Quote:
Originally Posted by gargamel
But, sadly, Amsterdam is the only city where you'll find a Sbarro.
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^^^ ...and you won't find a Papa Johns in any of them.
YYC -> Amsterdamn
My memories of Amsterdam are from many years ago so things have likely changed but there were some sketchy areas on either side of the red light district. Like in any city there were areas to avoid at night...one of those was the main square down from the train station. It might all be different now so I'll defer to those who were there in the current century.
Ams -> Paris, France
I could go on and on about Paris. I've been at least a half dozen times, love the city. Feel free to PM if you have questions and if I can't answer Mrs. Furnace who is from Paris can answer.
Paris -> Nice, France
If you really want to do the French Riviera, then I'd suggest trying for Antibes. It's right next door to Nice but is slightly less expensive.
Nice -> Rome, Italy
Going there the beginning of September so I'll have some current intel for you. Basically though just get 4x4 to send you his 10 paragraph long description of what to see. It's awesome and freaking hilarious. The PM he sent me is hall of fame worthy.
Rome -> Venice, Italy
As others have said fitting in Florence or Siena would be great. Again, I'll have more to say of those after our trip.
My memory of Venice was waking up to the sounds of air raid sirens and lots of splashing. We were there in October and the tides were high so the place flooded. We just went and bought rubber boots and wandered around the streets in those for the day. It was tiring, but very memorable.
Venice -> Vienna, Austria
Never been but everyone likes it. I've been to Salzburg which was pretty.
Vienna -> Munich, Germany
Again, not been. Closest was Hiedelberg.
General tips for Europe/travel:
- As others have said you can get by most places with English and part of the fun is trying to communicate.
- Expect to wash your clothes. You don't go 3 weeks at home without washing so you can't do that on the road either. By planning for these you'll immediately take less crap. Bring some laundry soap and more importantly a large rubber stopper for the sink so you can wash your clothes in your room. Often hotel/hostel sinks don't have stoppers.
- You (and your wife) can easily go 3 weeks with just a carry on bag each. I've done it without any problems on more than one occasion, my wife too. A tip is to take everything you think you need, pack it up, and then go downtown on the bus with it and walk around for an hour with it and then go back home. If you didn't find it a pain in the ass then you might be ok. Remember in cities like Paris the metro system is huge so you end up carrying bags up and down stairs and through long walkways to get from train to train plus you'll need to walk a bit to get to where you are staying. Having less crap to schlep around makes for the between accommodations that much better. Rolling bags are great for nice even pavement but not so great for stairs and cobblestones.
www.onebag.com is a great source of information. Also Rick Steves has lots to say on the matter (and has great travel bags)
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/packlight.htm.