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we had to put "don't try and see literally half of Europe in two weeks" first thing in the OP because people were constantly coming in with absolutely insane travel schedules
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Jan 8, 2020 00:09
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I think Americans' insane situation with paid leave also has a lot to do with it. When you can only get a week off at a time once a year, I can understand the mentality of cramming in as much as possible despite how miserable it might be. Whereas for other nationalities, taking 2-3 weeks off for a holiday isn't a big deal and you can plan out a much more reasonable itinerary.
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Jan 8, 2020 00:24
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Should I do three nights in Killarney/two nights in Galway, or two nights in Killarney/three nights in Galway? We're doing Dublin (two nights) -> Killarney -> Galway (with a day trip up to Achill as one of the activities). Not sure which makes a better base for the longer portion of the stay between Killarney and Galway
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Jan 8, 2020 01:56
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Omne posted:Should I do three nights in Killarney/two nights in Galway, or two nights in Killarney/three nights in Galway? We're doing Dublin (two nights) -> Killarney -> Galway (with a day trip up to Achill as one of the activities). Not sure which makes a better base for the longer portion of the stay between Killarney and Galway Killarney is a less nice town than Galway, but both have excellent day trips available so I don't think it matters much. One of my favourite things in Ireland was staying in the many excellent BnBs, have you considered stopping at one in-between?
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Jan 8, 2020 08:54
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^^** with only five nights he doesn’t really have the option to stop overnight in more than two places. Most Airbnb’s have 2 or 3 night min stays anyway. Agree that Galway is nicer but in any case both towns are miniature. Omne posted:Should I do three nights in Killarney/two nights in Galway, or two nights in Killarney/three nights in Galway? We're doing Dublin (two nights) -> Killarney -> Galway (with a day trip up to Achill as one of the activities). Not sure which makes a better base for the longer portion of the stay between Killarney and Galway What time of year? And you have a rental car, or if not, can get one? Either way would work honestly. 3 days in Gallway = Gallway, Aran Islands (weather permitting), and Kenmore Abbey / Connemara. Killarney has more things in the immediate area: Dingle Peninsula (full day, honestly my favorite), Skellige Islands (full day, seasonal, weather permitting), Ring of Kerry (3/4 of a day), Killarney NP (couple hours to full day), Gap of Dunloe and black valley (couple hours, should be an experienced driver especially if doing it in summer). There are also a lot of cool and nearly unvisited ruins near Gallway especially, like the Ross Errilly Friary. Car required, as with much of Ireland. I strongly strongly recommend renting a car. Tour buses cannot go to some places (eg Dingle Peninsula, Gap of Dunloe, Ross Errilly, and tour buses are full of so many people it kind of spoils the atmosphere. Cliffs of Moher can be done when you drive between Gallway and Killarney but it does take a full day to do that whole route. I found Dingle to be more enjoyable than Ring of Kerry since there were far fewer people, but tbh once you get off the main roads you barely see anyone anyway. We spent three days in Blackvalley and saw like thirty people, in late May when we were there.
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Jan 8, 2020 08:56
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webmeister posted:I think Americans' insane situation with paid leave also has a lot to do with it. When you can only get a week off at a time once a year, I can understand the mentality of cramming in as much as possible despite how miserable it might be. Whereas for other nationalities, taking 2-3 weeks off for a holiday isn't a big deal and you can plan out a much more reasonable itinerary. Counterpoint: if you're American and you can only get one week of vacation at a time once per year, find a new job, because your employer's PTO policy is horrid.
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Jan 8, 2020 15:19
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Speaking of insane travel schedules, I'm going to be in France for about 10 days in early May. I want to see the mountains, and my wife wants to see the Mediterranean, so we're thinking of doing something like: Paris: 2 nights Grenoble: 3 nights Marseille: 2 nights Avignon: 2 nights Paris: 1 night I've been thinking of doing a combination of car and train travel, partially because that seems like the easiest way into and out of Paris. The nights in Paris are really just for convenience, jet lag, and because it's Paris. I don't really enjoy big cities that much though. How is Marseille compared to other coastal cities? We've mostly been looking west of Toulon because it seems cheaper (???). I also think we should just do 4 nights in one city rather than a 2/2 split because there are so many things within a short driving distance. e.g., why change lodging to Avignon when we could just drive there in an hour for a day trip.
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Jan 8, 2020 16:22
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If you want both the Med and some mountains then why not just spend the full time in/around Nice which has both?
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Jan 8, 2020 16:34
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I'm a little wary of traveling on a budget anywhere near Cannes during May. Maybe I'm overestimating how crowded and expensive it'd be though. We had been looking at Grasse though, which I think will be doing its rose festival while we're there.
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Jan 8, 2020 16:44
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Speaking of insane travel schedules, I'm going to be in France for about 10 days in early May. I want to see the mountains, and my wife wants to see the Mediterranean, so we're thinking of doing something like: Marseille is a huge, gritty city like Naples - some may like it, but it is definitely not for everyone. Avignon is cool but you can explore it in about 1 day and a half. Toulon is small and not really a touristy city, it's main claim to fame is that it is a huge navy port. Nice is definitely the nicest (  ) of the bunch, which is why it's a bit more expensive as well.Not sure how much the Cannes festival will affect the prices, however there is also the Monaco Grand Prix that you may have to look out for. Otherwise if you have a car you can indeed check out the smaller cities around Nice and up to Toulon. Another option could be Aix en Provence as well. I'd recommend to see the countryside around there (Calanques, Verdon, Luberon, etc.) which is really lovely. Train & Car is definitely the best option. You can get from Paris to Lyon and/or Marseille fairly easily with the TGV, Grenoble will also be a short train ride from Lyon. Other than that a car is a requirement, as trains along the coast are quite rare. Chikimiki fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Jan 8, 2020 |
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Jan 8, 2020 16:56
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Honestly just skipping Paris and flying straight to the south of France makes more sense to me. You could also think about heading west, to Montpellier, Perpignan and the Pyrenees.
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Jan 8, 2020 17:13
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Speaking of insane travel schedules, I'm going to be in France for about 10 days in early May. I want to see the mountains, and my wife wants to see the Mediterranean, so we're thinking of doing something like: Tbh depending on your flight arrival and departure times I'd suggest just sucking it up and going with what your wife wants to do and have a good trip at the Mediterranean, instead of two rushed trips. I'd offer to have your wife suck it up too, but honestly the Alps kind of blow in early May; many lifts are closed due to the midseason (for maintenance and for lack of clients), and also rain/clouds is very likely and would make it pointless. Something like this would be a rushed but possible itinerary with a rental car: Day 1 - Paris Day 2-3 - Avignon (see: Avignon, Pont du Gard) Day 4-6 - Aix-en-Provences (see: Luberon, Cassis) Day 7-9 - Nice area (Eze, Nice, Grasse, maybe Cap Ferrat; or if you really want could do a very long drive through the Alps from here). Day 10 - Paris Luberon requires a rental car, and Pont du Gard is probably a hassle without one, but the rest works fine without. Eze has a train station but it's like 200 vertical meters of stairs to get to the town, so just FYI if you're not fit. Eze is awesome though. The Calanques (Cassis, outside of Marseille) are one of the most famous areas in France, and En Vau Calanque is probably one of the top 5 Instagrammed spots in the country outside of Paris. It's a 1 to 1.5 hr hike each way. Take some water with you, there's nothing between En Vau and Cassis. The Route des Cretes road is also super nice if you don't have time to hike to En Vau, although needs a car. Cassis is a pain in the rear end to get to by public transport. I've been there several times, and tried once, and it was such a loving nightmare with the bus that we called an Uber and split it with 2 other people who gave up when the intercity bus suddenly decided it was on strike for the day. To be honest I thought Grasse was a shithole, and the whole town is basically a ruin. The soap/perfume museum is pretty fantastic but the town is one of the most run down towns I have ever seen in Europe, with inhabited buildings literally falling apart. The Luberon is gorgeous, 100% requires a car but cities like Apt, Lacoste, Menerbes, etc, are all fantastic and just driving around there for a couple days would be an awesome experience. The Verdon gorge is nearby as well, although I haven't been as I've heard it's a letdown if you've been to bigger canyons, although the Instagram photos of it look pretty rad. Marseille has gotten a lot nicer in the past few years, it's not gritty anymore, it just still carries a bad reputation due to its history. But, you don't like cities and tbh even though it's fine it's not really that amazing. Without a rental car I guess only stay in two places and not three, as moving between cities / hotels is much more tiring and hassle when you can't just keep your luggage in a car all day.
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Jan 8, 2020 17:34
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Thanks, that's all really helpful. We're saving the far western portion of the country for next time -- we just found cheap tickets for Paris, and the Mediterranean was a priority for her. I'll consider dropping the Alps, but tbh I think I might be happy with just the scenery. I would like to do some hiking too, but if the weather is going to be miserable then I may postpone the idea. At the very least I want to do some hiking and cycling somewhere in between looking at old things. There are clearly a million things to do between the countryside and the coast, and I'm to the point of just arbitrarily picking some and dropping others. I do think we'll pass on Marseille proper, but Cassis looks like a good alternative in the area because I've really been wanting to see Calanque.
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Jan 8, 2020 18:25
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I'd second dropping the Alps, there are plenty of hikes to do closer to your other destinations, especially inland from the coast (although the coast can be pretty despite how built up most of it is)
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Jan 8, 2020 20:00
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pointsofdata posted:Killarney is a less nice town than Galway, but both have excellent day trips available so I don't think it matters much. One of my favourite things in Ireland was staying in the many excellent BnBs, have you considered stopping at one in-between? This trip is for my mom, I'm trying to avoid having to constantly check in and out of places, so I figured two home bases outside of Dublin would be best. Saladman posted:^^** with only five nights he doesn’t really have the option to stop overnight in more than two places. Most Airbnb’s have 2 or 3 night min stays anyway. Agree that Galway is nicer but in any case both towns are miniature. We are going in late May, and we will have a car. Her must-dos are really just Cliffs of Moher, visit Achill Island where her family is originally from, and then just visit different pubs and listen to music/talk to people. Everything else is gravy for her. We leave Dublin Sunday morning and have a Saturday afternoon flight out of Shannon. I know we can't see all, or even most of the stuff on the usual lists, and I don't want to be running around trying to check off a bunch of things on those lists. Option A is to spend the three nights in Killarney: Arrive Sunday, do the Ring of Kerry Monday, then Gap of Dunloe or something like that Tuesday, drive up to Galway on Wednesday with a stop at Cliffs of Moher, Thursday drive up to Achill, Friday is a whatever we want day, then drive down to Shannon and fly out Saturday. Option B is to spend the three nights in Galway: Arrive in Killarney Sunday, do the Ring of Kerry Monday, drive to Galway with a stop in Cliffs of Moher Tuesday, then between Wednesday/Thursday/Friday we can do Achill/Connemara/Aran Islands/whatever else.
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Jan 8, 2020 21:11
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Thanks, that's all really helpful. The weather won’t be miserable, it’ll probably be like 12-15 degrees but there’s a good chance that it will be drizzling and overcast — but overcast means that the mountains will probably be in fog. Also 100% guaranteed around Grenoble in early May: above 1800m will still be under snow, and there will be patches of snow down to about 1500m. So even if you have waterproof boots, hiking poles, and are fit, and the clouds are amenable, it’s still not recommended to do any serious GR bike because it will be very hard to follow a trail when the trail markers are hidden by snow. Early May is just the worst time to plan for a specific day to be in the mountains, even worse than November, since at least in Nov there might be a chance there’s no snow yet, but in May it’s always guaranteed to still be there from winter. If you find something you want to do that’s < 1800m then go for it, but make sure to have a backup plan of something to do in case the clouds are completely covering 800-1500m elevation. It’s probably like a 25% chance of "do not bother going, it’s just going to be hours of fog". Unfortunately I don’t know of any website that records cloud altitude for previous years data, but as someone who lives in the foothills of the Alps and who hikes pretty much every week when possible, I have a pretty solid basis for estimation. . The foothills nearer to Nice will be much more amenable to hiking than the Grenoble area weather-wise as they’re lower and warmer, but for biking they’re also incredibly steep and you’d have to be super fit to bike around there, like around Eze/Monaco.I’d recommend looking at the Luberon area on google street view to see if that’s up your alley, but it’s a fantastic area for enjoying the atmosphere but without any specific "must see" sights, so you get to discover it all on your own rather than following the tour buses like to Pont du Gard. The Calanques should be perfect at that time of year, and not nearly as crowded, although it’s far enough of a hike that it’s never that bad (the people doing boat tours from Cassis to En Vau are not allowed to get off the boat and enter). One other thing you can do there if you’re sporty is rent a kayak. My wife and I did that and kayaked to Morgiou and back which was fantastic, but it does take a couple hours each way and you’d want to be very confident in your kayaking ability and the wind as it’s mostly cliffs so once you go it’s all-in. Anyway I think it’s hard to go wrong really, you’ll probably enjoy whatever you do, just try to not schedule too much in definitively, as that part of France is more about soaking in the experience than it is about any specific sites (except the pope castle in Avignon, which is a standard tourist site to get in, see, and leave, but it is super cool.) oh, the papal palace also has a really cool light show at night where they go through the history, and it’s extremely well done.
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Jan 8, 2020 22:16
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Omne posted:This trip is for my mom, I'm trying to avoid having to constantly check in and out of places, so I figured two home bases outside of Dublin would be best. Sounds solid either way with your timeline. I just went in late May this year and had a bit more time than you (9 days on the west coast, we spent 4 in Blackvalley, 3 in Gallway, and 2 in Kinsale) so we did it all, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend focusing on one area over the other. Gallway is definitely much more of a real city, Killarney is very cute but feels like it was manufactured for tourists inorganically. It’s still nice and in any case either city will mainly just be a place for you to eat dinner since you’ll be out doing stuff in the countryside.
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Jan 8, 2020 22:28
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Saladman posted:The weather won’t be miserable, it’ll probably be like 12-15 degrees but there’s a good chance that it will be drizzling and overcast — but overcast means that the mountains will probably be in fog. Also 100% guaranteed around Grenoble in early May: above 1800m will still be under snow, and there will be patches of snow down to about 1500m. So even if you have waterproof boots, hiking poles, and are fit, and the clouds are amenable, it’s still not recommended to do any serious GR bike because it will be very hard to follow a trail when the trail markers are hidden by snow. Early May is just the worst time to plan for a specific day to be in the mountains, even worse than November, since at least in Nov there might be a chance there’s no snow yet, but in May it’s always guaranteed to still be there from winter. If you find something you want to do that’s < 1800m then go for it, but make sure to have a backup plan of something to do in case the clouds are completely covering 800-1500m elevation. It’s probably like a 25% chance of "do not bother going, it’s just going to be hours of fog". Unfortunately I don’t know of any website that records cloud altitude for previous years data, but as someone who lives in the foothills of the Alps and who hikes pretty much every week when possible, I have a pretty solid basis for estimation. . Thanks, this is so much clearer than all the generic travel sites I've been wading through. The difficulty here really has been the sheer number of places I'd like to go, so it's easy to strike one like Grenoble given how many other good options there are.
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Jan 8, 2020 23:00
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Yeah there really is a lot of stuff to visit and prioritising can be rather difficult. That being said, I agree with Saladman that crossing out Grenoble and just taking in the atmosphere of the Med coast is the best thing to do. Grenoble is cool for hiking in summer and as a basis for winter sports in, well, winter, but I wouldn't put it on the must-see list for a french vacation.
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Jan 9, 2020 14:09
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Saladman posted:Sounds solid either way with your timeline. I just went in late May this year and had a bit more time than you (9 days on the west coast, we spent 4 in Blackvalley, 3 in Gallway, and 2 in Kinsale) so we did it all, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend focusing on one area over the other. Gallway is definitely much more of a real city, Killarney is very cute but feels like it was manufactured for tourists inorganically. It’s still nice and in any case either city will mainly just be a place for you to eat dinner since you’ll be out doing stuff in the countryside. Yeah, not that I spent that much time in Killarney, but I really enjoyed Galway and wished I'd spent more time there. FWIW, arguably the best fish & chips I've ever had.
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Jan 11, 2020 04:03
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Saladman posted:Yeah, I'm sure there are people who genuinely enjoy it for whatever reason, but I think the vast majority are just overexcited about all the possibilities and want to see and experience as much as possible, even though going to 9 cities in 9 days means they will, in the end, experience less than if they visited 3 cities in 9 days. This is doubly the case for people travelling long distances, like Americans coming to Europe, as the plane ticket is expensive, jetlag sucks, and the distances are actually pretty close if you're trying to translate it to North American travel. I can sympathize with those folks, both because I used to be one of those Americans with like two weeks of sick+vacation time combined per year, and because even now that I live in a European country with like 30 paid days off a year and cheap LCC tickets to anywhere on the continent, every time I go to plan a trip I still find myself spending hours scrolling around on Google Maps and going "Ooo...I want to go here! And here! And here! And here! And also here! But, what about here? Oh, and here!" and even though I can't stand rushed itineraries and would never plan anything that crazy myself, it's still hard to decide on just two or three places sometimes. Omne posted:This trip is for my mom, I'm trying to avoid having to constantly check in and out of places, so I figured two home bases outside of Dublin would be best. Achill is not an easy day trip from Galway; it's a good two or three hours of driving at least each way, more if you really want to see the whole island. I'd really suggest staying overnight on Achill if you can; you could set off nice and early and have the whole afternoon and evening to explore the island. There are plenty of bed and breakfasts there who will take you for a single night, so don't worry about that (though do book early!). I can highly recommend Ferndale B&B in Keel; beautiful place and the two guys who run it are the nicest fellas and really have a passion for the island and the community (and their food is out of this world as well). My suggestion would be: - Sunday: Drive from Dublin to Killarney, maybe explore the lakes a bit, see Muckross House and/or Ross Castle, maybe drive up to the Gap of Dunloe. - Monday: Drive the Ring of Kerry; this'll be an all-day trip for sure, including stops. - Tuesday: Drive from Killarney to Galway, stopping by the Cliffs of Moher along the way. Unless you'll be hiking along the Cliffs, you won't really need to spend a lot of time there, so you can make some other stops as well; Bunratty Castle and Folk Park is rather touristy, but it's quite a nice attraction, with a lovely restored keep. Limerick isn't the prettiest city, but it's got a nice Norman castle, a lovely cathedral, and the Hunt Museum with an impressive collection of random antiquities. Craggaunowen up in County Clare is an interesting open-air museum with reconstructions of several ancient Irish dwellings as well as a restored tower house, all with costumed volunteers (and if you go there, you must also stop by Quin to see the lovely ruined abbey there). If you just want to do a quick stop for lunch, there's Adare (where you'll probably be stopping whether you want to or not, as it's an eternal traffic queue) or Ennis (a larger town with lots of decent restaurants; check out the old friary there as well, and the Clare Museum is a nice little history exhibit as well). Or after the Cliffs you could have a quick look around the Burren and visit a couple of the Neolithic sites, or stop by Dunguaire Castle (you might not be there early enough to get in, as it closes fairly early, but it's a lovely spot and worth a look from the outside in any case. - Wednesday: Explore Connemara. Here's a nice little day trip I did up there once (or you can make up your own): -- N59 to Aughnaure Castle (at the Oughterard Golf Club about 30 mins outside Galway) -- N59 to R344 at Glynsk (~1hr from Galway) -- R344 past Lough Inagh to the northern stretch of the N59 (beautiful drive) -- N59 to Kylemore Abbey (a few km west of the N59/R344 junction) -- N59 to the overlook at Killary Harbour -- Continue on the N59 to the R335 at Aasleagh, stop just past the bridge to admire the falls and the azaleas. -- Head back down the R335 and the N59 to the R336 at Leenaun -- R336 to L1301 (On the left, ~7km from Leenaun) -- L1301 past Lough Nafooey, then bear right at the R300 junction -- R300 to R345 in Clonbur -- R345 to Cong, stopped here to visit the ruined abbey -- R345/R346 from Cong to Cross, join the R334 southbound -- R334 to Headford; turn right onto Church Road at the center of town and head about 1km west to a tiny farm track with a small brown sign for Ross Errilly Friary; head about 1.2km down that track to reach the friary itself. -- Back to Headford and take the N84 back to Galway - Thursday: Visit some other parts of Connemara, drive out to Roundstone and Cliften and admire the views from the Sky Road. Or you could take a trip out to one of the Aran Islands; there's a ferry from Rossaveel. - Friday: Get up early and drive to Achill, then spend the afternoon exploring. Lots of cool stuff to see driving the perimeter of the island; see the old tower house at Caisleán Ghráinne and the ruined St. Dympna's Church, stop by the cliffs at Ashleam, drive up to the radio mast on Minaun for some nice views, and head up to Slievemore to explore the abandoned villages beneath the mountain. Keem Beach at the far tip of the island is a lovely spot as well. Lots of places to stay and some good spots to eat and drink in Keel (including the aforementioned Ferndale), but there's also other B&Bs all over the island if you'd prefer somewhere else (though far fewer dining options). - Saturday: Get up early and drive the 3-4 hours to Shannon to catch your flight home.
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Jan 11, 2020 18:23
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drat that's a lot of comprehensive info. Probably you're the poster who gave me some tips last year. Just going to add a few more photos of how incredible the scenery in Ireland is, all taken in May, so the same time Omne will be there. Connemara Area (Kylemore Lough & Derryclare Lough, respectively)   And Ireland can look pretty incredible even when it's cloudy or foggy (Blackvalley and Gap of Dunloe, respectively):  
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Jan 11, 2020 20:01
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drat, those are some lovely pictures! On another topic, I'm planning a trip to Lyon and Annecy this April. Going to be renting a car for the Annecy bit, so I'd love to get some suggestions for (a) interesting drives or places to stop between Lyon and Annecy, and (b) interesting drives or places to visit around the lake during a day trip. Not really a hiker, though I don't mind a brief walk from time to time if the going is relatively easy. Definitely not interested in skiing or winter sports. Lovely natural views and cute little historic villages (and churches) are my kind of thing. And cheese. Definitely cheese. Already planning to stop by Montrottier and the Gorges du Fier on the way from Lyon, but I'd probably have time for another detour and/or stop if there's something else to see along the way. For places around the lake, I'll probably stop by Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard (think it should be open in the afternoons by then) and check out the view from Ermitage de Saint-Germain-sur-Talloires. Any other cool spots around the lake or the surrounding mountains I could visit while I'm there?
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Jan 12, 2020 01:27
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Pérouges would be a good sight and it could easily be on your way from Lyon to Annecy. Seems like you’ve done your homework for the area more or less, if you have 3 nights in Annecy / ie two full days I think you’re set. I thought the château de Saint Bernard menthon was super neat, since it’s still a real home and has been continuously lived in for hundreds of years by the family, making it more than just a typical museum-palace, and a bit more authentic than the (arguably more architecturally magnificent) châteaux de la Loire. If you have four nights / three full days in Annecy I’d suggest going up to Chamonix and going up the Aiguilles du Midi lift, unless you really have zero interest in mountains. Unfortunately I think the super fantastic traverse lift across to Courmayeur might still be closed, but if that has reopened then that’s a pretty cool round trip to make—its basically a cable car that runs over the glacier for a -very- ong horizontal distance all the way to Helbronner. Weather-dependent of course. E: looks like that cable car is now fixed but only open from 21 May 2020 Saladman fucked around with this message at 12:06 on Jan 12, 2020 |
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Jan 12, 2020 12:00
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Jan 12, 2020 12:10
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Hey, I'm starting to plan a reasonably last minute trip for February, Looking to do about a week long ski trip, spend a week in Germany, and have a few spare days to go wherever. This will probably be limited by what/where I can redeem points for flights to with such short notice. I know this is a rather broad question, but I'm massively overwhelmed by choice and could use some reccommedations. looking for - beginner friendly/english friendly lessons, this will only be my second ski trip and I didn't get nearly enough lessons on my first. - a decent social vibe, I'm looking to meet people, drink a bit etc, but I'm 32 and I'm not heaps keen on ending up in a group of 20 year olds getting shitfaced on their gap year. - hot springs. - bonus if it's accessible by train. - not insanely expensive. I've got pretty low standards for accommodation as long as it's clean and doesn't have completely broken heating/cooling First thing that comes to mind as someone who's never been to europe before is the Swiss Alps, but that is unsurpisingly super expensive. I've heard the High Tatras is both good enough skiing for beginners, a pretty great place to be, and pretty cheap. Otherwise I'm not normally one for tour packages, but since I need the full accomodation/gear/lessons anyway, I was also looking at booking something through https://www.ucpa.co.uk/ (little worried about whether this will be nothing but 20 year olds though) I'm aware that's pretty broad, but everything is so relatively close together and internal flights are cheap enough that I don't quite know if everything will be 'good enough' that I should just work out what I'm doing with the rest of my time and go somewhere conveniently accessible from there, or if I'm better of finding a good recommendation, even if it's 3 countries away.
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Jan 13, 2020 14:23
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OK, so I got a bit of pushback on the Grenoble idea earlier, but dennyk mentioned Annecy, and it looks extremely nice. Would that be a fair alternative to Grenoble in May?
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Jan 13, 2020 17:47
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Fitzy Fitz posted:OK, so I got a bit of pushback on the Grenoble idea earlier, but dennyk mentioned Annecy, and it looks extremely nice. Would that be a fair alternative to Grenoble in May? Yeah, Annecy is a nice place to spend 2 days, and without a car you could spend most of one day in Annecy, and another half day going to the Chateau St Bernard. To my surprise, there are several direct trains from Paris to Annecy every day. It's still a distance out of your way* but theoretically you could do Annecy, Avignon, and Nice, if IIRC you have 9 nights, but Night 1 and Night 9 are in Paris? Yeah you could do that, but I would really suggest trying to resist the urge to trying to combine both the French Alps and Cote d'Azur in the same week-long trip. This means more than half of your vacation would be limited to days starting at 3pm; i.e. any day you have to travel means "get up, breakfast, check out, train, check-in, and now it's 3pm and we can do something". *It's 3 hr 20 from Paris to Marseille, 3 hr 45 from Paris to Annecy, and 4 hours from Annecy to Marseille. Due to the way the TGV works, Annecy is distinctly not "on the way" from Paris to Nice, adding an extra 4.5 hours of train time and at significant extra travel cost. A good rule of thumb in Europe is really no more than 1 hotel per 3 night stay unless you're explicitly doing a road trip through small villages/countryside, which doesn't see like it is the case.
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Jan 13, 2020 19:38
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Chikimiki posted:Marseille is a huge, gritty city like Naples - some may like it, but it is definitely not for everyone. Avignon is cool but you can explore it in about 1 day and a half. Toulon is small and not really a touristy city, it's main claim to fame is that it is a huge navy port. Nice is definitely the nicest ( I go to Cannes every two weeks (can't help it, boyfriend lives there) and the plane ticket price to Nice (which is the closest airport to Cannes, only 25 minutes away) from Paris skyrockets like crazy during Cannes movie festival (around 250ish euros minimum) and yeah, everything is more expensive, including restaurants and bars. But Nice and all around, including Cannes, Grasse etc. are a perfect mixture of mountains and sea. I mean come on, the Alps are right next to Nice. If you love hiking, please go to Mercantour National Park. It's one of the very few national parks of France and it's stunning. Not too many people too. Also, about trains, plane is also a good option but only if you are willing to go the airport and plan ahead: very few strikes, prices can be cheap depending on the period (often cheaper than train for long distances) and very fast, never more than an hour, instead of 6ish. Anyway, if you have questions about Paris and Cannes/Nice, be my guest.
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Jan 17, 2020 02:14
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Taking the train in mainland Europe is one of my favourite things about traveling there. It's always interesting, normally relaxing and the views can be stunning.
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Jan 19, 2020 15:10
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Hey everyone! First time poster in the A/T forum; My wife and I are flying into Ireland soon! Any Ireland residence (or traveling goons) feel like dropping some advice on this first timer?
A general plan of attack is to do all the super touristy things like
My wife actually has a game plan for the most part but I would love any suggestions. QUESTIONS 1. Everyone tells me it will be rainy and cold as hell; I plan on getting one of those rain-ponchos to put over my super heavy jacket, will that suffice? 2. Do I need rain boots? I plan on just trucking around everywhere with my Keens hiking boots. 3. I heard everyone is extremely friendly. -Is there any major Americanism offensive stuff I can avoid to help with making friends? I'm extremely excited. I'm ready for the cold since it gets like 12f here sometimes; but not a lot of experience with rain. (desert)
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Jan 20, 2020 19:55
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When people talk about it raining a lot in Europe (and in the UK/Ireland in particular) generally they mean it rains often rather than it rains heavily, your waterproof poncho and normal hiking boots will be absolutely fine. It's also very unlikely to get to your definition of "cold", it'll most likely be something like 35-45F during the daytime. As for being American I don't expect you'd get anything but a warm reception, though you might get people complaining to you about Trump, so if you voted for him it might be best to lie and say you didn't. Julio Cruz fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Jan 20, 2020 |
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Jan 20, 2020 20:04
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Julio Cruz posted:When people talk about it raining a lot in Europe (and in the UK/Ireland in particular) generally they mean it rains often rather than it rains heavily, your waterproof poncho and normal hiking boots will be absolutely fine. It's also very unlikely to get to your definition of "cold", it'll most likely be something like 35-45F during the daytime. Thank you for this and Forwarding this to my wife asap; she is trying to convince me to dress up in a water proof parka
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Jan 20, 2020 21:04
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You seem well prepared with a good itinerary. Enjoy your holiday! As for "Americanism stuff", well as long as you aren't coming to 'sell' your religion or political point of view I don't expect any problems. Just respect people's culture and you'll be fine. Might be a good idea to Google how tipping works in Ireland - every country in Europe has a different tipping culture and none of them are the same as in the US.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:13
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Carbon dioxide posted:You seem well prepared with a good itinerary. Enjoy your holiday! Thank you! A quick read on tipping told me that it wasn't a huge thing due to servers actually getting paid - but I feel like I will still struggle personally because it is a way for me to show my appreciate for being taken care of. Then again, I dont want to across like I think people are a charity case too so; I'll attempt to blind into the norm on that one. Carbon dioxide posted:Yeah I wasn't sure about Ireland myself but these sites say that tipping 10-15% in restaurants is customary if the bill doesn't explicitly say "service charge" on it and service was fine, tipping in most other places is not recommended. Again, Thank you! Professor of Cats fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Jan 20, 2020 |
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Jan 20, 2020 21:20
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Yeah I wasn't sure about Ireland myself but these sites say that tipping 10-15% in restaurants is customary if the bill doesn't explicitly say "service charge" on it and service was fine, tipping in most other places is not recommended.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:34
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Cold around these parts is more due to the wind and humidity and everything being soaked in drizzle. It's unlikely to go below freezing in areas close to the sea, especially these days. It'll be a different kind of cold than you're used to, but not that cold, and it is easily protected against with good clothing or simply by being out of the wind.
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Jan 20, 2020 21:47
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Like everyone else said, in Ireland it's almost always raining, about to rain, or has just stopped raining. However, most of the time the rain is quite light - downpours are rare, it's more likely to be an irritating sort of mist/drizzle that you'll spend minutes at a time deciding whether or not is heavy enough to justify opening an umbrella or putting up your hood. Severe cold is also extremely unlikely - temps will probably be well above freezing, but the damp makes things feel pretty chilly most of the time. Tipping is not as completely embedded as it is in the US, but no-one is ever going to be offended if you leave a tip, and leaving a restaurant without tipping would be pretty unusual. We don't generally tip barstaff at all. Friendliness is very likely, but it is fairly superficial - people will absolutely stop for a chat but they won't actually share much about themselves while doing so. American offensiveness? nah, barring obvious stuff like loudly voicing potentially controversial political views like on Northern Ireland or being a very vocal Trump fan, you're very unlikely to run into any arguments. Oh yeah, try to avoid saying places like castles and cities are 'really cute' (though that just might be my problem; to me it sounds weirdly patronising )
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Jan 21, 2020 15:56
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Thank you very much! You all helped me feel a lot more confident about my upcoming trip.Pookah posted:Oh yeah, try to avoid saying places like castles and cities are 'really cute' (though that just might be my problem; to me it sounds weirdly patronising ) LOL I dont blame you; it sounds like people are calling it "quaint" or something like that. I would feel the same way. I like to call castles Fn' awesome. I geek out on architecture when traveling, especially historical ones, so I'm extremely excited to see some heckin' castles.
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Jan 21, 2020 19:44
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Is the audio-guide to the Vatican museums good? Are there better options? I've downloaded Rick Steve's app, the audio guided walking tours seem quite slick so will try one but the Vatican museums one is just an hour and I remember them being large.
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Jan 21, 2020 22:19
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