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vaginadeathgrip posted:Heading to Ireland for 10 days or so. I was gonna spend a few days in Dublin and then head south/west. I'm not sure if I have time, but I do want to see Giant's Causeway, but Northern Ireland hasn't been part of the plan. My question is would it be worth it to carve out a day to go there when I'm in Dublin or is it a thing that's ok to skip? If you're considering it at all, Giant's Causeway is worth the day trip from Dublin. It may be a long day spent on a bus, but it was one of the highlights for me.
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Jun 7, 2016 01:05
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cheese eats mouse posted:I'm already over my limit. I'm bringing a bunch of bourbon because I'm coming from KY and wanted to bring some samples from home plus mezcal. I'm about 1.5L over. It's only about £60 worth so it's looking like it's still cheaper than shipping separate. When I went from Dublin back home through Chicago I had declared my 5 liters of liquor, and didn't pay anything even though the limit is 1.5. It'll depend on the country and if customs wants to screw around with paperwork for minimal gain over someone clearly not running booze.
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Mar 5, 2017 04:19
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jjack229 posted:Looking to spend two weeks in the United Kingdom this summer, either July or August. The main draw is Scotland, but may also spend time in England, Wales, and/or Ireland depending on what looks good and makes sense. Look into Northern Ireland. Bushmills distillery and Giant's Causeway are very close to each other. The bus tour I was on didn't allow a lot of time for Bushmills - basically it was time for a shot of whiskey and the gift shop, so I can't say if the tour's worth while. Giant's Causeway is absolutely amazing, and if you specifically are looking for landscapes you absolutely should look into it.
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Mar 18, 2018 19:58
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waffy posted:Definitely do the Slea Head Drive around the Dingle Peninsula, which will give you some great views of the coast and has several places you can stop to see historical sites/ruins, scenic walks, and things like that. That alone could eat up a decent chunk of a day depending on how many times you stop. I haven't done the boat tours in Dingle, but there are also ones in Kinsale that are worthwhile if the weather is good. I biked Slea Head Drive, and it was most of the entire day. Makes it a lot easier to stop and take pictures. No really intense hills - although I had done Conner's Pass the day before so my memory may be heavily skewed.
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Jul 23, 2018 03:25
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The Irish Whiskey Museum in Dublin was a lot of fun. Maybe 60-90 minutes of a historical guided tour, then ending with some sampling. Didn’t take itself seriously at all, especially compared to something like the Guinness tour.
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Nov 14, 2022 19:26
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Ooo, Italy chat time! I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to Italy for May 7th-May 29th(ish, slightly flexible on the dates), and could use some advice / having the tires kicked on my plan. My only international travel was a trip to Ireland 6 years ago and coupled with my tendency to thoroughly plan things I'm feeling a little out of my element. 1. I'll be flying out of Chicago into Rome. Any airlines to avoid or seek out? My usual airport's a third-tier that has a mishmash of airlines and flights, so I don't really worry about milage or status. 2. My schedule is some combination of Florence (4 nights), Venice (3), Naples (5) and Rome (7), with one "you just flew across an ocean" day in whatever my first city is. For whatever reason, I'm leaning to spending time in Rome before I leave, instead of when I first arrive. Also, I'm seriously looking at going to a Serie A game, and might adjust travel based on that. 3. My real confusion is where to stay in each city. I'm fully comfortable taking public transit (and am planning on trains between cities anyway), but don't know which neighborhoods would have a good mix of easy ways to get to sightseeing destinations during the day and bars/restaurants within walking distance of my hotel for dinner and nightlife.
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Jan 8, 2023 21:15
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A Dapper Walrus posted:What’s the Edinburgh festival? I saw that there was something in August but that’s a solid month after we’ll have been there. https://www.edfringe.com/ Fringe is an international arts and comedy festival. Think SXSW without tech bros.
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Mar 20, 2023 01:16
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Reading other people’s trip reports of their Italian vacations helped organize mine, so here’s my favorite things from spending most of May traveling around. Rome - I flew in and out of Rome, and stayed in two different hotels. The first one was Hotel Portoghesi near the Pantheon, which was a fantastic hotel in a fantastic location. They had my room ready well before official checkin, so I could take a 2 hour power nap before the Roma-Inter game. I’m a big enough sports fan that while I didn’t plan my cities around matches, I did try lining things up so I’d be in a city with a home game when possible. Roma was a hell of an experience to start my vacation, and absolutely ruled. For monuments, I thought the Vatican was the most impressive, to a hilarious degree. Like, gently caress you other churches, we’re just going to out-opulent you. I wish I spent a little more time in there, but bought a timed reservation lunch at the Vatican Museums which ended up being a coupon for the cafeteria - very dumb do not do this. That place is gigantic and I got overwhelmed by the end of it. Still incredibly worth seeing, but just be prepared to slog. The second leg in Rome was Baths of Caracalla, Circo Massimo, Palatine Hill and the Coliseum. I thought Circo’s AR headset describing how the land had changed over time, up to and including WWI/II was fantastic. Palatine Hill was gorgeous to walk though, and the Coliseum is a big place with a lot of school trips. I can’t say “don’t see a world landmark” but walking up to it was way cooler than being inside. It’s an old stadium! Baths of Caracalla had a lot of the same “wow, this is gigantic” feeling but with maybe two dozen people in the entire place, plus there was a high school track meet next to it. Seeing kids sprinting next to a historical building helped me really appreciate the history/modern living of Rome, coming from America. Loved Travi fountain, and spent a lot of time just admiring it with a gelato or drink in hand. The views from Via Garabaldi and the top of the Spanish Steps are also amazing. Rome also had my favorite meal at Bottega Tredici, Via deli Falegnami 14. The app was a light cheese broth with eggs cracked in and the main was cod ravioli. I went to Da Enzo in Trastavere for dinner that same day and it didn’t really compare. Cinque Terre - I want to go back and spend a week there, hiking the trails in the morning and spending all afternoon plastered on good wine while looking at the sea. I only stayed two nights, but the weather was either cold and sunny or raining. I toughed out the rain and took the train to other towns and explored, and as soon as the sun came out hiked the Monterosso-Vernazza trail. Coming down that hill to the Vernazza view that was on every postcard and magnet I saw hawked was special. Then I proved a point to nobody by laying on a rocky beach and finishing a bottle of wine in a light drizzle. Pisa is very much a “oh, you went to Italy and didn’t go to the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” Stop. Looking at everything else in the Field of Miracles, I can’t remember a drat other thing that stuck out. I didn’t stay long, just a stop between Cinque Terre and Florence - Another football match (at least the home team won!) Saw three different statues of David, with the one in the Museum being the least favorite. Best was the one in the Piazza Michelangelo. I lucked out and had a night with a fantastic sunset, and the crowd of people going up to hang out and watch it reminded me of a big event, where you notice a lot of people moving in the same direction as you. Gorgeous views there. On a Monday I did a Chianti wine tour, where I was the only one that whoo-hoo’ed the tour guide saying “and at 10:30 we’ll have our first wine!” That was one of the highlights, both for the wine education but also having the same group of people traveling together that day. Walking around the grounds after lunch I asked a guy “Did you get that leather jacket in Florence, I’m thinking about getting one.” Two minutes later I’m trying his on, he’s taking the style photos for me, and it gave me the confidence to buy the one I had my eye on. Venice If Cinque Terre was the one I wanted to spend a week in, Venice was the spot I wanted to have a 3 or 6 month job thing. There was something about Venice’s organization that appealed to the logistical side of me - how wide some of the sidewalks were compared to their location, how deliveries worked, how the boat bus worked. I stayed at a B&B, Corte Campana, and the hosts were absolutely delightful. Only 3 rooms so worth looking at booking early. Definitely stay in Venice, because the huge crowds coming in made for a completely different day to night. Got to see the Barber of Seville at the Musica Palazzo, and that was one of my favorite events. It’s a smart concept done with a lot of love, all the actors absolutely killed it, just so much fun. I saw a Vivaldi concert the next night, and if I went back I’d do Musica Palazzo again in a heartbeat over another concert. Naples Going from Venice to a Saturday night in Naples on Via del Tribunali was cultural whiplash, and hanging out near the stadium for the match solidified that place as wild in my mind. I didn’t get a ticket, but seeing grocery carts of beer being hawked and a 13 year old selling airplane bottles of booze was awesome, along with a goddamn cannon firing an hour before kickoff. I didn’t realize Pompeii’s ruins were so gigantic, and wish I had planned that better. Part of me thinks Naples and Pompeii could be a long day trip from Rome, but spending a couple nights in Naples made me appreciate how absolutely crazy that town is for football and Maradona. A month later, I realized a lot of the museums and cultural exhibits ran together for me. I wish I found a fun niche museum like the Irish Whiskey Museum in Dublin, instead of historical artifacts over and over.
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Jul 2, 2023 15:07
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Mushroom Zingdom posted:Next week I’m going on a little tour of Milan, Turin, Genoa, Florence (each 1-2 nights), a weekend in Bologna, then a few days in Bergamo. Any advice on those cities or cool things to see there? I’m particularly excited to stuff my face in Bologna, open to suggestions for mind blowing food there. Thank you all! One of my favorite memories in Florence was seeing the sun set over the city from the Piazza Michelangelo. Basically turns into a party.
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Feb 8, 2024 16:57
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One of my favorite memories of my Italian trip was the Musical Palazzo in Venice: https://www.musicapalazzo.com/en/ I went to see Barber of Seville, since I thought the comedy would "translate" better since it's all in Italian, and it absolutely did.
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Feb 11, 2024 17:43
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The Cinque Terre trails are gorgeous hikes. I wish it didn't rain as much when I was there, would have loved to do more segments instead of just one.
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Apr 5, 2024 15:44
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