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This very good website shows recent actual train arrival times in Germany. Handy for working out if your route is reliable There's a similar one for the UK, recenttraintimes.co.uk
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Feb 19, 2023 11:51
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OK, we finally booked our flights to Ireland for a wedding, with the plan to tour a bit beforehand with my mom (late 60s). She has a long list of 'things I want to do' but when pressed, but I want to avoid constantly switching hotels every night or two. East side we'll be stationed in Dublin for the first two days upon arrival. For the west, I was planning on using Killarney as our base, since there's a lot to do in the national park, and there are lots of day trips. Galway is an option, but I feel like that would make the Ring of Kerry drive a very, very long day. Am I off base in using Killarney for this purpose?
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Feb 19, 2023 23:16
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Omne posted:OK, we finally booked our flights to Ireland for a wedding, with the plan to tour a bit beforehand with my mom (late 60s). She has a long list of 'things I want to do' but when pressed, but I want to avoid constantly switching hotels every night or two. East side we'll be stationed in Dublin for the first two days upon arrival. For the west, I was planning on using Killarney as our base, since there's a lot to do in the national park, and there are lots of day trips. Galway is an option, but I feel like that would make the Ring of Kerry drive a very, very long day. Am I off base in using Killarney for this purpose? You can list what your/her musts are but Killarney is good for Cork, Dingle, Ring of Kerry, Gap of Dunloe, Kinsale, and okay but long for Cliffs of Moher and going to anything further than Moher as a day trip would be impractical or impossible (eg Aran Islands). There’s some fun stuff near Galway but I found the town itself incredibly underwhelming. If you had to pick between the Galway area or Killarney area, it wouldn’t even be close for picking Killarney.
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Feb 20, 2023 09:51
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Hello everyone, I'm another fat amerigoon who's doing an Italian trip in late June. It'll be our 5 year wedding anniversary, so we wanted to make it a big occasion. Flights and dates are locked in, but not much else as of yet. We're in Italy from 6/14 to 6/22, with a flight leaving 6/23, and we'll be sticking with Rome and Naples. We're both history and music nerds, so please shout out if there's something we're just stupidly ignoring. Hotel-wise, I think we just want to stay closer to everything. Trastavere sounds and looks great, but adding an extra hour+ of walking every day isn't quite worth it. I haven't gotten that detailed in Naples yet, but I think we're going to aim for something similar there. 6/14- Arrive FCO @ 0800- travel to the city, acclimate, etc. 6/15- Ancient Rome/ Coliseum/ Forum poo poo 6/16- Vatican, Catholic poo poo 6/17- Day trip to Tivoli 6/18- Villa Borghese and museum poo poo, check off any other "must-see" parts of the city we missed 6/19- Travel to Naples, check out more museums/ Villa Poppea 6/20- Pompeii/ possibly Herculaneum (though I doubt both are possible) 6/21- Day trip to Capri (or a similar scene if there's any ideas) 6/22- Train back up to Rome/ hotel near FCO (a bit of a bummer that we have to go back up to Rome, but we have some family helping out with tickets, so I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth) 6/23- Depart FCO @ 1345 I'd kill for an extra day or two in Naples, but it is what it is. Any hotel ideas would be most welcome, and from looking through this thread I'd rather not roll the dice on an AirBnB.
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Feb 27, 2023 21:39
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I would probably not do "Ancient Rome/ Coliseum/ Forum poo poo" and "Vatican, Catholic poo poo" back to back. I would put the day trip to Tivoli in between. Ancient rome stuff is gonna be 3-5 miles of walking in downtown rome, it's actually not totally flat so it's a good work out. And then The Vatican and their museum is.... intense, it's immense, the main museum building is like half a mile long and it's three stories, plus all the other stuff, and you're walking on solid stone/granite so it beats you up if you're a soft suburban amerigoon who's not used to walking 5 miles a day. I would maybe even move the Vatican visit to 6/22 and move the train up one day. I've never felt more exhausted after a day of sight seeing than the vatican and this was in my peak "i'm in my late 20s and i bicycle 20 miles a day" health phase The rest sounds really good edit: check out pyramid of Cestius, it's two metro stops south of the coliseum, it's, I think the largest pyramid in europe. when i was there it was closed for renovations but it's open now i think From the (raised) street it's not very impressive but if you can get down to ground level, it's quite large https://goo.gl/maps/jARAoUk5PNhhH2vp7  edit it won't let me thumbnail it sorry for breaking your tables Hadlock fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Feb 27, 2023 |
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Feb 27, 2023 21:48
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Hadlock posted:I would probably not do "Ancient Rome/ Coliseum/ Forum poo poo" and "Vatican, Catholic poo poo" back to back. I would put the day trip to Tivoli in between. That's a great call to mix the heavy sightseeing days up. We both regularly put on 10k+ steps per day between work and running, but no need to kill us both that early on. Thanks so much!
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Feb 27, 2023 21:52
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Hadlock posted:edit: check out pyramid of Cestius, it's two metro stops south of the coliseum, it's, I think the largest pyramid in europe. when i was there it was closed for renovations but it's open now i think It depends on how you count. It's a few meters taller than the Pyramid of Austerlitz but Austerlitz has a much wider base. Hence, Austerlitz has a larger volume.
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Feb 27, 2023 23:06
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Chieves posted:Italy Plans What made you decide to take a day trip to Tivoli? I plan on going to Rome sometime this year so wondering if it's worth it to go there. Seems like you can take a non stop train there?
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Feb 27, 2023 23:29
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I was not aware of this pyramid, I'll grant you it's larger. The roman one is super cool because it's solid stone and fits my mental model of what defines a "pyramid"
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Feb 27, 2023 23:30
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Maybe someone can chime in, but I think if you get a guided tour of the Vatican museum and St Peter's, you get to use the back door between the two. Otherwise it's a freakin hike to go all the way to the back of one, then all the way back to the front door, then all the way around to stand in line again. Also, it's gonna be hot. Reserve a time to visit Villa Borghese, there are no walk-up visits. I think if you visit the Forum first, they'll stamp your ticket for the Colosseum too so you can skip the line there. We found the Roma Pass to be good value, the buses and metro were easy enough to use.
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Feb 28, 2023 00:53
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Chieves posted:Hello everyone, It honestly doesn't sound like you have the time for it but if you can manage, St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls is absolutely beautiful and fascinating as a fellow history dork. The story of it being "outside the [Aurelianic] walls" is because it's built on the purported site of Paul of Tarsus' tomb, and necropoli were things that were not built inside cities. I won't speculate on the authenticity of it, but supposing it is in fact his final resting place, it's really quite awe-inspiring to be in the presence of the dude who basically invented Christianity. I'm secular, but seeing pilgrims pray to him definitely evoked some strong and complicated feelings in me. Also, it was far and away the quietest place my wife and I visited in Rome so if you're wanting to escape the crowds make a trip out there.
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Feb 28, 2023 01:00
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Thanks everyone for the ideas and notes. I know 10 days is much too short- all the more reason to go back one day!Busy Bee posted:What made you decide to take a day trip to Tivoli? I plan on going to Rome sometime this year so wondering if it's worth it to go there. Seems like you can take a non stop train there? The convenience helps, but it's a good way to get out of the city for a bit and check out a bit more of the country. Villa D'Este and just a chance to take in the waterfall views are the big draws for us. Hadrian's Villa is, as I understand it, a similar attraction in the region, but I think we'll get a much more thorough version of that in Naples.
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Feb 28, 2023 03:01
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My main takes on Rome is that the Palatine Hill/Forum are better than the colliseum, and that Ostia Antica is absolutely worth a visit (do the audio tour). It's a very walkable city but kind of spread out so it doesn't matter hugely where you stay, as long as it is near something.
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Feb 28, 2023 11:18
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Yeah like I'm glad I saw the colosseum, but other than a selfie photo op from that one "balcony" on one the there's not much to see. There's what looks like a road that wraps around it but it's more like a cross town expressway. Vs something like the Eiffel Tower where there's a giant pedestrian park on the approach Circo Massimo is way more disappointing, just a huge field with a pile of rocks at one end. The mega ruins across the street look really interesting but didn't have time to go explore
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Feb 28, 2023 18:32
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That's a lot of day trips for a 10 days trip.
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Feb 28, 2023 18:41
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Here are my thoughts. - Don't stay in Naples. Do a single day trip and choose either Herculaneum or Pompeii (Pompeii is bigger/more visually impressive, Herculaneum has details in better shape. Pick the one you prefer). - Is this your first time in Europe? Because Tivoli is a bit annoying to get to, IIRC. It's not just "hop on the train and you're there", it's "hop on the train for an hour, get out, find the tickets for the bus company you need, buy the return tickets at the same time, figure out where to go". And I think it's even more complex if you add in Hadrian's villa. Honestly for a first time in Rome I think there are much, much better ways to spend your time. - Do the Colosseum as a night tour. It's a trillion times better because the whole place isn't completely packed to the gills, you're with your tour group. Do the Palatine Hill/Forum first thing in the morning. Don't do them on the same day. Turning Naples into a day trip will allow you to see way, way more of Rome, and there is so much history in the city alone that you will not regret it. As someone suggested, St Paul's Outside the Walls. There's also San Clemente, with the remains of a Mithran temple underneath it. You can check out the mosaics at Ostia Antica. You'll have time to wander around Trastevere. If you want to get into a bit of nature go to the botanical gardens there. I think you've packed way too much into your itinerary and that removing the Naples part of it (and turning it into a day trip) will make you much happier and leave you way less exhausted. You're supposed to enjoy your vacation, not feel like you've just marched across a checklist of things to see.
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Feb 28, 2023 19:44
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Judgy Fucker posted:It honestly doesn't sound like you have the time for it but if you can manage, St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls is absolutely beautiful and fascinating as a fellow history dork. The story of it being "outside the [Aurelianic] walls" is because it's built on the purported site of Paul of Tarsus' tomb, and necropoli were things that were not built inside cities. I won't speculate on the authenticity of it, but supposing it is in fact his final resting place, it's really quite awe-inspiring to be in the presence of the dude who basically invented Christianity. I'm secular, but seeing pilgrims pray to him definitely evoked some strong and complicated feelings in me. Also, it was far and away the quietest place my wife and I visited in Rome so if you're wanting to escape the crowds make a trip out there. If you can get the special tour you can actually go down and see St Peter's grave under the basilica
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Feb 28, 2023 21:06
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vanity slug posted:That's a lot of day trips for a 10 days trip. I don't disagree with this statement By like day 6 you'll be looking for something to trim from the itinerary so you can sleep in one day and just chill and eat gelato and bad tourist grade pizza all day and drown it with some lemon cello
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Feb 28, 2023 22:02
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Thanks all for the additional feedback. We've both been to different parts of Europe separately, just not Italy. Definitely why nothing is set in stone yet.  Lots of comments I had previously seen were pretty adamant about avoiding a Naples day trip, but I can see the benefits of going that route and getting more time to spread out in one city.
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Feb 28, 2023 22:31
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kiimo posted:If you can get the special tour you can actually go down and see St Peter's grave under the basilica Yeah, this is really neat and I enjoyed it a lot. You also get to see the remnants of the whole old graveyard that used to be under it.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:41
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kiimo posted:If you can get the special tour you can actually go down and see St Peter's grave under the basilica gently caress, I'm sad we missed that! As much as I love Ancient Rome stuff we're probably never going back to Rome. Way too anarchic and crazy for us, and of the various major cities I've visited in Europe--London, Paris, Rome, Munich, and Berlin--it was far and away the most touristy. Honestly felt more like a theme park than an actual city people live in. I know that's not literally true of course, just our perceptions of it. We spent a day in Bologna that was fantastic, and our day trip to Ravenna is one of the more cherished memories I have of all my travels. But I could take or leave Rome.
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Mar 1, 2023 16:50
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To each his own, Rome is my favorite. But I was partying with people from Rome and enjoy the chaos haha.
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Mar 1, 2023 20:38
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In my experience Rome is fairly tame and can even get really quiet at night. 
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Mar 1, 2023 21:21
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In my experience, only when I stayed a few blocks away from the Termini station did things get rowdy. By that, I mean hearing two bros yelling "Kurwa mać' at each other over and over again as they beat each other up.
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Mar 1, 2023 22:35
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Yeah, I spent all of October in Rome. I love it there. It's the perfect city and if you get away from the Colosseum/Forum/main touristy areas it's really not all that touristy at all. The chaos is totally a plus.
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Mar 2, 2023 18:28
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I just remember getting off a night train from Bologna to Salzburg, we were loving exhausted, not just from normal tourist stuff but just from all the craziness in general. The first thing we do is drop our bags off, then we head over to the Maribel Gardens and there's a placard with like a dozen rules listed on it and thinking "finally, we are with our own people." And yeah I'm not trying to poo poo on Rome, obviously the issue is us, not it. It's just not for us
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Mar 2, 2023 18:51
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Do you work in IT? That's my own little joke imagining you as Dwight Schrute getting to Salzburg and going ahhhhhhh, finally. Rules!
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Mar 2, 2023 18:56
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I do not work in IT, no, though this is not the first time someone has compared me to Dwight (never watched a second of The Office btw) which I'm sure is a testament to my impeccable character. Think more like Walter in The Big Lebowski flipping the gently caress out and screaming "Doesn't anyone give a poo poo about the rules?!?!?!" That's the dude behind the keyboard.
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Mar 2, 2023 19:02
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Do you guys have any suggestions of finding good guides in some of the touristy European cities? Whenever we're traveling around the bigger museums it seems like the guides always provide some good context/stories/etc. I'm sure it's also more engaging for kids.
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Mar 2, 2023 19:56
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In Amsterdam I'm not sure if I've ever heard a guide say anything truthful and/or accurate, just when passing by tour groups on the street and stuff. It's always 100% bullshit that sounds interesting. So because of those experiences I've never really used guides. But maybe it's good entertainment indeed!
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Mar 2, 2023 20:33
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Residency Evil posted:Do you guys have any suggestions of finding good guides in some of the touristy European cities? Whenever we're traveling around the bigger museums it seems like the guides always provide some good context/stories/etc. I'm sure it's also more engaging for kids. You might try looking up the local larger hostel(s) and seeing who they recommend as tour guides. Usually they have a partnership with one or more guides they work with. The front desk staff at hostels seem to be a lot more tuned in to the local scene than your hilton or marriot concierge. What countries are you targeting? I might have some specific suggestions of people/companies if you're headed to areas within a ~3 hour radius of Ramstein Air Base
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Mar 2, 2023 20:40
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Chieves posted:Hello everyone, I feel like I've become a bit of a cliche in recommending Ostia Antica. It was the best part of my 10 day visit to Rome, just wandering around an abandoned Roman city looking at the old houses, theatres, pubs and restaurants. Please do visit the museum up on the Capitolinum. It has the most amazing collection of largely contemporary portrait busts of late Republic and early Empire leaders. Roman sculptural portraiture is/was very unusual, in that it was mostly extremely true to life. If you had a warty nose, it was recorded, even if you were the emperor. The exception is Commodus, who is portrayed as extremely handsome, with the classic attributes of Hercules, but Commodus was nuts, so the artist was presumably afraid of being more accurate. There is an absolutely glorious early-republic bronze bust of, I think, a consul, and it is unbelievably perfectly rendered.
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Mar 2, 2023 21:21
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Hadlock posted:You might try looking up the local larger hostel(s) and seeing who they recommend as tour guides. Usually they have a partnership with one or more guides they work with. The front desk staff at hostels seem to be a lot more tuned in to the local scene than your hilton or marriot concierge. What countries are you targeting? I might have some specific suggestions of people/companies if you're headed to areas within a ~3 hour radius of Ramstein Air Base More just a general question. Rome/the Vatican are next on our "Old Europe" list, and it sounds like the Vatican is kind of overwhelming like the Louvre. The Louvre was probably the most overwhelming place I've visited: just insane at how large it is.
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Mar 2, 2023 21:34
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I don't have any good resources for Rome Yeah the Vatican is overwhelming. The last third of the museum I was just walking and wouldn't even slow down unless it was at least a thousand years old. Not even joking The one building I was really surprised by was the Pantheon. I must have spent over an hour there, and it's really just one big room, but, and I hesitate to use this word, but it's just so epic inside. Go about an hour before or after local solar noon on a clear sunny day. It's one of those places that's impossible to photograph
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Mar 2, 2023 21:41
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Residency Evil posted:Do you guys have any suggestions of finding good guides in some of the touristy European cities? Whenever we're traveling around the bigger museums it seems like the guides always provide some good context/stories/etc. I'm sure it's also more engaging for kids. We've had generally good results with a couple of tour guides recommended by Rick Steves. Specifically, the best guide we've ever had was Francesca in Rome for the Colosseum. This was in 2008 but it looks like she's still going strong: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/guides/francesca-caruso We've also used tours by locals several times with good results, we've only used them in the US but they seem to have pretty good European coverage.
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Mar 2, 2023 22:24
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Hadlock posted:I don't have any good resources for Rome Agree about the Pantheon, my wife and I just sat inside for ages, taking it all in. I wish we’d made the effort to go at a time when it wasn’t so busy.
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Mar 2, 2023 23:02
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It's been a few years since I mentioned it so; if you want to understand what seeing in Rome, I can't recommend Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide enough. It's not a light read but it's not overwhelming. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Rome.html?id=RX_MPqbjOp0C&redir_esc=y
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Mar 2, 2023 23:13
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Lady Gaza posted:Agree about the Pantheon, my wife and I just sat inside for ages, taking it all in. I wish we’d made the effort to go at a time when it wasn’t so busy. I'm not sure that exists the last time I went was the first week of November and the piazza was still crowded
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Mar 3, 2023 04:14
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Julio Cruz posted:I'm not sure that exists I meant more like first thing in the morning, we went mid afternoon and it was rammed.
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Mar 3, 2023 10:09
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| # ? May 25, 2024 22:39 |
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Also chiming in to agree about the Pantheon. Absolutely marvelous. I think a big part is the tomb of Raphael and his inscription. Vatican and St Peter's Basilica is great but huge as Hadlock said. It is almost embarrassing how dismissive of great stuff you get when you get so wonder fatigued in a city like Rome. I clocked up 30k steps a day pushing a pram around Rome but it helped that we got put to the front of the lines because we had an infant. When you say "Catholic poo poo". avoid seeing more than three cathedrals or whatever unless it really is the entire group's jam. It doesn't look like you intend to but you see three good cathedrals, you have seen enough for one holiday.
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Mar 3, 2023 11:38
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