot of American phones and has a decent battery, yea that's usually the case.

I just notice: holy poo poo: EUR6.90 per day??

For 14 days, you could get a SIM with 3.5 times more data for half that cost.

https://www.france-hotel-guide.com/en/blog/sim-french-card-where-to-buy-and-comparing-solutions/
The startup Travel Wifi also started their own SIM card. It uses Vodafone networks and offers 50Gb of data (can be used in all Europe). Calls, SMS, MMS are all unlimited. Price is €49 for 14 days. It’s possible to top it up if you go over the data limit (€3.5/day).

and buy (not rent) that exact hotspot
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Huawei-E5573Cs-322-unlocked-networks-configuration/dp/B0179F9FI6/ref=sr_1_3

and still have enough for a decent meal for one.

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Sand Monster posted:

Does anyone have experience renting a pocket WiFi device while traveling in Europe, e.g. something like this offering https://hippocketwifi.com/en/pocket-wifi-europe-rental/ ?

I'm finding that most don't disclose the actual speed and instead say like the one above that it is "up to 100 Mbps". Just curious what the reality is, and any experiences / pros and cons.

It says right on that page "4G LTE up to 100mbps"? They have a 1gb/day allowance and after that you are throttled.

I looked into those wifi things for my trip next month and ended up just getting a couple sim cards for the phones instead. You can get 12gb of data good for 30 days for $22
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FI1JW72/

I've never used those before though so let's hope they work!

Sand Monster
Apr 13, 2008

FCKGW posted:

It says right on that page "4G LTE up to 100mbps"? They have a 1gb/day allowance and after that you are throttled.

The comment was more geared toward curiosity for what the reality is. "Up to 100Mbps" conceivably means I could get 1Mbps or 100Mbps. Waci's reply was probably accurate -- it depends, and I probably won't get an answer. Again if nothing else I was just interested if anyone had rented one, and what their experience was.

webmeister
Jan 31, 2007

The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly. There has to be a bit of sport in this for all of us. In the psychological battle stakes, we are stripped down and ready to go. I want to see those ashen-faced performances; I want more of them. I want to be encouraged. I want to see you squirm.
Just buy SIM cards when you arrive at the airport. There are no roaming charges within the eu so a card bought in Germany will work fine in Italy etc. The only time you might have difficulties is in micro countries like Monaco or San Marino.

I still really don’t understand who those pocket wifi devices are aimed at, they just seem like such a solution in search of a problem

orange sky
May 7, 2007

Hey guys, regarding Rome, any tickets I should buy online in advance to any of the main attractions? I'm thinking of buying a Roma Pass for 3 days regardless.

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



orange sky posted:

Hey guys, regarding Rome, any tickets I should buy online in advance to any of the main attractions? I'm thinking of buying a Roma Pass for 3 days regardless.

You need to book in advance for the Galleria Borghese but that's the only one, I think. You'll get a specific time limit in there but it was still really cool. The building itself is incredible plus all the art. You have to call or book online or come an hour before you want to go in.

I was there a few weeks ago and there was no line at all on a Wednesday for the Vatican museum (Sistene chapel) so make sure you check it out for yourself first before you start talking to the hundreds of tour guides around. The queue for St Peter's took about an hour. The entrance to the Vatican museum is waayyyyy around behind St Peter's so the only advantage of a private tour is if they can get you from the Sistene chapel into St Peter's without going out and around on the pavement again. I think most of them do this but make sure before you pay for anything.

The Roma pass was well worth it, IMO. Just be aware that the first place you go will count as your free admission, so make sure it's at the Coloseum/Forum or Galleria Borghese or something else in the €20 range so you get the most value for it. Also ask when you buy the Roma pass, there's some trick to avoiding the queue at the Coloseum. I can't remember if it was getting the ticket for the Forum first and then you can just walk in or what exactly it was.

HookShot
Dec 26, 2005

greazeball posted:

I was there a few weeks ago and there was no line at all on a Wednesday for the Vatican museum (Sistene chapel) so make sure you check it out for yourself first before you start talking to the hundreds of tour guides around. The queue for St Peter's took about an hour. The entrance to the Vatican museum is waayyyyy around behind St Peter's so the only advantage of a private tour is if they can get you from the Sistene chapel into St Peter's without going out and around on the pavement again. I think most of them do this but make sure before you pay for anything.

You can also do what my husband and I did and just end up tagging along with a random tour group to get between the two. It was so busy and chaotic in there anyway that there's basically no way for the guards to know who was part of what group.

Doctor Malaver
May 23, 2007

Ce qui s'est passé t'a rendu plus fort

webmeister posted:

I still really don’t understand who those pocket wifi devices are aimed at, they just seem like such a solution in search of a problem

The last time I was in Barcelona, internet was acting up in our AirBnb. The landlord came over with one of those. So in that case at least, a SIM card wouldn't be that helpful.

Sand Monster
Apr 13, 2008

webmeister posted:

I still really don’t understand who those pocket wifi devices are aimed at, they just seem like such a solution in search of a problem

For me personally, it's a combination of traveling with a group (we can all share the WiFi) and wanting to being able to go to sleep while watching international Netflix on my WiFi-only iPad with its wider catalog of movie and TV shows that aren't accessible in the U.S.

Shut up Meg
Jan 8, 2019

You're safe here.

Doctor Malaver posted:

The last time I was in Barcelona, internet was acting up in our AirBnb. The landlord came over with one of those. So in that case at least, a SIM card wouldn't be that helpful.
Those things use a SIM and connect to the phone network.

Sand Monster posted:

For me personally, it's a combination of traveling with a group (we can all share the WiFi) and wanting to being able to go to sleep while watching international Netflix on my WiFi-only iPad with its wider catalog of movie and TV shows that aren't accessible in the U.S.

You can do that with your phone, too. An android phone can act as a hotspot for 10 devices and an iphone 5 (I think).

I have looked into these because I love gadgets and I think I can only find two use cases for these that a phone can't do just as well: 1) you have multiple people wanting to use the devices, but no one person is guaranteed to be in area all the time (i.e. the guy with the hotspot phone might want to wander off) 2) you need to use a foreign SIM to get a decent rate, but every phone user needs to keep their original SIM because they need to keep their number active.

Doctor Malaver
May 23, 2007

Ce qui s'est passé t'a rendu plus fort

Shut up Meg posted:

Those things use a SIM and connect to the phone network.

OK, then imagine I said

Doctor Malaver posted:

So in that case at least, a SIM card alone wouldn't be that helpful.

Does it have any advantages over a phone? I'm not sure but depending on the device I can imagine an average phone would heat up quickly. If you had multiple devices connected most of the day, several days in a row, maybe it wouldn't run smoothly.

Shut up Meg
Jan 8, 2019

You're safe here.

Doctor Malaver posted:

OK, then imagine I said


Does it have any advantages over a phone? I'm not sure but depending on the device I can imagine an average phone would heat up quickly. If you had multiple devices connected most of the day, several days in a row, maybe it wouldn't run smoothly.

Like I said: I've tried really hard to justify such a thing because I am a travel gadget freak, but I have struggled to find a purpose that a phone can't do equally well.

I did use one once in an extremely specific use case: my company had a large trailer as a stand at a big event and we had a couple of these installed that allowed people to use their laptops while on the stand and they were very good at that.

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Entropist
Dec 1, 2007
I'm very stupid.

Shut up Meg posted:

2) you need to use a foreign SIM to get a decent rate, but every phone user needs to keep their original SIM because they need to keep their number active.
I'm not sure how people who travel a lot survive without a dual-sim phone. I keep my normal SIM active and pop the SIM of whatever country I'm visiting into the other slot (and can then use it to give wifi to my other stuff).

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