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Speaking of insane travel schedules, I'm going to be in France for about 10 days in early May. I want to see the mountains, and my wife wants to see the Mediterranean, so we're thinking of doing something like: Paris: 2 nights Grenoble: 3 nights Marseille: 2 nights Avignon: 2 nights Paris: 1 night I've been thinking of doing a combination of car and train travel, partially because that seems like the easiest way into and out of Paris. The nights in Paris are really just for convenience, jet lag, and because it's Paris. I don't really enjoy big cities that much though. How is Marseille compared to other coastal cities? We've mostly been looking west of Toulon because it seems cheaper (???). I also think we should just do 4 nights in one city rather than a 2/2 split because there are so many things within a short driving distance. e.g., why change lodging to Avignon when we could just drive there in an hour for a day trip.
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Jan 8, 2020 16:22
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 07:58 |
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I'm a little wary of traveling on a budget anywhere near Cannes during May. Maybe I'm overestimating how crowded and expensive it'd be though. We had been looking at Grasse though, which I think will be doing its rose festival while we're there.
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Jan 8, 2020 16:44
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Thanks, that's all really helpful. We're saving the far western portion of the country for next time -- we just found cheap tickets for Paris, and the Mediterranean was a priority for her. I'll consider dropping the Alps, but tbh I think I might be happy with just the scenery. I would like to do some hiking too, but if the weather is going to be miserable then I may postpone the idea. At the very least I want to do some hiking and cycling somewhere in between looking at old things. There are clearly a million things to do between the countryside and the coast, and I'm to the point of just arbitrarily picking some and dropping others. I do think we'll pass on Marseille proper, but Cassis looks like a good alternative in the area because I've really been wanting to see Calanque.
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Jan 8, 2020 18:25
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Saladman posted:The weather won’t be miserable, it’ll probably be like 12-15 degrees but there’s a good chance that it will be drizzling and overcast — but overcast means that the mountains will probably be in fog. Also 100% guaranteed around Grenoble in early May: above 1800m will still be under snow, and there will be patches of snow down to about 1500m. So even if you have waterproof boots, hiking poles, and are fit, and the clouds are amenable, it’s still not recommended to do any serious GR bike because it will be very hard to follow a trail when the trail markers are hidden by snow. Early May is just the worst time to plan for a specific day to be in the mountains, even worse than November, since at least in Nov there might be a chance there’s no snow yet, but in May it’s always guaranteed to still be there from winter. If you find something you want to do that’s < 1800m then go for it, but make sure to have a backup plan of something to do in case the clouds are completely covering 800-1500m elevation. It’s probably like a 25% chance of "do not bother going, it’s just going to be hours of fog". Unfortunately I don’t know of any website that records cloud altitude for previous years data, but as someone who lives in the foothills of the Alps and who hikes pretty much every week when possible, I have a pretty solid basis for estimation. . Thanks, this is so much clearer than all the generic travel sites I've been wading through. The difficulty here really has been the sheer number of places I'd like to go, so it's easy to strike one like Grenoble given how many other good options there are.
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Jan 8, 2020 23:00
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OK, so I got a bit of pushback on the Grenoble idea earlier, but dennyk mentioned Annecy, and it looks extremely nice. Would that be a fair alternative to Grenoble in May?
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Jan 13, 2020 17:47
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rick steves here
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Feb 3, 2020 16:02
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The thing I hate most about travel is how many people are trying to take advantage of you.
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Feb 7, 2020 19:56
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Hi, American here What is a "train"?
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Feb 24, 2020 16:17
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Yeah my flights are early May, and if anything I expect more restrictions by then given the pace that this is spreading. Can't cancel my tickets though, so if we get there and everything's shut down, we'll just explore the countryside.
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Mar 11, 2020 16:55
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Man I wish they would cancel my flight. It's less than three weeks away at this point. I tried cancelling an Airbnb with a nicely worded email to the host about coronavirus, and he rejected my request lol
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Apr 15, 2020 15:16
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Man, gently caress airbnb. We're having to fight with them over a cancellation even though we're literally banned from entering the country.
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Apr 16, 2020 18:40
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PT6A posted:I for one am shocked that a company that made a fortune by ignoring rules, cutting corners and acting in an underhanded way is behaving badly all of a sudden. Someone from my grad cohort did her dissertation on airbnb. Her work was extremely well received and might as well have been funded by the company for all the praise it heaped on them. Her first published paper actually referred to the sharing economy as the next industrial revolution (I'm still mad). Anyway, this is the first time I've ever tried to use airbnb and definitely the last!
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Apr 16, 2020 19:47
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greazeball posted:Just call your credit card company and reverse the charges, gently caress airbnb. I'm gonna do this if they reject my current appeal. Hoping to do the same for the flights too. It's all on my AmEx, so hopefully they'll listen to me. This was also the first time I booked flights through Google/Priceline, and I'm not going to do that again either!
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Apr 16, 2020 20:08
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Ok, Airbnb down. Next up is Delta, Air Canada, and Lufthansa :/
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Apr 17, 2020 01:12
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My current situation is that Priceline is only offering me travel credits because that's all Air Canada is offering. They're required to give a refund under the DoT guidance if they cancel or reschedule the flight, but they haven't done that even though it's only 3 days away. So I disputed the charge with AmEx, but I don't know if that will work out. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and cancel the flight in the meantime so that I at least have guaranteed flight credits if the dispute doesn't work out or if that would screw up my dispute.
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Apr 29, 2020 22:04
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OK, I mentioned several months ago that my trip to France was cancelled because of COVID. It's been five months, and Air Canada and Priceline are still refusing to offer me a refund. Both of them just push responsibility onto the other. I filed a complaint with DOT several weeks ago but haven't heard anything from that. I opened a dispute with AmEx as well, and the refunded my money initially, but then they took it back when Air Canada complained. I'm genuinely not sure what to do at this point or who to talk to. Any ideas?
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Sep 21, 2020 16:30
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I finally heard back from DOT, and Air Canada a couple of days later. Here's a relevant portion of DOT's email to me:quote:Generally, passengers who purchase non-refundable tickets on a flight that is still being operated without a significant delay are not entitled to a refund. A passenger is entitled to a refund if an airline cancels a flight and the passenger chooses not to accept an alternative flight on that airline. A passenger is also entitled to a refund if the airline makes a significant schedule change or significantly delays a flight and the passenger chooses not to travel due to the significant change or delay. Additionally, passengers may be entitled to a refund based on the terms of an airline's contract of carriage. My flight was delayed several times and then cancelled, so I should be covered, right? Here's the only part of Air Canada's response that addresses the DOT policy: quote:Our policy of offering the remaining value of the ticket for future travel is not only consistent with how major airlines are managing this unique situation, but it is also in line with our publicly published tariff rules. Our policy states that in the case of uncontrollable cancellations, the airline’s responsibility is to provide alternate travel options (as opposed to refunds), at the end of the event that caused the cancellation. Unbelievable.
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Sep 26, 2020 22:36
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I've always though of microstates in the context of their histories -- how they were created, or how they weren't unified with a neighboring country -- as much as their size tbh. Like a relic of pre-nation state times, or a carving out by a colonial power.
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Mar 9, 2021 15:29
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I can't imagine booking a trip right now. Too much uncertainty. You're not going to get a refund on anything if your plans get screwed up. Things might be closed. The locals might be pissed that you're there (more than normal). Air Canada got a government bailout recently and is apparently going to refund me for my flight that got cancelled last May. So that's nice.
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May 24, 2021 15:46
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In Angkor Wat I listened to an American tourist lecture his own tour guide about how the temples must have been built -- something about how Cambodians couldn't have known how to build structures that impressive so it must have been someone else. It was very insulting, and the guide didn't seem to know how to respond.
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May 26, 2021 16:41
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Just buy a Rick Steves audio tour or something
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Jun 14, 2021 01:39
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It's a great time to make complicated plans with little chance of a refund!
Fitzy Fitz fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jul 1, 2021 |
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Jul 1, 2021 18:23
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Any must-sees or lesser-known gems in the Spanish or French Basque region? I want to spend several days chilling and hopefully hiking either in the hills or the Pyrenees around there in May. Would love to spend some time in small towns that are accessible by train or bus.
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Feb 8, 2024 15:19
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Thank you! This is all incredibly helpful. I'm hoping to see both the Spanish and French sides (without a car if possible), and you've probably covered everything I'd be looking for on the French side.
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Feb 8, 2024 18:37
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Thanks, that's a great help on the Spanish side. I wonder if I should just suck it up and rent a car for part of the time. It's easy enough to go without one in (and between) the big cities, but I don't want to have a mediocre experience somewhere if it really warrants a car.
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Feb 9, 2024 22:23
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Recommendations for things to do in/around Barcelona, San Sebastian, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, and Paris over the next few weeks? We've got a few days in each.
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May 6, 2024 17:53
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Saladman posted:With just generic info like "things to do" then just check Wikitravel, as those places will have good detail for generic tourist info. I've never been to Europe. I've already looked up more stuff than I can possibly do, so I was just wondering if anyone here had some personal "must dos" around any of those places. We're hoping to do museums, shopping, food, architecture, history, hiking, biking, kayaking, caves, live music, art, festivals, other cultural things, trains, parks, gardens, fountains, etc. Elysium posted:If you’ve ever thought to yourself “you know, I don’t need to pay money to go in that big church/building/museum that all the other tourists are doing, I can see it from the outside.” Just know that you absolutely need to go in and see La Sagrada. It is loving amazing. Yeah... Barcelona is the first place we're flying into, and la segrada is already sold out for the time we're there. Does anyone know if it's still possible to buy tickets at the door? E: got lucky and found two tickets on ticketswap! Fitzy Fitz fucked around with this message at 00:20 on May 7, 2024 |
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May 6, 2024 23:00
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Thanks, that's all really helpful. Barcelona is an incredible city, and Sagrada Familia was honestly a moving experience, so we're going to check out a couple of other Gaudi sites today before leaving for San Sebastian. There's a maritime festival in Pasaia that I'm hoping will be worth seeing. Otherwise probably a lot of hiking for the next week, and hopefully saving some money! I went ahead and made reservations in Paris. I'm excited to see the newer bike infrastructure there, and now I'm also wondering if there are any architecture or history recommendations that people have (outside of the top ten list staples). Fitzy Fitz fucked around with this message at 07:41 on May 9, 2024 |
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May 9, 2024 07:32
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 07:58 |
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Hostelworld has a pretty similar scam -- confirmation emails that include your booking information and say they require a payment through a sketchy link. I got one of these the other day. I also get constant "your verification link" emails from Booking, like someone is trying to log in to my account all the time.
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May 11, 2024 07:17
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