|
Ras Het posted:Isn't that how Ouigo works? Like the "Paris" station is in Denmark or something Yes, although they also seem to have some slow trains from the main stations. The post was in response to people talking about using the OuiGo app/website.
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2019 14:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 20:29 |
|
|
Ras Het posted:Isn't that how Ouigo works? Like the "Paris" station is in Denmark or something ah, the Easyjet method looking at you "Frankfurt" Hahn
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2019 17:51
|
|
|
Julio Cruz posted:ah, the Easyjet method I can only think of a handful of train stations in Europe that are not actually in the city they claim to be in, like Segovia’s and Belfort’s. These are for smaller towns though and it is always the high speed rail station that is way out of town.The trains that go into city centers will be cheaper in such a case anyway, as the city center stations use the slower trains, in those particular cases. But for most tourists it’s not usually that important as the high speed rail always goes to the main station for large cities AFAIK, and I doubt any tourist ever wants to go to Belfort. Segovia is the only one I can think of where a tourist might ever get tricked and screwed. But yeah the "Frankfurt" Hahn and “Paris" Beauvais airports are absurd. Are there any others in that category, that are > 100 km from their supposed city, and with garbage shuttle or public transport connections? Many of the other fake low-cost airports like "Milan" Bergamo are not really any worse than the real airport like "Milan" Malpensa (both about 50km from Milan city center).
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2019 21:12
|
|
|
Barcelona Reus
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2019 21:36
|
|
|
I remember taking RyanAir to Stockholm and it being a solid hour+ to the city from there, but that was back in 2003 and they may not fly to that airport anymore.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2019 23:04
|
|
|
Weeze "Düsseldorf" is 80 km, that's pretty bad. It's closer to various Dutch cities than to Düsseldorf. From "Brussels" Charleroi to Brussels you also cross half of Belgium, but well, that's not too much. The airport near Nottingham was also pretty bad but I think they rebranded it to East Midlands Airport. e: Here's a list: https://www.skyscanner.net/press-releases/world-s-most-misleadingly-named-airports-revealed-skyscanner Entropist fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Nov 20, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 00:38
|
|
|
greazeball posted:Barcelona Reus just checked and ryanair does still call it Barcelona Reus, and they do still fly there although they have since started flying to Barcelona proper as well.  
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 10:43
|
|
|
I think Ryanair also flies to "Oslo" Torp, which is a 100+ km drive from Oslo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 12:00
|
|
|
I'm actually kind of surprised there's no EU law banning you calling your airport by a city's name that is so far away. Like if an airline wants to advertise a flight to Venice, can they refer to their destination as the "Venice Ljulbjana Airport" in the same vein as "Barcelona Reus" or "Stockholm Skavsta"? I'm not of the backpacker age anymore, but a few years back I remember it was not uncommon for people I know to get screwed by low cost carriers using those bullshit airports with misleading advertising. RyanAir's website does seem a bit more upfront and obvious about it than I remember in the past. Iirc they would sell tickets to "Frankfurt" from the starting search page, and it would only be clear at the later stages of the process that it was not actually selling tickets to FRA. But otherwise yeah good luck getting to your Frankfurt Hahn flight at 7:30am on a Sunday, hope you like €150 taxi rides.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 14:28
|
|
|
pointsofdata posted:Yes, although they also seem to have some slow trains from the main stations. The post was in response to people talking about using the OuiGo app/website. Right, even I got confused by their lovely rebranding! But yeah, Ouigo is the lowcost TGV, so the Ouigo.com won't show most of the regular trains; for those you have to go to oui.sncf. On smartphones, you have two separate and incompatible apps called oui.sncf and ouigo as well. Plus Assistant SNCF and TGV Pro inOui. Makes sense? Thank god they spent money on this instead of making the trains run on time 
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 16:06
|
|
|
I remember using sncf.fr probably around 2011-12 and they had embedded midi files auto playing while you tried to find a train, so it used to be worse.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 17:40
|
|
|
Lol, I just got a reply from Flixbus saying they would fix the double charge I had on my ticket. I did a chargeback through my credit card over a month ago.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2019 19:44
|
|
|
Any recommendations as far as baggage checking in Paris? My understanding is that there is one at the Gare De Lyon station, but I'm not sure if you can just, you know, show up and do it. We'll be leaving via that station later in the evening, but we've got a gap from our AirBnb and I'd prefer not to lug around carry-ons and a checked bag through the city.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2019 00:39
|
|
|
greazeball posted:just checked and ryanair does still call it Barcelona Reus, and they do still fly there although they have since started flying to Barcelona proper as well. I can confirm that Ryanair do fly to BCN; I was there a couple weeks ago.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2019 00:45
|
|
|
Warbird posted:Any recommendations as far as baggage checking in Paris? My understanding is that there is one at the Gare De Lyon station, but I'm not sure if you can just, you know, show up and do it. We'll be leaving via that station later in the evening, but we've got a gap from our AirBnb and I'd prefer not to lug around carry-ons and a checked bag through the city. You can just show up and do it. You take your bag downstairs to the bag check area, they x ray it, put it in a locker, and give you a token or key or something, can’t remember. It’s a pretty formal system and it’s under the main station level, on the ground floor next to Rue de Bercey, but if there aren’t signs to it you can just ask at the info desk.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2019 01:09
|
|
|
Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I'd add actual content but it's 2:30AM and I'm about to pass out.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2019 02:37
|
|
|
Ok, an actual HELP situation. We’re in Nice looking to go to Florence and all the local trains are cancelled due to recent storms. Flights out are extremely expensive and we don’t have points to throw at one. Any suggestions on what we could do? A bus might be viable but I need to look into it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:37
|
|
|
Warbird posted:Ok, an actual HELP situation. We’re in Nice looking to go to Florence and all the local trains are cancelled due to recent storms. Flights out are extremely expensive and we don’t have points to throw at one. Any suggestions on what we could do? A bus might be viable but I need to look into it. Flixbus, yeah. Either that or rent a car, but I would only do that if you can change your itinerary and do stuff between Nice and Florence. If you just want to go direct the bus. If they're not already 100% sold out. Also many car rentals have large 1-way fees if you drop off in other countries. Not sure how prevalent that still is as I haven't tried in years, but it used to frequently be like €200-€500.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:45
|
|
|
I’ll check the bus, though I’m concerned with how the roads may be if the trains are knocked out. The food at the hotel suggested flying into Rome and taking the train up which may be good.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:49
|
|
|
Warbird posted:I’ll check the bus, though I’m concerned with how the roads may be if the trains are knocked out. The food at the hotel suggested flying into Rome and taking the train up which may be good. There will always be a road that gets around any block. If it's no longer actively a huge storm then buses will get to where they need to go. Trains are a little bit more difficult as if a route is blocked then there's often no real viable alternative. But yeah depending on pricing then what they suggested makes sense too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:53
|
|
|
Rome 2 Rio has the following options: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Nice/Florence-Italy Best option is probably a bus to Genoa and then another bus on to Florence. Looks like Flixbus only runs overnight and at 6am for whatever reason.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:55
|
|
|
Saladman posted:Also many car rentals have large 1-way fees if you drop off in other countries. Not sure how prevalent that still is as I haven't tried in years, but it used to frequently be like €200-€500. Yeah, when we were in Europe last year this was still common. Just going to another country is fine, but dropping off in a second country is usually astronomically expensive.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 10:56
|
|
|
I’m looking at a Flix bus out of Nice at 1:45 that would have us in Florence by the evening. Would you all say they would be comparable to Megabus in the states?
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 11:00
|
|
|
I'm not American so I've got no idea tbh, but it's basically just a budget bus service so adjust expectations accordingly. Most buses have limited wifi and USB charging points, though it's entirely possible the one in your seat won't work And check where the destination stop is, as it's not necessarily at the main bus station in town.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 11:16
|
|
|
Also make sure to bring your own food and drinks on the bus. If you can buy anything on board at all it'll just be small snacks and you won't have time to run to the store at any intermediate stops.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 11:32
|
|
|
My experience with flixbus is that they use normal touring buses for everything. The buses are clean, and they've got airconditioning and usb ports. There's also toilets though in my experience they keep those locked off, even when the ticket says that the toilet will be available.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 13:06
|
|
|
Dance Officer posted:My experience with flixbus is that they use normal touring buses for everything. The buses are clean, and they've got airconditioning and usb ports. There's also toilets though in my experience they keep those locked off, even when the ticket says that the toilet will be available. I suppose that'd have to depend on the distance? If you got an overnighter they probably unlock them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 13:12
|
|
|
Carbon dioxide posted:Also make sure to bring your own food and drinks on the bus. If you can buy anything on board at all it'll just be small snacks and you won't have time to run to the store at any intermediate stops. We’ve got a 90 minute transfer around dinner time, but we’ll stock up before we go on. Everything here is flooded so I’ll settle for something dry and warm. Wifi and power would be good bonuses.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 13:49
|
|
|
You really weren’t kidding about them finding a road bud. Trip took an hour longer than scheduled, but oh man did they put that thing through some roads in Nice that it probably wasn’t supposed to go through. Beautiful drive. Missed our connection in Genoa, but Mrs. Burd found some of her countrymen running a restaurant near the bus stop so we’re doing dandy.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 20:19
|
|
|
Warbird posted:You really weren’t kidding about them finding a road bud. Trip took an hour longer than scheduled, but oh man did they put that thing through some roads in Nice that it probably wasn’t supposed to go through. Beautiful drive. Missed our connection in Genoa, but Mrs. Burd found some of her countrymen running a restaurant near the bus stop so we’re doing dandy. Holy poo poo though, that flooding that was way worse than I thought. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-50536502/floods-cause-chaos-in-france-and-italy There was a similar situation in Genoa last year, when one of their huge highway bridges collapsed in bad weather. Italian construction, good god.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 21:12
|
|
|
Drove by that on the coastal highway. That seems to validate the level of concern the hotel folks had.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2019 23:26
|
|
|
Warbird posted:I’m looking at a Flix bus out of Nice at 1:45 that would have us in Florence by the evening. Would you all say they would be comparable to Megabus in the states? Based on my last trip, I can tell you a few things about Flixbus: It's more like a network of local operators, so some things may vary, including the driver's ability to speak English. I had to pay extra for stored baggage, which was fine with me. But read the fine print when ordering: it turned out the Zagreb to Rijeka route wanted me to purchase the stored luggage separately, cash only. Cost only 10 kuna, but the operator had to break my 50 kuna note and only had 5 kuna coins to give me as change. Some buses have toilets, others do not. Even the ones I took that had toilets did also make roadside stops at highway truck stops (except for one, I think), so you should generally be OK -- just make sure you have some change for the pay-toilets. I forgot about this and run back to the bus for the €20 bill I had in my backpack as emergency cash over the Slovenian border. Some buses are double-decker ones, and some are just basic coach buses. I still didn't understand the reserved seating system, but I think I only had someone sitting next to me just once, so it never came up. There might have been a sign saying you may be able to buy food, but I don't remember actually being able to do that. Either bring your own or get some at the truck stops. The wi-fi usually works, but don't rely on it. If you planned on watching Netflix or something, don't. Either download the shows on your phone or laptop or do something else, since even if you do get wi-fi, it's not strong enough to really do anything like that. Or use the cheap data with the local SIM card*. The app was good enough for letting me book tickets and telling me where the bus was at the time. I think there was one time where it just said it didn't know where the bus was, but other than that, I could see on a map where the bus was approximately. Also helped to tell me where the stop was at bus stations. I can't comment on the air-conditioning, as I was there almost two months ago, but I had no problem otherwise with the interior atmosphere or anything. I was lucky not to be sitting next to any smokers on any of my rides. At least one of my trips had a stop at a truck stop where over half the passengers immediately got out just for a cigarette. And this is something that should go without saying, but it happened to make: double-check your hand luggage as you get off the bus. I lost my carry-on suitcase in Zagreb, and their online lost-and-found form never found it. My fault for losing it, but I started to think I should've called their head office instead of using the stupid online form. Again, they use local operators so maybe someone found it and head office didn't know about it. Thankfully, there wasn't anything valuable in there, although it took me a while to find a place to buy underwear and t-shirts in Zagreb. *my Hungarian SIM card didn't want to work outside of Hungary. The Croatian one worked just fine in Slovenia, so I know it must've been some kind of technical thing that I couldn't figure out. Kept asking me to sign in to local networks, but since it was a temporary card, I had no log-in or anything.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2019 17:43
|
|
|
mojo1701a posted:Some buses have toilets, others do not. Even the ones I took that had toilets did also make roadside stops at highway truck stops (except for one, I think), so you should generally be OK -- just make sure you have some change for the pay-toilets. I forgot about this and run back to the bus for the €20 bill I had in my backpack as emergency cash over the Slovenian border. Those pay toilets aren't just Eastern Europe, at the very least Netherlands and Germany has them too. How they generally work in NL and DE is that the payment machine gives you a little voucher that allows you to buy stuff in the store, worth the same price as you had to pay for the toilet. So if you go to the toilet first and then to the store you can actually use the money for something. quote:I can't comment on the air-conditioning, as I was there almost two months ago, but I had no problem otherwise with the interior atmosphere or anything. I was lucky not to be sitting next to any smokers on any of my rides. At least one of my trips had a stop at a truck stop where over half the passengers immediately got out just for a cigarette. Wait, what about smoking laws on buses? Do they follow local laws per country? Smoking in buses certainly isn't allowed in the Netherlands.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2019 19:04
|
|
|
Carbon dioxide posted:Those pay toilets aren't just Eastern Europe, at the very least Netherlands and Germany has them too. How they generally work in NL and DE is that the payment machine gives you a little voucher that allows you to buy stuff in the store, worth the same price as you had to pay for the toilet. So if you go to the toilet first and then to the store you can actually use the money for something. drat, now I know what the vouchers were for. That's not a bad idea, as one of my tour guides told me that it was because they used to have people travel through and just trash the toilets. Oh well, I'm out a total of like, $3. As for the smoking, I didn't see any at all. I'm saying that I found it hilarious once I noticed over half of the passengers get off the bus at a truck stop just so they could have a smoke. Smoking was endemic while I was there (unsurprising, since at least half of my family over there smokes like chimneys), but thankfully not on the buses themselves. I don't know exactly what the local laws were, but I assume that it's at least good enough to ban smoking indoors in public areas and transportation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2019 19:12
|
|
|
Carbon dioxide posted:Those pay toilets aren't just Eastern Europe, at the very least Netherlands and Germany has them too. How they generally work in NL and DE is that the payment machine gives you a little voucher that allows you to buy stuff in the store, worth the same price as you had to pay for the toilet. So if you go to the toilet first and then to the store you can actually use the money for something. Yeah, Switzerland also converted to every gas station toilet being a refundable pay toilet in the past few years, where it's 1 franc and you get a voucher, which pisses me off because (a) no one was trashing toilets, and (b) a 1 franc refundable fee isn't going to make any goddamn difference even if someone was a drunken rear end in a top hat. Exceptions are the -rest stops- (the places with no gas stations, just picnic areas), old gas stations that haven't been renovated since ±2012, and in very large rest stops that have restaurants and roadside hotels and such, where often the bathroom is still free. I'm still irritated every time I go to a 'modernized' gas station, even though I have like 50 1-franc pieces in my car now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2019 20:31
|
|
|
Yeah, I was just posting about flixbus' lol-worthy online customer service. The app had double charged me, and I had already done a chargeback with my credit card. They just refunded me, about 2 months after I initially contacted them. I took a bus from Poland to Germany. It was a normal coach bus, and the bathroom was open. It was about a 5 hour ride, but we didn't make any stops where you could exit. Just a passport control stop going into Germany, and we made multiple stops in Berlin at different stations. I got off at ZOB and it was the last stop. One hold luggage was included in my ticket. The bus had wifi, but had a quota. There were some movies on the wifi, so I got to watch The Naked Gun 2 1/2. The app was decent for tracking, although the station had good signage and updates too. So pretty OK, even before I ended up with the free ticket.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2019 22:34
|
|
|
What's the weather like in Lisbon in April? e: would five nights in the city be too much? Shy fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Nov 28, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 20:15
|
|
|
Our hotel in Rome has the air conditioning turned off for the whole drat place despite the fact that it's goddamn 60 degrees outside. I get the reasoning, but I've got the flop sweats even with the window open. Not to mention that it's too loud to sleep due to the traffic outside. Super interesting city though. I wish I was more of a Roman history nerd than I am, but it's really neat just to wander around. e- Bidet talk. While the standalone units were new to me, our current hotel has one I can't sort out. It's for sure a standalone setup, but there's no jet or faucet or the like. Cranking up the water just has it pour into the basin from one end sort of like a horizontal urinal. It's a bit wider than most I've seen; are you supposed to stop the drain and let the water pool? That seems..... not great. Warbird fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Nov 29, 2019 |
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2019 23:57
|
|
|
Warbird posted:Our hotel in Rome has the air conditioning turned off for the whole drat place despite the fact that it's goddamn 60 degrees outside. I get the reasoning, but I've got the flop sweats even with the window open. You should be able to ask for a desk fan (or there may already be one in the closet). Edit: and 60F is way too cool for needing the AC, I'm not surprised it's turned off really.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2019 08:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 20:29 |
|
|
It's probably more that it got below 60 at some point in the last couple of weeks so they just started blasting the heat
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2019 08:44
|
|