vacation advice superthread

[englandmj7]

If you want to shop your ass off, you're best bet is NYC. If you care about weather, then you're best best is LA. If you want to keep the cost down, all 3 cities are pretty damn expensive, but you will be able to get to SF or LA for cheaper than you will get to NYC.

My vote, being that I live in SF and lived in LA for several years is to go to NYC. Seriously, there is no better place to shop. However, if you want to go to beaches, etc. than you should hit up LA and possibly take a roadtrip to San Diego or Mexico (only a couple hours away).........

[smurf]

I'm from Seattle too and I agree with England about the shopping. As for air fare, NYC and LA are about the same cost right now, with San Fran being about 20 bucks less. As a rule of thumb, flight deals to NYC from SEA are usually more common than either of the California cities, thanks to JetBlue.

Another thing to consider is that once you're on the ground, NYC is going to be cheaper to navigate, via the subway. San Francisco is pretty easy to get around in without a car too, but a car is a must in LA.

Also check out Craigslist for places to stay. I've used it a bunch in NYC, but never in the other places.

My vote is for NYC too. But if either you or your buddy have a reasonably reliable car, you could also consider driving to SF and cut out the air fare alltogether!

Have fun.

[Aeros]

NYC. Best food, shopping, and night life in the country.

[lamscott]

Any good deals flying from LA to somewhere exotic?

I was thinking about those inclusive trips to Jamaica.

[snugglepony]

i used to think jamaica would be a nice place to travel.

then i watched life and debt on public television...

what are your wants/needs of a destination? might get some good feedback if you're a little more specific.

[englandmj7]

Yeah; do you want a beach/warm weather? Do you want to party your ass off? Want to see historical sites or experience a radically different culture? Make up your damn mind man.

Either way, I would recommend Thailand and SE Asia as a whole. Last year I flew from LA to Bangkok for $700, from LA to Tokyo for $600, and from LA to Dublin, Ireland for $398. You can find some great deals flying out of LA.

[lamscott]

You guys are awesome.

I need tropical but with a good shopping. Nothing too radical but food should be awesome! i was thinkging of japan becuase I've always wanted to go, but everything is so damn expensive there. I'm vietnamese and have been to SE asia before so its not pressing that I go there.

[englandmj7]

You guys are awesome.

I need tropical but with a good shopping. Nothing too radical but food should be awesome! i was thinkging of japan becuase I've always wanted to go, but everything is so damn expensive there. I'm vietnamese and have been to SE asia before so its not pressing that I go there.

You will find that Japan is not as particularly "expensive" as people say it is. Don't get me wrong; if you had a million dollars to blow, you could spend it there in a couple days, but if you are on a budget you can get by just as easily as in any major US city. When I was there about 6 months ago I stayed in a nice hostel for $18 a day, ate for about $10 a day and spent a total of $220 on travel expenses (travelling to Osaka, Kyoto, Takayama, Nikko, and Tokyo; with tons of inner-city travel as well and a JR Rail Pass)........

One thing it isn't, however, is tropical. Go there if you want beautiful scenery, excellent food & shopping, great culture/history and people, but if you want cheap & sunny, then SE Asia really is the only place you should be. Or you could consider S. America (Brazil).

[the wit of the staircase]

new orleans

[BoardC3]

I'm planning on going to Paris and Rome for 4 days each during March (9-17) for spring break/my 21st birthday. I have never been out of the country (canada doesn't count), and am going with my girlfriend who also has never been out of the country. were looking for a decently nice hotels in good locations for around 140euro a night. Also if you have any suggestions of places to check out while were there I would love some suggestions. I know I can check out reviews online but I would like to hear it from people that are somewhere around me age group with similar interests. I am very thankful for any help.

-Chris

[Tisswat]

I know I can check out reviews online but I would like to hear it from people that are somewhere around me age group with similar interests.

What are you interests?

[mike lowrey]

congratulations on your first trip, then

the search doesn't seem to work at the moment, but once it does use it to look for threads, theres a ton on Paris atleast.

for hotels, check tripadvisor.com, you can search for the best rated hotels in a certain price range, for example. very useful. all the reviews there cant be taken too literally, people seem to be annoyed by small details and give the whole hotel 2/5 because of that. but the overall score gives a good idea and so far it has worked for me very well.

I'm actually going to Paris in march too so I've just been looking at hotels. Mayet seems very nice, good location in saint germain, very reasonably priced and since it belongs to Tablet Hotels its at least somewhat of a good sign. I've stayed at a couple of their hotels and been very happy. you can check Mayet on Tripadvisor.

For getting around, the subway is apparently good. use Google Maps to find locations. what I do whenever I go somewhere is I print a map and mark down all the places I want to go to. when you do it at home you'll be off much easier there. also, if you have a laptop check whether your hotel has wireless, if it does bring it along, can help a lot.

for stores, check the superfuture main site for store lists and maps and also search the forum.

[Swych]

Going for Easter/ Spring break. I know its late in the season, but what are the good European resorts for March 23rd? I don't mind the price too much, but more importantly, it has to have the most snow. any recommendations?

[Guest Goose25]

stay as high as you can - the season is warmer than usual and lower resorts are not getting so much snow. Try France's Les Arcs 1950 and 2000, good snow andn supermarkets, restaurants and a lot of runs on two mountains

[Swych]

so what are the famous high ones? could you maybe give me 2 more to look into

oh and thanks =)

[junglejane]

i don't know for sure exactly which resort but I know Switzerland is famous for having tons of great slopes on the alps.

[AlanT]

France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy all offer good snow pretty late into the season, should be plenty of choice.

[Felix]

Arlberg, Laax, Zermatt, Saas Fe.....there are plenty more options..glacier might be a good choice...but if the weather doesn't change within the next month i'd stay home!

[Tisswat]

Either Val D'Isere or Val Thorens would be my choice.

Note that so far this has pretty much been the worst year ever in terms of snowfall. Many people are even coming back a few days early because the snow is either very bad or there isn't any at all - especially in the lower resorts. In Europe, everyone (including me) is still waiting for the snow. Expect a late peak season if the snow does come.

If possible, I would sit this one out and wait for next year if I were you. Anything can happen, but I don't think it's going to be as good as say last season. Higher resorts are better, but I have been to Tignes (2100m) and Val Thorens (2300m) and when there is little snow, the higher resorts aren't that good either.

Keep an eye on the snow reports!

[thekennyyu]

You'll be able to find plenty if your price range is up to 140. Venere.com let's you find hotels based on locations inside the city as well as by price. It's pretty complete and the prices they find are very good.

[C0C0]

Well guess I will have the pleasure of going to europe again this summer, but i'm so confused as to where to go!!! I had been planning on visiting southern italy the next time I went, however I fell in love with Venice and maybe would like to go there again.

I was thinking of doing some type of cruise that would go through southern italy & greece, but since I'm going alone I don't know if that would be better than staying in one place...any advice?

[Aeros]

Two of my friends and I are planning a EuroTrip for this coming summer. We would leave on June 6th and return back to the United States exactly a month later. As of right now my friends were thinking of starting in Lisbon, working our way through Spain and Italy, flying from Italy to Turkey (using EasyJet), flying from Turkey to London and then back home to the US.

I have many friends in Santander, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris (some of whom we can stay with free of charge). I myself was thinking of starting in London working our way down to Paris, then cutting through Switzerland to Italy (where we would go to Rome, Venice, and Florence), from there we would head over to Spain (where we would go to Barcelona, Madrid, and Santander) and then spend a little bit of time in Lisbon before heading home to the US.

What route do you guys think is better? Do you have any suggestions of places to stay, what to pack, where to go, how much money to bring, etc? If any of you have gone on a EuroTrip before your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if any of you know the cheapest way to get to europe for students please let me know. Thanks.

[soisbelle]

The only thing I could suggest is don't pack too much in. You only have a month and it sounds like you would only have time for 1-2 days in each place, and travelling between cities/countries takes up quite a bit of time. Why not just focus on one country, say Spain or Italy. Take your time and enjoy the cities, don't rush through them. Sure, you can say you've 'been' there, but you won't really have seen them. The world isn't going anywhere - you can always come back and see the places you didn't have time for.

I had to do this 3 years ago when I spent 4 months in Europe, I cut back to just 3 countries and it was brilliant. Being able to just walk around, sit in a cafe for hours and people watch, doing what I want and not having to pack it in because I have to leave the next day. It's disappointing when you're at the planning stage because you do want to see so much, but it's better this way. You'll also save money because you won't be spending it on trains, buses, planes.

Have fun, whatever you do :-)

[Cue]

Two of my friends and I are planning a EuroTrip for this coming summer. We would leave on June 6th and return back to the United States exactly a month later. As of right now my friends were thinking of starting in Lisbon, working our way through Spain and Italy, flying from Italy to Turkey (using EasyJet), flying from Turkey to London and then back home to the US.

I have many friends in Santander, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris (some of whom we can stay with free of charge). I myself was thinking of starting in London working our way down to Paris, then cutting through Switzerland to Italy (where we would go to Rome, Venice, and Florence), from there we would head over to Spain (where we would go to Barcelona, Madrid, and Santander) and then spend a little bit of time in Lisbon before heading home to the US.

What route do you guys think is better? Do you have any suggestions of places to stay, what to pack, where to go, how much money to bring, etc? If any of you have gone on a EuroTrip before your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if any of you know the cheapest way to get to europe for students please let me know. Thanks.

check out the eurorail passes, it's a super cheap way to get around and the trains are pretty sweet

http://www.eurail.com/

while the budget airlines, eastjet etc, are cheap you get stung travelling to and from the airports which are normally in the middle of nowhere. at least with the train you will be delivered straight to the middle of the city and not have to pay for a cab.

moneywise, i always found that accommodation around Sapin and Italy usually costs around 20 to 30 euros a night. London loads more.

I would also suggest adding Berlin to your trip if you can - it's one of the best cities in Europe IMO

have fun chap

[todesengel]

Don't try to fit Turkey in to a trip that short. You need at least a few weeks to really see the sights. If you try to squeeze it in, you'll just see Istanbul, and that would be a shame (don't get me wrong, Istanbul is awesome, but so is the rest of Turkey).

As far as flights, the cheapest is usually to fly into London then grab a budget flight from London to your destination.

Also, go to central Europe, it rocks.

[Tisswat]

Skip Switzerland and go to Italy via the Cote d'Azur instead. I wouldn't want to miss Paris, but the same goes for Istanbul. Tough choice!

[Tob]

berlin is mandatory in my opinion!

its cool you have included turkey in your plan though it is really far away from the rest of what you want (which is al western europe, save italy). it might cost you a lot in proportion to what you get to see with such a short stay.

maybe you can consider lisbon, spain, italy, paris (in whatever way you want to get there) and finishing with london.

whatever, i hope you have a good time dude:)

[white_giraffe]

i took a trip a few years back and went similar to your second route starting in london. although it was a blast, it really is not enough time to spend in each place. i only stayed like 2 days in some places and while that was good it definitely wasn't as nice as the places i spent more time at. and the travelling time was indeed alot and after a while seems like all youre doing is being on the road.

[seraphim]

The cheapest way to do it would be to avoid London fullstop, really. Hotels cost a fuckload, even the cheap ones. Like others have said, if you've only got a month i'd focus on one small area of Europe, you could always use switzerland as a base, and go across the borders into germany/france/italy etc.

[zoire]

what everybody said:

concentrate on small areas

skip london altogether ($$ aside, it costs lots of time travelling to and from london)

i would say either go spain/portugual combo

or france/germany/switzerland/northern italy

or central europe, but transportation could be a headache in central europe...

I spent two months in half the places in ur itinerary and i still felt rushed.

take your time and enjoy urself

ur not there to accomplish something