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I'm in Madrid until Wednesday, weather sucks but what can you do. Any pro-tips for the city or close surroundings? I'm not renting a car.
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Feb 15, 2024 18:38
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mobby_6kl posted:I'm in Madrid until Wednesday, weather sucks but what can you do. Any pro-tips for the city or close surroundings? I'm not renting a car. Toledo is pretty neat if you’re looking to get out of town to somewhere close. Segovia is also surprisingly close by train (~25 minutes), but it’s also kind of inconvenient because the train from Madrid to Segovia ditches you in - literally - an empty field 5 km outside of Segovia. Likely it is the second dumbest modern train station in Europe, although it is a far second place behind Lorraine TGV, which also dumps you in an empty field, but at a "lol, lmao” 25 km from the closest city. Within Madrid there are also a billion things, but Wikivoyage, ChatGPT, and Atlas Obscura will do a better job of summarizing everything to your tastes. I’ve been to Madrid several times but am not an expert, and also haven’t been in like 8 years since my good friend there moved away. Segovia is super neat though, if you’re looking for a day trip I’d suggest that, but I like architecture and citadels. Toledo was neat too, just slightly less distinct in my memory and slightly overrun with shops selling steel swords.
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Feb 15, 2024 21:15
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mobby_6kl posted:I'm in Madrid until Wednesday, weather sucks but what can you do. Any pro-tips for the city or close surroundings? I'm not renting a car. Are you a food person? If yes, Mercado San Anton is great. There’s a croquetas bar in the corner downstairs that literally takes them out of the fryer in the little wire basket and serves them like that. If you’re into wine, like really into wine, there’s a restaurant in town called Horcher with an absolutely ridiculous wine list of old Spanish bottles - the oldest one currently on the list on the website is a ‘47, but I don’t know if that’s up to date. The Prado might be the best of the Grand Art Museums to actually visit. It’s way smaller and less crowded than the Louvre or Vatican, and you’re there in the off season. If you really don’t like it, it’s a three hour train to Barcelona. Dont day trip it, stay the night, but it’s a completely different vibe of a city to Madrid.
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Feb 16, 2024 19:20
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I like food! I went through the market without getting anything though so I'll need to come back when I'm actually hungry. Everything looked amazing though. Managed to knock out a few of the museums, Prado, Reina Sofia, and Archeological. All very good and yeah Prado in particular is still large enough to spent most of the day, lots of people even now but not madness like Louvre. I'll try to fit in Museo de Aeronáutica before I go back home. Monday I'll probably do Toledo. Segovia does look great too but I'll leave it for another time when I'd get a car for a road trip.
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Feb 18, 2024 16:08
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Anyone here have any suggestions for things to do in Stockholm/Copenhagen? Wife and I are bringing our toddler, so a few kid friendly suggestions would be welcome as well. Any thoughts on whether to spend more time in Stockholm or Copenhagen?
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Feb 21, 2024 18:54
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Residency Evil posted:Anyone here have any suggestions for things to do in Stockholm/Copenhagen? Wife and I are bringing our toddler, so a few kid friendly suggestions would be welcome as well. There's a ferry bus in Copenhagen which I guess a toddler would enjoy. When we went they had a walkthrough butterfly exhibition at the botanical gardens which was very cool but I suspect is seasonal
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Feb 21, 2024 19:46
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Residency Evil posted:Anyone here have any suggestions for things to do in Stockholm/Copenhagen? Wife and I are bringing our toddler, so a few kid friendly suggestions would be welcome as well. Copenhagen is great for kids. We took our 3.5 year old and 1 year old about a year ago. Top things for them were - experimentarium - aquarium - traffic playground - the other great playgrounds - boat trip - the kids section at the national museum - tivoli Some of the above may depend on the age of your toddler and if they are physically capable of eg using the pushbikes at the traffic playground. Don’t bother with the zoo, it’s depressing and I regret going there.
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Feb 22, 2024 08:04
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Junibacken in Stockholm is fun and you get there with a boat.
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Feb 22, 2024 09:31
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Residency Evil posted:Anyone here have any suggestions for things to do in Stockholm/Copenhagen? Wife and I are bringing our toddler, so a few kid friendly suggestions would be welcome as well. Skip the statue of the little mermaid. It's absolutely not worth the trip. Take a boat tour instead, kids will love it.
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Feb 22, 2024 17:57
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distortion park posted:There's a ferry bus in Copenhagen which I guess a toddler would enjoy. When we went they had a walkthrough butterfly exhibition at the botanical gardens which was very cool but I suspect is seasonal Lady Gaza posted:Copenhagen is great for kids. We took our 3.5 year old and 1 year old about a year ago. Top things for them were malder posted:Skip the statue of the little mermaid. It's absolutely not worth the trip. Take a boat tour instead, kids will love it. Thanks everyone. Our guy loves science museums, and the ones in Europe seem to be incredibly we'll run/set up. If you guys ever have the chance, the Copernicus center in Warsaw is incredible as well. Is getting from Stockholm to Copenhagen via train the best way to go?
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Feb 23, 2024 14:29
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Residency Evil posted:Is getting from Stockholm to Copenhagen via train the best way to go? Yes. There's a restaurant car and the seats are fairly roomy. Sometimes the trains terminate unexpectedly at Malmö, but in those cases the ticket will get you on the Öresundståg across the strait (and Malmö is a nice city itself). If I remember correctly the little mermaid is like a few hundred metres from the palaces, Nyhavn and other obvious tourist sights, and it would have felt stupid to not go check it out, but it's been like eight years since I did the tourist walk there.
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Feb 23, 2024 14:49
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Also worth noting that if you do a boat tour from Nyhavn, you'll automatically get the Little Mermaid Statue included as part of that. Not as "nice" as seeing it up close but it's tiny anyway and will be surrounded by throngs of people regardless.
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Feb 23, 2024 17:20
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Maybe also check out Rundetårn.
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Feb 23, 2024 19:16
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Drone posted:Also worth noting that if you do a boat tour from Nyhavn, you'll automatically get the Little Mermaid Statue included as part of that. As well as the other one, the "genetically modified little mermaid". 
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Feb 23, 2024 20:29
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Carbon dioxide posted:As well as the other one, the "genetically modified little mermaid". Okay, this I like and I'm sad I didn't see it when I was last there.
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Feb 25, 2024 16:15
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Holy poo poo there's a new level of fraud the EuroNet ATM scumbags are pulling and you probably won't guess even as it's happening on screen. I certainly didn't despite knowing their other tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTGXR03ZN68 They charge you for "balance check" when you just want to withdraw, and will do it even if you cancel the transaction and thus don't see the balance (for a split second) YMMV depending on your bank but better keep this in mind as it seems to be happening in multiple countries.
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Feb 27, 2024 00:13
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I warned my gf about EuroNet ATMs, their colors, and to avoid them. We stayed on the main square in Krakow last summer, she left one evening a minute before me and saw an ATM right by the front door. When I walked out the same door, I saw her pulling money out of it and I yelled NOOOO.
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Feb 27, 2024 00:34
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I'm going to go to Copenhagen in the beginning of August and will I need to carry cash around? I thought Europe was mostly digital now, like either credit card or payment apps.
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Feb 27, 2024 00:41
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You'll have no need for cash in Copenhagen unless you want to buy something from like street vendors or in Christiania or something, and even then I get the feeling they'd be fine taking either DKK or EUR.
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Feb 27, 2024 06:58
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OGS-Remix posted:I'm going to go to Copenhagen in the beginning of August and will I need to carry cash around? I thought Europe was mostly digital now, like either credit card or payment apps. Mostly, yes. Denmark especially so. The issue comes up at like flea markets and such where you either need cash, or every loving country has its own Venmo-style thing that foreigners usually cannot use, like how Venmo only allows users with US banks and US cell phones.
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Feb 27, 2024 08:23
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OGS-Remix posted:I'm going to go to Copenhagen in the beginning of August and will I need to carry cash around? I thought Europe was mostly digital now, like either credit card or payment apps. Don't think I've ever used cash in Copenhagen. Residency Evil posted:Anyone here have any suggestions for things to do in Stockholm/Copenhagen? Wife and I are bringing our toddler, so a few kid friendly suggestions would be welcome as well. Vasa museum in Stockholm is sick. Do a canal tour in Copenhagen and go to Reffen on a nice day. Christiania is cool too but that will depend on your personal definition of kid friendly. I found Copenhagen to be a far more enjoyable city than Stockholm, which is pretty but sterile. Danes also far more fun than Swedes.
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Feb 27, 2024 08:54
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mobby_6kl posted:Holy poo poo there's a new level of fraud the EuroNet ATM scumbags are pulling and you probably won't guess even as it's happening on screen. I certainly didn't despite knowing their other tricks: I saw one in Edinburgh (needed some cash for a restaurant that didn't take cards) that had a giant sign above it saying "Free Cash Withdrawals", then some hidden disclaimer that only applied to UK cards, even if the accounts were GBP.
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Feb 27, 2024 10:27
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glasnost toyboy posted:Don't think I've ever used cash in Copenhagen. Thanks! Sounds like we'll plan 3-4 days in stockholm, the rest of the time in Copenhagen.
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Feb 27, 2024 18:07
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glasnost toyboy posted:Vasa museum in Stockholm is sick. Vasa is great but a toddler might find it boring or even scary.
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Feb 27, 2024 18:57
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Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine. Yeah we're bringing him but we also want to see stuff.
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Feb 27, 2024 19:00
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Yeah you can get by without cash in a lot of places but I like to have non-zero amount on me. Almost never used cash in like 10 days in Spain except a few times for a locker deposit. Plus you never know if the terminal could be broken, or if you want to buy a luxury watch from a guy on the street corner. Ferdinand Bardamu posted:I warned my gf about EuroNet ATMs, their colors, and to avoid them. We stayed on the main square in Krakow last summer, she left one evening a minute before me and saw an ATM right by the front door. When I walked out the same door, I saw her pulling money out of it and I yelled NOOOO. distortion park posted:I saw one in Edinburgh (needed some cash for a restaurant that didn't take cards) that had a giant sign above it saying "Free Cash Withdrawals", then some hidden disclaimer that only applied to UK cards, even if the accounts were GBP. 
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Feb 27, 2024 20:40
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I am considering doing a hiking trip in the Mercantour national park in southeast France. I have two options: late July and early September. - How's the weather there? What'd be the best time to go out of those two? - While I'm in the area I'd like to spend some more days there doing slightly more chill activities like visiting historic places. If you have any recommendations for the general southeast France region that are maybe less obvious I'd like to hear them. - I'm thinking of going there by car from the Netherlands. I consider it too much distance to drive in one go. So both there and back again I'm looking for one or two stops more central in France where I could spend a day. I prefer to avoid Paris.
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Mar 9, 2024 19:35
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late July is going to be much too hot for hiking imo, it’ll likely be mid-30s at least
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Mar 9, 2024 20:28
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Carbon dioxide posted:- I'm thinking of going there by car from the Netherlands. I consider it too much distance to drive in one go. So both there and back again I'm looking for one or two stops more central in France where I could spend a day. I prefer to avoid Paris. I use the Morvan natural region for this. It's worth a hiking trip of its own and it's also cool just to drive through. I stayed at Camping Des 2 Rives in Etang-sur-Arroux, they have a few rooms to rent too, you don't need to bring your sleurhut. It's full of Dutch people though but that's everywhere in France. And yeah I guess both those times of year will be hot for hiking there. Hope you like waking up early.
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Mar 10, 2024 04:59
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Carbon dioxide posted:I am considering doing a hiking trip in the Mercantour national park in southeast France. July will be very hot and you also risk encountering thunderstorms. September is better I'd say but can still be hot - although nowadays you never know with climate change. Historic places in SE France: there is a lot, what comes to mind right away are the papal palace in Avignon or the Roman ruins in Nîmes. Stops on the way from the Netherlands and back: depends on what you like! You could stop in Alsace, in Burgundy, in Lyon... What are you looking for more specifically?
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Mar 10, 2024 11:06
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Carbon dioxide posted:I am considering doing a hiking trip in the Mercantour national park in southeast France. Late July is totally fine for hiking in the Mercantour area - it goes very high, above 3000m or so, you can even drive to around 2900m on the main road, so if it is hot, you just adjust your hiking route accordingly. I was up there in early Aug a couple years ago, it was fine, didn’t need AC at all in Briançon (just north of Mercantour, and in all honestly completely indistinguishable), and it was quite chilly at night - to the extent that getting up in a tent before the sun hits it would have been rough. Early Sept opens up some lower routes, but honestly the high stuff is better (at least imo, hiking in forests is boring) and July gets you substantially more sunlight. All of the snow in the Mercantours is gone by mid July, so all high altitude routes will be open from ~early July until ~late October. For stops on the way, Alsace could be nice, not sure how much of a detour that would be but Kayserburg, Ribeauville, and all sorts of things around there like Haut Konisgberg are cool. The Burgundy countryside is also of moderate interest - I spent a week there a couple July’s ago and it was lovely but way too much time. But plenty nice for a day to stop somewhere like Vezelay / Semur en Auxois. Neither is worth a trip out of your way, but both are very nice as an overnight stop.
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Mar 10, 2024 12:20
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I am in Valencia downtown in march for the second year in a row. It is horrible. (It is fallas). Ask me if you want to know why.
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Mar 10, 2024 14:05
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Saladman posted:Late July is totally fine for hiking in the Mercantour area - it goes very high, above 3000m or so, you can even drive to around 2900m on the main road, so if it is hot, you just adjust your hiking route accordingly. I was up there in early Aug a couple years ago, it was fine, didn’t need AC at all in Briançon (just north of Mercantour, and in all honestly completely indistinguishable), and it was quite chilly at night - to the extent that getting up in a tent before the sun hits it would have been rough. Early Sept opens up some lower routes, but honestly the high stuff is better (at least imo, hiking in forests is boring) and July gets you substantially more sunlight. All of the snow in the Mercantours is gone by mid July, so all high altitude routes will be open from ~early July until ~late October. Oh I dodn't know the Mercantour went up that high! Yeah in that case July should be ok. Burgundy is indeed more interesting for the cities than the landscapes. I personally also like the region of Franche-Comté, which is quite underrated in my opinion, but I'm also biaised as my partner is from there.
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Mar 10, 2024 15:00
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Has anyone been to the Champagne region? We’re driving from Chantilly to Metz on a Sunday in a few weeks, and have to leave Chantilly in the morning and only want to be in Metz at night (and have been there before and have been around Chantilly before). Champagne is smack in the middle but it seems to be more or less a black hole in terms of interesting stuff in the area. The wikivoyage article is almost completely empty. Epernay looks like it has some champagne cellars, which we don’t care about as we’re driving and neither of us actually likes champagne. Chalons en Champagne looks maybe cute for a couple hours? Reims would probably be fine enough for a 4-5 hour stop on a non-Sunday, but not sure about on the weekend. I could probably spend about 5 minutes at the cathedral. I’m just not seeing anything that catches my eye between Pierrefonds to the west and Verdun on the east. We’re also fine with stopping in Epernay for two hours and Chalons for two hours and marking Champagne as "complete" if nothing catches our eye in that time, but wondering if anyone’s been there or if it’s just famous for the name and not because anyone intentionally visits. We’ve driven through several times and never stopped, and I’ve failed at finding anything that catches our eye before, but this time I think we’ll stop and check it out regardless of our ability to scope out anything of interest to us. Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Mar 19, 2024 |
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Mar 19, 2024 23:21
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I've driven through the Champagne region on minor roads and the most memorable thing was the enormous expanses of rolling fields with no signs of human habitation. If you enjoy decaying minor rural cities that have clearly seen better days there should be some cool places to stop. I don't think I have anything better than what you've written up.
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Mar 20, 2024 01:55
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My wife recently brought up Stockholm as a potential next trip, so I started working on a small itinerary that also includes Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Haven't gotten too far yet, but seems like it could be a nice 1.5 week trip or so, taking a train between each city. I was talking to my parents the other day and they highly recommended taking a Baltic cruise instead. Normally I ignore their boomer cruise recommendations, but it does seem kind of appropriate for the Baltic region. Are there any cruises in this area that don't switch ports every single day, trying to cram in as many as possible? It would be cool to spend 2-3 days each at Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn, for example.
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Mar 25, 2024 20:16
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Sai posted:Fun things to do in Amsterdam that are a little of the beaten path but not very obscure or anything Is this stuff still valid 14 years late? The videos are dead but I'll be in Amsterdam for 2 days in June with some friends. Never been before and definitely trying to avoid touristy things for the sake of tourism.
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Mar 25, 2024 21:07
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I was at the Albert Cuyp market last April and enjoyed it. Whether it’s “touristy” or not, beats me. I was a tourist. Also home of Rudi's Original Stroopwafel stand. Also there’s a really chill coffeeshop about 1.5 blocks away from the market with outdoor seating (called Katsu) if that’s your thing.
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Mar 25, 2024 22:00
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I'd you like cats there is a museum dedicated to cats in art. Plus they might have some gallery kitties you can pet. https://maps.app.goo.gl/uE7wzfYmcFFZmVC16
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Mar 25, 2024 22:49
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runawayturtles posted:My wife recently brought up Stockholm as a potential next trip, so I started working on a small itinerary that also includes Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Haven't gotten too far yet, but seems like it could be a nice 1.5 week trip or so, taking a train between each city. I guess you could just book a couple of one way ferries? The capitals aren't exactly that well connected with them from what I can see (Helsinki - Tallinn - Stockholm being the exception), but you can do a route like Malmo -> Lubeck -> Helsinki -> Tallin -> Stockholm -> Gdansk, or stopping early at any of these cities and flying back from there instead?
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Mar 25, 2024 22:53
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