My friend and I are hammering out plans for a road trip this summer because my car has to get from California to Michigan, and due to the locations of friends and their couches, our trip will be taking us through the south, and potentially up the east coast. Our current itinerary looks something like this: Day 1: Vegas 2: Grand Canyon 3: Phoenix 4: Presumably shitty motel between Phoenix and Austin 5-6: Austin 7-8: New Orleans 9: Tuscaloosa, AL 10: Asheville 11-12: DC 13: Home If any of you have suggestions of things we can't miss/places we have to eat/things to avoid like the plague, I would love to hear them, because neither my travel buddy nor I have ever been to the southwest, and it would be a shame to miss something awesome that's sort of on the way.
I decided to do the backpacker-thing in Europe for 6 weeks spur-of-the-moment (leaving in a few weeks) with a couple friends. One has parents who just bought a house somewhere in the Loire. I found out after I agreed to go that my friends had only an extremely vague plan as to what they want to do. I'm going to sketch that out here, and ask for any suggestions as to places to go, things to do, given a modest but flexible ($3k ish? not including airfare) budget. I am definitely willing to break off on my own if their plans really don't mesh with what I want to do. The only constraint is we are starting at my friend's parents place, so I am flying into and out of Paris. The [laughably vague] plan: Mid-June: fly into Paris, go to the Loire for 5-6 days, staying with a friend at his parents' new house. We have a car from here, so we will be able to make day trips and such. I'm planning on not spending much while we are there, as we'll obviously be sleeping/eating some meals for free, but I'd be down to spend some money if there's something good to do. We will be close to some major wine regions, and traveling to those might be in order, but I'd take any suggestions. After that, one of my friends and I have about 10 days to fill with whatever we want. My initial thought was southern France. I've also heard the suggestion to try to hop on a flight to Greece, do Athens for a couple days then go to an island or something. I'm willing to consider anything reasonable for these 10 days though, I just need to end up in Rome afterward. I am going to sit down with my friends and come up with at least a rough idea of where we are going, but after Rome, I think their plan is to go to Munich for a few days, and then head west to Amsterdam. From these boards it seems like Berlin is a must-visit, and I am inclined to go there, it also seems that we will be missing out on parts of Italy. I'm not into the oh-let's-smoke-hash-in-public-and-look-at-hookers-this-is-awesome! thing, if that helps with suggestions. After Amsterdam, they wanted to go down toward Spain, thinking Barcelona. After that we'd have two more weeks or so to go anywhere. We are sort of circling around Western Europe because a fourth friend is coming for two weeks. He'll be joining us in Rome and traveling from there. If possible, I'd like to travel with my friends, but I'd rather have a great trip than be with my friends 100% of the time. I also understand that I might hate traveling with otherwise good friends, and I am willing to go on my own if need be. I appreciate any general tips, like what cities do I NEED to book hostels in advance given that we are going during the busy tourist season, etc. After typing all this shit out I realize I am long-winded. Cliffs notes plan: -Leave 6/19 -5 or 6 days in the Loire valley with car access for day trips (and suggestions) -10 free days, where should I go? -Rome (suggestions?) -Munich, Amsterdam, but should I be spending more time in Germany, or northern Italy on the way there? -Spain -A free week or two that needs to end in Paris -Flight home from Paris 8/2 -Suggestions? -Also, does the Eurail pass make sense given the above outline, or would point-to-point travel and flights be more cost-effective?
Do NOT use a Eurorail pass for this trip. You're only going for six weeks, and you want to see a lot. Depending on the pass that you buy it can be hard to get seats on the trains that you want, and lots of times you'll be stuck in the shitty cabins, sometimes only with standing room. More importantly, though, is the time that it takes. It can take upwards of two days to get from one country to another (say, from Florence to Paris) if you have shitty connections. You're wasting precious time packed into a train, and I don't care what anyone says; you don't see anything on the train. The scenery is obscured by trees and bushes, and you're traveling too fast to catch anything of note. Do leave it as unplanned and vague as possible. The best parts are when you meet cool people and decide to go where they're going, or when you see a crazy cheap flight to [whatever country you never thought of] and just take it. Flights there can be had cheap - often less than $50. Keep things as loosey-goosey as possible. Having said that, if you KNOW you're going to be someplace on a certain date book the hostel in advance. I've championed <a class="postlink" href="http://www.hostels.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.hostels.com</a> and <a class="postlink" href="http://www.hostelworld.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.hostelworld.com</a> before; pick the highest rated ones and you can't go wrong.
I've lived in Auckland all my life so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but Auckland does have a pretty cool night life. If you can afford it, then somewhere in central Auckland would be good, but it isn't really necessary. Some good areas that are fairly close to the city are Kingsland, Mt Eden, Eden Terrace, Ponsonby. The nightlife in the viaduct is varied, there are quite a few upscale restaurants as well as some bars filled with trashy (and quite often underaged) girls. K'road has some pretty cool bars, and is close to Kingsland, Mt Eden, Eden Terrace and Ponsonby. As far as the CBD goes, Queen St is the main road of Auckland and runs for maybe 2 kms from K road down to the viaduct. A lot of people will tell you that Auckland is a shit place to live and that there is nothing to do here. Wellington's bar scene is much more compact and benefits from that. But Auckland is within driving distance of the Coromandel, Rotorua, Taupo, Mt Ruapehu and Northland, which are all really cool places to visit, but you probably wouldn't want to live there. Check out <a class="postlink" href="http://flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/vgrabview/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/vgrabview/</a> for some really good deals, use <a class="postlink" href="http://www.wotif.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.wotif.com</a> with it to find accommodation if you don't have any. And check out <a class="postlink" href="http://www.trademe.co.nz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.trademe.co.nz</a> for some accommodation and jobs.
I would actually semi disagree with this. Normally I can't stress enough the joys of unplanned travel; however given a 6 week trip with fixed travel points and limited budget of $3k I would try and book as much as possible now taking advantage of the strong dollar. Based off your post I would say Busabout would be perfect for you: http://www.busabout.com/Explorer
I'd disagree with this too. Florence to Paris would NEVER take 2 days, unless you're completely inept. I agree that taking trains is time-consuming as opposed to flying, but a little pre-planning can take care of this, no problem. Just make a reservation on a night train a day or 2 before (which only costs a few dollars), and you're set. You save a night in accommodations, and you'll wake up in a brand new place, ready to go. It won't be the most comfortable nights sleep ever, but it's convenient. I'm not sure what you're talking about in terms of shitty cabins or standing room, because that's never, ever happened to me, even in the dead of tourist season.
The Eurail Pass is an interesting deal because its good in some ways and annoying in some ways. When I travelled through Europe I had one and for some places it worked great. For the places I went to in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland it worked great. But be very aware of which countries do and do not accept the pass. When I was left Berlin for Prague I assumed the pass was valid in the Czech Republic because it said in my guide book it was. The book was wrong and I had an uncomfortable moment on the train when I had to cough up some cash or get off the train in some bumb fuck town inside the border. When this happened I was not sure I had enough cash but by some fluke when I reached into my pocket I had enough Euros to pay for my new ticket. Also, I had a lot of problems with it in Italy. Technically the Italians accept the pass, but on a very limited basis. The only trains which you can use it on in Italy seem not to exist. Don't dare use a high speed train or a normal commuter train. I forgot which type of train accepted the pass but it seemed as if none of them did. Even when I got it right the dam Italians still wanted more money, at a certain point I think the Italians scam people with the pass because they know they are obviously tourists and may/may not know they are getting fucked. It seemed Spain and France would have been problematic as well. While I didn't go through these countries certain cities were on my itenerary that through the course of travel got scrapped. I remember though, that had I wanted to go from Barcelona to Zurich using the Eurail Pass it would have been dam near 2 days to accomplish this task. However, using the high speed train, travel time would have been reasonable. And like someone said above its best not to waste your limited time trying to sleep the time by in coach. All and all I lean toward believing that its really not that good of a deal when you consider all the things I mentioned above and how much money the extra tickets cost that you had to buy because the train you could have used the pass with isn't reasonable and doesn't exist.
The problems in Spain are because every single train ride requires a reservation, and the line for reservations in major cities is obscenely long. And you can't make them online (as of last year at least, that might have changed). I've never had any problems in Italy though, and I've covered the entire country a couple of times. The only major trains I never took were the high-speed Rome-Venice and Rome-Milan trains. Maybe those are the ones that they don't accept. Same with France, it was only the Marseille-Paris train where I had to buy a supplement. Overall, it would depend on the places you're looking to travel, and the type of pass you're going to use. There are a ton of different ones. You'd need a firmer trip plan (at least narrowing down the plan to certain countries or regions) before you could make the decision re: train vs. plane.
It seems like youll be in spain at about the right time. In Pampalona they have the whole running with the bulls festival from July 7th-12th I believe, that would be a cool thing to go to if your there. There is also the running with the nudes which is the PETA protest of the running with the bulls which is the day before the festival (Naked girls from all over the world seems pretty cool to me). When I go to Europe were definitely going there. I do have a question though. For a 2 week trip what would be the best method of travel? Originally we were thinking the Eurorail but from what it seems like you guys are saying it would probably be a waste? We plan on hitting barcelona--> pampalona---> Amsterdam --> Berlin---> Venice--> Barcelona.
Thats pretty intense for a two week trip. Considering how long the travel time will be between each place. When I did my trip I went to a few of those cities. Specifically I did Amsterdam to Berlin to Prague to Munich to Venice as part of it. The train ride from Amsterdam to Berlin will take a full day. From Berlin to Prague I think it was like a 6 hour train ride. From Munich to Venice it was dam near 12 hours. Also you want to at least a few days of not traveling in each city. So you're thinking 6 cities in 14 days? Sounds like a bit much to me. If I were you I'd chop that itinerary in half.
I'm a big fan of the no plans rule when travelling. There's nothing more exciting than hopping on a random bus to a random city where you know no-one and seeing what happens. Sounds like a good trip though, shame you can't fit Ireland into, you yanks are always great fun to drink with when you come over. And the girls, oh my god, American girls must be 10x easier at the least. Shocking.
Damn.. I guess thats a huge issue huh? Sucks not knowing how long the travel will be from place to place..Guess were gonna have to reconsider or just expand the trip a little longer which I kinda wanted to do anyways. It seems like you been to alot of the places we want to though. I think we definitely want to go to Barcelona and Pampalona for sure though, what other places do you recommend, lets say if we do plan a two week trip? We are more worried about having an off the wall , balls out, forever remembering, crazy trip and less of a sight seeing adventure just as a heads up.
It's hard for me to say which cities you should go to because I don't know what your personal tastes. Also, I am far less travelled in Europe than a few people here. But of the cities I visited there were a few that I would go back to in a heart beat if I could. One of those being Amsterdam. I enjoyed Amsterdam not because of the Red Light but because of everything outside of it. Also Florence and Munich were pretty money as well as London. But I'm partial to London b/c of a great hookup I had while I was there.
You can get a good idea of how long a train trip between two cities is going to be by either using <a class="postlink" href="http://www.raileurope.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.raileurope.com</a> or <a class="postlink" href="http://bahn.de" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://bahn.de</a>. For a short trip like that though, flying is definitely the way to go. If you want to have a crazy-ass trip, I'd drop the Venice leg of it. It's a very cool city, but the nightlife is lacking. If you're in Barcelona anyway, I'd fly to Ibiza for a couple of days.
I'm going to LA for business for a weekend but I have another four days there with nothing to do. I'm under 25 so I can't rent a car but I'm willing to cab/bus anywhere. What is there to do in LA?
Having returned from my trip, here's my list of recommended things in case anyone wants to know for the future: In Berlin: - East Seven hostel. Was a cheap groovy place with cheap beer (happy hours are 1 Euro for a half litre of whatever) and there's a party on Monday nights where everyone cooks a dinner together. It's got good access to transport, but it's a bit out of the way of the city centre. As a consolation, it's a short walk to Kastanianallee and all the delicious food there. - Brewer's Tours. I did the New Europe tours in Munich and while they were good, the two tour guides from Brewer's had lived in the city for many years, spoke German, and could go on for hours about the history of individual buildings on various streets, from museums to hospitals to schools to bars - and in a serious manner, at that. The Munich tour I took with New Europe was filled with details that I knew were more popular legend than real history. Much better than a tour from, say, someone who's been living there for six months and doesn't even speak German. -Of the museums I visited, the Pergamonmuseum was hands down the best. Munich: - Dachau. Whenever I mentioned towards the tail end of my trip that I'd been there, people would grimace and ask me how it was and either say that they were afraid to go (and more irritatingly, that they would only go on the condition that they could do it with a group of Jewish people). I will tolerate none of this bed-wetting. You need to go, no matter how little time you have. If you're short on time, take a tour there, because they'll handle getting there and back, and will save you from spending all day reading all of the information panels. Then again, you really could spend all day there. - Beer halls: the Hofbrauhaus is neat and all, but it's touristy and I found it slightly more expensive than other beer halls. The Augustiner hall on Landsbergerstrasse, right next to the actual Augustiner brewery, was slightly cheaper, had great food and was filled with locals. Then again, you're in a country where a litre of the finest beer in the world is 8 Euros at the very most, so. -The only complaint I can conceive about Munich is that there are too many beer halls and not enough public bathrooms. Berchtesgaden: - If you're young and single and want to have lots of fun, don't. If you're adventurous, want to climb up to a mountain hut where the operators barely speak a lick of English, and like being in the mountains, do. Though I'd suggest putting it at the beginning of your trip, because a) you don't want to carry souvenir weight up a mountain, and b) it kind of sucks going from lively, vibrant cities with lots of people to meet to relative isolation. Bringing a friend will help. -I stopped in at the Hotel Brandtnerhof for two nights and thought it was lovely: 22 Euros for a double bed and TV, breakfast included, sharing a bathroom with one other room. To weigh in on the train issue, the Eurail pass would have been retarded for me. I spent 180 Euros on a round trip overnight from Munich to Berlin in an upgraded 2 person sleeper and the Bayern ticket costs 20 Euros and lets a group of up to 5 people travel anywhere in Bavaria on almost every form of transportation, except for the ICE trains and D trains. That includes city buses, trams, S bahns and U bahns.
Over dinner on Saturday, my wife and I decided that we're going to celebrate our 2nd anniversary with a week in Ireland. I've always wanted to go, everyone I know who has been there has raved about it, and I like beer. At this point, I am only just starting to look into this, but this was the first place I thought of when we made the decision. So...I know that we will be starting in Dublin, we will be there in November (I know the weather will suck, but that's when we can make this happen), and we're looking at between 5 and 7 days. Otherwise, I am open to any and all suggestions. Best place to book a flight? Go with a complete vacation package or book separately? Drive ourselved around? Hotels or bed and breakfasts? Any and all insights and experiences are appreciated.
What a wonderful decision! Sadly I don't know too much about Ireland outside of Ulster. I'd say spend a nice 3/4 days in the South, do the usual tourist stuff, visit the Guinness factory, drink plenty get a feel for the place. Then I think you'd get a kick out of travelling up to Belfast, there are some great hotels up here, plenty of nice places to eat out. In terms of day time activities, I'd recomend getting a black cab tour of the city and murals if you're interested in learning about the troubles. Belfast is only a short journey away from the giants causeway too which is a great site to see. Maybe somewhere in the trip you could work in a nice coast-side BandB in the south, that way you'll get to see the beatiful sea, maybe get a swim, but most of all get the chance to drink in a rural pub that no tourists ever go too, that is where you'll see what Irelands all about.
My wife and I went to Ireland on our honeymoon, same time of year you're going and the weather was actually pretty pleasant (only 2 days of rain out of 14). We stayed mainly in B&B's with the exception of our first night (Dromoland Castle), and our last night (Adare Manor) and drove it ourselves. We're just not into group tours. Memorable spots we visited include the Cliffs of Mohr (sp?), Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Bantry. Kilarney sucked. What made the trip great for us was the people. The pub is the center of culture in the town, and within half an hour, we were engaged in conversation with the locals for the rest of the night (a stark contrast to our experience in London where we found the locals to be rude to the extent of bordering on being French). We used a travel agent in NYC who specialized in Ireland vacations (this was pre-internet, so researching a load of B&B's would have been a royal pain). Every B&B he set up for us was clean, comfortable and provided a hearty and delicious breakfast. Pat Grimes was the name of the agency, but it's been over 20 years, so I don't know if he's still around.
Pretty much agree with everything here except leave yourself a few days for Dublin. Also Ireland is the perfect place to go "no reservations" style if you want to. When I went a couple years ago we did a 10 day trip where we basically drove the coast from Dublin up and around (skipping N. Ireland) and then back to Dublin for 4 days. Since the weather doesn't always cooperate we could hang out in a town/attraction a little longer and not worry about getting to our hotel/B&B since we didn't even have one booked. Every tourist me met and talked to said they wished they were doing their own tour since many of the guided tours are geared towards retirees. Every town has tons of B&Bs and I think we only encountered a "no vacancy" issue once.