vacation advice superthread

[eric2019]

This thread has been merged from the multitudes of threads seeking advice on X place to visit. Please use this thread if you are looking for suggestions as to where your next vacation should be or if choosing between multiple locations. DO NOT under any circumstances start your own thread lest very bad things happen to you. Cheers.

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So while I'm over in Europe, I figured I should take a look at other spots besides the biggies (London, Paris, Berlin, blah, blah)- everybody always mention Paris in relation to France but they forget Lyon among others which I thought had a nice vibe to it.

Anybody out there have some ideas of other black sheep cities forced to be outshadowed by their bigger brother metroplexs ?

Easy,

E

-----------------------------------------------

It's not LA, it's Hell-A !

[Harmony]

Hey Easy E,

if you don't mind the cold, head north. The best cities in Europe begin in Hamburg, from there go to Copenhagen (my pick for number 1 city - head to the Louisiana art gallery), then either across the Stockholm by train (a great journey, a super comfy train) or head up to Gothenberg or Oslo and catch the Flåm railway to see the fjords. Then go to Helsinki or, for somewhere really cool, keep going north up to Tromso - a lot of great sights (you can't beat the aurora) and good bars.

Want heat? head to Barcelona. Nice city, but it doesn't touch Copenhagen for things to do and palces to see.

[eric2019]

H,

Copenhagen's was on my mind for the past few days among other places up north - I've always wanted to go to Sweden and Helsinki ..... but the way my trip is turning out to be, it's more like I'll be generally in the mid-area of Europe - though Barcelona is a stop I'm planning on.

I went through Europe a few years back - and I found this great little town of Lucene in Switzerland that I very much enjoyed. Going back this time I'll be going back to the biggie cities though I'll skip most of the tourist thing since I saw them pretty much last time around...

I'm thinking later on I'll have to make another jaunt just for Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, etc.

But thanks for those recommendation !

Say....what's the temperature like in April ?

E

What's buggin' my ears now :

Telefon Tel Aviv - Map of What is Worthless

Klute - Fear of People

Sidestepper - 3 am : In Beats We Trust

KLF - White Room

[Guest]

April's OK. It's not the 'summer season' but that can be better - some hotels still have cheap rooms. If you can hold off going to Sweden until summer that is better, there's some great beaches there. Although, if you catch the train from Copenhagen to Stockholm now you'll travel through snow — the economy carriage is the same as a first class-carriage on France's TGV. It's a great journey.

[Guest]

Hi,

I'd say:

Antwerp, Belgium

Very laid-back town with historic city centre. Belgium (and Italy) serves some of Europe's best food and this city is brimming with top restaurants. Other than that and if you're into it, it has some fine fashion outlets like those of Dries van Noten and Veronique Branquinho.

Naples, Italy

Gawd, amazing city. Dramatic views all over town thanks to that vulcano and location by the sea. History surrounds you here and the week I spent there actually wasn't enough. The glam island of Capri and less flamboyant Ischia and Procida are great city escapes.

Seville, Spain

Historically interesting city centre, some good shops with top local leatherware and the obvious Spanish Zara, Mango, El Corte Ingles chains, fab food (practically all over the Mediterranean)

Rotterdam, Netherlands

The country's 'second' city has shed its grey image. Various interesting architectural sights, excellent museum of modern art and architecture institute and boasting soon-to-be-revamped-tallest-building in the nation, yo!

Oslo, Norway

Such a clean and well-organised town and it ain't Switzerland. Good museums like Edvard Munch's and the one for contemporary art. Shoppingwise it's a bit dull but there's a lot to see around town, from bohemian Gruenerlokka district to Vigeland Park with its nudes in stone.

Andreas

[andreas]

Hi,

I'd say:

Antwerp, Belgium

Very laid-back town with historic city centre. Belgium (and Italy) serves some of Europe's best food and this city is brimming with top restaurants. Other than that and if you're into it, it has some fine fashion outlets like those of Dries van Noten and Veronique Branquinho.

Naples, Italy

Gawd, amazing city. Dramatic views all over town thanks to that vulcano and location by the sea. History surrounds you here and the week I spent there actually wasn't enough. The glam island of Capri and less flamboyant Ischia and Procida are great city escapes.

Seville, Spain

Historically interesting city centre, some good shops with top local leatherware and the obvious Spanish Zara, Mango, El Corte Ingles chains, fab food (practically all over the Mediterranean)

Rotterdam, Netherlands

The country's 'second' city has shed its grey image. Various interesting architectural sights, excellent museum of modern art and architecture institute and boasting soon-to-be-revamped-tallest-building in the nation, yo!

Oslo, Norway

Such a clean and well-organised town and it ain't Switzerland. Good museums like Edvard Munch's and the one for contemporary art. Shoppingwise it's a bit dull but there's a lot to see around town, from bohemian Gruenerloekka district to Vigeland Park with its nudes in stone.

Andreas

[eric2019]

thanks Andres,

Rotterdam has surfaced upon my radar in the last few weeks...alas some of the spots I won't be able to hit... Norway for instance...I'm thinking I'll have to do a separate trip just to visit Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the rest...it's a pain to try to figure where to go while juggling the input from two other people and a time restrictions...I'm gonna dig for Antwerp too.

thx for the info !

What's buggin' my ears now :

Telefon Tel Aviv - Map of What is Worthless

Klute - Fear of People

Sidestepper - 3 am : In Beats We Trust

KLF - White Room

[kiteless]

Hi

I live in Stockholm last six yrs and used to live in London. And New York and Tokyo before that. I must say Stockholm offer very little in terms of decent restaurants, shopping and sightseeing -- au contraire to general opinion. It's great for people interested in the great outdoors with scenery with the archipelagos.

But then -- H&M is virtually everywhere and cost less than anywhere else, there are 2 IKEA stores about 45 mins from the city. But then, if you shop at these places, then you probably wouldn't check out Superfuture. There are some local designers but they are few, in comparison to lets say a city like Barcelona (which I'm surprised noone mentioned yet), Bruxelles or Amsterdam. Although major brands like Gucci, LV etc recently entered the market, most of them are still absent due to the high street tax/VAT (25%, deductable for non-EU citizens) and the low purchasing power.

Stores worthy of mention are however, Asplunds (local/international interior), DesignTorget (interior/books and some clothing - local, often young, designers), Granit (swedish equivalent of muji), R.O.O.M. (vanguard of swedish middle class furnishing). Jus is a decent collection of urban clothing for women (with some also for men), Bric A Brac (a swedish one-store Agnes , Paul & Friends (small selection of Paul Smith, Prada, Marc Jacobs, APC and others). A good place to start is also NK, the one of two department stores which is the closest we get to Barney's or Selfridges, where you will find Paul & Friends, their own selection of local/intl brands and Filippa K (sort of cheap H&M-concept with some APC/Agnes B flavour to it. Horrible quality)

In short, my route (off route from Paris/London) would be Barcelona, Rome, Bruxelles and Amsterdam.

[yen_kid0]

Hi Guys,

On June 7th im off to london for 2-3 weeks, then spain and italy till about the 10th of July, after that im heading to greece till about the 10-15th of august then back to the UK for another week and a half... It is also quite possible to visit Turkey for a day or two for leather jackets and jewelery....maybe some other things?

Now Ive been saving all of my money up for one reason, to blow it all when i get over there.

Can anyone give me the heads up on when sales start in the above mentioned places? Would it be beneficial to wait until I return to london to start buying stuff from there? Any hot spots/stores I should know about?

Basically looking for everything from high quality denim and street wear to casual evening wear and maybe a suit or two, and lots, and lots of shoes!!

Where would be cheapest to buy what? Im comming from Aust, so the GBP is going to absolutely kill me, so need to hang out (if possible) for sales etc.

Im pretty interested in checkin out some APC jeans in the flesh, want to know what all the fuss is about, also 5EP, Paul Smith etc. Really want to try and find a pair of those Paul Smith pointy converse look-a-likes and also after high quality italian made loafers/dress shoes etc. Im guessing shoes may be cheaper in greece and italy?

I know this post is a little all over the place, but if anyone can be of any help it would be much appreciated!

Also, if anyone can give an indication on price in GBP on things, such as APC jeans i guess, also much appreciated.

thanks guys

jp

Try it, you'll like it!

[Cue]

APC jeans are £90 in Liberty, and around the same price at Selfridges, so it's probably cheaper to get them online.

Not sure when the sales kick off - there's always bargains to be found in January, but that's not too much help for you...

Have fun dude.

[jaku]

I went to the "mall", which is a 30 min train ride from Florence, then a taxi ride.

Mall is 5 or so out-let stores: Gucci, Botegna, Armani, Loro Piano...

Gucci had alot of stuff, trousers averaged $100, shoes $100, Belts $50

[jaku]

buy stuff in euros, pounds are jacked

[Paul T]

I was in Selfridge's (not a cheap shop, Oxford St) today, they had APC dry denim for £65.

For Paul Smith, check out their discount store. It's basically off Brook St, which is off Bond St, down a little alleyway. It tends to have sale items and is always worth a look.

For denim Selfridges and Liberty have the widest choice, but their summer sales are limited and I'm not sure when they are. Check out Endell St and Covent Garden (which has the main Paul Smith store) for more denim... they tend to be a bit cheaper, for more selvage, vintage-style denim (INterstate and American Classics). For second'hand go to Mendoza on Brick Lane (great for Belstaff jackets) and Beyond Retro. Altho' if you're from the US, used denim is pricier than in the US.

It's not perfect, but in London buy a copy of the time Out shopping guide, it's pretty good as a guide to what you can get where.

For shoes, save your money til you get to Italy. Even in the main stores, even things like Tod's are 2/3 US prices, and its worth going to them for the beautiful (M&F) sales people.

Have fun.

[yen_kid0]

VERY helpful, thanks a lot guys. Yeh def will wait to get to italy for the shoes, but for jeans and stuff will check out the places you mentioned Paul. Lookin forward to the paul smith discount store and will check out Interstate and American Classics because im looking to buy a few pairs o selvage jeans - quality jeans are pretty hard to get in Melbourne, there are only a few places that even stock selvage dry denim. Apart from nudie, we've basically got a little bit of LVC and crap0la Evisu with prices currently through the roof. There are a few random pieces here and there but definately looking forward to london!!

Thanks for everyones input, appreciate it

Try it, you'll like it!

[Graham]

I'm looking for some inspiriation for a holiday (currently pencilled in for 25th Nov - 9th Dec, but slightly flexible). This will be the longest time I've spent abroad alone, previously I've gone with girlfriends & mates, but I've always had to compromise too much on what I wanted for my liking (note to self: find some better friends).

My budget isn't huge (under £2000 for flights & accommodation - which is a lot for some destinations, but not much for others), but I'm the kind of person who'd rather pay the extra than compromise on quality. I need a holiday that'll take my mind off things, but at the moment I can't decide whether that means being surrounded by people or getting away from them - perhaps both, a dual location trip could be a option.

Any inspirational ideas would really be appreciated.

p.s. I'm hoping to go to Japan next year when I can take a longer period of time off work, so please don't include it in your suggestions this time round.

Edited by Graham on Oct 23, 2005 at 01:19 PM

[Graham]

oh go on...

[Analyst]

Easy...Bangkok, Thailand.....

[Analyst]

Easy...Bangkok, Thailand.....

[Matthew]

You can't beat bumming around Europe. It's small enough to be able to do the city and country thing and to vary your travel - fly, train whatever.

You could always try Spain - Start at Barcelona, work across to Bilbao, San Sebastian and the Basque Country and then head down to Granada and Cadiz in the South.

Just a thought.

Otherwise you could get off your rocks at a full moon party on the Islands in Thailand - or do Goa - or Nepal. Plenty of fun, but a bit of a cliche though.

[Cue]

yeah, eurorail pass? mind you, weather would be nicer in the far east

Laos, Vietnam?

[titus]

Cuba. Really unique.

With 2000 £ you can live like a prince.

[makeupvic]

It depends how far you want to travel and how much you want to rough it. You could visit Malaysia up to Thailand by train and stay in pretty good places for the money you have. Singapore is a must, but not for too long. Bangkok is also a definite, but stay somewhere decent on Sukhumvit. And if you were going to the islands, i would miss Ko Pan Yang (the beach parties) it's crowded and everyone's wasted (unless you like that sort of thing) but go to Langkawi in Malaysia (really lovely people, magical place and pretty cheap) and Ko Samui (to experience and get a great massage at the Chedi), or Phi Phi which was beautiful when i visited before the tsunami, but now apparently has been taken over by pirates???

Or, if you want to go really far - The Cook islands are great to travel, and one of the most beautiful places on earth. You can visit Raratonga, Aitutaki...realatively cheaply and stay with locals or at a resort.

I could mention loads of great places.....better not confuse you too much!

Personally i would go with the good weather...

[Analyst]

hey i think amsterdam hosts its annual cannabis cup in november!!!

[janneh]

Going to Japan (kyoto and Tokyo), Hong Kong, China (Gualin), Cambodia and Thailand. Any tips on good shopping zones or things to do in any of the places?

[sybaritical]

http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=search

[witts]

im thinkin of going away for a week or two around august time. I wana go somewhere thats got cool shops. things to do. and good night life. suggestions please. budget of around £1000 for flights and accom.

thanks

[wilwin]

Went to Guilin, China (i'm guessing you're going there) in November. If you go there, be sure to catch a bus to Yangshuo and stay there for a couple days. There's a lot more westerners over there and is real nice place. U can pick up a lot of cool chinese t-shirts(more expensive than the rest of China, but cheap in general.)

Hong Kong, a million places to go, the guide on the website is good. But I'd reccomend going to Shenzhen if u wanna pick up knockoffs and cheaper goods.

[Cue]

get a euro rail ticket for a few hundred quid and hit up barcelona, paris, berlin and somewhere near the sea all in one hit ...

[Spike]

I'd recommend going to Paris as your starting point, Eurostar + 5 nights hotel in a nice central hotel cost my girlfriend and I £350... Which would leave you a lot more spending money. Otherwise, you can take trains in any direction from there, European rail travel is a lot quicker than UK

[witts]

sounds ok. what about places if i just wanted to stay there for the whole week. new york was on my mind