vacation advice superthread

[dnarnya]

If I were in your shoes I'd cut the trip down to like 2 or 3 places... Hit up like a southern country then a more northern and/or eastern. I would go to like Italy and Paris. Then London/Berlin/Prague/etc.

Since you listed your location as pluto then I am assuming that all things will be very new to you. However, if you are from the USA I think that Paris is a must.

Fashion/Historical can be taken care of in most capitals. If you want to do more than capitals and see some scenery or more of the country, then you should stay longer than 4 days or you'll run yourself ragged. Speaking from a previous stay, a day trip outside Florence yields Tuscany and small medieval towns. Actually, a day trip outside most capitals can give you some nice countryside.

Bumming around cities and riding the metro is where its at though.

[Cue]

if I were you I'd pick a few capitals/ big cities and try and get cheap flights between them... Say Barcelona, Paris, London, Berlin - my picks of the best cities in Europe ...

or do one country well + a couple of days in say Paris or London

Also - what's your budget - Europe tends to get cheaper the further you get from London

[sybaritical]

London - Paris - Amsterdam - Berlin - Prague.

Ooh ooh and Barcelona too.

It's got beaches and all the girls look like PJ Harvey.

[eddyz]

thanks for the tips so far.. I think a must for me right now for me is Netherlands (amsterdam), since it seems like the got evrything.. bikes, longboards, cafe's, weed.. all which i want to go and try there.

For some reason, i never really liked going to europe, as I don't see anything special about it.. mainly i go to japan, or hong kong when i do go on trips.. but this time, i want to try something new.

would london be the same as downtown vancouver though? And what is there to do at prague?

[mojinho]

you should totally rent bikes when you're in amsterdam and ride them around, totally fun.

if you're unsure about what you'd like, check out a guidebook and read it cover to cover.

[Cue]

prague has very cheap beer, loads of people visiting to take advantage of said cheap beer, some cool buidlings and beautiful strippers and ladies of the night

one or two stag parties visit each year

london is a dirty shit-hole, but that's what makes it fun

edit: have a good read of some travel blogs, some of the threads here and see what you think sounds good

[eddyz]

you should totally rent bikes when you're in amsterdam and ride them around, totally fun.

if you're unsure about what you'd like, check out a guidebook and read it cover to cover.

werd, i will def rent a bike in amsterdam and cruise around town..

Ya, this weekend i am gonnna go to the library and rent some of those "lonely planet" books.. but those books usually offer too little of the "unique" place to go, and i rather ask here.

anyone got any tips of going to Swizerland? or other places.. more help the better! thanks guys!

[eddyz]

prague has very cheap beer, loads of people visiting to take advantage of said cheap beer, some cool buidlings and beautiful strippers and ladies of the night

one or two stag parties visit each year

london is a dirty shit-hole, but that's what makes it fun

edit: have a good read of some travel blogs, some of the threads here and see what you think sounds good

ah i c, prague doesn't seem much fun then... I am not looking for a booze trip, of course, i don't mind trying out the different beer/wine , but ya, i rather use the money/time to try out different food..

I asked my friends about London, and all they tell me about is how they have cooler looking buildings and just more varity of mini stores...

so far , i am 100% sure of going to Amsterdam. just need to pick 2 other countries to go!

BTW. my budget, probably hotel (or hostel) + food + transportation, i am looking @ about $800 CDN for staying in 3 different countries for 12 days. is this way too little?

[Cue]

Dude - you need to rethink your budgeting I reckon.

$800CDN is 536Euro at today's rate - that's less than 50 a day.

You won't have a good time in Western Europe on that. You could probably scrape by, but that's about it.

If you got a EuroRail pass or a couple of cheap flights most of your $$ will be gone.

Have a think about going to Moroco/ Spain or Eastern Europe maybe, but even then it will be a bit tight.

[Cue]

...... 10 .....

[sybaritical]

I lived in Prague just after the revolution. Aside from the fact that it's built like a fairytale, the beer was cheap (15 pence a pint back then) and the women were extremely beautiful. Be prepared to drink yourself into oblivion though ... Be especially careful of anything that comes in multicoloured layers or has 'Absinthe' written on or near it.

London is a transport hub for the european traveller. Fly in, check some stuff out for sure, but unless you're there for a reason, score your cheap travel and flights and then move on after a couple days or you'll go broke quick.

Addendum:

WOha. You're going to need a whole bunch more money.

[mojinho]

fuck yeah i would say 3 times as much. are you budgeting in your transatlantic flight in there? don't you want to eat in restaurants instead of cooking in the hostel kitchen every night, go shopping and go to nightclubs where all the hottie girls/boys/trannies/whatever-you're-into are?

the lonely planet books vary widely, i would still read them. i just used the Buenos Aires one and it had tons of great tips, the same ones my local friends had given me.

[englandmj7]

COOLEST PLACES TO VISIT IN EUROPE:

Peckham/Hackney in England

Ballymun/Fatima Mansions in Ireland

[Cue]

COOLEST PLACES TO VISIT IN EUROPE:

Peckham/Hackney in England

Ballymun/Fatima Mansions in Ireland

Peckham's actually gentrifying ...

This pub is full of Guardian readers and their obnoxious offspring ...

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/4254.htm

check this comment:

Really lovely pub during the day and evening. Very child friendly for mums and dads meeting up during the week and a lovely atmosphere for sunday lunch. We have taken lots of guests here and never been disappointed. The roast lunch is fab! Great pub garden in the summer.

[eddyz]

ah i c, well hopefully by the end of this month i will be getting my student loan so i can use some of it for the trip..

keep them suggestions coming!

[Tisswat]

The possibilities are quite endless. There's so many places to visit and most countries and cities make for interesting destinations, depending on what you want to do/see. There is no way that you'll be able to see everything in a few weeks, so you might as well pick a few places that fancy your curiosity.

Considering the fact that you're interested in historical sites, I'm quite surprised that Turkey (Istanbul) and Greece haven't been mentioned. Have you considered Istanbul? How about Rome and the ancient ruins of Roman harbour town Ostia? Just a few of the endless possibilities. The history of Europe is as old as mankind, so you might want to pick your favourite era and choose a destination accordingly.

I agree with the others here that you need to increase your budget and take your time to explore everything. Assuming that you're young and healthy, this doesn't have to be the only trip you will ever make to Europe. Try to visit a variety of places to give you a sample of what the continent has to offer. If you like what you see, come back in time.

[eddyz]

well, i don't want to visit historical cities throughout my trip, but maybe 2 or 3 days will be mainly visiting liek castle type, and historical art/architecture.

can anyone who has been to europe for around 2 weeks give me their itenearry?

[totally epic]

I did the survey trip a few years ago. Spent 2-3 days per city (Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Geneva, Paris) just to get a feel of where I would like to visit on later trips. A few days is enough time to do the main touristy things, become somewhat familiar with the people, and have a good time. You'll hate the last week of it though (it gets very tiring).

Big tip: don't fly into and out of the same city (i.e. do multi-city instead). This usually doesn't cost extra and saves the time/money of getting back to the original city.

Another tip: travel in between cities on off-days like Sundays since everything is closed anyway.

[sybaritical]

Sunday in London is a great day ... Markets, food , music ...

[Tisswat]

Same here in Amsterdam, especially in spring/summer.

[totally epic]

Well, Sunday in German speaking countries = boring as shit.

[dnarnya]

word, Berlin on sunday was boring.

[AstroWolf]

barcelona is the shit. just go there.

[mojinho]

yeah i kinda agree it's better to just pick fewer places and spend more time there. unless you're a glutton for tourist punishment (= getting up at 7am and hitting two museums by lunch) you won't get bored. haven't been to Barcelona but i've never heard anything bad about it, ever

[lacquered]

as a heads up, do be extra careful with your money etc as there are plenty of pickpockets in Paris. Here's one of the many schemes:

small group (3-4) of well trained pickpockets will linger on the entry/exit ramps at Metro (subway) stations looking for a tourist exiting the Metro (subway) car. Once the targeted tourists are identified and communicated among the gang they will mix in with the group of departing Metro passengers heading for the escalator which provides access to the street level. Two gang members will locate themselves on the escalator step immediately behind the targeted tourists. A third gang member will locate himself several steps lower on the escalator. As the target reaches the halfway point on the escalator ride the third man will begin moving up the escalator by politely tapping people on the shoulder and gently pushing his way pass them until he reaches a position just in front of the targets. At this point he is very near the exit point of the escalator. Just as the escalator is about to deposit him onto the landing the third man, now in position directly in front of the targets, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of coins, but awkwardly drops several onto the landing. Stepping onto the landing he bends over to pick up the coins, just as the target individuals are forced to step off of the moving escalator and bump hard into the gang member who is being very deliberate in picking up his coins. As the escalator continues to deposit people on the landing everyone, including the two pickpockets on the step behind the targets, are thrown violently into each other at which time the pickpockets quickly and without notice remove the wallets from the back pockets of the men in front of them.

With all of the commotion and multiple people being thrown into each other no one is even aware that the wallets have been lifted until it is far too late and the gang is long gone.

[eddyz]

North Pole

[azn8oi]

It's funny you would suggest Buenos Aires, because it's one of the places that I would to go to as well.

I have this strange desire to go to Buenos Aires, chill for a week or two, then take a plane down to Ushuaia. Ushuaia is basically the city closest to "lands end" and is the southern most city in the world.

From there, you can take a ice-cutting barge down to Antarctica. Why anyone else would go there is beyond me, but for me it's basically the final frontier. Maybe I just want to visit some Visvim FW07 Catalog shit.

Who knows.

[azn8oi]

Visvim FW07 is from Alaska, though, I think. Who cares? Should be similar.

[Tyler Durden]

It's funny you would suggest Buenos Aires, because it's one of the places that I would to go to as well.

I have this strange desire to go to Buenos Aires, chill for a week or two, then take a plane down to Ushuaia. Ushuaia is basically the city closest to "lands end" and is the southern most city in the world.

From there, you can take a ice-cutting barge down to Antarctica. Why anyone else would go there is beyond me, but for me it's basically the final frontier. Maybe I just want to visit some Visvim FW07 Catalog shit.

Who knows.

funny, cuz thats where i would go. i think people go there for two things. the penguins and the Southern Lights

[azn8oi]

I'm really going to do it someday, though. Hopefully before 30 porque si no voy, me vaya a olvidar todo lo que aprendí en secundario..