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Tab8715 posted:It’s a super long layover. Ahh, from context it seemed like you had the option of not having like 14 hours to kill in Amsterdam. If that's your layover, and there's no other option for a no-long-layover, then yeah absolutely you should go into town and not spend your entire time at an airport hotel, even if it's Jan/Feb. Get a joint, walk around, try not to be killed by a bike/tram/drunk driver/Dutch staircases.
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Dec 13, 2019 09:08
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Carbon dioxide posted:I'm not very familiar with Amsterdam, but I always get the feeling the coffee shops in the touristy areas don't get any locals. It's a tourist thing in general, I hardly know any locals that smoke weed. If they do, they get in and out as quick as possible to make their purchase and go elsewhere to smoke. Coffeeshops are all over the place, I really don't know which ones are good. Even Google Maps ratings are no help here as they're all rated 4.4-4.6. Abraxas has a 4.6 but according to friends the stuff they got there was not that good. Just try a random one and hope you are lucky, I guess. The red light district is for walking through, not for actually visiting any of the cafes/bar/restaurants/coffeeshops that are there. I don't think there is much worth visiting. Well, except if you actually wish to try the services of the girls there, then you're in the right place, though there are a few other areas besides the red light district for that too. Entropist fucked around with this message at 11:26 on Dec 13, 2019 |
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Dec 13, 2019 11:23
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Entropist posted:It's a tourist thing in general, I hardly know any locals that smoke weed. If they do, they get in and out as quick as possible to make their purchase and go elsewhere to smoke. I've not been for a couple of years, but I'd say Abraxas is perfectly fine for having a couple of Amsterdam joints for the novelty. It's central, easy to navigate for a first time tourist, fairly decent in terms of seating, size, decor etc, and they do a bangin' hot chocolate. It was always one of my easy go-tos on a visit.
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Dec 13, 2019 20:36
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Bollock Monkey posted:I've not been for a couple of years, but I'd say Abraxas is perfectly fine for having a couple of Amsterdam joints for the novelty. It's central, easy to navigate for a first time tourist, fairly decent in terms of seating, size, decor etc, and they do a bangin' hot chocolate. It was always one of my easy go-tos on a visit. Place looks neat.. are the only options really only pre-rolled joints, space cakes, and buying by the gram? It's been years and years and years since I've last smoked, but next year when I'm in Amsterdam I might pay a visit just for the novelty factor... but I kinda hate edibles and joints. Do these places let you, idk, bring a bong or anything? Or have vaporizers for use?
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Dec 14, 2019 17:59
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I've never seen anyone using a bong in the Netherlands. Some places have volcano vapes, I've only ever used one in a coffeeshop once though about ten years ago so you'd need to do some research. You would need to buy your own weed to use. If it's a one off for the novelty, get an €8 gram, the cheapest grinder you can find, and give whatever's left + grinder to the first sweet-seeming youngins you see in a coffeeshop before you leave the country.
Bollock Monkey fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Dec 15, 2019 |
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Dec 15, 2019 14:19
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Weed in Holland generally isn't associated with any kind of "stoner" subculture the way it is in the US, stoners do exist but for the most part Dutch people who go to coffeeshops are just regular people who smoke sometimes. Bong shops and Bob Marley style flags and things like that are purely aimed at tourists This is probably also why Dutch people tend to just smoke joints since owning a bong or pipe is somewhat of a hassle if you don't use it all the time
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Dec 15, 2019 17:50
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I'm thinking of visiting Venice in february. Likely 5 - 7 days there and not really going anywhere else (I prefer to spend a lot of time in one place). Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay? Same for restaurants or pubs or just less known places to visit. Also if there's anything special to know, i e special behaviours in the city or other such things.
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Dec 15, 2019 18:31
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Mela Verde has literally the best gelato I've ever eaten in my life.
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Dec 15, 2019 19:39
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Bollock Monkey posted:Six d.o.g.s is a pretty, cool bar just off Monastiraki Square. Also nearby is Akordeon, which was one of the best holiday/restaurant experiences I've had. Super delicious food with super friendly hosts. This was a few years ago though so they might be busier now - but it looks like they're getting great reviews! Thanks for the recommendations. I ended up going to Six d.o.g.s but the drinks were kind of mediocre. Didn't get a chance to get to Akordeon. For drinks the best for me was at Baba Au Rum. There's just so many good cocktail bars in Athens.
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Dec 15, 2019 20:15
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Anyone have experience getting a student visa to study in Austria? I hear it's a royal pain in the rear end. Things are complicated by the fact that I am an American currently working in Ukraine, and upon taking cursory glance on the Kiev embassy website, it seems that they only service Ukrainians and Austrian nationals. I will be living here without returning to the US right up until about 9 weeks before I'm supposed to begin my studies.
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Dec 17, 2019 10:10
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God Hole posted:Anyone have experience getting a student visa to study in Austria? I hear it's a royal pain in the rear end. Not in Austria, but I am a US passport holder and in the past got student visas for both Germany and Switzerland, both of which were easy and straightforward. I think your cursory reading of the Kiev embassy website is probably incorrect too, at least -- supposing you have a valid residence permit for Ukraine. If you're just there on a visa (even if a visa that's more official than a tourist visa stamp), then it's going to be a lot more complicated and you'll likely have to apply back in the USA. Basically all you need is (a) proof of enrollment, (b) proof of sufficient funds, and then (c) a bunch of trivial paperwork to fill out like a copy of your birth certificate, and basic things like getting proper passport-style photos. E: Looks like the required funds are €933/month of your study's degree length, or €515/mo if you're one of the half-dozen SA users that's younger than 24. All the websites I see mention that you can apply "in your country of residence". More generally I've actually never heard of an embassy that doesn't service residents of [country X], even including far more complicated countries like pre-2017 Angola and Algeria, and I'm speaking from fairly extensive experience in such applications. Saladman fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Dec 17, 2019 |
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Dec 17, 2019 21:53
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Lehugo posted:I'm thinking of visiting Venice in february. Likely 5 - 7 days there and not really going anywhere else (I prefer to spend a lot of time in one place). Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay? Same for restaurants or pubs or just less known places to visit. Also if there's anything special to know, i e special behaviours in the city or other such things. Find out if the city is underwater then as it does flood and I wouldn't visit if it's expected to.
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Dec 17, 2019 22:24
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Lehugo posted:I'm thinking of visiting Venice in february. Likely 5 - 7 days there and not really going anywhere else (I prefer to spend a lot of time in one place). Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay? Same for restaurants or pubs or just less known places to visit. Also if there's anything special to know, i e special behaviours in the city or other such things. You might be able to save some money by finding a hotel on the mainland and taking public transport into the actual Venice island/peninsula thing.
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Dec 17, 2019 22:46
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asur posted:Find out if the city is underwater then as it does flood and I wouldn't visit if it's expected to. The worst aqua alta is usually in November/December, though of course exceptional high tides can occur at any time. That said, 5-7 days sounds like a long time in Venice. Personally I think Venice is more of a 3-4 day visit - a day for visiting the sights, another day just for wandering the various districts (Cannareggio, Jewish Ghetto, Arsenale etc), and another day to visit Burano and Murano.
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Dec 17, 2019 23:45
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I've spent more days there, but I was staying with a local. You could spend two weeks just touring all the palazzos as there are loads of them, or hanging out in the last few remaining local bars. Couldn't tell you which ones those were, sorry, as I was totally disoriented by the small streets most of the time. There's some nice museums also like the Guggenheim collection. You can also use Venice as a base for visiting Padua, Vicenza, Verona or Trieste by train (if there isn't a strike). Trieste is 2 hours so you have to get up early, the others are quite doable. And perhaps there are other nice places by the edge of the Dolomites like Belluno that are reachable too, but I don't have experience with that. There are also other places around the lagoon that are nice, but I don't have experience with that either.
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Dec 18, 2019 02:15
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Entropist posted:I've spent more days there, but I was staying with a local. You could spend two weeks just touring all the palazzos as there are loads of them, or hanging out in the last few remaining local bars. Couldn't tell you which ones those were, sorry, as I was totally disoriented by the small streets most of the time. There's some nice museums also like the Guggenheim collection. If using Venice as a base though, it would definitely make more sense to stay on the mainland. It's not much added time, but you'll be paying like 2-3x as much to stay in Venice-Lagoon instead of Venice-City. Padua, Verona, and potentially Sirmione, are all within easy daytrips, and with 3-4 full days in Venice, that sounds pretty solid for a week. The Dolomites are great but I would not bother without a car. I guess Belluno isn't that far but I wouldn't really call it the Dolomites either until Cortina. Although maybe in February Belluno would feel Dolomite-y enough since there will be snow in all the hills. I've only been through there twice, and both times in April. I also wouldn't bother if it's cloudy and covering the views, which in February I guess is like a 70% chance.
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Dec 18, 2019 10:18
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Lehugo posted:I'm thinking of visiting Venice in february. Likely 5 - 7 days there and not really going anywhere else (I prefer to spend a lot of time in one place). Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay? Same for restaurants or pubs or just less known places to visit. Also if there's anything special to know, i e special behaviours in the city or other such things.
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Dec 18, 2019 22:14
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My Lovely Horse posted:Try the main Germany thread as well: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3439500 Late to see this but thanks, posted in there too!
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Dec 19, 2019 17:13
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Bollock Monkey posted:I've not been for a couple of years, but I'd say Abraxas is perfectly fine for having a couple of Amsterdam joints for the novelty. It's central, easy to navigate for a first time tourist, fairly decent in terms of seating, size, decor etc, and they do a bangin' hot chocolate. It was always one of my easy go-tos on a visit. I’m able to smoke in the club, right? And is acceptable to walk around the RLD afterwords even if I’m stoned? I’ve always enjoyed walking around West Hollywood high, listening to music and seeing all the different neighborhoods. I won’t be getting any of the girls, I’ll be super polite - I read up on what NOT to do and that makes total sense - nor would I be completely incoherent. There was at least on Prive House that caught my eye, but I’m a little unclear if that’s appropriate to discuss on the forum with FOSTA.
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Dec 29, 2019 11:51
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What club? Do you mean coffeeshop? Coffeeshops are the only places you should be smoking. It's not cool to just walk around with a spliff, but feel free to wander the city stoned so long as you are coherent and not in danger of getting lost. There are cooler places to see than the Red Light District, in my opinion.
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Dec 29, 2019 14:22
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Going around the red light district can't really be described as walking, more like slowly shuffling along in a crowd, especially in the evening. Go 200 metres east and walk around Lastage (Krom Boomsloot / Recht Boomsloot / Oudeschans), nobody will be there. Also, don't be this person: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/26/amsterdam-cafe-weed-related-crisis-thank-you 80% of first-time visitors seems to be that person, apparently nobody in other countries got the memo that space cake can take a few hours to kick in. It's unbelievable how many of my guests just did that immediately, slept for 24h and that was their weekend in Amsterdam. But well, now you know. Entropist fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Dec 29, 2019 |
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Dec 29, 2019 19:00
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Leaving Saturday for Berlin Hamburg Netherlands (Amsterdam - Rotterdam - The Hague -- maybe Utrecht) Belgium (Antwerp - Ghent - Bruges) Köln Any off the beaten path stuff I should know about? PM if you want this Amerigoon to buy you a beer!
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Jan 7, 2020 06:19
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LittleFuryThings posted:Leaving Saturday for How much time do you have for this trip?
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Jan 7, 2020 10:06
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Drone posted:How much time do you have for this trip? That looks like one of those hell itineraries that people would put together for a 9 day trip, including their arrival and departure days, i.e. 1 major city = 1 day. Hope I'm wrong though! If it's 15 days then that looks borderline ok. LFT, check out Atlas Obscura (e.g. https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/berlin-germany ) for cool and less famous things to do, although it often includes super famous stuff like the Pergamon. WikiVoyage will get you for all the typical famous stuff. If you haven't been to those places before, then I would suggest mostly sticking to the famous stuff -- because it's awesome and worth seeing. There are some exceptions, like the Red Light District of Amsterdam is lame, but by and large famous == worth visiting, especially at this time of the year because few other tourists will be there, and especially during the weekdays you'll have places like the church towers of Ghent basically to yourself and maybe a couple other people. On the weekends you'll have locals going to all the famous places but it'll still be fine except maybe in Amsterdam, which is always crowded. In the big cities in that part of Western Europe pretty much everything is on the beaten path, especially since now with the Internet it's pretty easy to find whatever floats your boat. I can only think of a couple "secret" spots in cities that I've lived in; most of the spots that I think are the best to go are also front and center in TripAdvisor rankings or WikiTravel/Voyage lists. For the countryside there are a lot more reasonably-hidden spots, but in mid January, ehhhhh. I've been everywhere you're going, but never lived in any of those places, so I can't really give any more specifically targeted advice than you could find easily online. Saladman fucked around with this message at 11:53 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 11:51
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LittleFuryThings posted:Leaving Saturday for If urban decay is a thing you're into, there's a lot of it in Belgium. Outside of that, if this is 1 city a day, for the love of god, don't.
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Jan 7, 2020 13:49
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If you like wanker craft/fancy beers, slide into my PMs cause you’ve got a number of cities there with really incredible bars for it.
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Jan 7, 2020 15:17
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Drone posted:How much time do you have for this trip? I'll have 3 days in Netherlands and excited to hit up the art museums,. I've heard one day in Amsterdam is probably enough and you should just get out to the other cities anyway? (Skipping Utrecht now. not enough there that interests me.) Then to Belgium for 2.5 days, heard Bruges was basically a half day thing anyway? Probably trying too many places, but Netherlands and Belgium will still just be me wandering around and drinking and they're compact and have trains straight into the city centers, yeah? Sure I won't be able to do every single thing that sounds fun to me in every city, but I don't see it being stressful. Looking forward to having wanker craft/fancy beers in cool settings. I'm young and going solo and like to travel hard.
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Jan 7, 2020 17:08
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Enjoy your tour of trains/airport security checkpoints, and hotel lobbys! I think we discussed Amsterdam on the last page, if you take all those things you can easily spend 12 days in Amsterdam. If you didn't have any other plans besides talking a selfie in front of the single main tourist attraction of each city, your plan will work out. Bruges half a day? That's barely enough time to walk from the station, have a beer at Bourgogne des Flandres, eat something, and walk back... Entropist fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 18:47
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12 cities in 9 days is insanity. I’d do 3, maybe 4. You won’t see poo poo otherwise.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:00
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Entropist posted:Enjoy your tour of trains/airport security checkpoints, and hotel lobbys!  Should have checked this thread more before throwing this trip together obviously. It was pretty spur of the moment. Still excited for my hell trip.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:04
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It's 9 cities in 12 days, but you're going to spend a day in transit from Germany to the Netherlands and at least half a day between the Netherlands and Belgium. So it's more like 9 cities in 10 days. You might as well not go.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:12
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Dance Officer posted:It's 9 cities in 12 days, but you're going to spend a day in transit from Germany to the Netherlands and at least half a day between the Netherlands and Belgium. So it's more like 9 cities in 10 days. You might as well not go.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:25
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LittleFuryThings posted:Berlin - > Hamburg -> Amsterdam -> Rotterdam -> Antwerp -> Koln would be better then, you would agree? Still doesn't cut out that transit time you mention. Though Rotterdam to Antwerp rail time is about an hour, doesn't seem like half a day to me? So now it's just Berlin, Hamburg, and the Netherlands. Thanks for letting me know of the craziness of my plans, guys.
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Jan 7, 2020 19:54
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LittleFuryThings posted:Good news. Was able to get full refunds on my AirBnbs in Antwerp and Koln. That's a way more manageable itinerary that actually gives you time to enjoy the places you're going, so good on you for making the change  You won't regret it!
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Jan 7, 2020 20:04
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LittleFuryThings posted:Good news. Was able to get full refunds on my AirBnbs in Antwerp and Koln. Yeah that sounds solid for 12 days. 3 days per location is usually a good rule of thumb in Europe for big city itineraries like you had. Looks like you’re lucky on the weather too, as it’s incredibly warm right now.
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Jan 7, 2020 20:23
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That’s a much smarter travel plan and you’ll have a much better time. Good work!Dance Officer posted:You might as well not go. I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve done the “cram as many places as possible into a short trip” thing before, when I was younger and less experienced at travelling and in Europe, and it’s still possible to have a good time. It’s just that there’s a better way.
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Jan 7, 2020 20:29
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Saladman posted:Yeah that sounds solid for 12 days. 3 days per location is usually a good rule of thumb in Europe for big city itineraries like you had. Looks like you’re lucky on the weather too, as it’s incredibly warm right now. heh I'm in the Southern U.S., so we have different perspective on "incredibly warm". I had to buy gloves for this trip. Don't know the last time I've worn those 😄
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Jan 7, 2020 20:31
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LittleFuryThings posted:Good news. Was able to get full refunds on my AirBnbs in Antwerp and Koln. Congratulations on making your trip more enjoyable. Enjoy Amsterdam and don't fall into the many tourist traps!
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Jan 7, 2020 22:16
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LittleFuryThings posted:Berlin - > Hamburg -> Amsterdam -> Rotterdam -> Antwerp -> Koln would be better then, you would agree? Though Rotterdam to Antwerp rail time is about an hour, doesn't seem like half a day to me? I was working under the assumption that you were going to stay in Amsterdam while in the Netherlands, that's what most tourists seem to do. Also, reserve your train tickets in advance, if you're planning to use high speed rail. Chocolate Milk posted:I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve done the “cram as many places as possible into a short trip” thing before, when I was younger and less experienced at travelling and in Europe, and it’s still possible to have a good time. It’s just that there’s a better way. With the proposed schedule I'd be exhausted to the point of collapse within 4-5 days. And the idea of racing from the one thing to the next to cram as much as possible into the schedule doesn't appeal to me at all. Different things for different people I suppose. Dance Officer fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 22:38
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Entropist posted:Someone who actually listens to us? It's a miracle! I've found that people here actually tend to follow given advice and give pretty good feedback, which is why I like this forum much more than like TA or LP or facebook groups, even though the activity of Tourism & Travel has gradually declined to pretty minimal activity over the last decade. I think also T&T users tend not to be the package holiday type travellers that make up a lot of TripAdvisor. I find LP to be more independent-travel minded, but a lot of the country-specific forums are pretty dead... like here. Dance Officer posted:With the proposed schedule I'd be exhausted to the point of collapse within 4-5 days. And the idea of racing from the one thing to the next to cram as much as possible into the schedule doesn't appeal to me at all. Different things for different people I suppose. Yeah, I'm sure there are people who genuinely enjoy it for whatever reason, but I think the vast majority are just overexcited about all the possibilities and want to see and experience as much as possible, even though going to 9 cities in 9 days means they will, in the end, experience less than if they visited 3 cities in 9 days. This is doubly the case for people travelling long distances, like Americans coming to Europe, as the plane ticket is expensive, jetlag sucks, and the distances are actually pretty close if you're trying to translate it to North American travel. I enjoy occasionally checking TA forums for my country (Switzerland) and checking out people's proposed itineraries, as about a quarter of them are the "one city = one day" style travel. "Hey I bought tickets landing in Munich on Saturday morning and out of Paris the following Sunday, and I bought train tickets from Munich -> Zurich -> Milan -> Geneva -> Paris. Please give me tips on what to see in these cities." I at some point saved screenshots of a couple of the most insane ones with the idea of going back later and checking if the poster ever made a trip report for the truly hellish itineraries, but few people seem to do trip reports, which I guess makes sense as who really needs another amateur trip report / travel blog about the Alps.
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Jan 8, 2020 00:03
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