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Drone posted:That was fast, good to know. I imagine smoking in public is still a no-no so I'll probably just give it a skip then. You can get some edibles and avoid the entire problem.
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Sep 23, 2021 17:50
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Saladman posted:Is that actually still current, and/or enforced? I bought in Maastricht last year and I'm not a Dutch resident or citizen.
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Sep 23, 2021 18:13
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What's the word on vaccinated Americans visiting France right now? Also, anything stand out to do in Paris in January?
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Sep 30, 2021 18:05
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https://reopen.europa.eu/en/map/FRA/7002
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Sep 30, 2021 20:40
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Thanks! Sounds pretty good and straightforward. Everyone should get vaccines! Now, what to do?
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Sep 30, 2021 22:21
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Take me with you, your large adult son.
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Sep 30, 2021 22:30
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Mr. Wiggles posted:What's the word on vaccinated Americans visiting France right now? https://fr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ You will want to convert your CDC card to a pass sanitaire, https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/passe-sanitaire-etrangers?locale=en. In practice the CDC card is accepted by almost everyone, both from personal experience and from people posting on TripAdvisor ( https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k13618993-o1250-Transforming_CDC_card_into_French_Health_Pass-Paris_Ile_de_France.html ), but major museums like the Louvre or whatever might be more strict with CDC cards. Anyway who knows, maybe it won't be required everywhere by January -- just check closer to your travel date. Switzerland at least requires the pass sanitaire until 22 January 2022, I'm not sure if there's a sunset date for the French system. Also note that the "Level 4 - Do Not Travel" advisory on the State Department website doesn't actually have any legal meaning, unless you have the world's shittiest travel insurance (and even then I've never heard of one that followed the state department travel guidelines specifically). What to do in Paris in January? If you don't speak French, then I guess just the normal list of things you'll find detailed on WikiVoyage ( https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Paris ), but you could check into concerts or other cultural events like Cirque du Soleil that don't require speaking French to enjoy. It's a huge city, really depends on what you like doing. If you're there for a few days, then the Palais de Fontainebleau is one of the coolest sites I've been to in the area; personally I enjoyed it much more than Versailles as there is like, no one there, especially not in January, so you can wander around freely.
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Oct 1, 2021 10:50
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Good word on that, thanks. My French gets me by, and I never had problems in France in the pre COVID times. And I've enjoyed Paris in the summertime before, but for winter I'm not sure. It looks like there might be some bands playing that I might see though, in addition to the Fountainbleau, which I've not been to!
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Oct 1, 2021 17:05
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In the Netherlands, non-EU proofs are not admissible, and they recently (finally) instituted a requirement to have a valid proof to enter bars and restaurants. So, if you have a non-EU vaccination, you need to get tested every 24h. This also kinda sucks for Dutch people who happened to get vaccinated abroad, or international students.
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Oct 2, 2021 21:51
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Or even healthcare staff who were vaccinated before the registry was set up. Imagine not being allowed in restaurants because you got vaccinated too early. And they're not looking into solutions for any of these categories EricBauman fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Oct 6, 2021 |
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Oct 3, 2021 00:32
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Entropist posted:In the Netherlands, non-EU proofs are not admissible, and they recently (finally) instituted a requirement to have a valid proof to enter bars and restaurants. So, if you have a non-EU vaccination, you need to get tested every 24h. This also kinda sucks for Dutch people who happened to get vaccinated abroad, or international students. Huh, I was there the weekend of the 24th-26th Sept and no one ever asked for anything in any restaurant or bar, and we ate out each lunch and dinner. I had no idea there even still were COVID rules; I saw only three people wearing masks the entire weekend - so rare that I could actually count. I guess it depends where you go, I was down in Zeeland. Everywhere was so chill I thought they had fully rescinded COVID rules like the UK.
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Oct 4, 2021 08:19
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Saladman posted:Huh, I was there the weekend of the 24th-26th Sept and no one ever asked for anything in any restaurant or bar, and we ate out each lunch and dinner. I had no idea there even still were COVID rules; I saw only three people wearing masks the entire weekend - so rare that I could actually count. I guess it depends where you go, I was down in Zeeland. Everywhere was so chill I thought they had fully rescinded COVID rules like the UK. Starting the 25th, they basically replaced the social distancing rule with the QR code rule. The mask rule in all places except public transport was rescinded some weeks ago. The rule does not apply when eating on an outdoors terrace or whatever, but does apply when you go in to visit the bathroom. And, well, there's been quite some protesting voices from antivaccers, but also restaurant owners and local governments alike. There have been a couple of cases in the news where in big cities restaurants refused to check the QR codes and the government forced their hand but I wouldn't be all that surprised if in more rural areas nobody checks if restaurants are following the rules.
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Oct 4, 2021 09:05
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Does anyone know if Poland is accepting non-EU vaccination proof to bypass the 10 day quarantine, specifically CDC cards from US nationals? It’s really not clear from their travel resource websites what constitutes “proof of vaccination.” I guess the next step would be to reach out to their hotline or embassy but I figured someone here may have experience. e: I found this random Reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/poland/comments/ow5jrm/proof_of_vaccination/ that says it should be fine but would appreciate any firsthand info TheSlutPit fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Oct 7, 2021 |
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Oct 7, 2021 02:00
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US embassy of Poland suggests that it's fine https://pl.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/ It doesn't explicitly say "CDC card" but just says "if your vaccine is approved in the EU it's fine in Poland." and it doesn't mention that a QR code or whatever is required. You can also email the US embassy and they're very likely to respond. US embassies have IMO had the best and most up-to-date info worldwide for COVID travel for each country.
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Oct 7, 2021 11:37
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Iceland in October trip report: Awesome! Only 2 days out of 10 turned out to be lovely, one of which was the last day and didn't really matter and the other was just rainy afternoon. 10 days is pretty reasonable to do the ring road with some diversions (we drove just over 2k kms). Definitely made me want to come back spend more time in some areas now that I know what's what. It's expensive but not insanely so, averaged around 70 EUR/night for 2 in guesthouses and hotels, 10 for fast food type of lunch. Mostly cooked something for dinner. E: in terms of corona, they were very strict at the airport and checked vaccination, test results, AND arrival form. But after that nobody gave a poo poo and we were the only ones wearing respirators indoors. mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 13:20 on Oct 15, 2021 |
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Oct 14, 2021 21:49
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Shot in the dark here, but: is there a thread anywhere (or some other resource anyone can recommend) about moving within Europe? Specifically: my employer is transitioning to allowing 100% remote work for certain positions, and my husband and I are thinking about moving from Germany to Denmark. Specifically I just want a place to get questions answered about tax/labor stuff. I've done a few online calculators that show my overall monthly tax will obviously increase a bit, but I kinda want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything. Also answering such silly questions as "do Danish office jobs have a pay scale based on tariff".
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Oct 29, 2021 10:24
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This may not be relevant to you, but because reasons I very recently had to study up on how to access healthcare in an EU country if you're not a citizen of that country, but are still a EU citizen. So if you wanna know about that, feel free to hit me up 
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Oct 29, 2021 11:38
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The first thing you'll need to check is whether your employer will allow you to work outside your normal country of employment. Remote working doesn't necessarily mean anywhere in the world, as there are tax implications. Check this with HR or at least check whether your company's policy explicitly mentions this.
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Oct 29, 2021 11:41
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Drone posted:Shot in the dark here, but: is there a thread anywhere (or some other resource anyone can recommend) about moving within Europe? Specifically: my employer is transitioning to allowing 100% remote work for certain positions, and my husband and I are thinking about moving from Germany to Denmark. For questions about e.g. Denmark specifically, your best bet is asking locals. You can find them in either SAL or in LAN, depending on the specific country. For Denmark there are actually two Scandinavia threads: SAL thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3480864&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1365 LAN thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3032955&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=71 Similarly, there's the German Language Thread in SAL where they can help you if you have questions about regulations in German-speaking languages. Don't be afraid to ask questions in English in those threads, people are friendly and generally willing to help.
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Oct 29, 2021 11:54
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SixFigureSandwich posted:The first thing you'll need to check is whether your employer will allow you to work outside your normal country of employment. Remote working doesn't necessarily mean anywhere in the world, as there are tax implications. Check this with HR or at least check whether your company's policy explicitly mentions this. Yeah, for the sake of discussion let's assume that they are allowing this (all indications are that they will -- we have a Danish subsidiary company that my employment contract will probably just switch over to). Carbon dioxide posted:For questions about e.g. Denmark specifically, your best bet is asking locals. Thanks for these, it didn't occur to me to look at the generalized Scandinavian threads for some reason 
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Oct 29, 2021 14:57
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I'm going to Europe. Help. I'll be in Zurich for 3-4 months (Jan - April). I want to make the most of my time there, I would like to finish work on Friday's and spend my weekends in different places. With it being winter, I'm thinking I will embrace the cold and stick to northern Europe rather than escaping to the Mediterranean. Seems there are good rail linkages and obviously flights as well for longer trips. Let's say it's 12 weekends away, any suggestions for winter? I'd like to hit a few ski slopes while I'm there, probably 4-5 weekends at the snow. I don't have any friends/family in Europe and I've only travelled in the UK/Ireland before. edit: Things I like doing: Nice restaurants Cute cafes Boujee bars Outdoor stuff (but.. I'm not used to cold weather except for snow trips) Things I don't really care about doing: Looking at churches Museums EvilElmo fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Oct 30, 2021 |
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Oct 30, 2021 01:57
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EvilElmo posted:I'm going to Europe. Help. There are a LOOOOT of things you can do... where to start. Ok, I'm not going to list out all of the cities you could visit, there's just way too many. Just some general ideas and guidance. First of all, Zurich is in Switzerland, which is not in the European Union. In practice this means that if you leave or enter Switzerland you may get a customs and passports check. Make sure you know about the import/export limits on products and know the rules about traveling between Switzerland and the EU on whatever visa(s) you have. Secondly, the weather. Of course the Alps will be full of snow. North of you, it is more unpredictable. But if the last few years are any indication, in, say, Germany, you'll probably have temperatures between -5C and + 10C most days, with always a chance of rain. If it's a day of showers intermingled with dry periods, just grab an umbrella and go out anyway, that's what we do too. In January, February and early March we might get a freezing period, where temperatures drop down to -15C or so, sometimes even dropping below -20C. Those usually last a few days before it warms up again. You might get snow or frozen rain (black ice) on the roads but most places do a good job of keeping the main roads (and also inner-city pedestrian areas) clear and salted. In March and April it becomes much more likely to have a 15C sunny days, but a random shower might still happen any time. Check the forecast before heading out. So, for some things to do. Zurich is an international train hub. Off the top of my head, you get direct trains going to the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Maybe other countries too, I don't know. Recently, they also started up international night train services where you get a bed in a cabin. So that already gives you a lot of options. Just note that while generally the German rail network is quite decent, in my experience if it does break down you're on your own. In the Netherlands I'm used to them quickly setting up a replacement bus service on which your train ticket is valid but I wouldn't count on it in Germany. The Swiss rail network is very good. With access to basically all cities in Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark, there's already so much stuff to choose from. Munich, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bruges, Copenhagen, perhaps Prague to name just a few nice places to visit, out of many. For outdoors stuff, you might be better off taking a train or bus to a smaller town and e.g. do a forest hike from there. Just be careful and don't slip on rainy/snowy paths and fall into a ravine or something. I visited Switzerland a couple years ago and did a train tour through the country. I especially recommend the Bernina Express, which is a train with these big panorama windows taking you through the beautiful Bernina pass to Tirano, Italy. There's also the Glacier express taking you through pretty views to ski resort town Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn. Just know that Zermatt is expensive as all hell, even compared to other places in Switzerland. Switzerland. If you're planning to do this, it may be worth it to get one of the Swiss train passes. It gives you free travel on many trains (you may still have to book ahead on the popular routes) + free entrance or half price to a bunch of tourist things such as museums and mountain railways (short but expensive trips up the side of a mountain). Now, I should say I visited Switzerland in autumn before the snows started - I have no idea what happens to these trains' operations in winter. I also suggest you take a trip to Tirol in Austria. It's another region of the Alps and you'll be surprised at how different the Tiroler culture is from the Swiss. And if you like skiing, that's also a great place to go. Oh, I should say, right now in many parts of Europe covid cases are rising again despite a large vaccination rate. Always check https://reopen.europa.eu/en/ shortly before any trip outside Switzerland to see if you are even allowed to travel there and what other rules there are because countries change them often and inconsistently. Also see if you're able to get an European vaccination QR code. They'll check that in many countries at the entrance to bars and restaurants, and while other proof is supposed to be valid, having the QR code ready will prevent a whole lot of confusion.
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Oct 30, 2021 08:04
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I lived in Zurich for 5 years and I've been here 12 years. I just recently moved from ZH, happy to give specific suggestions for the area. Greazeball who used to post here regularly and might still follow this thread (RIP tourism & travel, a covid casualty) is in Switzerland too, but he's always lived more towards the west. First: make sure to buy a "halbtax". This card makes all public transport cost half (main trains, including most mountain lifts) to ~2/3rds (city public transport), and it will pay for itself within your first like two weeks in Switzerland. Almost every Swiss person has one, basically it is just a way to charge tourists double price for public transport. I agree with Carbon Dioxide's post except for the part about the borders. There is no passport check when entering and leaving Switzerland -- it is part of Schengen. They have the right to ask, but that's true at all other Schengen borders too and in practice it has never happened to me once in 12 years. They do have a customs check, but in reality it is never carried out (train, plane) or so rarely that unless you are smuggling meat every day for years you won't have an issue. I guess it's worth being aware of but in practice there is no border. On that note, Zurich's airport is incredible, the easiest airport ever invented, it never took more than 20 minutes from getting to the station to getting to my terminal, including for intercontinental flights. I never once waited more than 5 minutes in security, and only a couple times waited more than 5 minutes for passport control. Anyway Switzerland is in Schengen so you probably won't go through passport control much. Do take your passport when you fly even within Schengen even though there is normally no border control or ID check. I never had my ID checked leaving Zurich to a destination within the Schengen zone, but you might get checked on the way back, and you need your passport if you are not an EU citizen: neither Swiss residence permits nor even Swiss-government-issued driving licenses are an official form of ID (this is true in all of Europe I think; seriously what the gently caress that residence permits aren't official forms of ID). The Hurlimannbad spa next to Google's campus is incredible (including an open-air part on the roof), but try to go during a workday (ideally during working hours) or relatively early when it opens; on Saturdays and Sundays in winter it can get pretty packed. I also really like the "Stadtbad" hammam in the Volkshaus in the Langstrasse district. Keep in mind that it is significantly nude and mixed sex, in case you are body shy (the nude parts are behind slatted screens, but the screens with massive slits in them, lol). Unlike most nudist or semi-nudist areas, it is largely used by normal, young and attractive people, and not weird old guys. If you like spas there are some other fantastic ones that are a ways outside of Zurich, but which you will remember forever, most notably Rigi Kaltbad. If you go to Rigi Kaltbad, go during the day (or at least before sunset) so you can enjoy the view. There are five billion ski slopes within 2 hours of Zurich, but keep in mind it's very expensive: if you don't have your own gear then expect to pay $150-$200/day for rentals + ski passes + travel to/from the slopes. There are things called "Snow n Rail" passes that can make this somewhat cheaper. Flumserberg is the closest slope to Zurich but honestly it's worth it to go the extra 20 minutes and instead go to Engelberg or Andermatt or take a weekend and go somewhere further like Wengen, Laax, or St Moritz. I really like the slopes at St Moritz but $100 for a day pass is nuts. The Andermatt area is massively extensive and would get my vote for a full weekend with 2 days of skiing. For restaurants/bars, are you in ZH by yourself or with a partner? Don't expect colleagues to be too friendly in terms of going out, unless you're at Google or ETH/UZH (and even then, don't expect too much). My favorite indoor bar in Zurich is in the Urania observatory; it is essentially a speak-easy as you have to enter and walk through the restaurant "Brasserie Lipp" at street level, walk by the receptionist to an elevator in the middle of the restaurant, and then take it up to the top, and there is little (I think perhaps no) street-level signage indicating there is anything up there. The CLOUDS bar/restaurant in Hardbruck is also very bougie and nice, again I recommend going during the day (or sunset). Keep in mind that everything is expensive, even if you have a nice salary it's shocking. Expect $20-$25 for a cocktail in a normal cocktail bar, expect $30-$35 for a main course in a neighborhood restaurant, don't expect to ever get out of even a basic dinner for less than $50pp unless you're eating a pizza or kebab, in which case expect around $25-$30 pp, or expect around $20 pp for fast food. If you like cooking, then the grocery stores in the basement of Globus and Jelmoli in Zurich's train station district are insane, in both good (unique varieties) and bad ways (price). Hiltl is nice for relatively cheap eats, it's a small Swiss chain that will make you actually like vegetarian food, and IIRC it was the world's first vegetarian restaurant. Tibits is also a nice Swiss chain. Both are relatively cheap, for Zurich. I personally prefer Tibits. If you like music, which you didn't mention either way, then the Schiffbau has nice mid-sized concerts (~200-500 people?). The Dyanmo, behind the main station, is also great for smaller (~100 person) concerts. There are stadiums for really big name bands but I doubt many, if any, are touring this winter. Make sure to go up the Uetliberg mountain overlooking Zurich, it's a lovely walk or jog (depending on your fitness level). It has some super slippery spots when it is snowy and icy though, so either don't go when it's snowy (which will be a fair amount of the winter as it's about 500 m above Zurich) or take hiking poles. The best view of the city is at Kaeferberg, near the restuarant "Die Waid" which I don't like that much but it's worth going up there just for the view (free). For stuff in the greater Zurich area, there are a lot of options. Rhinefalls is lame, skip it, I guess back before international travel was easy it might have been an impressive waterfall for continental Europeans to visit. If you like hiking I still don't recommend doing it in winter since it seems like you're not very familiar with cold weather. If you do, make sure to get microspikes and start off extremely unambitious. Trail markers are also very hard to follow in winter as many of them are on rocks on the ground. Snowshoes are bullshit nonsense and the only place they belong is in a landfill. If you like driving, then Switzerland is amazing for that... but not so much in January-April when almost all of the most interesting mountain passes are closed. IMHO go with public transport unless you are going to be more than 2 people, e.g. if you have friends visiting you internationally, in which case renting a car is way cheaper. I've lived in a lot of different cities and Zurich is hands down by a mile my favorite, by such a huge margin other cities should just give up. Basically everything is perfect: great public transport, no crime, tons of variety for food, culture, access to outdoors, access to travel. The only downside is that it's really loving expensive which can be jarring even if you're making well over $100k. Saladman fucked around with this message at 10:55 on Nov 2, 2021 |
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Nov 2, 2021 10:47
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Thank you both! A lot of info there, I'll add a lot of those suggestions to my list of things to check out/do/plan for! Oh and for music, I'm more in to trance/harstyle. So nightclubs over live music venues and I've got a few recommendations for places to go during weekend(s) away to Berlin.
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Nov 9, 2021 00:54
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EvilElmo posted:Thank you both! A lot of info there, I'll add a lot of those suggestions to my list of things to check out/do/plan for! AFAIK Hive is the best club for that in Zurich. There's also an "official" mega squat at Koch Areal in Altstetten that sometimes throws some pretty nice parties. Reithalle in Bern is a similar semi-official mega squat with an industrial kind of design. Zurich Street Parade is also wild, although I have significant doubts whether it will be held this year (early August). There are a lot of bars and mini discos in the Langstrasse/Helvetiaplatz district but IMO they all kind of blow unless you're drunk and/or high and also with a bunch of friends. I wouldn't even know how to find some of them anymore, one I went to a couple times that I like is in the upstairs of a all-night kebab shop, you walk through the kebab shop, go into an unmarked door for a staircase, and then go up a floor and you end up in a club. I'm pretty sure it was on Langstrasse itself but I'd have a hard time finding it again. It was actually the last time I went to a club... almost 2 years ago, jeez. E: Just re-read this and fixed a ton of typos. Saladman fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Nov 10, 2021 |
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Nov 9, 2021 13:46
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Assuming we make it through the winter with minimal lockdowns etc, where would be good to go from England in mid-February? Trying to get some places on my radar and personal recommendations are nice. And since this thread is frequented by people in Europe and not just people travelling to, I'll add (if it's not too much of a derail) that I'd take recommendations outside Europe if the flight is fairly short!
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Nov 18, 2021 19:15
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in mid-Feb the weather most places is going to be pretty awful so I'd suggest looking at places around the Mediterranean somewhere like Morocco, or around the Adriatic like Greece/Cyprus/Turkey should be dryish and reasonably warm, and it's way out of season so hopefully not too expensive either (as long as you're not going during half term)
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Nov 18, 2021 21:47
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Uh unless you visit the Alps then mid Feb is magic
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Nov 18, 2021 22:04
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so by "magic" you mean "cold and probably raining" I guess? like sure you could visit Paris in February but there are much better times to do it imo
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Nov 18, 2021 22:26
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my sister-in-law is getting married in Nice, France next year in the summer (assuming various geopolitical and viral things don't make that impossible.) I have pretty much no idea about what's over there except that there's a nice museum and some tourism-worthy cathedrals. But apparently it's a big destination, and so is Monaco right near by it. Goons, what do in Nice.
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Nov 18, 2021 23:52
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Julio Cruz posted:so by "magic" you mean "cold and probably raining" I guess? like sure you could visit Paris in February but there are much better times to do it imo I don't think you know where the alps are.
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Nov 19, 2021 04:45
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Saladman posted:AFAIK Hive is the best club for that in Zurich. There's also an "official" mega squat at Koch Areal in Altstetten that sometimes throws some pretty nice parties. Reithalle in Bern is a similar semi-official mega squat with an industrial kind of design. Zurich Street Parade is also wild, although I have significant doubts whether it will be held this year (early August). There are a lot of bars and mini discos in the Langstrasse/Helvetiaplatz district but IMO they all kind of blow unless you're drunk and/or high and also with a bunch of friends. I wouldn't even know how to find some of them anymore, one I went to a couple times that I like is in the upstairs of a all-night kebab shop, you walk through the kebab shop, go into an unmarked door for a staircase, and then go up a floor and you end up in a club. I'm pretty sure it was on Langstrasse itself but I'd have a hard time finding it again. It was actually the last time I went to a club... almost 2 years ago, jeez. Nice nice nice, thank you!
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Nov 19, 2021 07:42
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Julio Cruz posted:so by "magic" you mean "cold and probably raining" I guess? like sure you could visit Paris in February but there are much better times to do it imo He meant the opposite: that the weather is poo poo in Europe unless you visit the Alps, in which case mid-Feb is magic. For Bollock Monkey: I'd say it also depends on what airport is the nearest to you that has direct flights. All of North Africa is pretty great in that season although the north coast can be pretty rainy (but not cold). The Greek islands are pretty much shut down so wouldn't be my top vote, except Cyprus and Crete, which are big enough to not completely shut in winter. Malta is nice in winter too and also remains open in winter. Israel too. Lebanon would be nice if it wasn't in the throes of economic collapse. Southern coastal Turkey would be nice then then too. Istanbul is chilly and raining but it's never all that bad. The Alps are great if you like winter sports and spas. While the lowlands are cloudy/foggy all winter in the Alps, the higher slopes themselves have sun more often than not even if the towns are blanketed in never-ending grey. Saladman fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Nov 19, 2021 |
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Nov 19, 2021 10:38
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Speaking of the alps / skiing - what would you recommend the best mountain to go skiing in in Europe? I also read that Georgia has some great mountains as well.
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Nov 19, 2021 11:44
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Impermanent posted:my sister-in-law is getting married in Nice, France next year in the summer (assuming various geopolitical and viral things don't make that impossible.) I have pretty much no idea about what's over there except that there's a nice museum and some tourism-worthy cathedrals. But apparently it's a big destination, and so is Monaco right near by it. Goons, what do in Nice. the marc chagall museum is really nice
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Nov 19, 2021 11:44
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Busy Bee posted:Speaking of the alps / skiing - what would you recommend the best mountain to go skiing in in Europe? I also read that Georgia has some great mountains as well. I'm assuming you're an intermediate skiier – i.e. can do any slope, but wouldn't do e.g. ski touring? I'd personally vote for the Italian Alps, whether near Torino or in the Dolomites. It's almost half the price of Switzerland or Austria, the infrastructure is nearly as good, and you get to be in Italy (although many of the skiing parts of Italy are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically Austrian, e.g. Merano). It also kind of depends on where you can get reasonable flights, or if you would be driving from somewhere else in Europe and e.g. bring skis. I'm sure Georgia has great mountains but I doubt it has great infrastructure and you'd have to fly in. On other thing would be how long would you go to a specific place? Like Meran 2000 is great and super cheap, but one day there and you've done every slope twice, so it'd be a boring place to spend anything more than a weekend unless you're an absolute beginner skier. If you wanted to spend a week, I'd go with either Andermatt, Zermatt (or better yet, Cervinia on the Italian side although I have not been there since they connected them a couple years ago), or St Moritz (if your budget is > €3500/week for a family), Chamonix, or Val Gardena (budget a minimum of like €2500/week for a family for lodging + skiing for France/Italy). All of those places have an absolute ridiculous number of slopes. On that note though just for budgeting, poo poo's expensive if you don't have your own gear or friend/family place to stay for free/cheap. A weekly ski pass for a family of 4 is around €1000 in most places in Switzerland (or ~€200/day for shorter stays) then budget €250/day for basic lodging, and then maybe €150/week for renting skis+boots+poles (helmet is often free w/ rental of other stuff). If you don't have kids then budget like 70% as much as I've said above. E: I don't remember where you live, but if you live in the US or Canada, then I wouldn't bother with a ski trip to Europe at all unless you're super rich, super passionate about it, or do it as a novelty single day as part of a larger trip. For a specific ski trip, IMHO spend less money and not have deal with jetlag and have a similar experience. Saladman fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Nov 19, 2021 |
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Nov 19, 2021 12:27
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Saladman posted:He meant the opposite: that the weather is poo poo in Europe unless you visit the Alps, in which case mid-Feb is magic. Thanks, good to know about Malta because that was already in my consideration. I've been to Istanbul and Athens, so a new country would be cool. Other bits of Turkey could be a good idea anyway though! Doubt I'll ever bother with the Alps because sadly my husband can't ski due to a historic injury and it seems like sports and chalets are the only things to do around there?
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Nov 19, 2021 14:15
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Bollock Monkey posted:Thanks, good to know about Malta because that was already in my consideration. Malta's nice, I spent 5 days there in early December a few years ago. You could probably spend a week there without getting bored. 10 days would probably be pushing it. Yeah sports, or hanging out in chalets with friends and enjoying the après-ski, would be the primary draw. So if no sports and not going with friends, that cuts out a lot of the allure. Spas are the other draw, and while there's no spa visit as incredible as an outdoor spa on top of a mountain in the winter in the Alps, I'm not sure if it really pulls an entire vacation around it.
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Nov 19, 2021 15:04
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Saladman posted:He meant the opposite: that the weather is poo poo in Europe unless you visit the Alps, in which case mid-Feb is magic. ah yeah I totally misread that, my bad
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Nov 19, 2021 15:21
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Bollock Monkey posted:I've been to Istanbul and Athens, so a new country would be cool. Other bits of Turkey could be a good idea anyway though! I went to both Istanbul and the south coast of Turkey last month and it's a quite different experience. On the coast it was still summer (not sure about February though) and if you get some distance between yourself and Antalya you can be in beautiful coastal landscapes and small towns without many tourists around, but still enough tourist facilities for there to be cool places to stay along the shore. I was in/around Demre, which does have some cool sights but is not very touristic. Lots of Russians though. Do rent a car there if you are going outside of major cities, public transport isn't very good and not very usable if you don't know how things work.
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Nov 19, 2021 16:07
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