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Saros posted:Further to that are there any UK providers that don't charge an arm and a leg for roaming fee's around the EU? I am moving to the UK with a good bit of travelling around Europe first and am going to need to buy a new phone when I land. If you go with 3, you can use your phone at the same rate as your British plan in any country that also has 3. As far as I'm aware this is the only provider that does this. Luckily for me I'm with 3.
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Oct 23, 2013 10:49
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Now here's a question about APIS. I have both an Australian and British passport. As is usual, I was planning on leaving/entering Australia with the Australian passport and entering/leaving the UK on my British passport. Presumably the details of the first passport are entered for the APIS of the Sydney-London flight. So, am I able to change it to reflect my British passport details for on the way back? Are there going to be any problems at either country's immigration control? Will they even care about APIS or is that just for the airline's knowledge?
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Oct 23, 2013 11:35
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Saros posted:Further to that are there any UK providers that don't charge an arm and a leg for roaming fee's around the EU? I am moving to the UK with a good bit of travelling around Europe first and am going to need to buy a new phone when I land. Not really, and 45p a MB is a pretty "good" price, it's definitely not the 'legislated maximum' if such a thing exists. I just checked my own roaming fees (Swisscom, US$1.56/MB) and Lebara's (US$1.11). You can get "unlimited" EU roaming contracts from some providers, but not sure any offer them on prepaid. The only way to bump this down a bit is to pre-buy a big data package like 500 MB, in which case you can get it for as "cheap" as like $0.25/MB. I know LeFrenchMobile offers this, pretty sure Orange and most others do too. Buying a card like that will still be cheaper than getting SIMs in every country (or at least 100x more convenient). Voice and SMS are, of course, extra and also on similar insane surcharges. On the plus side, things will maybe be better by 2017 if the EU Parliament gets its way? E: There should probably be something about this included in the OP. Can you add that in, Landsknecht? I don't think my writeup here is the best. Probably it could just use a big warning sign that "there is no reasonably priced international SIM card across the EU, so suck it up and look for the closest Starbucks WiFi, or shell out $$$ and use data anyway." Saladman fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 12:35
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A couple of friends and I are thinking of spending a week, maybe two, roadtripping around Iceland at the beginning of the year. Does anyone have any experience with this, any tips or things to look out for?
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Oct 23, 2013 16:03
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Thanks for the advice everyone, I think I'm going to go with the Berlin->Prague->Munich idea as that sounds like the most bang for the buck. I'm using some of the resources from other threads to look for hotels/airlines but one of our friends who travels frequently told us that the ideal time to book stuff is about 90 days out, her claim being that too far out and the prices fluctuate too much and shorter than that will let them know you're desperate. Would that be good advice to follow? Obviously, I'm going to be checking often to get an idea of the rate fluctuations. As far as more specific city questions, I've heard that Prague is one of the more beautiful cities in Europe so I've researched a lot of stuff to do there. Berlin is new on my radar, so is there any must-sees aside from obvious stuff like Brandenburg? For Munich, is it worth taking the time out to see Neuschwanstein? It looks like it would take a whole day but for a guy from Florida where it's just completely flat, the castle looks completely breathtaking.
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Oct 23, 2013 16:55
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Saladman posted:Not really, and 45p a MB is a pretty "good" price, it's definitely not the 'legislated maximum' if such a thing exists. I just checked my own roaming fees (Swisscom, US$1.56/MB) and Lebara's (US$1.11). You can get "unlimited" EU roaming contracts from some providers, but not sure any offer them on prepaid. There is in fact a legislated maximum for the EU, maybe you're in Switzerland? Prepaid your options are very limited and even on contract you'll often pay the maximum rates. I'm on a contract without roaming charges on data and incoming calls in Europe and it's €70 a month, so operators aren't letting this go cheaply. For outgoing international calls I just use VOIP. In comparison domestic calls and data are dirt cheap anywhere so when you spend more than a few days it's always cheaper to get a local prepaid SIM as long as you're willing to deal with the hassle.
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Oct 23, 2013 17:08
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Pvt Dancer posted:There is in fact a legislated maximum for the EU, maybe you're in Switzerland? "Currently roaming regulation is applied to and within 31 countries: all members of the European Economic Area (28 EU members, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)" Ha ha... applied in Liechtenstein but not Switzerland. Much like French museum discounts for students. E: I wonder if Liechtenstein even has a cell tower. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 17:34
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Octy posted:Now here's a question about APIS. I have both an Australian and British passport. As is usual, I was planning on leaving/entering Australia with the Australian passport and entering/leaving the UK on my British passport. Presumably the details of the first passport are entered for the APIS of the Sydney-London flight. So, am I able to change it to reflect my British passport details for on the way back? Are there going to be any problems at either country's immigration control? Will they even care about APIS or is that just for the airline's knowledge?
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Oct 23, 2013 17:43
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NaDy posted:A couple of friends and I are thinking of spending a week, maybe two, roadtripping around Iceland at the beginning of the year. Does anyone have any experience with this, any tips or things to look out for? I went towards the end of summer this year, so January is probably going to be pretty different... Do you know where you intend to go? We spent 6 days in South and Southwest Iceland and had shitloads of fun. I obsessed endlessly about the itinerary when planning but abandoned it almost immediately.
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Oct 23, 2013 21:01
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HookShot posted:Neither country's immigration will care, the airline just don't want to be responsible for lugging you back to Australia if you don't have a valid visa for the UK. Thanks, I was a bit thrown when I Googled APIS and saw all these horror stories for people with two passports, but then there were a few people saying it didn't matter.
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Oct 23, 2013 22:20
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Thanks for the cell info guys. Its basically what I found out myself but I was kinda hoping I had missed something. Has anyone been to the Royal naval museum in Portsmouth? I kinda want to go and see it for HMS Warrior and Victory alone but its a wee bit out of my way so i'd want it to be at least decent.
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Oct 23, 2013 23:23
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Saros posted:Thanks for the cell info guys. Its basically what I found out myself but I was kinda hoping I had missed something. I've been. Well worth seeing those two ships. The rest of the museum is pretty dull.
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Oct 23, 2013 23:46
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Saros posted:Has anyone been to the Royal naval museum in Portsmouth? I kinda want to go and see it for HMS Warrior and Victory alone but its a wee bit out of my way so i'd want it to be at least decent. I went there in May and the ships were amazing. I had a great time there and if you're interested in naval history at all it's well worth a visit. I specifically went to Portsmouth just for that. The Warrior is definitely an interesting ship, but the Victory puts it to shame. The Victory is such an amazing ship and in really good condition. Walking through it was really cool and a lot of it was open. Like was said, the other parts of the museum aren't as good as the two ships, but there are still a few interesting parts like an A/V presentation on the Battle of Trafalgar and a "kids" section where you can pretend you are doing tasks on a ship. Also near the Dockyard is Gunwharf Quays which has a lot of nightlife and shopping if you're in to that. I only stayed there for one night, but I enjoyed it and the city in general is well connected to other cities. MagicCube fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Oct 24, 2013 |
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Oct 24, 2013 04:35
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Hello folks, I am currently staying in Paris with a friend and I will be here until the end of November. So far I've been to the Louvre (at night, which was amazing in comparison to the last time I went when I was last here), the Petit Palais, which wasn't so much up my street, walked about a lot around Bastille and Notre-Dame, Champse-Elysee, Concord areas. Was at a delightful bar/cafe last night that a friend who used to live her recommended: wine was cheap as poo poo. Anyway, I am wanting to visit the off-limits, not so legal parts of the catacombs. I made a thread about it but I was recommended to make a post here. I put an add on craigslist because some blogger claimed that is how he did it but have had no responses so far. I got an e-mail address from the chap in my thread and have written to him but have had no response so far. Just wondering if anyone here managed to get a guide for this or even recalls an entrance or just has some ideas how to find folk associated with the unofficial catacombs? Anyway, does anyone have any other suggestions what I should do. I plan to go to some more museums, especially Musee' d'Orsay, and to spend a few days in Roeun, go see some ballet(yep, I actually like it) and maybe some opera (Strauss' Elektra is on at the Opera National de Paris and I actually know what is going on it that...). I'm happy to go outside of Paris to see some interesting stuff. I have some more bar/cafes to visit which my friend recommended and have some parties my friend who I am staying with has invited me to so all good on that front. Many thanks. tldr; In Paris for 4 weeks and want to visit unofficial parts of the Catacombs. But welcome other suggestions too.
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Oct 24, 2013 13:27
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Sir Plus posted:
Neuschwanstein is great, there is another castle there as well (forgotten name) which was built by his father and is also worth a look into if you have the time. Failing that Lindenhof is also close by (if you have a car or get up super early in the morning you could see both) and although it isn't as dramatic the interior is simply crazy. Grotto, with a lake and a balcony made for the midget orchestra. NaDy posted:A couple of friends and I are thinking of spending a week, maybe two, roadtripping around Iceland at the beginning of the year. Does anyone have any experience with this, any tips or things to look out for? It will be snowy, cold and windy; also the roads could well be pretty scary to drive.
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Oct 24, 2013 13:41
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MagicCube posted:I went there in May and the ships were amazing. I had a great time there and if you're interested in naval history at all it's well worth a visit. I specifically went to Portsmouth just for that. The Warrior is definitely an interesting ship, but the Victory puts it to shame. The Victory is such an amazing ship and in really good condition. Walking through it was really cool and a lot of it was open. Like was said, the other parts of the museum aren't as good as the two ships, but there are still a few interesting parts like an A/V presentation on the Battle of Trafalgar and a "kids" section where you can pretend you are doing tasks on a ship. Where did you stay? The only hostel I can find in Portsmouth looks disgusting and half the reviews report bedbugs so there's no way in hell I am staying there.
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Oct 24, 2013 22:32
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Lazy Beggar posted:Hello folks, I can't help you with the catacombs info. But check out the Canal St. Martin if it is a nice night. A lot of young people go there to chill and drink beer/wine. Again, if the weather is nice I recommend going to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Go to the top of the Museum of the Arab World (Institut du Monde Arabe) for the best view of Notre Dame (it is free to go up). They have a nice tea room up there, too. The Paris Opera house (Palais Garnier) is really cool to just tour. Check out Montmartre. Père Lachaise Cemetery is really cool so be sure to check it out. Do be sure to get out of Paris and check out some of the smaller towns around Paris.
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Oct 24, 2013 22:34
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Saros posted:Where did you stay? The only hostel I can find in Portsmouth looks disgusting and half the reviews report bedbugs so there's no way in hell I am staying there. The only hotel I could find in Portsmouth looked nice and had fairly good reviews but when I arrived there were dirty dishes in the hallway and an unflushed tampon in the toilet.
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Oct 24, 2013 22:49
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The Portsmouth & Southsea Backpackers Lodge? Everything else looks like B&B and proper hotels which are a bit more than I want to spend. Agh, maybe a daytrip from London is doable.
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Oct 24, 2013 23:03
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Saros posted:Where did you stay? The only hostel I can find in Portsmouth looks disgusting and half the reviews report bedbugs so there's no way in hell I am staying there. I splurged in Portsmouth and stayed at a hotel. It was Keppel's Head Hotel which is right near the harbour train station and the dockyards. http://www.keppelsheadhotel.co.uk/joomla/index.php/room-rates It's not highly reviewed and a bit expensive, but I didn't have any problems there and had a good nights sleep. Although that might have been from pain medication since I broke my ankle in Portsmouth and got to experience their lovely hospital and laughing gas (which was amazing). Not amazing lodging, but again I was only there for 1 night before I moved on to London. However, you mentioned a day trip from London which is totally do-able. Depending on which train you get a journey from London to Portsmouth Harbour will run between 1:30 to 2:00 hours. The dockyards are literally right beside the train station so you can have lots of time there and other areas around the harbour and still get back to London at a decent time.
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Oct 25, 2013 00:37
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Yeah, bear in mind that Portsmouth isn't really on the international tourist / backpackers list of 'must-see' places in the UK so it's tourist facilities will be less developed than somewhere like York or Bristol. Portsmouth is more of a working town with a huge Navy connection so it can be a bit rough and ready and be a bit run down in places. Hotels will probably cater more for business travellers or navy types passing through. I'd manage your expectations and recommend a day trip rather than a longer stay. Still it'll give you a good idea of what a lot of Britain is like away from the tourist trail!
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Oct 25, 2013 03:46
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Saros posted:The Portsmouth & Southsea Backpackers Lodge? Everything else looks like B&B and proper hotels which are a bit more than I want to spend. Agh, maybe a daytrip from London is doable. Queen's Hotel. Not terribly expensive from what I remember, and on the plus side it had a clear view of the sea. I think it had seen better days, though.
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Oct 25, 2013 03:51
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I'm pretty much only going there because of the warships, we don't really have anything like that in NZ and I love naval history. I'm sure i'll get to see plenty of the real Britan as i'm actually moving there long term after an extended holiday tour around the EU. I'm lucky enough to have British citizenship and a UK passport through my father.
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Oct 25, 2013 03:55
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Cool, you'll have plenty of time to really explore the UK then. If you're big on naval history I'd recommend going to Bristol at some point as it's got a good maritime museum and you can visit the SS Great Britain and the replica of the Matthew. There's also a harbour festival each year that's lots of fun.
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Oct 25, 2013 05:07
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We're thinking about booking a week-long trip to Europe sometime in February or March. We're really interested in London and considering Amsterdam or Germany as secondary options. How are those cities/countries in February/March? If we decide on London, what is the average cost from SFO to London? Current prices are $1000+ per ticket, which seems somewhat high.
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Oct 25, 2013 07:37
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Weather in February has a good chance of being poo poo in Northwestern Europe, march a bit less so. Last time I checked ticket prices to San Francisco there was a big difference depending on weekdays, I assume due to business travellers. But I think it won't be much less than $1000. My very personal opinion: Going just for a week at that time may not be the greatest thing, I'm sure there are other interesting places easier to reach for less $$$. PS: I hate flying long distances. 
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Oct 25, 2013 10:08
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elbkaida posted:Weather in February has a good chance of being poo poo in Northwestern Europe, march a bit less so. Last time I checked ticket prices to San Francisco there was a big difference depending on weekdays, I assume due to business travellers. But I think it won't be much less than $1000. Yeah, going to have to completely agree. Go somewhere else in Feb/March than London/Amsterdam/Berlin. It will be cold (40s) and it is incredibly likely to be rainy/overcast the entire time. You still miss out on the crowds if you come after mid-April to end of May, when it is much nicer. You're not going to do much if any better than $1000. If you're really committed on Europe in Feb/March, go to Rome. E: VVVV I grew up in the south, so my "grey skies and drizzling all the goddamn time" tolerance is very low. Now that I live in Europe, I hibernate between 2nd of January and the end of March. I guess I do have to agree that the 40s isn't all that 'cold' since the person asking the question is coming from San Francisco. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Oct 25, 2013 |
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Oct 25, 2013 11:56
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On the other hand, if you're more interested in the historical sites/museums/nightlife/local culture than the sunny beaches of river Thames, March or February is just fine. If you are for some inexplicable reason thinking of London for the warm and sunny weather, there is no wrong time, only a wrong destination. I would only rule out travelling in February if you're particularly interested in German nudism or object to wearing hats due to having a hilarious blue mohawk or something, and I'm quite certain that with proper equipment even those niche scenarios can be accomodated. This opinion on the acceptability of cold and rainy weather provided by a Finnish expat who finds London quite warm all year. Your mileage may vary.
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Oct 25, 2013 15:29
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Saladman posted:. You still miss out on the crowds if you come after mid-April to end of May, when it is much nicer. You're not going to do much if any better than $1000. If you're really committed on Europe in Feb/March, go to Rome. It is always worth checking the local school holidays. Half term will be Mid-February and the schools will also be out for Easter. Central London in particular gets very crowded during these times.
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Oct 26, 2013 13:08
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NaDy posted:A couple of friends and I are thinking of spending a week, maybe two, roadtripping around Iceland at the beginning of the year. Does anyone have any experience with this, any tips or things to look out for? I went for New Years 2 years ago. If you can manage to make it to Reykjavik for NYE, it's an incredible experience. The entire city meets up in the city center and just shoots of a ridiculous amount of fireworks for 15-20 minutes. It's hard to explain the magnitude of it for a city of only ~200,000. Look up some youtube videos. That being said, winter can be really harsh there. The year I went was the highest snowfall since Iceland started tracking meteorological data. Snowplows were pretty hit or miss. Only the ring road was reliably plowed. Sometimes the snowplow track would just end as the driver turned into his driveway leaving ~10" deep snowy roads in front of you. Add in the fact that you'll get maybe 4h of daylight and you really have to make the most of scary nighttime snowy driving so that you end up somewhere you want to see in the day time. Even getting to the bigger sights like þingvellir was pretty dangerous. Driving down around Vik I almost slid off a cliff face at one point and I was being really careful. I just camped in the back seat of my rented SUV most nights in gas station parking lots or tourism spot parking lots. It went down to -25ish most nights so have a very warm sleeping bag. When I was in Reykjavik I stayed at KEX hostel a couple nights and a friends place I met there the rest of the time. http://www.kexhostel.is/ All in all, it was totally worth it though. Almost no other tourists around and everything feels so majestic and pristine. Here's a couple shots from seljalandsfoss for example: http://imgur.com/a/E5y3Y e: my amateur video from random footage of the experience. https://vimeo.com/34639407 apologies in advance for the excessive fireworks footage and shakiness during the concerts. people love their of monsters and men there. Opioid fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 26, 2013 |
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Oct 26, 2013 18:48
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Omits-Bagels posted:I can't help you with the catacombs info. But check out the Canal St. Martin if it is a nice night. A lot of young people go there to chill and drink beer/wine. Again, if the weather is nice I recommend going to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. Go to the top of the Museum of the Arab World (Institut du Monde Arabe) for the best view of Notre Dame (it is free to go up). They have a nice tea room up there, too. The Paris Opera house (Palais Garnier) is really cool to just tour. Check out Montmartre. Père Lachaise Cemetery is really cool so be sure to check it out. Thanks for the tips. Already had Canal St. Martin recommended so will give it a look sometime next week I think. Will check the other stuff out too. Oh and I managed to get a guide for the catacombs. It was a amazing. Terrifying to think how easy it would be to get lost. We actually exited from a manhole in the middle of a street in Paris.
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Oct 27, 2013 00:25
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I'm heading to Copenhagen in December and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for where to stay. If possible, I'm looking for areas that are convenient to public transportation but on the more reasonably priced side of things. Thanks for any insight.
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Oct 28, 2013 01:48
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hallo spacedog posted:I'm heading to Copenhagen in December and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for where to stay. If possible, I'm looking for areas that are convenient to public transportation but on the more reasonably priced side of things. Thanks for any insight. Depends on what you think of as a reasonable price (e.g. ~$100 per person per night?), but this place was pretty good; http://www.grandhotelcopenhagen.com/ Two blocks from the central station/metros, short walk to a lot of cool things. Room was nothing special, but fine for how little time we spent in it.
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Oct 28, 2013 16:22
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Back from a 2 week Europe trip. I wish I had spent more time in Rome. I could go to Trastevere every evening and not get bored. Also Switzerland in late October is awesome. The summer tourists are gone, the ski tourists are yet to arrive.
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Oct 29, 2013 10:23
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bam thwok posted:Depends on what you think of as a reasonable price (e.g. ~$100 per person per night?), but this place was pretty good; http://www.grandhotelcopenhagen.com/ Thanks!
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Oct 29, 2013 17:33
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Anarkii posted:Back from a 2 week Europe trip. I wish I had spent more time in Rome. I could go to Trastevere every evening and not get bored. Also Switzerland in late October is awesome. The summer tourists are gone, the ski tourists are yet to arrive. I'm off to Rome on Saturday. How do you get there? Looks less connected with metro lines etc than other districts. I'm staying over at Nomentano.
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Oct 29, 2013 21:19
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WMain00 posted:I'm off to Rome on Saturday. How do you get there? Looks less connected with metro lines etc than other districts.
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Oct 29, 2013 23:14
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Or just walk there. It's Rome, you'll probably see something cool on the way there every time.
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Oct 30, 2013 09:00
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Train double post
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Oct 30, 2013 09:07
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Jeoh posted:Or just walk there. It's Rome, you'll probably see something cool on the way there every time. Not sure I'd really recommend a 2 hour walk each way down a major road to be someone's best use of their vacation time. Maybe worth doing once though.
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Oct 30, 2013 10:36
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