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Looking for somewhere for a reasonably cheap weekend city break in October. I've already been to the usual places like Prague/Budapest/Krakow so they're out, right now I'm looking at either somewhere in the Baltic states or maybe southeast Europe (though tbh I'm not entirely sure what the political situation is down there re: Ukraine). Riga and Vilnius both look promising from what I've been able to find, anyone got any recommendations?
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Jul 13, 2015 19:10
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The Italian reputation for driving terribly comes from the major cities when you have thousands of people and not enough road for all of them, it shouldn't be as much of a problem in Sicily especially once you get out of Catania. The south of Italy also tends to be more relaxed than the north which should help. The best thing about Rome is that it's so full of amazing churches and archaeology and art and architecture that you don't even really need a guidebook or an itinerary, just wander off in a certain direction and you'll stumble across plenty of sights, most of which will be equally as worthwhile as the places on the covers of guidebooks, with the added bonus of being nearly tourist-free. My favourite find in Rome was a church called Santa Maria sopra Minerva, just around the corner from the Pantheon. It's got a statue by Michelangelo, just chilling out by the altar, and we were literally the only two people there. That's not to say that some of the famous places aren't worth visiting too. I'd recommend the Pantheon and the forum, and you should at least walk round the outside of the Colosseum even if you don't go inside. I'd avoid the Vatican entirely (unless you want to queue for literal hours, which seems like a waste when you're only in Rome for a few days) and the Trevi fountain (unless you really want to do the coin-throwing thing, in which case you'll need to get through a crowd who are all trying to do it too). Also don't bother going to the Circus Maximus unless you have a great imagination because there's literally nothing there, it's basically just a long thin piece of waste ground. You could probably manage in Rome without learning any Italian as a decent proportion of tourism-based jobs (wait staff/bar staff/shopkeepers) will probably have some Italian, but if you start off in English you will be seen as just another dumb tourist - they'll like you a lot better if you at least attempt to speak some Italian, even if it's just a couple of words. Spanish and Italian are similar enough that you could probably get your point across if you need to have a conversation with someone who doesn't speak English.
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Jul 19, 2015 00:58
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I just came back from Toulouse on the train and it took ~7 hours to get to London, plus I think it was more expensive too. Unless you really really hate flying then the plane is better in pretty much every single way.
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Aug 12, 2015 15:23
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The Museum of Erotica is definitely worth it (provided you're not going with kids).
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Sep 15, 2015 03:02
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Spending a weekend in Riga, any recommendations for good places to eat? A lot of the places we've been past so far have tended towards the touristy, but we're looking for somewhere a little bit more off the beaten track, and ideally more traditional Latvian food rather than American/Italian/all the Japanese restaurants that appear to be around here for some reason. We're happy to go outside of the Old Town for a better experience and hopefully lower prices. Also places to go for a few drinks tomorrow night that aren't Irish pubs or strip clubs.
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Oct 16, 2015 22:56
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The two busiest spots are St Mark's and the Rialto bridge so if you're planning on doing those you want to go first thing before they get really busy. There should be plenty of quieter spots in December, especially if you avoid the Grand Canal. Also if you can find a place called La Mela Verde they make the best gelato I've ever had in my life.
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Dec 15, 2015 02:53
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Also unless you want to set foot on every single island you only need to be there for a couple of days. You could do Venezia, Murano and the Lido in two and that's basically everything that's worth seeing.
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Feb 18, 2016 03:37
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Waci posted:Trains are a feasible option for travelling between major cities, with the usual caveat of having to deal with Italian trains. For visiting smaller towns or rural areas, you want a car. Absolutely this. My rule of thumb for public transport in Italy is the further you are from a major city, the less reliable it is. Going from Milan to Venice by train shouldn't be any sort of problem, but I certainly wouldn't trust the local buses to get you out into the countryside and back home again. If you're planning on doing a lot of outdoor activities it's absolutely worth hiring a car.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:36
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elwood posted:Short question for UK/London goons. I've booked train tickets for London (Victoria) - Brighton. Do I have to print them or pick them up at Victoria station or can I print them at any station with a ticket machine? You can print them at any station with a ticket machine, you'll need the credit card you used to buy them and the code they emailed to you.
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Apr 16, 2016 16:37
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Istari posted:So I'm planning a trip of a couple of months to Europe over Christmas. For about 1 month of that, I plan to rent a car, drive around (France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Italy are countries I'm really considering, but the beauty of the plan is that I can go wherever whenever), and camp at night. I don't want to be a killjoy, but this sounds like it could go wrong in so many ways. My main issue is that in winter you'll only have about 9 hours of daylight, and taking public transport out of a city to a random car park, then driving to a random campsite (or probably just a field since all the campsites will be shut) in the dark seems like a tailor-made recipe for getting incredibly lost.
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Jun 7, 2016 14:46
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At the very least he's looking at 1200-1500km for northern France, Benelux and Germany. If he really wants to go to Italy that's another 800-1000. I really think he's underestimating the logistics of averaging ~60km on roads he doesn't know every single day, in terms of fuel, tolls, and general time and energy. I know if I'd spent a couple of hours navigating Paris' outer road system the last thing I'd want to do would be spend 6 hours traipsing around the city before having to set up a tent in the dark.
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Jun 8, 2016 17:12
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I don't think you'd want to spend more than a day in Bratislava really. There's a couple of things worth seeing in the Old Town (the castle and the Primate's Palace especially) but outside of the center there's really nothing special. The Danube's always worthwhile but if you're going to Prague and Vienna you're not going to be short of beautiful river scenery.
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Jul 13, 2016 01:46
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cheese eats mouse posted:Paris: I'm more trying to stay away from tourists. I have an art degree and work as a designer so the Louvre would be so cool, but I'm more into weird modern art and design. If I can do maybe a smaller art museum, Notre Dame, etc. That's if we even decide to go. We're focusing on Central and South America or Thailand for our next intl trip so it's more like I don't know when I'm going to Europe again since it's pricey. If you're into modern art you absolutely have to go to the Pompidou Centre. There's also a load of really cool modern art/architecture dotted all over la Défense.
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Aug 16, 2016 21:21
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My Lovely Horse posted:Oof, that reminds me I was supposed to ask on my girlfriend's behalf about spending Christmas in London, or possibly Scotland (Edinburgh?). Basically we've been to the UK a few times but we frankly have no idea what it's like at Christmas and whether we'll find stuff to do or whether everything will be locked down because people are with their families. This is just a vague idea we had to avoid the big family huddles this year and we haven't actually planned poo poo. A lot of the big tourist attractions will be shut from roughly the 22nd of December until the New Year, but most shops/pubs/restaurants will be open every day except Christmas Day itself (though they will be absolutely packed), and even on Christmas Day a few places will be open, especially in areas like Chinatown where Christmas isn't so much of a thing.
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Aug 31, 2016 16:04
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I enjoyed randomly mooching around Zagreb but I'd agree there really isn't all that much to do in the city itself, I wouldn't spend more than a few days there and that's including a trip to Postojna caves which are definitely worth seeing. One thing I would absolutely recommend is the Museum of Broken Relationships, it's an exhibition of the things that people have left behind after breakups and the stories behind them. It sounds depressing as hell (and it is, a bit) but it's also incredibly moving. You might need a stiff drink afterwards, though. There's also a cool to-scale installation of the sun and all the planets scattered around the city centre so you can spend a morning hunting them all down. Dubrovnik should be really nice in October and reasonably empty of tourists too. Lots of Game of Thrones tours if you're into that. Lots of the islands are worth visiting, I went to Lokrum which was absolutely amazing (might be a bit cold to go swimming in October though). There are also loads of vineyards around the coastal region if you want to do some wine-tasting.
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Sep 6, 2016 00:14
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I've never been to Rouen but Bayeux absolutely isn't worth going to unless you like shuffling around rooms looking at a piece of old cloth.
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Sep 10, 2016 18:17
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birds posted:I'm flying to Manchester in March and will be there from the 11th-13th. I need to head back to the U.S on the 18th so during that time frame I'm looking to visit some other place in Europe. Right now I'm considering Prague or Munich so that will be about 4 days in either city not including the days traveling to and from my destination. Can anyone throw out any suggestions on which one to pick? Is 4 days enough to see either city and maybe take a day trip somewhere else? Also open to other cities. Prague is a good choice, don't bother with a day trip though as there's more than enough to do for 4 days. If you're really keen on Germany I'd suggest Berlin or Hamburg over Munich.
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Sep 18, 2016 22:47
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Ras Het posted:Y'all need to give up on cars for a minute - you can take the bus to any remote backwoods hicksville basically anywhere in Europe. This isn't really true. Going between reasonably large towns will generally be fine, but if you're somewhere really remote (and, especially, non-touristy) that bus service is going to be a lot less reliable. Entropist posted:lol Americans I mean you could ride a bike the ~200km from Barcelona to Andorra but unless you're a professional cyclist I don't know why you would
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Sep 20, 2016 19:59
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Entropist posted:drat, you Americans get so defensive about your cars. Who's talking about 200km? You wouldn't take a local bus for that distance either. The point was that there's an appropriate mode of transport for every distance, without needing to use a car, in Europe. Though admittedly in eastern Europe it gets difficult sometimes, everyone has cars there. Renting a bike is good for exploring a city, but then no-one was talking about that. What the OP mentioned was "adventuring" which is not a bike-friendly activity. And just fyi, I'm not American.
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Sep 21, 2016 02:00
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Entropist posted:Well sure, if you stretch it enough you can probably find a place where nobody lives that you can't easily get to by bus + bike. But most of the time when people ask about renting a car in this thread, it is a situation in which it is inadvisable. In cities and going between cities, yes. But for exploring, especially in rural and/or non-touristy places, a car will be more reliable than buses and give you much greater range than a bike. Also if you think you're getting a bike on most rural European buses you're way off. caberham posted:Canadians and Australians are still American Not one of those either.
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Sep 21, 2016 03:46
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In Spain/Italy and the Mediterranean in general things run later because of siesta. Shops are often closed 12-2ish then open till 7-8pm, dinner starts at 8 or 9, and if you're going out drinking you don't leave the house till at least midnight.
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Sep 23, 2016 23:59
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Honestly if your main criterion is weather I'd recommend Morocco over anywhere in Europe right now (if you can get there). Marrakesh has lots of great food and wandering-around options.
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Nov 16, 2016 17:39
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Entropist posted:Also, there's all those Portugese and Spanish island next to Africa where old people go to hibernate in winter. Or Egypt, if there isn't a security advisory against that these days. The Canaries would definitely qualify for good weather but I don't know if there's really much to explore, there's not a lot to do there unless you like beaches, surfing/diving or hiking. Entropist posted:I usually manage to entertain myself pretty much everywhere for a few days. That said, there are some German cities that can be kind of uninteresting. And for capitals, I guess Luxembourg might qualify, it's pretty and many international tourists go there because it's a capital but there is not much to do so if you have a few days and you don't want to trek around the countryside you'd get bored. Seconding Luxembourg, I think spending a weekend there would basically exhaust everything it's got to offer. I found Geneva pretty dull and also very expensive. Bratislava/Ljubljana/Zagreb are all decent for a few days but I don't know if I'd go back to any of them.
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Nov 16, 2016 19:28
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Dreadite posted:Yep, that's the idea. It's a bit crunchy, but It's totally cool on the US west coast (lol) but I've never tried it in Europe so I'll report back how it goes. Here in Europe we have these outdoor-chair things called "benches" which are excellent for sitting and reading on, or if you're feeling really adventurous there's this organic-carpet stuff called "grass".
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Nov 22, 2016 20:29
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Doctor Malaver posted:Still, the main (if not only) reason to pick Croatia would probably be to be close to the coast. You can go swimming, sailing etc five months a year. Absolutely this. I'd go for Split over Dubrovnik unless you really like tourists but they're both far better than Zagreb.
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Nov 30, 2016 00:04
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Doctor Malaver posted:I'm not sure I fully understand you, but in any case I'd never go live in Dubrovnik. It's expensive, tiny, deserted in winter and overcrowded in summer. If I had to live in Croatia I'd go Split, Dubrovnik, Zagreb as my choices. I feel like Dubrovnik would be pretty nice for about 4 months of the year but I don't know if the other 8 would make it worth it.
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Nov 30, 2016 02:37
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I LIKE COOKIE posted:I'll probably spend the bulk of my time in western Europe due to budget concerns. Erm, what? Your budget will go much further in Central or Eastern Europe than it will in Spain or Portugal.
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Mar 6, 2017 15:24
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Doctor Malaver posted:Also I'd never drive to Dubrovnik, I'd take a boat. Arriving by boat sounds great in theory until you realize you've got to haul your luggage up 300 stairs to your apartment.
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Mar 14, 2017 22:31
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Ras Het posted:Part from the huge fact that you have to drive Not everyone hates driving.
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Mar 15, 2017 14:55
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The Schwa posted:No, but driving on unfamiliar roads in a foreign country with a different driving culture and potentially on the other side of the road might be more than you're willing to deal with on your holiday Absolutely, it's not what everyone wants to do, but neither is it a universal drawback which automatically makes every public transport option a better idea for everyone.
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Mar 15, 2017 15:11
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Ras Het posted:Brick Lane is a racket. A better move would be to go to one of the more authentic Pakistani places around Whitechapel, or to one of the South Indian places on Drummond Street (somewhat nearish to British Museum) As a rule of thumb, never go to a place that claims to be #1 on TripAdvisor (as about half of Brick Lane does).
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Apr 19, 2017 23:50
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Waroduce posted:My girlfriend and I are traveling to Europe in two weeks (wow already). Its my first time. She previously has spent time in south of France and lived in Florence for a study abroad program. We land in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, May 20th at 11:45AM local time. I figure after a ten hour flight we will be tired and stay the day and a single night here. We depart out of Cologne, Germany back home on May 28th at 1PM Local Time. We def both want to do Italy, but are kind of open to a short two or three day stay somewhere else before that IMO that is way, way, way too much to be packing into a week trip, especially if you're going to be carrying large bags around with you. If you're dead-set on seeing Amsterdam I'd forgo all of Italy until you've got more than 4 days to see it and use the rest of your time in Germany/Netherlands/Belgium.
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May 6, 2017 16:33
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Waroduce posted:Any ideas for a 5 day italian itinerary? Don't try and see 4/5 different places.
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May 7, 2017 01:58
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Waroduce posted:Very much appreciate this but we are not trying to do Rome at all. We'd rather relax on a beach in Amalfi or do Pompeii. Rome deserves more time than we have and we both know that. You're going to have to fly (or take a full-day train) to even get to Palermo from Pompeii or Amalfi. I wouldn't bother even if the tickets from there were free.
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May 8, 2017 01:11
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The Schwa posted:Out of interest, what have people's experiences been with traveling to places with this kind of reputation (or other negative reputations)? Literally nowhere in Europe is actually "dangerous", so whenever anyone claims otherwise it's a good way to show that they're totally full of poo poo.
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May 9, 2017 18:03
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caberham posted:Then again, don't go to dark alleyways and really weird random places. For sure, but that's something that you wouldn't do at home either. The "dangerous" rumors start because someone went to another country and decided to have a day off from common sense, then tried to blame the country rather than taking any blame themselves.
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May 9, 2017 18:13
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Saladman posted:Isn't Ibiza basically just Europe's answer to Cancun? It's widely known as a party island, and there are a lot of high-profile DJs who play the clubs over the summer. It does have some good scenery outside of the main town but it doesn't have anything that Majorca or Minorca don't.
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May 15, 2017 21:10
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Get an EHIC card.
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May 31, 2017 15:49
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Entropist posted:Also this plan would involve driving in Italy which is generally a bad idea, though I guess the north is relatively okay. The highways in Italy are fine, it's the town centres which are the problem.
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Jun 12, 2017 21:04
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Carbon dioxide posted:Many younger French people speak English well, but in general, the French want to see you *try*. So if you just learn the French sentence for "excuse me, do you speak English?" you can start conversations with that and then if they say "yes" you can just switch to English. People in one of the professions which requires dealing with many tourists (tourist office, museums and galleries, bars and restaurants) will be used to it but nothing makes the average person in the street forget their English like you assuming they can speak it.
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Jul 5, 2017 10:22
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