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Thanks for the comments last week. We found a decent flight and I put together a very rough itinerary just to make sure we'd have enough time for everything, because we'd have about a day and a half less than expected. Is anything here way off base? Day 1: Arrive in Amsterdam, be tired, canal tour Day 2: Day trip to Keukenhof Day 3: Museum overload - Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank house Day 4: Half day trip to Zaanse Schans, maybe some parks in Amsterdam after (or maybe Haarlem?) Day 5: Day trip to either Delft or Utrecht? Day 6: Rotterdam, stay overnight Day 7: Spend the day in Antwerp on the way to Ghent Day 8: Ghent Day 9: Day trip to Bruges Day 10: Brussels, stay overnight Day 11: Flight from Brussels Thanks for the feedback.
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Jan 31, 2020 04:32
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Cut down on the museums you'll see in Amsterdam. Anne Frank and van Gogh museum in one day isn't unreasonable, but you can spend several days in the Rijks. Either do the Rijks or the other two. You're also spending the night in a lot of different places and wildly underestimating how much time that's going to cost you. I recommend you stay in one place in the Netherlands, and one in Belgium. Considering your plans I'd say Amsterdam and Antwerp will suit you best. There's a train service from Antwerp straight to Brussels Zaventem airport, so you don't need to stay the night in Brussels either.
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Jan 31, 2020 07:08
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runawayturtles posted:Day 3: Museum overload - Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank house Reserve your Anne Frank house tour in advance. It sells out quickly, but they have entry fairly late in the day. We did Van Gogh when it opened and the crowd wasn't too bad at all for the first hour or two.
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Jan 31, 2020 15:13
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Dance Officer posted:You're also spending the night in a lot of different places and wildly underestimating how much time that's going to cost you. I recommend you stay in one place in the Netherlands, and one in Belgium. Considering your plans I'd say Amsterdam and Antwerp will suit you best. There's a train service from Antwerp straight to Brussels Zaventem airport, so you don't need to stay the night in Brussels either. Hmm, it would be 5 nights in Amsterdam, 1 in Rotterdam, 3 in Ghent, and 1 in Brussels. The single nights I thought might be worth it to save us from taking the train through the same area two days in a row, but yeah we could just as easily not do that. For Belgium, I just chose Ghent because it's in the middle of the cities we're visiting, but if Antwerp is just as convenient (or more so) then that will work too. Thanks. Sand Monster posted:Reserve your Anne Frank house tour in advance. It sells out quickly, but they have entry fairly late in the day. We did Van Gogh when it opened and the crowd wasn't too bad at all for the first hour or two. Yep, for sure.
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Jan 31, 2020 16:09
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runawayturtles posted:Hmm, it would be 5 nights in Amsterdam, 1 in Rotterdam, 3 in Ghent, and 1 in Brussels. The single nights I thought might be worth it to save us from taking the train through the same area two days in a row, but yeah we could just as easily not do that. For Belgium, I just chose Ghent because it's in the middle of the cities we're visiting, but if Antwerp is just as convenient (or more so) then that will work too. Thanks. Every time you switch hotels (or whatever accomodation) you have to pack your bags and check out. Then you travel to the new city and either spend the day hauling around your luggage, or go to check into the new place. You first have to get to it in a country you don't know, get checked in, then you can get settled in. If having to do this 4 times in 10 days sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. It's definitely more than spending an extra few hours on the train. As for where you stay in Belgium, you can stay in Ghent if you want. Dance Officer fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Jan 31, 2020 18:16
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I want to go to Europe for a month. I'm targeting next year. I have family in Valencia I can probably stay with. I also want to visit Paris and Rome, I've also considered Lisbon and the Canary Islands, or maybe Tangiers. I am considering August/September/October as when reviewing information on AIRDNA it looks like these two months seem like the lowest traffic months for tourism in most of these places, while still having serviceable weather. I found this cruise from Valencia that goes through Marseille, Genoa, Rome, Palermo, Sardinia, and Majorca and I'm honestly considering it. Doesn't seem too bad for $499 (Starting price for a interior cabin in september ofc). Going through the cities daily, while being able to rest and travel during the night and not having to worry about different hotels in each city seems like a pretty cool idea imo, although maybe 1 day isn't enough to see everything a city like Rome has to offer, obviously. I actually think Marseille may prove to be a more interesting place to visit than Paris. I can also take a weekend to visit Paris proper or something.  Go ahead, tell me how crazy I am.
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Jan 31, 2020 19:58
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Danger - Octopus! posted:Distillery tours are a way to visit some picturesque places outside the cities in an organised way. If you can drive over here then pick a couple that look nice and plan a route, otherwise there are organised ones you can find. You, uh, hit the nail on the head of my general plans there. I'll probably end up asking the GWS whisky thread to find out which tours are the best to visit and are easily accessible without having to rent a car. Edit: Dance Officer posted:Every time you switch hotels (or whatever accomodation) you have to pack your bags and check out. Then you travel to the new city and either spend the day hauling around your luggage, or go to check into the new place. You first have to get to it in a country you don't know, get checked in, then you can get settled in. If having to do this 4 times in 10 days sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. It's definitely more than spending an extra few hours on the train. Yeah, this is why I've stopped trying to cram so many cities on two-week vacations, and just pick 3-4 at most and look at day trips and tours from there. It's nice to go out and visit other areas without thinking you're losing a few hours just packing up and setting up somewhere again. mojo1701a fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Jan 31, 2020 20:21
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If you think one day is enough for Rome, you're out of your drat mind.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:27
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Obviously you won't get to do much in somewhere like Rome (which isn't even on the coast!) on a cruise like that but it might be fun anyway, as long as you don't quarantined on board because a foreign looking passenger got a fever.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:31
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just my personal opinion but a cruise is the absolute worst possible way to see Europe spending all your time in a group of other tourists and getting little/no say in your actual day to day itinerary is my idea of hell
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Jan 31, 2020 20:42
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lol
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Jan 31, 2020 23:12
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Dance Officer posted:If having to do this 4 times in 10 days sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. I mean, I appreciate the perspective, and we'll definitely look at doing 6 nights/4 nights instead, but just in general I've never fully understood why it takes people so long to switch hotels. I guess I pack light and keep stuff in my suitcase most of the time (and don't have kids), but based on past trips it only takes a few minutes each to pack, check out, and check in. There's some extra walking with a carry-on to the new place involved, but for me at least it's a mild annoyance that doesn't take anywhere near as long as an hour or two of extra train travel. I guess I'm just glad to have the flexibility of staying or switching without much trouble either way. Anyway, with that rough itinerary, my main concerns were more that I wasn't sure if we have enough time in Amsterdam proper (like 1.5 - 2 days total, so we could cut Rotterdam for more Amsterdam if we want), and I wasn't sure if one day in each Belgian city is a reasonable enough approach.
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Feb 1, 2020 05:31
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Once you're situated in the Netherlands you're actually pretty flexible in what you can do on any day, given that you're close to a train station and you're interested in hitting up the major cities. You can be in any of the other western cities in under an hour by train, and bus service to popular tourist destinations is good. The same is true for Belgium, but in my experience Belgian public transit is slower. Either way, you can take things on a day-to-day basis.
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Feb 1, 2020 09:52
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Sinnlos posted:Are any of the guided tapas tours in Barcelona worthwhile, or are my wife and I better off just popping into places that look interesting / have decent reviews on Google? It's quite possible there are good tapas tours but you absolutely don't need one. Pretty much every restaurant is a tapas place here so it's not hard to get good tapas. Definitely go to one or more of the well known-places (which come in a variety from local favorite to haute cuisine), tapas bar hop at Carrer Blai, get a meal at the boqueria or any other market, and also just pop into random places for a drink and a tapa. You might get a tourist trap but for just a quick stop you don't necessarily have to do a ton of research.
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Feb 1, 2020 17:58
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i see your lol and raise you a lmao
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Feb 1, 2020 18:14
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SurgicalOntologist posted:You might get a tourist trap but for just a quick stop you don't necessarily have to do a ton of research. This; it's just a tapa. If it turns out to be crap, you just move on to another bar and try your luck again; that's the way you're supposed to do 'em anyway. Stroll and drink and graze and enjoy the night out!
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Feb 2, 2020 00:15
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riseofmydick posted:I am considering August/September/October as when reviewing information on AIRDNA it looks like these two months seem like the lowest traffic months for tourism in most of these places, while still having serviceable weather. August is like peak summer holiday month for a lot of places in Europe, September/October is better. A cruise is like my personal nightmare and I think spending just a day in Rome is bonkers. But what sort of things do you enjoy when you travel? What are your interests? That might help the thread give you better recommendations.
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Feb 2, 2020 09:41
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Presumably if you're going on a cruise the actual cruise part of it appeals to you.
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Feb 2, 2020 12:55
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If you’re taking the cruise because the idea of having a moving hotel appeals to you, then that’s not a good reason. You’ll get like 4 hours of shore leave in each town and it will be rushed as hell. Pick a number of cities that you’re interested in, with 3 to 4 days in each city. Rome could easily be a week but the rest 3-4 days would be fine. Booking your own lodging is easy, having to meet the schedule of a cruise sounds insanely frustrating, although ymmv and I guess you can try it once, it’s not like they’re much more expensive than DIY using 2* hotels.
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Feb 2, 2020 14:31
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My wife and I are thinking of going to Italy in May with our daughter who will be 9 months old then. We’ve been to Italy before (Rome, Florence, Venice) so were thinking of staying in central Sorrento for a week and using it as a base to explore the area - it seems like trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum are easy enough, as are ferries to Capri and Positano. We’d be using a baby carrier in places the ground would be uneven or a lightweight stroller otherwise - our baby is pretty chill so she’ll likely be fine just coming along on day trips. My questions are - how busy will Sorrento be in the first week of May? I imagine quite busy but hopefully not as mad as June-August. I understand the whole area itself is very touristy which is fine, we don’t want to be off the beaten track with a baby. However if it’s too busy then transport with a baby might be tricky - any recommendations for day trips beyond the obvious? We like wandering around, seeing historical towns, nice landscapes - is Naples worth visiting? I hear stories about crime and such but not sure if it’s overblown - any restaurant recommendations? We love pizza and want to avoid the tourist traps. Don’t need fine dining - our favourite meal in Florence was a hole in the wall type pizza place
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Feb 2, 2020 15:10
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Are you in the US? Because taking that young a child on a transatlantic flight is nightmare fuel to me.
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Feb 2, 2020 17:34
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runawayturtles posted:Anyway, with that rough itinerary, my main concerns were more that I wasn't sure if we have enough time in Amsterdam proper (like 1.5 - 2 days total, so we could cut Rotterdam for more Amsterdam if we want), and I wasn't sure if one day in each Belgian city is a reasonable enough approach. You need four days for Amsterdam. If all you can manage is three then do that. There's a lot to see and do, and bimbling along is also important otherwise you get museum'd out. Also make sure to graze on cheese samples at the 'cheese museum' (touristic cheese shop) across from the Anne Frank museum because free cheese is nice.
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Feb 2, 2020 18:04
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Dance Officer posted:Are you in the US? Because taking that young a child on a transatlantic flight is nightmare fuel to me. We live in London, like 40 mins from Gatwick, and the flight is under 3 hours.
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Feb 2, 2020 18:06
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Lady Gaza posted:My questions are From the same town herculaneaum is in you can take a bus up to the vesuvius, i personally wouldnt do it with a baby, but i did see others with small children. Naples is alright, the archeological museum is a must do if you go to pompei since it contains all the artifacts from there. Its a bit more grimy then other cities in italy but i didnt feel unsafe, its very vertical though so seems hellish with a stroller. The underground tour there isnt worth it. Its less insanely busy as other italian tourist towns so thats great Theres a bunch of good restaurants there, including the prize winner of best pizza in italy, but i forgot the name of the top of my head
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Feb 2, 2020 18:52
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Lady Gaza posted:My wife and I are thinking of going to Italy in May with our daughter who will be 9 months old then. We’ve been to Italy before (Rome, Florence, Venice) so were thinking of staying in central Sorrento for a week and using it as a base to explore the area - it seems like trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum are easy enough, as are ferries to Capri and Positano. We’d be using a baby carrier in places the ground would be uneven or a lightweight stroller otherwise - our baby is pretty chill so she’ll likely be fine just coming along on day trips. Sorrento in May was busy but not outrageous, though my experience was in 2012 so things may have changed since. The buses between Sorrento/Positano/Amalfi were a bit infrequent and very crowded though. Naples is okay. The area immediately around the station (Piazza Garibaldi) is kinda sketchy and I think that really colours people's first impression of the place, but overall it's not too bad. The central historic area is fine during the day, but just take the usual precautions like not flashing expensive jewellery/gear, wearing bags on your front, not wandering down empty alleys, ignoring friendly strangers that speak good English. I don't think the tourist crime rate is much different to Barcelona or Amsterdam. It certainly gives the impression of a sketchy place though, with lots of roller shutters, barred windows, graffiti on every possible surface, piles of garbage everywhere. There's endless options for good pizza in Naples, though two of the best are Da Michele and Pizza Sorbillo. Remember that you're getting authentic pizza, so it's thin crust and very simple, just marinara sauce, mozzarella, basil and olive oil. No American-style abominations with 15 toppings. If you like historic palaces, the Royal Palace of Caserta is nearby, about an hour outside Naples and is the world's largest palace by volume. Masterpiece of baroque design and with an enormous garden out the back as well. If you like Greek ruins, Paestum is just south of Amalfi and has three fantastically well-preserved Greek temples (and a bunch of other ruins) that date back to around 550BC. In my experience it's pretty crowd-free as well which is nice.
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Feb 3, 2020 00:53
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I'm going to do some combination of England, Italy, Spain, France and maybe Germany over the course of a month, is there a SIM card that will work in all of these countries that offers a reasonable deal on data or will I need 5 different ones?
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Feb 3, 2020 02:37
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I would blow Dane Cook posted:I'm going to do some combination of England, Italy, Spain, France and maybe Germany over the course of a month, is there a SIM card that will work in all of these countries that offers a reasonable deal on data or will I need 5 different ones? Get any SIM card in the first country you visit and use it in the other countries. There are no roaming charges between EU countries and almost all providers pledged to uphold that in the UK even after Brexit.
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Feb 3, 2020 03:31
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Lady Gaza posted:My wife and I are thinking of going to Italy in May with our daughter who will be 9 months old then. We’ve been to Italy before (Rome, Florence, Venice) so were thinking of staying in central Sorrento for a week and using it as a base to explore the area - it seems like trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum are easy enough, as are ferries to Capri and Positano. We’d be using a baby carrier in places the ground would be uneven or a lightweight stroller otherwise - our baby is pretty chill so she’ll likely be fine just coming along on day trips. I was there in May in like 2014 and thought it was fine. Yeah there are people around but not massive cruise ships conquering the town. If you’re staying in Sorrento you might want a rental car as getting around by the ferry and train is okay but super slow and you’ll be stuck to a schedule which might be tough with a baby. I’d recommend not driving into Naples the day you go there, but everything else (inc Herculaneum, Pompeii, Villa Poppeaea) would be better with a car. I don’t even know how or if you can get to Paestum without a car. Depends how much time you want to sight see vs just hang around though. If you have a week and just want to see Pompeii, Naples, one of the islands, and chill, then you can do that by train/ferry. Agree with the other poster that Naples is nice and has an overblown bad reputation for crime, like the occasional time travelers you meet who tell you that NYC is dangerous, presumably because they last read about the city in 1990 and never heard about it since.
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Feb 3, 2020 05:06
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Saladman posted:I don’t even know how or if you can get to Paestum without a car. There's a station there, it's about an hour from Salerno and 90 minutes from Napoli Centrale. Though, y'know, Italian trains. Admittedly we had a car while we were there. Also a pro tip, if you rent a car from Naples airport you can basically drive out the gate and directly onto the autostrada without venturing into the city. I've driven in 50+ countries now and Naples was still too daunting for me.
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Feb 3, 2020 07:18
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webmeister posted:There's a station there, it's about an hour from Salerno and 90 minutes from Napoli Centrale. Though, y'know, Italian trains. I’m doing a self drive road trip of Ethiopia now as we speak and Neapolitan traffic is miles worse than anything I’ve seen anywhere in Africa. Would never drive into central Naples again. At least in Ethiopia, while the traffic is chaotic, it’s slow paced and people don’t try to cut you off constantly. Good to know about Paestum. It’s really in the middle of like nowhere, impressed it has a real train stop and not like a "four times per day, but who knows what time" type regional bus.
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Feb 3, 2020 11:26
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Thanks both. Despite the risk of trains being busy I think we’d still avoid renting a car due to the stress of Italian driving and parking. Worst comes to worst we’ll just hire a private transfer to get us somewhere. Looking forward to pizza - we much prefer the Neopolitan style.
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Feb 3, 2020 12:28
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IME Italian trains are plenty reliable, especially the high speed ones, as long as there are no strikes on. The regional ones look a little dated (except in the very north of the country which feels more like a central european country) but run fine.
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Feb 3, 2020 13:22
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I would blow Dane Cook posted:I'm going to do some combination of England, Italy, Spain, France and maybe Germany over the course of a month, is there a SIM card that will work in all of these countries that offers a reasonable deal on data or will I need 5 different ones?  people just do not loving read the OP, do they5 countries in a month is insanity, just fyi
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Feb 3, 2020 13:38
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Julio Cruz posted:
Ehh I mean, Paris-London is trivial, as is Paris-Köln, and while the trips are longish, there's direct daytime train connections from Paris to Turin & Milan and Barcelona too. With a bit of planning you can easily do that in a month; I was in seven countries in a month last summer with absolutely no rush at any point. That said, something like Madrid, London, Paris, Rome and Berlin would be silly and waste a lot of days on flying
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Feb 3, 2020 14:16
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Yeah, assuming "five countries" really means "five major cities and a couple of smaller ones", I don't think that in a month is particularly egregious. It's the people attempting that in 10 days who give me a sensible chuckle. As for the OP - in fairness it's nearly 10 years old at this point, and the guy who wrote it hasn't posted ITT since 2017  Might be time for a refresh.
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Feb 3, 2020 14:23
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I mean, assuming 5 countries = 5 cities over a month, that's definitely a workable agenda. But if the expectation is to hit up multiple cities/towns within each of those countries, then yeah that's kinda crazy. Nothing like the "I have 7 days in Europe and need to see everything" agendas that pop up here every other week or so.
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Feb 3, 2020 14:28
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Drone posted:I mean, assuming 5 countries = 5 cities over a month, that's definitely a workable agenda. But if the expectation is to hit up multiple cities/towns within each of those countries, then yeah that's kinda crazy. yeah my assumption was for multiple stops per country, otherwise OP would have written “London, Paris, Rome etc”
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Feb 3, 2020 14:45
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I agree the old OP is getting old. Maybe we should get some people together to write about the countries that get asked about regularly, and how to get around in and between them. And then compile all that into a new OP.
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Feb 3, 2020 15:35
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Could cluster into country-specific recommendations, and then just general information about stuff that people (especially those from North America) often overlook: SIM cards / data roaming, currency conversion and how you should never use the forex at the airport, how and which ATMs to use, what kind of power adapters someone would need, how and when to tip, etc.
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Feb 3, 2020 15:56
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rick steves here
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Feb 3, 2020 16:02
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