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dennyk posted:[A bunch of great advice.] Thanks! That's awesome. I read the entire DK travel guide for Ireland and a bunch of itineraries online, but quite a few things you mentioned I hadn't seen. Also the "suggested itineraries" were always insane in terms of timing -- like 7 days as a "do a ring around all of Ireland, from Dublin->Belfast->Galway->Cork->Kilkenny->Dublin." I think I've only met one person ever who travelled a lot who actually enjoys that kind of pace. We'd thought about staying in Adare manor for a night as a splurge/deluxe stay for fun, until we saw the prices were something like €500/room and we'd need two rooms, so... yeah.
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Apr 1, 2019 16:01
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Yeah, I've found that guidebook itineraries are way too packed and fast-moving for me; I like to take the time to get to know a place a bit and check out some lesser-known sights rather than trying to see every major attraction across an entire country in a week. And yeah, Adare Manor is ridiculous. Even €500 would be really amazing; their cheapest rooms are usually €700+ in May. It is a spectacularly luxurious hotel, by all accounts, but I'm not one to pay that much for a room anywhere. If you really wanted to see the place and walk the grounds, you could book lunch there; it's also quite expensive, of course, but definitely not as much as staying there.
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Apr 1, 2019 17:24
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As much as he is the ultimate White Middle Aged Man Tourist, I find Rick Steves actually has the best guide books in terms of itinerary times, scheduling, etc.
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Apr 1, 2019 23:57
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That's always my biggest problem with traveling; figuring out how long to stay in each location. The flip side of the DK guides are the lonely planet books. They thoroughly go through each location but lack any sense of realism with their itineraries. You will get a book on Peru or something, and they will show a 4-week, 6-week and 8-week itinerary with spending absurd amounts of time in each location. Who has that much time to spend in Peru? It is definitely geared towards the gap year/backpacker tourist, but still. I am currently planning a quasi-open ended "backpacking" trip during a mid-life career transition, and I am still going back and forth to spend two or three days in each town or city. Hence why I keep asking all these seemingly random questions.
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Apr 2, 2019 01:59
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Saladman posted:Also the "suggested itineraries" were always insane in terms of timing -- like 7 days as a "do a ring around all of Ireland, from Dublin->Belfast->Galway->Cork->Kilkenny->Dublin." I think I've only met one person ever who travelled a lot who actually enjoys that kind of pace. Yeah, I feel like that's especially true if you're driving around all over the place in rural Ireland, particularly the west coast. You want that to be the kind of trip where you can take your time, get lost and not care, stop in at a random little town's pub for a drink, soak up the atmosphere and not feel like you're messing up your whole itinerary. HookShot posted:As much as he is the ultimate White Middle Aged Man Tourist, I find Rick Steves actually has the best guide books in terms of itinerary times, scheduling, etc. I agree, and I do tend to trust him on most things. I also like that he won't sugarcoat things that he doesn't like; an example in the Ireland case was him making GBS threads on Blarney Castle and flat-out saying not to waste your time with it (I never went, so I have no personal opinion, but I appreciate the bluntness).
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Apr 2, 2019 02:34
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waffy posted:I agree, and I do tend to trust him on most things. I also like that he won't sugarcoat things that he doesn't like; an example in the Ireland case was him making GBS threads on Blarney Castle and flat-out saying not to waste your time with it (I never went, so I have no personal opinion, but I appreciate the bluntness).
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Apr 2, 2019 04:19
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Cheesemaster200 posted:I am currently planning a quasi-open ended "backpacking" trip during a mid-life career transition, and I am still going back and forth to spend two or three days in each town or city. Hence why I keep asking all these seemingly random questions. 2-3 days is usually enough time in any moderate sized tourist destination to see what you want. There are some tentpole-level tourist destinations where you could spend a week (eg London, Rome, New York etc), but unless you're going for something specific you don't need that long. I'll also say if you're travelling long term, factor in downtime as well. Moving cities every few days, unpacking and repacking, figuring out transport/accommodation/monetary issues etc can take it out of you. While we were travelling full-time we were doing about four weeks of fairly intense travel, then a week off in a single place with very little planned.
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Apr 2, 2019 04:20
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webmeister posted:2-3 days is usually enough time in any moderate sized tourist destination to see what you want. There are some tentpole-level tourist destinations where you could spend a week (eg London, Rome, New York etc), but unless you're going for something specific you don't need that long. Yeah, I did a six-week trip back in 2013 under a similar situation and the constant uncertainty really got to me. About two weeks into India I finally just aborted and headed to Thailand for a week on the beach... For this trip I am trying to plan European lodging and travel in advance (to save money), and do a lot of preliminary research for the more adventurous places. Also planning to base myself in strategically located towns so I can do a lot of day trips, etc. without moving much.
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Apr 2, 2019 15:02
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We've got a trip coming up to france/Barcelona over mid-june/early July this year. 3 weeks. We're flying into Paris and then flying out of barcelona. Roughly we're going to start in paris and then work our way south to Barcelona. We're french and spanish speakers and not worried about getting around odd spots. Itinerary at the moment looks like this: Paris: 5 nights Dijon: 3 nights Lyon: 3 nights Montpellier: 2 nights Girona: 2 nights Barcelona: 4 nights How does that look to folks? Any recommendations for stops? We love hikes/outdoor stuff/eating our way through places/cheese and wine tours. Day trips from any of those stops are also possible, shows/festivals/etc are great. Also, any recs for rail passes or sim cards would be appreciated. El Mero Mero fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Apr 8, 2019 |
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Apr 7, 2019 20:56
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Rail passes aren't usually worth the money in France because you have to pay for seat reservation separately. Your best bet price wise is to start looking for any TGV tickets you need right away, or if they're not selling them yet, check to see when they become available
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Apr 8, 2019 08:34
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My first thought is that it's a bit of a cramped itinerary, if I were you I'd remove one city (maybe even two) and take your time just a bit more. As it stands you don't really have any time for day trips or extended excursions or rest days without feeling like you're missing out on something. I haven't been to any of those French cities besides Paris so I can't speak to which one to skip. Maybe depending on the train timetable you could leave yourselves a few hours to explore a downtown before catching the next train (if you try this though, double-check that the station has facilities to leave your luggage). I would give the same advice as Ras Het on train tickets. Look in advance. Spain's equivalent to TGV is Renfe and it's also better to get regular tickets and do so as early as possible. Third-party websites like loco2.com are easier to use than renfe.com and carry no extra fees. I think they support TGV too but I can't speak to whether there's some advantage of going through the official channel. For SIM cards, it depends on your carrier. If you're on T-Mobile their international plan works great and provides the same unlimited as your regular plan. If you're on another US carrier you are probably on a CDMA network and your phones may not be compatible with the GSM networks in Europe. If you're coming from somewhere else in the world, I don't know.
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Apr 8, 2019 09:25
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Don't most phones globally support GSM and CDMA these days? That was my understanding anyway, though I could be wrong. For a SIM card, just check that your phone is unlocked (before leaving the USA!) and then buy a SIM card from an official kiosk in the arrivals hall. Some of the operators are expensive (40 euros for two weeks!), but there's one called Free Mobile which has pretty competitive rates. Note that a French SIM will work in Barcelona and anywhere else in the EU without attracting roaming charges.
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Apr 8, 2019 10:41
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webmeister posted:Don't most phones globally support GSM and CDMA these days? That was my understanding anyway, though I could be wrong. Oh yeah, maybe my information is out of date. Good call on unlocking the phone though. That can take a few days or more so it's important to check early.
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Apr 8, 2019 11:03
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El Mero Mero posted:Itinerary at the moment looks like this: Avignon is stunning, one of my favorite French cities with a fantastic old city wall, a fairly unique and large old town, and the truly massive Papal palace. If you're into old massive construction works, the Canal du Midi runs through Beziers and has a cool area with an aqueduct bridge running over a river, although it's not worth a full day stay and is probably a hassle just by public transport. Narbonne is neat and also on your way and has a weird neat cathedral and is otherwise fairly cute, but probably also not worth it by train for a brief stop with luggage. Carcassonne is not too far out of your way if you want to make an entire day out of it when going from Montpellier to Girona. Pont du Gard is also on your way... although with public transit maybe not. Given how short your stays are in each town, I probably would not do any "day trips" outside of the city, except maybe to Fontainebleau from Paris, which IMO is better than Versailles since it's (a) not jam-loving-packed with people and (b) also more historically significant. Your itinerary is fairly rushed (although not too rushed) but I'd still try and fit in Avignon in there, maybe over Montpellier or Lyon rather than shortening other stays. Lyon is really ... eh. The hill overlooking the city is really nice and the Roman ruins are pretty cool (especially if you haven't been to Rome) but otherwise it's surprisingly far off the beaten tourist path given that it's France's third-biggest city. I've been several times too. Yeah just get whatever SIM is cheapest on your arrival and which has a reasonable amount of data. Cell phone plans are super easy to deal with in Europe post-July 2017.
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Apr 8, 2019 17:17
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Good Christ Dublin lodging is expensive. It’s about double what zurich costs for an Airbnb or a hotel. Literally there’s not even a single hotel in the city for under €200/night in mid May, even quite a ways out from the center. I got a good lol when a 6 bed hostel dorm came up at the bargain price of $298, the cheapest accommodation in town.
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Apr 9, 2019 07:28
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Huh, I don't remember it being more expensive than other places in Western Europe a few years ago. Perhaps it's booked full by British refugees?
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Apr 9, 2019 14:17
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Entropist posted:Huh, I don't remember it being more expensive than other places in Western Europe a few years ago. Perhaps it's booked full by British refugees? No idea, but there's not even a single hotel under $180 at the dates I was looking for in late May:  It's also amazing how like half of the hotels are already 100% booked already (red dots), unless hotels.com is just doing that as a scare tactic. Yellow dots are ones that have availability but don't meet my criteria of ≥ 2* & ≤ $180. There was one single place for $181, but the next cheapest in that map searchzone is $214, and those yellows don't really start turning green until you hit about $250/night. I thought maybe it was something on my dates (Saturday night) but it's generally pretty terrible any date in summer. I mean gently caress, even a twin room in a hostel with a shared bathroom is $135/night. I have nothing against shared bathrooms in hostels*, but there's no way at that price point. ( https://www.hotels.com/ho693010/?q-...T=1&ZSX=0&SYE=3 ) *(though no way for shared bunk rooms on a Saturday night in summer in a country with a let's-get-shitfaced drinking culture, even if they weren't still €50/bed/night lol at the hostel prices: https://www.hostelworld.com/search?...ber_of_guests=2 keep in mind you have to double those prices as that's per guest. I've spent most of my life in Switzerland and these prices still shock me.
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Apr 9, 2019 17:35
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Yeah Dublin is crazy expensive. I had to resort to an AirBnB in the north, hotels are unaffordable.
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Apr 9, 2019 18:12
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The supply of new hotel rooms in Dublin was stagnant for ages and is only just now picking up a bit (assuming that all of the proposed new hotels don't get rejected because they might be visible from a public location and/or some aul wan's back window or because once a year on the winter solstice their shadow might touch some derelict building that was built before 1963, thus utterly destroying the character of the city...), but demand has been growing enormously in the past few years and so the current rates reflect that. And if you think it's expensive now, just wait until the new laws effectively banning AirBnBs go into effect in June... Looking on the bright side, though, you're getting the true local Dublin experience; can't find any housing and couldn't afford it if you did! 
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Apr 9, 2019 19:28
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Saladman posted:No idea, but there's not even a single hotel under $180 at the dates I was looking for in late May: At the end of May is Ascension of Christ, so a lot of people have a long weekend and that allows for a short vacation. So that is what's probably driving prices up.
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Apr 10, 2019 05:33
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What's the best way to arrange an itinerary of: Berlin, Munich, Prague, Vienna. 3-4 days each. Any that are overrated? Side trips? Consider alternatives? Just googling it seems Berlin-Munich has a high speed train, so I was thinking fly into Berlin, Munich, Prague, Vienna, fly out Vienna. From East Coast US. Scott's Cheap Flights uncovered a low fare, may book soon. Comb Your Beard fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Apr 11, 2019 |
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Apr 11, 2019 03:28
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Vienna twice? Or did you mean Munich? If you did, I probably wouldn't spend 3-4 days in Munich, maybe spend a day there or two if you're super keen on Neuschwanstein. If you want to stay in Germany, maybe consider Nuremburg, or if you want to see more of Austria head to Salzburg. There's also a lot of great little towns in Czech which are worth investigating! Cesky Krumlov is the best known of these but there are plenty of others.
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Apr 11, 2019 04:19
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Yeah that's what I meant, edited. Is Pilsen worthwhile? Originally home of the Pilsner beer is appealing. Want to check out a Heuriger in Vienna too. Like a rustic wine tavern of grapes grown right near the city. Acohol tourism and art/history is the biggest draw for me. Love modern/contemporary art. I think Berlin has some great museums. i saw Salzburg in a previous post here, would consider. I will consider what else I want from Munich besides being in a big Haus and eating a pretzel, sausage, and drinking a tall stein.
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Apr 11, 2019 04:39
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Thanks for the advice folks. We'll likely pare back and not do day trips given the advice here and start watching for rail tickets earlier than we had thought we'd need to. Appreciate it!
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Apr 11, 2019 05:15
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Comb Your Beard posted:Originally home of the Pilsner beer is appealing. Heh, by the time you're through with your trip, you might well be tired of pilsner. I mean it's good and all but it gets extremely samey after awhile. Can't speak for whether or not Pilsen itself is worth a visit but I've never heard a single bad thing about Czechia for vacationing. Comb Your Beard posted:I will consider what else I want from Munich besides being in a big Haus and eating a pretzel, sausage, and drinking a tall stein. Avoid Hofbräuhaus. There are way better beer halls with fewer obnoxious tourists. I've never seen one that serves beer in a stone mug (Stein), but they'll all have the big liter-sized glass ones (a Maß, pronounced "mahss") Edit: also don't forget to get a nice Bavarian breakfast while you're there. Fresh weißwurst, Bavarian mustard, a pretzel, and a glass of wheat beer. Drone fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Apr 11, 2019 |
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Apr 11, 2019 06:02
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I haven't been to Pilsen specifically, but basically everywhere in Czech has a local brewery that's worth checking out. It's also home to Budvar, the original Budweiser if that's at all interesting to you.
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Apr 11, 2019 06:34
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Comb Your Beard posted:Acohol tourism and art/history is the biggest draw for me. Love modern/contemporary art. I think Berlin has some great museums.
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Apr 11, 2019 07:18
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Since we have a toddler and wife doesn't want to be gone long, doing 11 days with fly in, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, fly out. I think this we'll be a good trip. Getting this temporary low fare. Any recs for day trips from this cities? May do 1. Any recs for Bavarian style food in Berlin since we dropped that off? Any general recs for those? I skimmed the Berlin stuff a few pages back in this thread. Not especially into Bauhaus, no. Comb Your Beard fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Apr 11, 2019 |
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Apr 11, 2019 13:32
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My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Italy at the moment, as a celebration of her 30th birthday. I plan on proposing to her while we are there  . The only thing set in stone is we have to go in August, as it is the only time frame where are both able to take time off from work/school. Our rough outline right now is 2 weeks total. 10 days or so in Italy (Rome/Florence/Venice), and then we wanted to spend the remaining time in Santorini,Greece. Thoughts? How should we break up the Italy days? 4 days in Rome, 3 days in Florence, 3 days in Venice? Is it foolish to go to Greece for only 3 days? I have this vision of staying at a place on the cliffs of Santorini and proposing on the balcony.Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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Apr 11, 2019 21:02
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Rome, Florence, and Venice will be a terrible experience in August (in ascending order). Peak tourist season. If you could spend more time in Greece (Athens?) and skip Venice, that's what I'd do.
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Apr 11, 2019 22:40
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Comb Your Beard posted:What's the best way to arrange an itinerary of: Berlin, Munich, Prague, Vienna. 3-4 days each. Any that are overrated? Side trips? Consider alternatives? These cities are lovely. We did a vacation that was 3 days in Berlin, 3 days in Prague some years back that was terrific, but our hotels were on opposite ends of the spectrum: Don't stay in the Cube Lodges in Berlin. Each room was in a little sugar-cube building off a volleyball court (Google for photos) with no A/C in May, and it was so hot I woke up from drowning in my sweat each morning. Little greenhouses. We had to go for a city walk by 6:30 am so we didn't die. The amenities were so cool; we were late 20s, and we like to party, but the heat was unbearable. Do stay in the Mosaic in Prague. Amazing location, balcony rooms, little bar, club inside the hotel, and fantastic service. I'll stay in the Mosaic every time if I can get it. Betazoid fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Apr 12, 2019 |
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Apr 12, 2019 04:31
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I thought Florence in May was hellish, I can't even imagine August. Rome will be hot and full of people but will still give you a good Italian experience. Florence is basically Disneyland. I agree that you should try and spend more time in Greece, though Santorini will also be packed full of people and your romantic clifftop experience will probably feature like 300 other people being involved. Perhaps look at a smaller, less frequented island. Or do it in the early morning before all the cruise ship visitors arrive.
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Apr 12, 2019 15:10
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Any recommendations for another Greek Island? And I didn’t realize the average temperature in Florence is 90 degrees, woof.
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Apr 12, 2019 15:25
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RCarr posted:Any recommendations for another Greek Island? Everything south of the Alps is going to be 90+ for a good chunk of August. The places with humidity are the worst, and air conditioning is not a standard thing even in Greece or Italy (although for some reason it seems fairly standard in Spain). Santorini is amazingly beautiful and one of the most stunning places I have ever been and I travel a lot. It’s totally unique and incredible. But yeah stay wayyy out of Fira, it is a crowded pit of cruise ship tourists. The rest of the island will be busy but more manageable. Rome is always crowded, I’ve been all times of year and never noticed any difference in crowds, as it’s a massive city anyway. Florence and Venice not so much. Florence is awful. Venice i haven’t been to since I was a kid so I’ll withhold judgement but I bet it’s gotten fake and pretty bad on the main island. I bet there are great finds to be had on the smaller islands. Nothing will be "untouched by foreign tourists" but it won’t be jam packed with bus loads of the elderly on hit and run guided tours, which is Florence’s problem. Ymmv. I think Naples and the Amalfi coast is one of the best parts of Italy and would really suggest that I stead of going to the places that your grandmother and college backpackers go to.
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Apr 12, 2019 16:48
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I liked Florence. Though I went in mid/late September so crowds weren’t so bad. It was still ridiculously hot.
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Apr 12, 2019 20:09
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Saladman posted:Everything south of the Alps is going to be 90+ for a good chunk of August. The places with humidity are the worst, and air conditioning is not a standard thing even in Greece or Italy (although for some reason it seems fairly standard in Spain). In mid August the Amalfi coast is 100% going to be exactly as full of tourists as Florence and Venice.
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Apr 13, 2019 01:03
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Julio Cruz posted:In mid August the Amalfi coast is 100% going to be exactly as full of tourists as Florence and Venice. Yeah but of couples and families, not of massive tour groups. Or will it? I’ve only been once in late May for a week, but there weren’t any cruise ships docking or unloading their cargo there when I was there or buses of 60 people on the same tour. There’s something about big guided tours that to me is so much more disruptive to the atmosphere of a place — i guess probably the way they will stand 60-strong in the middle of the street blocking it completely and paying no attention to anything except their earpiece from the guide they’re blindly following who is holding like a national flag or some weird object on a tall stick.
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Apr 13, 2019 10:12
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Thoughts on using an Airbnb in countries you're foreign to? (I'm traveling from the US to Italy & Greece) I'm a little wary of doing something like that when I don't speak the language, especially since if there's a problem, you're stuck halfway across the world with no place to stay.
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Apr 17, 2019 21:57
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YMMV depending on gender and whether you're traveling alone of course, but just check for reviews before you book anything. My wife and I stayed in an AirBnB in Istanbul and had no problems even though the guy's mate who met us and gave us the key barely spoke English. If you do a little research you should be able to decide if you have a good feeling about the place or not.
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Apr 17, 2019 23:18
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We've stayed in 200+ Airbnbs across Europe and Asia, and neither of us can realistically speak anything other than English (my wife is kindergarten level German, I can speak absolute basic Spanish/Italian/French). It's honestly not really a problem, since nobody in those countries expects a tourist to speak Italian or Greek to any real level - they will have some level of skill in English. One thing I would say is to not only read reviews, but consider the length of the reviews. If there's a bunch of 5-star reviews saying "nice house", "good stay" etc, those are people who aren't super impressed. If there's a bunch of 5-star reviews and they're all paragraph+ length, those people are actually genuinely happy with their stay and their host. We also generally stuck to properties where we had the place to ourselves, so we didn't have to awkwardly socialise with people we can't speak to. That said, we stayed in the Loire Valley in an older couple's granny flat, where they couldn't speak much English and we couldn't speak much French. One of the nights, they had some friends from Alsace staying with them (who largely spoke German), and they invited us in for dinner as well. It was a really memorable night, even though we struggled to keep up with the conversation for a lot of it
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Apr 17, 2019 23:49
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