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HinderedUseless posted:I originally posted this in the Regional thread, but realized that I may get more feedback here. It's a very broad and open ended query, so any feedback is appreciated. Anyway... Since you're staying for such a long time, rent an apartment instead of getting a hotel. It will be cheaper and way nicer since you can cook yourself breakfast and lunch or whatever instead of paying £10 for a British delight of spotted dick and blood pudding at your hotel. Use a site like VRBO.com or VacationRentals.com. Email 5 or 10 apartments that look good. Hotels are a ripoff in big cities; it's hard to find one that even offers the amenities of a La Quinta for even a remotely reasonable price. I'd recommend the Covent Garden area. Sure, it's touristy but it's also quite vibrant, and people who live there actually go there too. Also pubs in London close at some silly hour (like 10pm?) on weekdays, so you have to start drinking early, which Londoners do). Day trip I guess could be Windsor. The town around it is charming and you can go inside and see a bunch of royal presents the queens & kings of England have gotten from everyone. This would be if you didn't get enough of seeing old fancy museum pieces when you go to the British Museum (which you should go to, but I'm sure is already on your agenda). Or you could go to Oxford and Cambridge, but I can't imagine what you'd do there unless you know someone. And I agree with Flying Clog Wog that Stongehenge is a huge letdown, and I didn't even expect very much. Also I think it's like impossible to get to without a car.
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Mar 5, 2011 11:11
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GLITTER AND GREASE posted:My younger sister and I are planning a Europe trip to take in May 2012 to celebrate graduation and marriage and other sisterly bonding things. So far we've hashed out that we can both easily set aside 4 weeks of time to do this and so far we've decided that France, Italy and Greece are our must sees. I am asking you, good Goons, if there are any other must sees you'd suggest for us. Money isn't a huge issue for us and we are interested in seeing the historical side of things. Is it possible in our time frame to add another stop along the way? Unless you think you're never going to Europe again, then no, don't add more countries, unless there's something you MUST SEE/DO, in which case swap it out with France, Italy, or Greece. What is your vague plan? Greek islands*, drive from Rome->Flornece with stops through Italy, then Paris & environs? On your itinerary I guess I'd recommend getting a car for the Italy/France section of the trip (e.g. get it when leaving Rome and drop it off at Paris). Don't drive in Greece, it's horrifyingly dangerous. *Athens is worth only maybe 2 days--if you're going there for history and not for the islands, skip it completely and add that time to Rome.
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Mar 7, 2011 23:22
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Modern Pragmatist posted:Also, consider the fact that you would have to get the car back to the original location (they charge ~400 Euro to drop it in a different country). This is true, but often you can figure some way around this. For example, you can rent a car for a week in Paris, drive it down to Nice, drop it off there, and then rent an Italian car in Genoa. You pretty much only get hit with one way fees when you drop it off in a different country. For example, you can get a Mercedes B class with GPS for $47/day in France picking it up in Paris and dropping it off in Nice from Sixt. But, as Modern Pragmatist said, if you're under 25, the Eurail passes are half price (~$250pp instead of ~$500pp) and the car is slightly more expensive (an additional ~10-15/day). Gas is about $7 a gallon, but if you rent a diesel car, you'll get 45 mpg, so it really won't feel any more expensive than driving in the US. I guess it really boils down to: do you want to hit little quaint villages off the main road, or do you want to spend all your time in Lyon, Grenoble, Paris, and Nice? If you just love big cities, then get the Eurail pass; if you like smaller towns as well, get the car. The car vs. rail will be the same price if you're 25 or older, since there are two of you. Your itinerary sounds nice, and it's the first one I've ever seen on this forum where I would suggest adding more places to. 4 weeks for Land in Paris -> Florence -> Venice -> Rome -> Crete -> Fly out of Athens will have a lot of lazy days in it, which could be good or bad, depends on your touring personality. I'd get a car and drive from Paris to Provence over the course of a couple days, then chill there for a few days before going to Nice/Monaco, dropping off the car, and taking a train to Florence. But I also love driving through little European towns.
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Mar 8, 2011 11:48
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ThePhreak posted:I'm going to Paris in June for 11 days with my girlfriend. I've been looking at hostels (private ensuite) and they seem to be more expensive than some hotels. While looking into all of this I've found a lot of people suggesting renting an apartment out. Does anyone have experience doing this or know of any legit sites? Waytostay.com keeps popping up but I'd like some info if anyone has it. I've personally used vrbo.com and airbnb.com with success (Edit: I have used these in Paris in particular as well). Email 10-20 people, half of them will reply, and then you can choose your apartment (or bargain if you're into that kind of thing, I guess). I know scams exist on all of those types of sites, but I don't think it's any more pervasive than on, say, eBay. I'm partial to apartments vs. hotels/hostels because then we can have some combination of breakfast/lunch/dinner in the apartment with groceries instead of having to spend crazy amounts of money going out every night. Saladman fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Mar 14, 2011 |
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Mar 14, 2011 07:27
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Ziir posted:Are you really that important that people need a direct line of access to you at all hours of the day? It's not for people you're talking to back home--it's for people you're talking to when you're on vacation with them in Europe so that you don't have to stick to their hip all the time. E: from VVVVVV Yeah, just use SMS and keep your US number, it's going to be the same price (or even cheaper, when you consider that you will just "waste" unused credit at the end of the trip) than getting a European SIM. Unless you have a Verizon iPhone, in which case you're SOL. Make sure you have data turned off, and leave your phone on airplane mode most of the time. blue squares posted:I'm an American. If I visit Europe with no planned departure date and just travel around however long I feel like, is there some point where they will look at my passport and tell me I've been there too long? Or can I stay as long as I like? You have 90 days. They might look at border crossings by land (but probably not if you're travelling between Schengen states). If you try to catch a plane out of a Schengen state after 90 days though, you'd need a good story, or else you get kicked out of Schengen Zone for 5 years or (and?) have to pay like a 500 fine for having overstayed. Saladman fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Mar 15, 2011 |
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Mar 15, 2011 21:52
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Skam posted:Anyone know anywhere i can stay in Amsterdam that isn't going to cost 40 a night at the weekend? Couch Surfing. (Or get really blazed and blitzed and fall asleep on a park bench for free, minus the cost of the weed and the brew. Plus you'll fit right in with all the German and British 18 year olds who go there.)
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Mar 21, 2011 17:27
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Omits-Bagels posted:Just buy a Marseille soccer jersey. You still might want to pickup some French... which shouldn't be to hard since you know Spanish. He might also want to scar up his pretty face and learn how to curse in Arabic too. Then learn how to steal a car. E: I hear it does have some up-sides, but I've always been warned by French to stay away from there, kind of like Italians and Naples. Probably it's exaggerated if you have common sense and don't walk around at night. The countryside north of Marseilles (up in Provence) is beautiful. People rave about Aix-en-Provence but I didn't really get the appeal when I was there. Spanish and German aren't going to help at all, and English won't help very much. You'll have to learn French to do anything, but if you speak Spanish fluently then it should be pretty easy. If you speak high school Spanish, it probably won't be that easy. Saladman fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Mar 28, 2011 |
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Mar 28, 2011 07:35
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kissekatt posted:Not Dutch/no leads, but are those $90-120 per person or total? I read it as "in total" in which case he'll either have to get a hostel or sleep on a bench. Staying outside the city is a very non-ideal solution since you'll then have to pay for the train for 3 people twice per day (plus the time you lose on your vacation). Plus even outside the city, you'll have a hard time getting a 3 person room for under 100... If it's "per person" and he can't find a hotel room in Amsterdam for between $270 and $360 a night, then he should try looking at hotels that aren't five stars. VV VV That "B&B" is more like a hostel; take a look at the reviews. That's a nice site though. (Also it tells me $70 for a triple? I guess I'm getting screwed :/.) Saladman fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Apr 1, 2011 |
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Apr 1, 2011 11:08
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geera posted:My wife and I are looking to plan a trip to Europe sometime in September/October this year. We are thinking about trying to do 3 cities: Dublin, London, Paris, probably in a 10-ish day time frame. We'd like to see castles and the countryside, and hit the highlights of each city. It is technically enough but you will absolutely feel rushed; I'd seriously consider just hitting two of those three. (Other people here will probably recommend one.) Five days is enough time to rush through most of the 'must see' sights in the center London and Paris. Three days means you will for sure miss out on something one of you really wanted to see (e.g. for Paris, pick any 4 of the following max for 3 days: Louvre, Les Invalides, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, and Versailles).* Just book everything yourself unless money is not an issue for you two and you're going to stay in 5* hotels. Look on PriceLine.com or similar for hotels, and stay in downtown center for all of the cities. On a short trip it's not worth saving money by staying somewhere farther away and cheaper, especially for your first European trip and, presumably, first experience with jetlag. *Of course, one could spend all 10 days in London or Paris and not see everything one wanted to see.
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Apr 11, 2011 19:31
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Senor Science posted:1.I'm planning on getting a world phone from Verizon. How common is public wi-fi in France? I'm thinking of saving some cash, and rather then forking out 30 Dollars for a measly 25 megabytes from Verizon I'm thinking of bringing my Droid X and trying to poach from public wi-fi to save some cash. I'm mostly getting the cell phone just to be on the safe side. You will basically never find free public wi-fi. You can literally walk for hours in Paris without finding an unsecured wi-fi spot (speaking from experience). OTOH you can go to McDonalds, order fries, and use their WiFi. Senor Science posted:2.I've heard from a friend that Nice is no better than a Arabic ghetto. Is that really true? What is worth seeing there? He must have confused Nice and Marseilles because Nice is nice, and Marseilles is a ghetto. Senor Science posted:3.Coming from Cannes would it be worth to visit Monaco on a day trip? If you want to be able tos say you've been to Monaco and/or if you want to see nice cars and/or boats. Otherwise you could just spend the time walking around Cannes. Senor Science posted:4.In Venice I'll be staying on Lido. Is it generally ok to go to the beach in May there? Have any goons also been to the casino there? I think it will be interesting to stay on an island in a city that's known mostly for being carless. It should be fine as long as it's not raining. I don't know about the rest.
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Apr 26, 2011 08:31
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Fists Up posted:Its not that difficult (well I guess you're definition is finding an unsecured spot or something). And you don't exactly have to order something at maccas to use it. Either stand outside next to the store and use it or if its a big one then just walk in and sit down and most likely no one will even notice/give a gently caress. Or just order something for a dollar like you said. I did mean unsecured, since it's hard to tell if the "FREE PUBLIC WIFI" wifis are actually free (IME this is rarely the case) unless you spend 2 minutes dicking around on the redirect page to find out that you get a free 30 minute trial if you input your credit card and get a SMS sent to a French phone number. A lot of cafes have WiFi, you just have to order something, or be a dick and just ask for the menu then not order anything and hope the WiFi password is clearly printed. If you're in the same place for a few days it's fine (since the password is the same every day), but if you're constantly travelling it is more difficult/annoying. It's not -hard-, but it's a much bigger hassle than just turning on your WiFi and joining "linksys", which you will very rarely find, unlike in the US (or unlike in the US 4 years ago, anyway). OTOH your hostel or hotel will have Internet, so just unplug during the day and enjoy your vacation. E: Finished my last sentence. Saladman fucked around with this message at 10:06 on Apr 26, 2011 |
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Apr 26, 2011 09:35
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Doctor Malaver posted:http://dustinland.com/archives/archives489.html Horse meat is legal and easily available in Italy, as well as basically all of Europe except GB?
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May 1, 2011 23:08
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duralict posted:If you don't have to pay for hotel or transportation, it's definitely realistic - I spent about a hundred pounds in my week in London. I drank excessively and ate in nice restaurants twice, but I also didn't do anything that charged an entrance fee, bought food from supermarkets and walked everywhere. That works out to more or less your budget (100 pounds/person/week adds up to about $750-800), so long story short: you can definitely manage it on that budget, and you can afford to class it up a few times as long as you don't get extravagant. But think seriously about how much you want to go to Ireland, England AND the Netherlands, because if you want to do it on that budget you'll have to be much more watchful about when you spend your money. He's staying for 1 1/2 weeks not 1 1/2 months. If you go through $1000 in London in 10 days and you're not paying for transportation or the hotels, then you should hold off ordering so much Dom P. and Beluga caviar for high-end prostitutes on Regent Street. If you're splitting the hotel, then $1000 will cover your trip comfortably (but not extravagantly). E: If you're just buying food and alcohol for both of you, a budget of ~$300/week is reasonable assuming you eat out several times a week and drink a lot. You can easily spend less than that though (but not under $100/week unless you're digging through trashcans and eating ramen). VVVVVV You almost literally cannot spend $1000 on food and alcohol for yourself in 10 days without ODing and dying, even if you're eating at the finest restaurants in London every single night. $500 will easily cover your expenses for the entire trip. Saladman fucked around with this message at 13:21 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 10, 2011 09:59
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bobthecheese posted:I get the feeling that I've been a giant idiot about all this, that our plan is retarded, and that we'll run out of money in 2 weeks and get stranded somewhere. But that's just the "Oh, poo poo; what comfort zone?" thing. First off: your tourist visa is only valid for 3 months. You have that figured out? If you're driving around Europe for a year without valid documentation, I can basically guarantee you will be caught, fined 500/person, and deported to Australia. You might consider leasing the vehicle instead, since registering the car at the beginning and then selling the car at the end will be a hassle, unless you plan on keeping it somehow, and you can lease a much nicer vehicle than any POS you can buy for 4000. You can get a roadworthy car for 4000 but it won't be nice. Just get SIM cards in every country, or get something like WorldSIM which will be good in all of them but more expensive per-minute. Don't get a phone plan, since you'll be fixed to one country, and I doubt you're really going to use a telephone all that much anyway; just use Skype when you call people from home. You can buy 3G wireless keys for fairly cheap, like 1 GB bandwidth for $10. I don't know of any that are good in more than one country, but probably such keys exist. If you spend 4k on a car, then 7k should last y'all 3-4 months if you're travelling all the time and eating/sleeping frugally. Gas is expensive--seriously consider leasing a fuel-friendly vehicle like a diesel or hybrid. You can pull money out of the ATM with your MasterCard debit; you don't need to exchange any money beforehand except maybe a little for buying food in the airport. Just make sure your bank knows you're travelling to Europe. Euros and pounds are easily converted in any major city and at the border crossings, but an ATM is still easier.
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May 13, 2011 06:46
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Concerned Citizen posted:So even if I have means of financially sustaining myself without working, there's no way to get residency? And no alternatives? If you're literally a multi-millionaire, then you can probably get some sort of special exemption, but otherwise no, you have to get a job and get a work permit. VVVVVV I'd still be surprised if they actually approve such an application. Also you need to show proof of ownership/leasing/rental property in Spain, so you'll have to have something set up beforehand. (I'm also surprised renting property is enough--maybe they mean like a real place and not just a small apartment. Switzerland has special deals for residency, but then you actually have to own property. But, I guess the Swiss are particularly restrictive too, so maybe you'll be in luck.) If you somehow do get a permanent resident card for Spain, it's good for unlimited, untimed travelling in all of the Schengen zone, by international law. Plus let us know, I've literally never heard of this working out for young, middle class, working-age people (but maybe it's because usually they get a job or go to school instead of going this route). Saladman fucked around with this message at 11:04 on May 13, 2011 |
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May 13, 2011 09:57
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enki42 posted:Secondly, obviously there's no guarantees, but saying you absolutely will be caught for overstaying a Schengen visa is a massive overstatement. People regularly overstay their visas and even work without getting caught. Your odds are actually quite good so long as you're not crossing Schengen boundaries often and not crossing any borders with a reputation for being tough, like Turkey -> Greece. I knew many, many people who lived and worked in Germany and regularly flew home to visit family, all for multiple years without a residency permit. My understanding of his post was that he is going to Europe is to travel around the continent for a year, in which case he does have like a 100% probability of being caught if he doesn't have proper authorization. I cross Schengen borders by car maybe twice a month on average and I've been checked about 10% of the time in the past year and had my information run in the station twice. Once was even an internal check 20 km from the border inside France. Anyway it sounds like he probably has the visa stuff worked out, so the rest is relatively less serious. VVVVV I meant internal country crossings within the Schengen zone, not crossing from Schengen to non-Schengen states. Internal crossings are still pretty frequently manned, even more so now because of the influx of illegal North African immigrants. Saladman fucked around with this message at 13:37 on May 13, 2011 |
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May 13, 2011 12:25
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Douche4Sale posted:a week in Rome 1. Pro: Apartment is way cheaper, you get a kitchen, and you get more space. Con: No one makes you breakfast. Yeah, you can go to any vacation rental site to get an apartment in Rome. I've rented 3 apartments in Rome all from https://www.vrbo.com but there are a lot of similar sites (e.g. vacationrentals.com). A lot of places will be crosslisted in several. For any stay longer than 3 days I would always get an apartment, especially since budget is somewhat of a concern for you. 2. The termini area kind of blows. The Pantheon/Piazza Navona/Trevi Fountain area is the most fun for a tourist since stuff happens there at night, while Termini/Colosseum are dead and boring at night. There are no places in Rome outside the super touristy spots, but I guess if you stay north of Villa Borghese it is somewhat more residential (also cheaper also more boring). 6. Yes, this is both legal and acceptable. If you rent an apartment, it will come with a corkscrew.
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May 18, 2011 17:54
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Texibus posted:I plan on traveling through the U.K. over this summer, and I'm curious about how much it's going to cost to eat each day. I will likely not be cooking for myself very often, and I normally eat twice a day. I'd like to eat more local type foods as opposed to chain restaurants. This completely depends on you. You can eat out of a grocery store for £5/day, you could eat fish 'n chips and diner food for ~£10 a plate, or you could eat at nice restaurants for £15/plate and up. To be honest though, traditional 'British food' isn't known for being particularly worthwhile unless you're completely hammered, in which case it's fine. They have a saying in Europe that goes something like "in hell, the cook is British, the lovers German, and the bureaucracy French." E: Oh, here it is: Heaven: the policeman is British, the lover is Italian, the cook is French, the engineer is German and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell: the policeman is German, the lover is Swiss, the cook is British, the engineer is French and it is all organized by the Italians. Saladman fucked around with this message at 10:07 on May 20, 2011 |
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May 20, 2011 10:05
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buddhanc posted:I'm looking to travel with my family to Eastern Europe later on in the summer. I have a few ideas as to where I want to go-- most likely some combination of Germany, Poland, and maybe the Czech Republic or Hungary. My main concern is where to start the trip from, as I am worried about plane flight costs. I'll be starting in Austin, Texas, and I would certainly appreciate some help sorting out the best possible flight path for the least amount of money. The idea is to probably start in Germany and continue by train from there as we do have experience with the train system in Europe. Is this plan even realistic for two or three months from now without being outrageously expensive? If you're travelling with a family, then renting a car will be far cheaper than trains. A good general rule of thumb is: trains are cheaper than cars for 1 person, break-even is 2 people, and cheaper at 3 people. Frankfurt will probably be the cheapest airport for you to fly into (but not necessarily). What is "outrageously expensive"? Hotels are going to be your biggest cost if your family doesn't want to camp or stay in hostels. For a 4 person family, you could do a 3 month trip on ~$15k with only a little bit of penny pinching.
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May 24, 2011 06:48
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elwood posted:If he starts in germany, he should check rental contracts. Most rental agencies have restrictions or refuse a rental if you want to travel to eastern europe. Yeah, that's true too. Plus you have to return the car to the same place (generally) or pay a one-way fee (from 200 and up, way up). For a 2-3 month you can return easily, but I see I misread... in 2-3 weeks you'd probably want to suck up the one-way fee. Trains are horribly over-priced for a family, so I would still go with a car unless you're a family of 3, in which case I -personally- would still go with a car, but wouldn't recommend it as hard. E.g. it's like $25/hour on a train, so for 4 people going 5 hours, you're looking at ~$500 in train fees, while doing the same drive would cost $80 in gas + $60 for the car's rental fee for the day. (Estimates, of course.) If you're going to move around every 2-3 days, trains will be really expensive, but if you're planning on spending 5 days in Berlin, 4 days in Budapest, 3 days in Krakow, etc, then trains are ok. What's "horribly expensive"? You could do a 3 week trip for ~$8k, including airfare for 4, and if you stayed in hotels. E: Your drive times are reasonable for 2-3 weeks. It's only 10 hours from Berlin to Budapest, which is nothing for someone from the US, but an unimaginable ordeal for someone from Europe. Saladman fucked around with this message at 08:56 on May 24, 2011 |
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May 24, 2011 08:52
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^^^^ Yeah cars, suck to rent for just one person, since it's both more expensive and you can't chill like you can on a train/plane. It's really only economically beneficial once you get 3-4 in a car splitting the costs, and only more convenient if you want to hit small towns that trains don't easily go to.Landsknecht posted:people here can say what they think of this, the notable feature is that the trains work well between these cities Landsknecht's itinerary sounds really good. Budapest isn't that awesome anyway, and it is really far from Prague. If you went down that way, I'd just add Vienna and not go as far as Budapest.
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May 24, 2011 09:14
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blinkeve1826 posted:-I kept seeing in this thread (I read through about 15 pages of it before I posted this) how awesome Barcelona is, but a lot of it seemed to have to do with bars/clubs/drinking/etc. What other kinds of things make Barcelona so awesome? Beaches, warm weather, pretty lively at night compared to most of Europe. From your interests, it doesn't sound like it's "so awesome" for you in particular but it's still a fun town to bike/walk around in. blinkeve1826 posted:-What are some absolute must-see, must do things for any or all of the above destinations? Best use of about five days in Spain, a few hours in Oslo (or just outside of it, closer to Moss), 3-4 days in Berlin and about six in Prague? Barcelona: Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Citadella Park, the beaches (which will be crowded as hell and, IMO, awful, in June, but they will be nice early in the day on weekdays), and you can walk around the crowded tourist hellholes and dodge gypsies if that's your thing (e.g. Las Ramblas). Berlin: Pretentious nightclubs, the Pergamon (seriously an awesome museum; skip the Egypt museum though it sucks), just walking up and down Alexanderstrasse and sitting at a bar and drinking a beer outside, checking out the wall remnants and Brandenberg Gate and Reichstag Oslo: Not much really. I spent four days there a few years ago and I don't remember anything except how expensive it was. The highly rated Viking Ship Museum was boring. Bergen is great and the countryside is great but Oslo is pretty blasι. 21 hours of sunlight a day is awesome though. Prague: Walk around the downtown area, check out the architecture, check out the palace on the hill, check out the scary wall at the Wallenstein Palace, go to one of the nine hundred concerts or shows that people will be forcing fliers down your throat to go to. blinkeve1826 posted:-What's the best (ease/cost-efficiency) way to go about renting a bike in Europe in general, and/or these specific cities/countries in particular? A lot of cities have bike rental stations at or near the main train station(s). I have never considered rented a bike in any of those cities though; they're all pretty car and foot-traffic crowded, and many of the streets in Prague are terrible for bikes IIRC (cobblestone). If you're used to biking in Seoul or wherever in Korea though I'm sure you won't mind it. blinkeve1826 posted:-What's the best way to meet/befriend locals? I know a bit of German and Spanish from studying them in high school/college, and I'd definitely want to learn a bit of Czech and maybe Catalan if necessary (I pick up languages fairly easily). How/where do you approach people just out of the blue without seeming really weird ("Hi, wanna be frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeends??????") You're not going to pick up enough Czech or Catalan to be even remotely useful in a social situation unless you're Daniel Tammet (in which case, will you sell me your brain?). For Catalan, just speak Spanish, since literally everyone in Barcelona will speak it. In Czech everyone will speak German and/or English. Staying at a hostel or couchsurfing is the best way to meet people out of the blue, but beyond that, the the bar/club scene which you don't like, or you can also go up to random people at a party at a beach or park without seeming like a weirdo, assuming you have decent social skills; I did that in Berlin with success (found a free place to stay for the night too). Generally you won't meet anyone who's a local and not busy before like 8pm. blinkeve1826 posted:-Approximately what should I be budgeting for such a trip? Any budget advice beyond the usual cheap hostels/grocery food/couchsurfing/don't drink or eat out a lot advice? 1. $100 day is generous, $50 is barebones (as Landsknecht said). 2. EasyJet flies directly between Barcelona and Berlin but it's like three times the price. Is the RyanAir layover 5-6 hours? That's long enough to get to Oslo center, walk around for a couple hours, and get back, although it might be worth spending the extra money getting a direct flight. Your itinerary sounds good. I'd get bored with 6 days in Prague, and there's nothing nearby, so maybe I'd take a day off of that and add it to Berlin, or do something like 4-4-4-4 Barcelona Berlin Prague and add Paris. Saladman fucked around with this message at 22:19 on May 24, 2011 |
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May 24, 2011 22:17
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GregNorc posted:I'm going to be gone for ~10 days (5 in Paris, 5 in London) Overhead bags can be pretty big. Just get a roll-y suitcase that is designed to fit in the overhead bins. I pretty much always just have one backpack and one overhead bag and I can carry enough for a two week trip without washing clothes easily (unless I'm going somewhere where it's winter), and I change clothes every day etc.
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May 26, 2011 10:02
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goldboilermark posted:I'll definitely be in Freiburg in September in Germany, so I'm excited to hear about this suggestion. As for having a car, I'm definitely old enough to rent, haven't decided yet though. If you wouldn't mind posting them anyway or at least a few of them, I could see what it looked like on traveling and the like. Just simple town names or areas would work, you don't have to go into too much detail. Seconding that about the car being extremely handy / basically required for this kind of trip. Plus you can sleep in it every other day or two, since finding inexpensive lodging in small towns is difficult / impossible. South of France has some amazing towns, e.g. Roussillon and Menerbes, which you could not get to by public transportation, plus they won't be overrun with international tourists (only French ones) during the summer. Italy has a lot of really charming towns in the north, if you're coming from Croatia, e.g. alongside Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, as well as in the Tyrolean part of Italy/Austria. I can't remember any offhand though, haven't been near there in years except to the more touristy cities (e.g. Como, Locarno).
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Jun 1, 2011 08:04
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GregNorc posted:So I'm looking into how I'll go from Paris to London... the Eurostar seems to be really expensive (£75 for a one way ticket?! And that's if I go "non-flexible" - it jumps to about £150 if I want to get a refund if I can't make the train for some reason) EasyJet can get you a one-way for like $40, or like $60 when you factor in the airport->town transfer fees that you don't have to pay with EuroStar. RyanAir flies you into like an airport like 9 hours away by bus for its "Paris" airport, so I'd avoid it. (Mild exaggeration.)
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Jun 3, 2011 07:39
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tourgon posted:
No, you sure won't, so I hope the primary purpose of this trip is to deposit a car in Athens, and not to sightsee, unless for some reason you three want to spend five times as much money driving as EasyJet would cost for 3 tickets. Roussillon, Lacoste, and Menerbes are cool little towns in the hills of Provence ~1hr from Avignon. Roussillon is probably the most interesting, but it'll be crowded in summer. There are some other really neat places in that area, including one that reminded me of Minas Tirith from LotR, but I can't remember its name. Aix is a more common destination in that area, but tbqh I think Aix is boring and devoid of culture but other people really seem to like it. Avignon is pretty neat, if you want to hit a more major city that everyone's heard of. You'll be driving by Tarquinia just north of Rome, and I thought that was a cool little village too. (And much better than staying in some soulless suburb of Rome for a night.)
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Jun 13, 2011 14:40
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GregNorc posted:Anyone have any suggestions on power adapters? (Going to UK and France) Do you mean "adapts" (changes plug only) or "converts" (changes the power too)? Macbooks work on all power supplies, as do nearly all computers and most electronics except for game systems and some battery chargers, so you should only need a plug adaptor. You'll either have to get a multiple adaptor or two separate ones, since the UK and France are vastly different http://www.amazon.com/All-One-Travel-Power-Adapter/dp/B000YN01X4/ref=pd_sbs_misc_3), but if you're going for a long time, or plan on going back to the UK or Europe for extended periods of time, buy two separate adaptors, as the "all-in-ones" are horrible wall warts. All single-plug adaptors are more or less the same, just buy the cheapest.
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Jun 17, 2011 10:29
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GregNorc posted:Wall warts as in they take up space? Or there's something intrinsically bad about them? As in they take up space. I'd just buy a universal adaptor then, unless you plan on living in one of those countries or staying in one place for an extended period of time.
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Jun 17, 2011 16:49
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Neris posted:HELP! I'm going to Europe, what do I do? - Slow the gently caress down I think people don't realize that although the US is huge and Europe is tiny, it's only tiny in comparison, and not actually tiny. France is still the size of Texas, and Texas is a huge place. Someone needs to put together a map of Western Europe superimposed on the US and put that in the OP so people don't think that going from Paris to Berlin in one day is actually a reasonable distance (maybe me, if I'm not lazy next week and still remember this post). For example, Atlanta and Philadelphia are the exact same distance apart as Madrid and Paris. E: Something like this, but not using the same contour lines (but keeping the same scale): 
Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jun 25, 2011 |
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Jun 25, 2011 23:20
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Here's a hastily drawn terrible image of the EU on the US (minus Malta, sorry dudes, and plus Yugoslavia, high five bros), with Australia also overlaid, because that was my reference image. Also, the country lines are drawn by a five year old (me) and the source map I used still had the loving GDR on it, so there are some approximations. Also Finland/Sweden/Norway aren't included. If the OP is still around to stick this in the OP, I'll draw a better version of this in Illustrator or something. I'm not actually retarded, just lazy. E: In any case, maybe people would get the idea that going from Paris to Berlin to Rome in 4 days isn't a reasonable itinerary. (Your itinerary should skip Paris for sure if you have to come back to Spain for your return flight, Talas, although it's not the most crowded itinerary that's been posted here.) Saladman fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jun 25, 2011 |
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Jun 25, 2011 23:40
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Hamclam posted:People were rude, girlfriends camera got stolen, bunch of the places we tried to go were closed by the time we got there, people seemed to be constantly shoving eiffel tower trinkets in our faces or donations for the deaf papers. bunch of people told us to gently caress off when we refused to buy beer from them. Tried to have a picnic on a bench in a park by a fountain and were told that you cant eat here and had to leave. It sounds like you just got unlucky in Paris. If I read that paragraph without knowing it was Paris, I would have actually said "it sounds like he went to Barcelona." In any case, European cities that get overrun by foreign tourists in the summer are a lot less fun, at least in my opinion, than they are in fall/spring (e.g. Paris, Barcelona, Rome).
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Jun 28, 2011 11:20
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GregNorc posted:Is there a good map application for the iPhone that will help me get around London and/or Paris and does not require web access? Navigon. It's ridiculously overpriced though, unless you're into pirating apps or have deep pockets. (It costs as much as/more than a stand-alone GPS.)
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Jun 28, 2011 16:20
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NoArmedMan posted:I'm embarking on a worldwide trip in October, starting in Iceland, then London, Europe, South America, Central America and the USA. Are you planning on driving or taking trains? If you're driving, then there are lots of interesting places (I'd have to look at a map to remember what's on the way), but if you're taking a train then stopping to see some small town is a PITA. Is "we" two people (you and your SO)?
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Jul 15, 2011 10:59
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Pantaloon posted:Fantastic thread for advice. I've blocked out my Gothenburg > Copenhagen > Berlin > Ghent route and now have to think about the nitty-gritty. I've never done any backpacking or hostel-hopping before, so here's a pile of ig'nant questions: 1) No, eat the transaction fees as you go, just pull out big amounts (like your daily maximum) each time and the $2 ATM fee won't be so bad. The actual rate you'll get will be pretty close to the Forex rate, and not the terrible rates that your local bank will give you (or the similarly-terrible rates that exchange bureaus will give you). Magstripe cards don't work everywhere but they work most places, including every ATM I've ever tried in Europe. It needs a PIN, but I assume your debit has a PIN. 2) If it fits in the overhead bin of an airplane it should be fine. I use a rolly suitcase that converts into a backpack when necessary. It sucks as a backpack so I only use it like that if I really need to (i.e. no flat roads, lots of stairs, whatever) 3) LonelyPlanet has city guides, otherwise you can enter the name of your city and hope it has one particularly (Berlin and Copenhagen probably have their own apps). 4) Probably not unless you're couchsurfing, in which case I would still use my US phone and use SMS anyway. Make sure your iPhone data is turned offI don't know how to turn off EDGE without jailbreaking, but at least you can turn off 3G with a stock phone. Some phones (e.g. WorldSim) work across all countries, but most do not. If you buy one in a store, it almost certainly will charge "gently caress you" rates as soon as you go to the next country. Europe is kind of like the USA was before they eliminated the difference between "long distance" and "local" calling ten-ish years back.
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Jul 24, 2011 21:13
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sheri posted:How easy it is to use the public transportation systems, particularly in London, Amsterdam, Bruges/Brussels, Paris, and the surrounding areas? I think those cities are going to be the main stops on our trip, and being from middle of nowhere USA with very little with respect to public transportation, planning something like this seems big, overwhelming, and a little expensive. Super easy. Very easy. No idea/Very Easy Super easy. Depends where you're going, but most likely pretty easy as long as you can read a train timetable or are courageous enough to ask someone at the info booth (who will speak English in all of those places). Walking is also a reasonable alternative in all of those places in most cases, unless you're going Versailles or Windsor, in which case you need to take a train.
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Jul 24, 2011 23:18
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bee posted:Hi Europe thread! I've been reading up some of the excellent advice in this thread and have come up with an itinerary... Eurail pass will almost certainly be more expensive and less convenient (you have to book the train a day in advance) than just buying train tickets at the counter, unless you're planning on constantly going outside the major cities on your itinerary and not staying in them. Not to mention that Italy and Spain (and maybe Portugal) also hit you with fees every time you reserve a ticket, even if you have a Eurail pass. NYE in Rome should be nice; I did Xmas there two years ago. Everything (e.g. rental apartments) are at peak price, but easy to find. People selling drugs won't bother you at all, they don't want to call trouble, and you probably won't go to the parts of the city where they are in the streets anyway, just like in Oz or the USA or anywhere else. The people who will harass you are the dudes selling fake Prada poo poo and copies of the leaning tower of Pisa. In neither case is safety an issue, though.
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Jul 26, 2011 10:19
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Imaginary Friend posted:Cheers. Will check it out once we get around those parts (also a will might be a good idea haha). If you're going off-piste, then get helivac insurance, it's like £30 and if you gently caress up it'll save you like £4970. And yeah, Cham has great slopes. The Aiguille du Midi tram getting you all the way up to like 3800m to start out is nice too, if you're planning on climbing higher.
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Jul 26, 2011 14:10
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goldboilermark posted:Is there a general consensus on WizzAir? Somewhat better than EasyJet. On par with the cheaper major US carriers (e.g. Northwest, RIP).
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Jul 27, 2011 16:07
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duralict posted:Hey speaking of Fallout look what I found in Bulgaria What the hell is that (the inside dome from the first picture)? It looks like the crashed Alien ship from Independence Day. E: i see. didn't notice those were links to flickr.
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Jul 29, 2011 09:57
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EricBauman posted:Nobody really knows what's going to happen. Some mayors and police chiefs have already said they won't uphold it if it ever becomes a law definitively (I think it hasn't been voted on yet, at least not in the senate). I've also literally heard this exact same thing every six months for the past 6-8 years that they're "just about to ban Germans and Brits from our country."
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Aug 23, 2011 13:12
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