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bionictom
Mar 17, 2009
I was in Budapest after New Year, and @ the gellert bath, and I was really disappointed.

The water smells bad and everything is kind of run down.

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OperaMouse
Oct 30, 2010

bionictom posted:

I was in Budapest after New Year, and @ the gellert bath, and I was really disappointed.

The water smells bad and everything is kind of run down.

I agree that the water does not have the most pleasant odor (because of the high sulfur content), and yes, they do not look like the most modern places. However, I find the baths to be extremely relaxing, and I often have a massage as well. They are not very expensive, and it is done by a skilled therapist.

Szechenyi bath is the nicest because of the size and the stuff you can do, but my girlfriend speaks very highly of the Turkish baths, which I have yet to visit.

All being said, I strongly encourage anybody to visit a bathhouse if they are in Budapest.

Billy Zane
Jun 24, 2003

Listen to your friend Billy Zane. He's a cool dude.
I'm planning to go to Europe from April 7 (or 8, my plans are a little flexible at the moment) to April 21 (two weeks), and I need some help planning my itinerary.

The only days I'm not flexible are April 11 and 12 because I need to be in Munich those days to pick up a BMW.

I'll be flying out of Los Angeles, but I haven't decided if I want to arrive in Berlin or Munich. Is it worth visiting Berlin a couple of days? I would mostly be interested in seeing WWII and Cold War-related sites there. As for Munich, I've been there before, so I wouldn't be spending more than 2 or 2 1/2 days there.

Then for the remainder of the trip, I would like to visit Italy and/or Switzerland.

What are some recommended options out of Munich?

I was thinking either:
a) Italy only - Venice then Rome (fly back to LA out of Rome)
b) Venice then Switzerland (or the other way around)

OperaMouse
Oct 30, 2010

Billy Zane posted:

I'm planning to go to Europe from April 7 (or 8, my plans are a little flexible at the moment) to April 21 (two weeks), and I need some help planning my itinerary.

The only days I'm not flexible are April 11 and 12 because I need to be in Munich those days to pick up a BMW.

I'll be flying out of Los Angeles, but I haven't decided if I want to arrive in Berlin or Munich. Is it worth visiting Berlin a couple of days? I would mostly be interested in seeing WWII and Cold War-related sites there. As for Munich, I've been there before, so I wouldn't be spending more than 2 or 2 1/2 days there.

Then for the remainder of the trip, I would like to visit Italy and/or Switzerland.

What are some recommended options out of Munich?

I was thinking either:
a) Italy only - Venice then Rome (fly back to LA out of Rome)
b) Venice then Switzerland (or the other way around)

Don't know about Berlin.

To me, Venice is pretty much the shittiest of all Italian cities to visit. It's dirty tourist trap. If you stick with Italy I would consider Florence and/or Milan first, Rome is a bit further but really worth it.

Other options from Munich are Prague (roughly halfway between Berlin and Munich) and/or Vienna (which should include a day trip to Bratislava). Budapest is a little bit further, but comes highly recommended.

NoArmedMan
Apr 1, 2003

OperaMouse posted:

To me, Venice is pretty much the shittiest of all Italian cities to visit. It's dirty tourist trap. If you stick with Italy I would consider Florence and/or Milan first, Rome is a bit further but really worth it.

I literally have the opposite advice. I hated Rome. Ancient Rome was neat but the actual city was dirty, busy, noisy and congested with tourists at every turn. I felt like Rome was a gigantic tourist trap that you couldn't escape. Florence wasn't nearly as bad, but still had the tourist trap feel and was much nicer and quieter.

Venice though - I loved it - compared to Rome and Florence it was nice and quiet and it did its waterway gimmick really well. It had the touristy feel, but I felt far more at home in Venice than anywhere else in Italy. I wouldn't recommend anyone stay there more than a few nights as it would wear thin, but I loved it. Great hotels, good food (although pricey) and quiet due to lack of traffic.

Neris
Mar 7, 2004

don't you dare use the word 'party' as a verb in this shop

OperaMouse posted:


To me, Venice is pretty much the shittiest of all Italian cities to visit. It's dirty tourist trap.

Are you thinking of Naples by mistake? I've heard the opposite about Venice and while I haven't been, my family have been a few times, and they all thought it was awesome and definitely worth experiencing. It's a beautiful old city on goddamn water - obviously it will be touristy but I think it's still going to be incredible. I would absolutely check it out anyway, if only for a day or two.

Also Berlin is awesome and I know way too many people in London who want to move there. It is full of amazing old historical stuff, loving awesome nightlife, good bars, and lots of poo poo to see.

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
I love Venice as well. I guess the trick to every major tourist destination is to try and get somewhat of the beaten path. Go wandering for a few hours in a random direction, see something you like? Check it out etc.

I also LOVE Berlin, so I definetly think it's worth a visit. However the (post) WWII things are (in my humble opinion) the least interesting about it. By all means go see the wall, checkpoint charlie and the impressive Russian statue in Treptower park, but after just go to Kreuzberg and enjoy the nightlife that one of Europes hippest cities has to offer (advice best applied on thursday, friday or saturday).

Rojkir fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 30, 2012

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



Are you going to be driving the BMW?

Switzerland has great roads, and the Ticino (Italian region of Switzerland ) is breathtaking. Lago Maggiore is freaking spectacular...



...and as you may notice there are mountains all around it. Drive on these mountains. This is known as the Centovalli (100 valleys) and there are great switchbacks all over the place.



Mind the Italian drivers though. Some of the roads are narrow as gently caress.

Billy Zane
Jun 24, 2003

Listen to your friend Billy Zane. He's a cool dude.
The thing is, I'm going with my retired father, so I don't think we would be taking in the nightlife geared for the younger crowd.

I'd love to drive the BMW in the twisty areas, but I'm concerned about having to equip winter tires since I don't know if there will still be snow at that elevation in the first half of April.

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
This seems like the best place to ask; my boss has family in Greece and has been getting reamed by sending money through Western Union. He says Paypal imposes limits on how many gifts you can send overseas. Would anyone know a clever way for him to send money to his kids there?

Edit: What about mailing a traveler's check?

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



Billy Zane posted:

The thing is, I'm going with my retired father, so I don't think we would be taking in the nightlife geared for the younger crowd.

I'd love to drive the BMW in the twisty areas, but I'm concerned about having to equip winter tires since I don't know if there will still be snow at that elevation in the first half of April.

This place seems to have road info for motorcyclists so you can stay updated on the conditions here.

Keep in mind that April 9th is Easter Monday and most places will be closed closed closed. Probably Sunday too (things are closed anyway on Sundays though). Hopefully a German goon can report on holiday hours for you.

Ambrose Small
Sep 28, 2008

Rojkir posted:

I love Venice as well. I guess the trick to every major tourist destination is to try and get somewhat of the beaten path. Go wandering for a few hours in a random direction, see something you like? Check it out etc.

The time of the year makes a difference too. I was in Italy last February and I never got the impression that any of the cities I went to were incredibly touristy. Venice especially so. It was a couple of weeks before Carnevale de Venezia when I was there, but I distinctly remember noting that it was almost completely locals hanging out in the squares and at the bars at night. Maybe I was just lucky. Cities like Rome always have pockets of activity, though. I'm pretty sure Trevi Fountain's a tourist trap year-round, much like Notre Dame and the Louvre in Paris. You can't escape it; yet they're such little inconveniences when you consider how much there is to do in each city, so there's not much use in complaining. This is all to say I'm not sure how much I'd like Venice if I had gone in the summer when tourist season is hot, but that's probably obvious.

Doctor Malaver
May 23, 2007

Ce qui s'est passé t'a rendu plus fort

Zero VGS posted:

This seems like the best place to ask; my boss has family in Greece and has been getting reamed by sending money through Western Union. He says Paypal imposes limits on how many gifts you can send overseas. Would anyone know a clever way for him to send money to his kids there?

Edit: What about mailing a traveler's check?

I use PayPal to get money every month from the US. They take something like 4%. It isn't marked as gift, though.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

Billy Zane posted:

The thing is, I'm going with my retired father, so I don't think we would be taking in the nightlife geared for the younger crowd.

I'd love to drive the BMW in the twisty areas, but I'm concerned about having to equip winter tires since I don't know if there will still be snow at that elevation in the first half of April.

You won't need winter tires--the roads will either be clear, or they will be buried in 5 meters of snow (unless it is actively snowing, I guess). All the mountain passes will be completely closed, snow tires or not. I agree completely with Greazeball's suggestion--really don't miss it. The southern part of Switzerland is gorgeous and should be great weather in early April; there will almost certainly be no snow below 1000 meters in early April anyway. Locarno's a nice town on Maggiore. Lake Como in Italy (not far) is equivalently beautiful. Also BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPEED IN SWITZERLAND, even though I assume you'll have temporary plates, a US driving license, and are shipping your car to the USA. I would not be particularly surprised if the Swiss would figure out who you were and send the bills to your home in the US. There are traffic cameras everywhere.

Driving in Italy is a lot of fun, particularly in the big cities (except during rush hour). People drive like crazy in Milan, Florence, etc. I also loved Venice, and it shouldn't be too horribly touristy in early April. I wouldn't go there in summer though.

futurememory
Oct 22, 2011

"You're a bad man! You're a VERY bad man!"
My fiance and I are going to honeymoon in Europe this summer (17 days, right at the beginning of September). We're looking at Italy only. Originally we were thinking Spain/Italy, but it looks like it's going to be too much to get in at once (Spain for Barcelona and Madrid, Italy for... everything else). Neither of us have ever traveled to Europe, so this should be an experience!

I have a few questions for you guys:

1. Which Italian cities are essential to hit up? We're looking at doing Venice, Florence, Rome, the Amalfi coast (Naples) and Sicily (Palermo specifically). I have roots in both Naples and Palermo, so it'd be amazing to see both. Is 17 days enough to pack these guys in? We don't want to be running around like crazy, but we enjoy sight seeing and get bored easily sitting on a beach doing nothing. Of course, we'd be planning to do trips to places like Pisa and Pompeii along the way.

2. Would it be possible to do a day trip to Switzerland or Greece? I've heard that Switzerland is an hour out from Milan, but I'm not sure if Milan will make the itinerary.

3. We're really big foodies. Any favorite restaurants in Italy come to mind? We love everything from street food to fine dining, with gorgeous local cafes in between there somewhere.

4. Any super-romantic stuff to consider? This is a honeymoon.

MaoistBanker
Sep 11, 2001

For Sound Financial Pranning!
Howdy!

My fiancee and I are planning on a brief honeymoon to France this Summer (June 29 - July 9) and we have a few questions.

We have both been to your lovely country previously, though I haven't been since I was 13. (We are 25 and 27, respectively). We are both history junkies, but we would love to be able to experience some of the French culture that isn't represented by visiting a tourist trap in Paris.

Basically, any time we meet someone who is visiting the US, but only coming to New York or Los Angeles (where we live) we remark, "Boy, there is a LOT of this country that they are missing out on! Plus, it's so much cheaper at "insert random city name".

Our plan is to spend 2 to 3 days in Paris. We would spend most of this time dedicated to visiting all types of historical/artistic musts (Louvre, Versailles, perhaps a day trip to Chartes) but we would then like to spend the rest of the week in a city where one can relax, have a drink at a bar - we aren't really into clubs -, eat some actual good French food at reasonable prices and have a bit more relaxing experience. What city would be the best for this type of adventure? We're not really looking to go to an ultra-romantic location, but somewhere that would be the best fit for the type of experience I described above.

I keep hearing good things about Lyon. It is centrally located and it appears as though it is easy to make day trips to Geneva and other small towns. We have found very reasonable mid-range accommodations. For example, you can rent a 44sq meter apartment in Vieux Lyon for only $104 a day! Besides, the food is apparently better in Lyon than Paris and they won't charge an arm and a leg because Lyon doesn't have to cater to tourists. It seems to be the best fit for the type of honeymoon we would like to have. Can someone vouch for Lyon or point me in a different direction?

MaoistBanker fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Jan 31, 2012

kissekatt
Apr 20, 2005

I have tasted the fruit.

Zero VGS posted:

This seems like the best place to ask; my boss has family in Greece and has been getting reamed by sending money through Western Union. He says Paypal imposes limits on how many gifts you can send overseas. Would anyone know a clever way for him to send money to his kids there?

Edit: What about mailing a traveler's check?
Any reason why he couldn't/wouldn't do a regular bank transfer?

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

MaoistBanker posted:

Howdy!

My fiancee and I are planning on a brief honeymoon to France this Summer (June 29 - July 9) and we have a few questions.

Our plan is to spend 2 to 3 days in Paris. We would spend most of this time dedicated to visiting all types of historical/artistic musts (Louvre, Versailles, perhaps a day trip to Chartes) but we would then like to spend the rest of the week in a city where one can relax, have a drink at a bar - we aren't really into clubs -, eat some actual good French food at reasonable prices and have a bit more relaxing experience. What city would be the best for this type of adventure? We're not really looking to go to an ultra-romantic location, but somewhere that would be the best fit for the type of experience I described above.

I was already thinking "Lyon" before I got to your last paragraph. Hotels/apartments are -incredibly- cheap for some reason, the food is great, and it's not particularly touristy (nothing like Nice or Paris). There are still plenty of cool sites to see (the zoo is neat and free, some decent art museums) and it's pretty close to other places if you do want to do day trips--namely Annecy, Chamonix, Grenoble, and Geneva. (Note: Geneva pretty much lacks anything of interest except saying 'oh I've been to Geneva.')

Rojkir
Jun 26, 2007

WARNING:I AM A FASCIST PIECE OF SHIT.
Police beatings get me hard
You might also want to consider Avignon, lovely old center, great wine region. It's probably a bit small for your taste though. It offers daytrips to the coast and the Mont Ventoux region.

bee
Dec 17, 2008


Do you often sing or whistle just for fun?

futurememory posted:

1. Which Italian cities are essential to hit up? We're looking at doing Venice, Florence, Rome, the Amalfi coast (Naples) and Sicily (Palermo specifically). I have roots in both Naples and Palermo, so it'd be amazing to see both. Is 17 days enough to pack these guys in? We don't want to be running around like crazy, but we enjoy sight seeing and get bored easily sitting on a beach doing nothing. Of course, we'd be planning to do trips to places like Pisa and Pompeii along the way.


3. We're really big foodies. Any favorite restaurants in Italy come to mind? We love everything from street food to fine dining, with gorgeous local cafes in between there somewhere.


I just spent 3 weeks in Italy with my boyfriend and these are my personal "must do" things in Italy:

1. Florence (climb up to the top of the Duomo dome for the best view), take the bullet train to Venice for a day (tourist trappy, food is terrible, but worth seeing cause a whole city built on the water is pretty cool), hit the Ufizi and del Accademia to see the statue of David, even if you don't care for art it's pretty drat impressive. Get some pizza at Vesuvio's Pizza, I thought it was the best in Florence. There is also a little gelato bar down the road from the Four Seasons, sorry I can't remember the street name but they have a gelato flavour there called Torte de Nonna that is sooooo delicious I went back and ate it almost every day I was in Florence.

Go to Pompeii if you must and you don't mind a lot of tourists and walking around, but Herculaneum is far better preserved, not as busy, and in my opinion a lot more interesting than Pompeii. Spend a day exploring Sorrento. The Amalfi coast is incredible, and it was my favourite part of my trip. Take a day trip out to Paestum and check out the temples, when we went there was only 5 people in the whole place and getting to explore ancient ruins without hordes of tourists was pretty special (and in my opinion pretty romantic, but I'm weird like that). Getting a little boat ride around the Emerald Grotto near Positano would have been romantic if the boat dude wasn't yelling weird stuff about kangaroos (I'm Australian) the whole time. Wander the gardens in Ravello, take a picnic and enjoy the breathtaking view. If you do go to Amalfi, eat at a restaurant called Taverna del Leone, we loved it so much we went back the next night and ate there again, the food, wine and service were all impeccable.

Maxwells Demon
Jan 15, 2007


Saladman posted:

(Note: Geneva pretty much lacks anything of interest except saying 'oh I've been to Geneva.')

This is pretty much true. If you're interested in the UN or CERN you can stretch half a day into a full day of activities. Otherwise go to Annecy or Chamonix or Bourg en Bresse for a cuter town and closer mountains.

greazeball
Feb 4, 2003



Maxwells Demon posted:

This is pretty much true. If you're interested in the UN or CERN you can stretch half a day into a full day of activities. Otherwise go to Annecy or Chamonix or Bourg en Bresse for a cuter town and closer mountains.

Seconding this. It's so dull here that our own city tourist guide lists our top two tourist attractions as the jet d'eau (a big water fountain in the lake) and a clock made of flowers. And a super cheap bargain price for a pint of beer in a pub is $6.

Annecy is really goddamn pretty and romantic, though. Also if you're into nature and scenery, it might be worth taking a few days to drive down to the Mediterranean taking in the Gorges de l'Ardèche or the Gorges du Verdon (I haven't been but they're on my list of places to visit), or the Calanques in Cassis.

Marseilles seems to get a bad rap for not being jam packed with cultural and historical monuments (and omg Arabs), but I thought it had a really cool vibe. It's the second largest city in France so it's full of shows, clubs and good restaurants. I wouldn't call it romantic though.

greazeball fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Feb 1, 2012

Chikimiki
May 14, 2009

greazeball posted:

Marseilles seems to get a bad rap for not being jam packed with cultural and historical monuments (and omg Arabs), but I thought it had a really cool vibe. It's the second largest city in France so it's full of shows, clubs and good restaurants. I wouldn't call it romantic though.

Yeah Marseille is a very working-class city, personally I think that's a nice change to all the other cities where white middle-management guys in suits read Le Monde on their iPad in a Café :france: Though coming from the east, I've always found the Marseillais to be loud and over exaggerating everything :v: It's definitely worth a visit though.

By the way it's only the third largest city after Paris and Lyon :eng101:

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy

kissekatt posted:

Any reason why he couldn't/wouldn't do a regular bank transfer?

He says it's a flat $50 so it really adds up. He's checking out the travelers check mailing idea since those have built in lost/stolen security and are like a dollar to get and fifty cents to mail.

Forearm
Nov 14, 2005
Anybody have specific hostels they love in Munich, Berlin, Prague or any of the major cities in Austria?

my l41 m4ss4cr3
Nov 1, 2008

by angerbot
Do you need a VISA to go to Europe or is just a passport good enough?

unixbeard
Dec 29, 2004

BellumGallikku posted:

Do you need a VISA to go to Europe or is just a passport good enough?

It depends where exactly you are going, where you're from, how long you're staying and what you're doing

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

BellumGallikku posted:

Do you need a VISA to go to Europe or is just a passport good enough?

If you're from the Americas (except awful places like Cuba and Haiti), Japan, South Korea, or Australia, then a passport is good enough for visits up to 90 days, excluding Belarus and Russia.

Also VISA is a credit card, visa is the travel document.

my l41 m4ss4cr3
Nov 1, 2008

by angerbot
Thank you. I may make a thread for Paris in a few days to flush out more questions I have.

Schleep
Apr 4, 2006

Frank, if your fat monkey heart is still beating, then congratulations.
My fiance and I are going to spend the first two weeks of May along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia for our honeymoon. We've been travelling throughout the world and are excited about planning the day-to-day activities based on what we enjoy doing, but we're looking for some recommendations for "honeymoonish" resorts or hotels around Dubrovnik. The plan is to fly into Zagreb (around $1200 from RDU?) and then hop down to Dubrovnik for another $100. For the first 3-5 days, we want to relax on the beach and sip drinks and generally not have a set itinerary. Maybe some day trips and boat rides to awesome places, but to relieve some wedding stress we just want to be pampered for a few days before we start travelling around and doing more activities.

From there, we'll head north mostly near the coast until we have to head home and we'll fly out of Zagreb. Any recommendations for the trip would be greatly appreciated. And don't leave out romantic recommendations since it is a honeymoon.

Sab669
Sep 24, 2009

I read the past few pages to see if it came up but I didn't see anything about Sweden. I graduate college this year and as a gift to myself I think I'm going to spend a week there. I've not started a whole lot of research into it (Don't even know when I'll go- late this year / early '13).

I was just curious if any goons knew of any "must sees" I should consider for the trip, or had any insight about traveling there as an American who can't speak a lick of Swedish? Depending on when I go, I may or may not be traveling with a British citizen as well. I planned on just going to Stockholm, but if anyone has recommendations of 'better' places, I'm all ears.

Sab669 fucked around with this message at 19:41 on Feb 6, 2012

Doctor Malaver
May 23, 2007

Ce qui s'est passé t'a rendu plus fort

Schleep posted:

My fiance and I are going to spend the first two weeks of May along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia for our honeymoon. We've been travelling throughout the world and are excited about planning the day-to-day activities based on what we enjoy doing, but we're looking for some recommendations for "honeymoonish" resorts or hotels around Dubrovnik. The plan is to fly into Zagreb (around $1200 from RDU?) and then hop down to Dubrovnik for another $100. For the first 3-5 days, we want to relax on the beach and sip drinks and generally not have a set itinerary. Maybe some day trips and boat rides to awesome places, but to relieve some wedding stress we just want to be pampered for a few days before we start travelling around and doing more activities.

From there, we'll head north mostly near the coast until we have to head home and we'll fly out of Zagreb. Any recommendations for the trip would be greatly appreciated. And don't leave out romantic recommendations since it is a honeymoon.

Dubrovnik is a good choice. It's not well connected to the rest of Croatia, though. No highway or train, so you'll want to leave it by plane or by sea. I would recommend a ferry to the island of Mljet - park of nature, nice seawater lakes. Good for renting bikes or funny little socialism-era cars. Also island of Hvar - a popular resort, some fancy restaurants and clubs (not sure how many of them will be open in May), very nice old town. Don't know if there is a direct Mljet > Hvar line.

You can't go wrong with coastal towns like Trogir and Zadar (sea organs).

unixbeard
Dec 29, 2004

Sab669 posted:

I read the past few pages to see if it came up but I didn't see anything about Sweden. I graduate college this year and as a gift to myself I think I'm going to spend a week there. I've not started a whole lot of research into it (Don't even know when I'll go- late this year / early '13).

I was just curious if any goons knew of any "must sees" I should consider for the trip, or had any insight about traveling there as an American who can't speak a lick of Swedish? Depending on when I go, I may or may not be traveling with a British citizen as well. I planned on just going to Stockholm, but if anyone has recommendations of 'better' places, I'm all ears.

Sweden is great, you should be fine with English especially in the cities and main tourist places. There's some good suggestions about stuff in Stockholm here http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3457247. I really like the Photo Museum and there are those hop on/hop off busses that run round Stockholm that are good to see the main sites.

A week is probably more time than you need for Stockholm alone (though it can be nice to spend time just hanging out), if I were you I would try and explore the archipelago and also get out into the nature a bit.

Chikimiki
May 14, 2009

Doctor Malaver posted:

Dubrovnik is a good choice. It's not well connected to the rest of Croatia, though. No highway or train, so you'll want to leave it by plane or by sea. I would recommend a ferry to the island of Mljet - park of nature, nice seawater lakes. Good for renting bikes or funny little socialism-era cars. Also island of Hvar - a popular resort, some fancy restaurants and clubs (not sure how many of them will be open in May), very nice old town. Don't know if there is a direct Mljet > Hvar line.

You can't go wrong with coastal towns like Trogir and Zadar (sea organs).

Indeed, the coastal towns are pretty top-notch. Pula and Split have loads of roman architecture, and if you're into that, Opatija has upper-scale health and spa resorts. Also, Trogir is a small medieval town and pretty relaxing, so it's worth a visit too.

The islands are must-sees aswell, can't go wrong either; Kornati islands and Rab island are a bit smaller but with nice beaches I hear, and there is also the Brijuni islands national park, which is basically an island-size zoo (and formerly Tito's private hunting ground). Korcula is also a nice spot, especially for the food, as is the interior of Istria (the north-western most part of the coast).

Lastly you should really go to the Plitvice Lakes national park, it has some of the most beautiful pristine lakes in Croatia.

Thello
Jan 14, 2007

Captain's Log...
Does anyone know much about car rentals and age restrictions within the UK or Ireland? My girlfriend is 20 with a full license; I'm 25 and a giant baby without a full license. Information online seems to conflict somewhat, stating that the age requirement could be anywhere from 18-21. Anybody have a confirmation on that?

Edit: Looks like it's 21 at most rental sites. Balls.

Thello fucked around with this message at 11:01 on Feb 7, 2012

OperaMouse
Oct 30, 2010

Sab669 posted:

I read the past few pages to see if it came up but I didn't see anything about Sweden. I graduate college this year and as a gift to myself I think I'm going to spend a week there. I've not started a whole lot of research into it (Don't even know when I'll go- late this year / early '13).

I was just curious if any goons knew of any "must sees" I should consider for the trip, or had any insight about traveling there as an American who can't speak a lick of Swedish? Depending on when I go, I may or may not be traveling with a British citizen as well. I planned on just going to Stockholm, but if anyone has recommendations of 'better' places, I'm all ears.

Stockholm alone is entertainment enough, but one of the coolest things ever I did was visit the iron mine in Kiruna all the way up north (as in above the arctic circle). You go some 500m below the surface in the abandoned shafts and see some of the mining equipment. Very very impressive.

The train from Stockholm is not very expensive, but takes something like 20 hours. You can also fly there.

Kiruna is famous for the ice hotel in the winter. There is also a European space center has some tours.

big shtick energy
May 27, 2004


Looking for a recommendation on where to go. I'm a young man, I'd be traveling alone for around 10 days, I'm a historical museums/ruins type mostly, and I'm interested in seeing things around the Mediterranean, probably Spain. Which cities would be good to visit? How are the weather/prices likely to be in april/may?

HookShot
Dec 26, 2005

OperaMouse posted:

Stockholm alone is entertainment enough, but one of the coolest things ever I did was visit the iron mine in Kiruna all the way up north (as in above the arctic circle). You go some 500m below the surface in the abandoned shafts and see some of the mining equipment. Very very impressive.

The train from Stockholm is not very expensive, but takes something like 20 hours. You can also fly there.

Kiruna is famous for the ice hotel in the winter. There is also a European space center has some tours.

I went to a similar area, went to Abisko to see the midnight sun. It was absolutely amazing, the landscapes there are incredible. But yeah, 20 hours by train is the downside...

NZAmoeba
Feb 14, 2005

It turns out it's MAN!
Hair Elf

NZAmoeba posted:

In mid-April I'll be taking a trip that's Krakow > Slovakia > Budapest > Slovenia > Vienna > Prague. Finishing in mid-May.

My current plan is (after spending a week in Krakow) to spend 3 days in each location I listed, with one day in between for travelling. What I want to know is how much effort should I put into pre-booking accommodation and trains, or would I be fine just showing up at the train station and catching the next one, and finding a hostel a few days before I arrive in the location?

From my understanding, before mid-May is still a little bit before tourist season kicks into full gear, right? But on the other hand, I don't anticipate making much changes to my schedule because any extra day spent somewhere means one less day in another location.

reposting as it got lost in the stream, but how much pre-booking should I be doing for this trip? After Poland it'll be trains all the way, and I assume I'll be able to just kinda walk into hostels, or at least look for them online a few days before I get into town?

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pigdog
Apr 23, 2004

by Smythe

Sab669 posted:

I read the past few pages to see if it came up but I didn't see anything about Sweden. I graduate college this year and as a gift to myself I think I'm going to spend a week there. I've not started a whole lot of research into it (Don't even know when I'll go- late this year / early '13).
It does matter quite a bit when you go; it will be freezing and dark in the winter, and warm with 20 hours of daylight in the summer.

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