Europe Trip Recommendation

[OffsideSpecialist]

I have to reiterate FurnaceFace's point above...a lot of people didn't realize how little they can actually accomplish on travel days, and did get annoyed going from city to city so quickly. At a point, you end up spending more of your trip in an airport, a train or a bus than in the cities you wish to visit.

Originally Posted by rubecube

I'm actually going to be staying on site at the Sziget festival in Budapest but I'd be happy to hear about the hostels in Prague and Berlin. I'll probably skip Munich because I'm planning on being there in September for Oktoberfest.

In Berlin I stayed at Jetpak Alternative. Berlin has a lot of different neighbourhoods with different characteristics. This one is in Kreuzberg where there is a lot of graffiti and it is known as an area with a lot of immigrants, many Turkish, and having an area with some underground bars. I found a good shawarma place in the area I ate at. It is also close to Berlin Ostbahnhof (East train station), East Side Gallery and the subway. I was sick for much of my time in Berlin, and was only there for a short time so to be quite honest I didn't get a whole lot done. Some of the bars in the area opened Thursday afternoon, and weren't closing until mid-day Monday. Typically, you can have a hard time getting into bars as a foreigner if you are a part of a male-dominated group.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend that hostel if the neighbourhood doesn't turn you off at all. The rooms were super clean and it was small so good to meet some people. They had a stocked bar fridge where you pay for drinks based on the honour system, with cheap beer. There is a sketchy park across the street I would not go in after dark. A lot of people staying at the hostel rented bicycles - said it was a great city for biking in.

In Prague I stayed at Hostel One. They plan some activities for dinner throughout the week, either excursions, a barbecue on their patio or something cooked up in the kitchen. It's not located right at Prague city centre but it's easy to get to on the tram (like 5 minutes) and you may appreciate a break from all the people. They had a bar downstairs that they would open for a few hours before most people went out as a group to do something at night. Prague is a lovely city, much of my time here was spent wandering. The castle is huge.

If you feel like getting out of the city's a bit, I can recommend a short trip to Ceske Budejovice, the home of Budweiser. I stopped here for lunch on my way to Prague. I didn't do a whole lot other than get to say I tried a Budweiser here. Don't get scared by the name, it's much different than the American Budweiser. Also, you could run into Roman Horak and express your condolences for him being traded to the Oilers.

Just beyond Ceske Budejovice is Cesky Krumlov. It's a small town, although it gets a lot of tourism now. I found it to be a nice break from the big cities. It is absolutely gorgeous, and had another huge castle. There were several places to go for some nightlife in town...just small pub-type establishments...no huge Prague-type dance clubs here. I stayed at Hostel 99. It is at the end of an alley right at the city gates, so it is actually a pretty quiet area. They do a tubing pub crawl along the river, which I would have loved to do, but it turned out that I picked the wrong day to be there.

For information on trains throughout Europe, I use http://seat61.com/ if I am curious about anything. For transport in an around Czech Republic you can use Student Agency, which I found to have cheap but comfortable buses.

[Nyah]

I'm heading to Europe Friday to check some more cities off my list:
- Vienna
- Prague
- Istanbul
Does anyone have any tips or good recommendations for things to see & do? I've heard Vienna has a really good Holocaust Memorial. Mostly looking for historical stuff & food. I don't know too much about Istanbul or Prague, so any advice would be awesome.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I'm heading to Europe Friday to check some more cities off my list:
- Vienna
- Prague
- Istanbul
Does anyone have any tips or good recommendations for things to see & do? I've heard Vienna has a really good Holocaust Memorial. Mostly looking for historical stuff & food. I don't know too much about Istanbul or Prague, so any advice would be awesome.

I have never been to, or am familiar with for that matter, the holocaust memorial in Vienna, but the one in Prague in the Jewish quarter is amazing. Both cities involve a lot of walking and you will only really need to catch a tram or cab in Prague to get to Prague Castle- which takes a good half day to see. You could walk up to the castle, but it is a fairly steep incline up cobblestone streets- not really that difficult though unless you have some older people in your group. Lots of awesome side streets to navigate through in Prague, with old town and Wenceslas Square as two of the most popular spots. Charles Bridge is not far from Old Town and is one of the most visited spots in Prague- which is where you would cross to begin the walk to Prague Castle. If you can get tickets, I would recommend seeing whatever you can in one of the opera houses- particularly the Estates theater, which is where a number of Mozart's operas debuted. The Natural history museum at the one end of Wenceslas square has an amazing exterior, but nothing special past admission. The Mucha museum is a simple and and easy exhibit to get through in an hour or so and definitely worth considering.

Vienna is probably one of the cleanest cities in Europe and will be the more expensive of the two. Belvedere is a pretty amazing museum with a lot of very well known pieces, as is the Leopold. A tour of the Hofburg and Schonbrunn palaces are usually a must for most people- would pick Schobrunn though if you only actually go inside one of the two. St. Stephen's Cathedral is fairly central and pretty incredible. We paid to go to the top on our most recent trip, and it was probably worth the price and wait.

I recall going on a tour of Mozart's house in Vienna, which was pretty cool and only took an hour or so.

Both cities are amazing, particularly at night. Can't really say which I prefer as both are on the top of my list for European cities. Was in Prague for close to a year almost 10 years ago, but went back recently to Prague and Vienna with my wife- prices are steadily going up, particularly in Prague, but it is still one of the "cheaper" options in Europe.

edit- actually, Vienna does require some public transport as well- at least to the Belvedere and Schonbrunn

[FCAV]

I haven't read through this thread (admittedly), but my recommendation would be Portugal and specifically Porto. I did a trip last summer that took me through London, Amsterdam, Ibiza, Malaha, dipped down to Morocco, Porto, Paris and back to London and of all the stops, Porto was my favorite.

If it's a route you're considering, take the hike via this company: http://www.oportoadventuretours.com/

It was the highlight of the trip.

[polak]

Anyone have any tips on Split, Croatia? We'll be busy pretty much all day and all night and hungover for 3 of our 5 nights but the other two days we'll be looking for something to do. We're currently looking for apartments for the 4 of us to rent since every hotel in town appears to be booked solid and we're not having much luck as every reply we get seem to be "We don't rent during Ultra", which is understandable, but sucks.

We're very time constraint for this trip since we all have to visit family but we plan on driving from Poland, stopping for a few hours in Vienna for dinner, then driving directly to Split. After 5 days, we drive from Split through Hungry, hit Budapest for a night and then go to Warsaw and fly home. Any tips for Budapest or things that might be along the way?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by polak

Anyone have any tips on Split, Croatia? We'll be busy pretty much all day and all night and hungover for 3 of our 5 nights but the other two days we'll be looking for something to do. We're currently looking for apartments for the 4 of us to rent since every hotel in town appears to be booked solid and we're not having much luck as every reply we get seem to be "We don't rent during Ultra", which is understandable, but sucks.

We're very time constraint for this trip since we all have to visit family but we plan on driving from Poland, stopping for a few hours in Vienna for dinner, then driving directly to Split. After 5 days, we drive from Split through Hungry, hit Budapest for a night and then go to Warsaw and fly home. Any tips for Budapest or things that might be along the way?

When I stayed there, we rented a soba right in the Diocletian Palace adjacent to and overlooking the Temple of Jupiter.

I can't find the website (might be on Trip Advisor or Air BnB somewhere). I found about it in the Rick Steeve's guide. The owner of the soba actually gave us a discount because we had the book on us (apparently we had just missed Rick by a week and he stayed in that room again).

Split can be a little overwhelming. If you get off a bus or at the airport, you will have a lot of people offering accommodations and you have to be careful because some of them will end up being out of town a little and unfortunately, they are not always up front about the location. It is not as bad as Greece, but you still get a lot of tourist chasers there as opposed to other places in Croatia.

When are you are going? If it is not until September, you will not have to worry about booking ahead. When you get to town, find the nearest tourist centre, and tell them that you are looking for a room or house to rent in the town centar, and they will have a list of approved and inspected private accommodations. It is also expected that you inspect the room and it is totally fine to decline it and ask for something else. If you are going mid-summer, you will probably want to book ahead.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I'm heading to Europe Friday to check some more cities off my list:
- Vienna
- Prague
- Istanbul
Does anyone have any tips or good recommendations for things to see & do? I've heard Vienna has a really good Holocaust Memorial. Mostly looking for historical stuff & food. I don't know too much about Istanbul or Prague, so any advice would be awesome.

Budapest.

You can hit up museums there. It is a bit odd, as some of the military stuff is AXIS. It is a really great city, lots to see and do.

Word of warning, do not go to the Zoo, unless you can confirm it has been significantly upgraded.

I would give Croatia a miss.

[me_dennis]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I'm heading to Europe Friday to check some more cities off my list:
- Vienna
- Prague
- Istanbul
Does anyone have any tips or good recommendations for things to see & do? I've heard Vienna has a really good Holocaust Memorial. Mostly looking for historical stuff & food. I don't know too much about Istanbul or Prague, so any advice would be awesome.

I would highly recommend a bike tour in Prague, in one of your first days there. It gives you an overview of the city, so you know where to visit on your remaining days. It only takes a few hours and the riding is pretty easy (no hills, decent traffic). The tour guides all speak English, and they provide a lot of interesting information during the tour. They take you to a lot of tourist attractions, and might even stop for a beer.

Here is the link to the tripadvisor review if you would like more info.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction...e_Bohemia.html

You could probably find other bicycle tours in the other cities you listed as well. Bike tours are good because you can cover a lot more ground than walking tours, and I always enjoy hearing the commentary and stories from the tour guides. Plus they can give you good insider tips for food, drinks, nightlife, etc.

[polak]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

When I stayed there, we rented a soba right in the Diocletian Palace adjacent to and overlooking the Temple of Jupiter.

I can't find the website (might be on Trip Advisor or Air BnB somewhere). I found about it in the Rick Steeve's guide. The owner of the soba actually gave us a discount because we had the book on us (apparently we had just missed Rick by a week and he stayed in that room again).

Split can be a little overwhelming. If you get off a bus or at the airport, you will have a lot of people offering accommodations and you have to be careful because some of them will end up being out of town a little and unfortunately, they are not always up front about the location. It is not as bad as Greece, but you still get a lot of tourist chasers there as opposed to other places in Croatia.

When are you are going? If it is not until September, you will not have to worry about booking ahead. When you get to town, find the nearest tourist centre, and tell them that you are looking for a room or house to rent in the town centar, and they will have a list of approved and inspected private accommodations. It is also expected that you inspect the room and it is totally fine to decline it and ask for something else. If you are going mid-summer, you will probably want to book ahead.

We're going for Ultra Europe in July which is a music festival that brings in around 150,000 people so we're already pretty hooped. It seems like the main town is pretty small though? We keep going further and further away from the stadium and it still looks like we're only 8 clicks away which isn't too terrible if we get screwed and have to walk.

We've already decided we're going to speak polish instead of english around locals cause who would rip off poor polaks

[Flabbibulin]

Wife and I are going to England and Finland this July on a trip to visit extended family. Kind of feel like we aren't taking full advantage of the trip though as we have been to both more than enough times and won't have the time to go elsewhere. Will still try and get in some things we haven't before- although no offense to Finlanders (or Saskatchewanites for that matter), but there isn't much difference between Finland and Saskatchewan once you get out of Helsinki. Oh well, too bad my extended family doesn't live on the Amalfi coast or something.

Airfare through BA in July was absolutely ridiculous- about $1800 each... not including the flights to Helsinki.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by FCAV

I haven't read through this thread (admittedly), but my recommendation would be Portugal and specifically Porto. I did a trip last summer that took me through London, Amsterdam, Ibiza, Malaha, dipped down to Morocco, Porto, Paris and back to London and of all the stops, Porto was my favorite.

If it's a route you're considering, take the hike via this company: http://www.oportoadventuretours.com/

It was the highlight of the trip.

How the heck do people get the time/money to do a trip like this? I work full time and and holidays aside, no idea how I could afford something like this.

[Lego Man]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

How the heck do people get the time/money to do a trip like this? I work full time and and holidays aside, no idea how I could afford something like this.

You'd be surprised what you can do if you put your mind to it.

[rd_aaron]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

How the heck do people get the time/money to do a trip like this? I work full time and and holidays aside, no idea how I could afford something like this.

Priorities. Maybe they have a good job, but drive a 10 year old car and live below their means.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by rd_aaron

Priorities. Maybe they have a good job, but drive a 10 year old car and live below their means.

Exactly.

I try to go to Europe every year, or 2 at the very least. My sister is always saying that she wants to go and can't afford it, but they are always doing stuff on the weekends, eating at restaurants, have car payments, etc... I calculated what they spend in a summer going camping and on little road trips, and it's way more than I do on the one big thing I do every year.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

How the heck do people get the time/money to do a trip like this? I work full time and and holidays aside, no idea how I could afford something like this.

I've cut out a lot of unneeded expenses to save for my upcoming trip.

Thankfully, now that someone has reminded me of airbnb, I think my flight is easily going to be my most expensive cost.

This thread always gets bumped and reminds me to start planning.

[Flabbibulin]

Ya, season tickets to the Flames for a year would more or less be the same as a trip to Europe? Or perhaps the car payments for a year on a couple vehicles? I'd rather go on a good 3 week trip in the summer than have season tickets or a new vehicle or any other number of things other people value more.

edit- come to think of it, our bloody annual condo fees would pay for a trip somewhere.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Ya, season tickets to the Flames for a year would more or less be the same as a trip to Europe? Or perhaps the car payments for a year on a couple vehicles? I'd rather go on a good 3 week trip in the summer than have season tickets or a new vehicle. Just me though.

I rather have season tickets to the Flames than go on this trip :P

[FCAV]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

How the heck do people get the time/money to do a trip like this? I work full time and and holidays aside, no idea how I could afford something like this.

Like the others have said. Lots of saving, cutting back. Navigating through Europe once you're there isn't all that expensive. Some of it was hostel, others were all-inclusives. It all just comes down to budgeting and desire.

By no means was it cheap, but it was worthwhile. That, and I have a lot of downtime in the summers.

I should also note by no means was the trip one we go on every three months or even once a year. It was budgeted as a 'once in a lifetime' trip. That said, I'm sure there will be a variation of it with other European countries we didn't hit down the road.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Man...I really need to re-eavluate my finances then. I'm sick of taking 1 week holidays in Mexico, we need more than that.

My car is paid for, paid off for sometime now. It too is a 10 yr old car. I have zero debt outside my mortage. CC is paid off each month, nothing on my LOC. I consider myself a pretty frugal person but do tend to eat out a bit too much.

We need to tighten up apparently.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Man...I really need to re-eavluate my finances then. I'm sick of taking 1 week holidays in Mexico, we need more than that.

My car is paid for, paid off for sometime now. It too is a 10 yr old car. I have zero debt outside my mortage. CC is paid off each month, nothing on my LOC. I consider myself a pretty frugal person but do tend to eat out a bit too much.

We need to tighten up apparently.

You know if you report this to the mods, they can ban Captain Crunch from the site.