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Storm RSG.net Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 4492 Location: Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Mon, 25-Mar-2013 8:49 Post subject: western Europe trip in July!! |
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Hallo all,
as I am taking some leave to come back from australia to my lovely europe this coming july, I wondered if anyone had some nice tips to give me to make my trip easy and possibly filled with nice things to see
I will be taking a London to London loop, going to Brussel, amsterdam, Berlin, Italy, then crossing through France to go back to London. All in a month time
For anyone living in any of those cities, what do you reckon are the top spost and what the over rated things I should avoid? I am thinking of 5 days in each city beside brussel (2-3 days)
Or, do you reckon is there a more worthy city to go visit than the ones listed??
Thank you so much in advance, I will treasure any opinion _________________ USE the same topics to ask, even if the links there are DEAD!
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Tchachinafan
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 2224 Location: Stars Hollow, Connecticut
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Posted: Mon, 25-Mar-2013 10:27 Post subject: |
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I donīt live in any of the cities you mentioned but I reciently traveled to some of them, In Amsterdam, I stayed on a boat! its called Vita Nova hostel and it was a nice experience, the room was very small but well you only go there to sleep, and also you get free breakfast (which at least for me is a must when staying at a hostel). The owner was very nice, and with all the stuff she puts for the breakfast you can do yourself some nice sandwiches for later!
Went to the Anne Frank museum, for me it was a must visit place, if you do decide to go, think of buying the ticket online, like that you can enter directly with your printed ticket and wonīt have to make the line (which is normally big, probably likle 30-50mins or waiting). I wanted to go to the van Gogh museum too but theyīre doing work on it so its closed but they moved part of the collection to the Hermitage museaum, at the end I didnīt go, I donīt know if by july it will be open again, may be!.
try to go t this place called "the pancake bakery", they have this huge and amazing pancakes, worth every euro spent
Things you should avoid in there: people in bicycles!!!
sometimes getting one of those city cards helps a lot, they have the "I amsterdam" card, you can find online what it offers, I didnīt think it was necessary for me, but I only went for 2 full days! and I for me that was enough time, loved the city, had awonderful time and will have great memories from that place
are you traveling by plane, train, bus?? check Megabus, its this cheap bus service, and out of the places you wanna visit they have London, Amsterdam and Brussels as destinations, you can get tickets from 6 euros!. (other cities served by this buses: Edinbourg, Paris...) I payed 12 euros for Paris-Brussels (roundtrip) and 25 eur for Paris-Amsterdam, also roundtrip. not bad at all considering train and plane prices!.
Brussels is small, but you can easily combine with other Belgian cities, when youīre there try to go to Bruges!! the same goes to Amsterdam, you can go to some other dutch cities around. _________________ ♥Staniouta, Halkina, Kudryavtseva, Pazhava ♥
No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world |
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AleksandraFan
Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 1910 Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon, 25-Mar-2013 15:25 Post subject: |
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London is amazing; try to fit in a few west end shows if you can (if you buy tickets from the box office at the theatre, you can get the best price). Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables all have brilliant casts at the moment (there's actually an Australian actress playing alternate Christine in Phantom until August). I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard that West End "Matilda" is amazing as well.
The portrait gallery and the gallery right next to it are lovely, and walking tours through the historic parts of the city can be very fun (I did a Jack the Ripper walk; really interesting and informative). If you really like History, a few days going up to Scotland would be worth it. Hadrian's wall is awesome, as are some of the castles (there's one in Stonehaven, Scotland, that is so brilliant).
As for restaurants, London is inherently expensive, but there's a great chain called Pizza Express. It's mostly Pizza, but there are salads too, and the BEST desserts, and it's not too expensive. _________________ My youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/xxJodelleFerlandxx?feature=mhee
I ♥ Sasha Merkulova! |
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Storm RSG.net Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 4492 Location: Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Tue, 26-Mar-2013 5:03 Post subject: |
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Thank you ladies!
both reviews will be helpful! ahahah
I am truly thinking to swap Brussel for Bruges now! and thanks for the London tip west end will be a MUST for me _________________ USE the same topics to ask, even if the links there are DEAD!
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Tchachinafan
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 2224 Location: Stars Hollow, Connecticut
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Posted: Tue, 26-Mar-2013 9:12 Post subject: |
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you donīt have to swap, you have a 2-3 days schedule for Brussels, in that time can visit both cities nicely! _________________ ♥Staniouta, Halkina, Kudryavtseva, Pazhava ♥
No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world |
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Storm RSG.net Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 4492 Location: Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Wed, 27-Mar-2013 6:46 Post subject: |
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ah sweet! sounds great!
now I just have to decide where to stop while crossing france
Paris for sure but have been there twice already so won't stay more than 2 days _________________ USE the same topics to ask, even if the links there are DEAD!
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AleksandraFan
Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 1910 Location: Canada
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Posted: Wed, 27-Mar-2013 13:03 Post subject: |
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Storm wrote: | ah sweet! sounds great!
now I just have to decide where to stop while crossing france
Paris for sure but have been there twice already so won't stay more than 2 days |
Geographically I'm not sure how easy this is, but Strasbourg is lovely (basically the whole Alsace Lorraine region is wonderful). _________________ My youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/xxJodelleFerlandxx?feature=mhee
I ♥ Sasha Merkulova! |
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yussupovafan
Joined: 10 Mar 2009 Posts: 586
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Posted: Wed, 27-Mar-2013 14:34 Post subject: |
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Last new year I have been to Berlin, if you like modern history especially world war 2 and cold war this city is perfect! There are so many interesting museum, their archaeological collection in museum island is topnotch as well.
If you have time also drop by to Dresden, it really nice! _________________ Filiou, Phazava, Nichol, Rodriguez - smaller federation, bigger performance!!! |
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Bluebell
Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 70 Location: East
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Posted: Fri, 29-Mar-2013 16:34 Post subject: Western Europe |
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In London try www.walks.com for very inexpensive walking tours. They have all sorts of choices, the nightime Harry Potter walk is very good. Visit the Tower of London! If you buy tickets ahead of time it is better, and take the free tour with a tower guard. They are informative and funny. Pret a Manger has good, inexpensive food, and for traditional meat pies and pub food try O'neills or Euston Flyer-we ate there a few times and it was very good.
Bruges is well worth a visit.
If you drive through Luxembourg, the US WWII Cemetery is beautiful and worth visiting. The one in Normandy may be too far a drive if you are in Paris a short time. Bastogne is a lovely small city if you are in Belgium.
If you need housing, try www.airbnb.com for apartment rentals by the day or week.
Have a wonderful time! |
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Storm RSG.net Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 4492 Location: Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Mon, 1-Apr-2013 6:11 Post subject: |
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Thank you so much for all this suggestions!
@Bluebell:I was looking into London right now! thank you for the links
@Alexandrafan: yes I have never been there as well, so might stop by while going back north in my last week
@yussupovafan: yes, Berlin promises wonders.. I can't wait! _________________ USE the same topics to ask, even if the links there are DEAD!
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AleksandraFan
Joined: 31 May 2011 Posts: 1910 Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon, 1-Apr-2013 18:49 Post subject: |
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Storm wrote: | Thank you so much for all this suggestions!
@Bluebell:I was looking into London right now! thank you for the links
@Alexandrafan: yes I have never been there as well, so might stop by while going back north in my last week
@yussupovafan: yes, Berlin promises wonders.. I can't wait! |
Nancy is really nice too (I can't remember if that's in Alsace or not). There are some great restaurants. If you're driving through that area, the small towns are great places to stop for meals, souvenirs, etc. Just make sure you have a basic knowledge of French (people in the small towns speak a bare minimum of English). If you buy a travel guide, there's usually a small but very helpful dictionary/phrasebook in the back. That thing saved my life in Poland XD
Same with Germany; last time I was there, very few people spoke more than a few words of English, even at restaurants/museums/information desks. A guidebook or phrasebook would be a good idea.
Another thing for London is that staying far out in Canary Warf or any distance from the centre seems daunting, but London is well served by the tube, and you can basically get ANYWHERE in a decent amount of time, no matter where you stay. I was there in June and stayed in Canary Warf, and it was much cheaper (and nicer, really) than staying in the West End, which I did in November. So when you're figuring out where to stay, you can get nicer places for less farther away from the centre. _________________ My youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/xxJodelleFerlandxx?feature=mhee
I ♥ Sasha Merkulova! |
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maksymehappy
Joined: 02 Apr 2013 Posts: 504
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Posted: Thu, 4-Apr-2013 9:55 Post subject: |
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Eurolines can give you a good coach price if you book 15 days or more in advance. Idbus seems to do all the French/Benelux locations you mention and Milan/Torino and the prices for idbus are always the same up to 1 hour from departure which are like Eurolines at peak times but they have more places left. Megabus to London only seem to serve the peak season. I don't remember about rail passes.
Belgium and Holland seem to have a lot of bi & tri-lingual people who can understand english, especially amongst the young.
Avoid London buses in the daytime around business hours... it takes far too long to get anywhere. |
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Jewgenija
Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Posts: 1523 Location: Germany
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Posted: Thu, 4-Apr-2013 12:34 Post subject: Re: western Europe trip in July!! |
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Especially in big cities like Berlin you will find in every museum, restaurant, information or hotel staff that can speak english. They have every day maaaany foreign visitors. In Berlin you can hear in every street foreign languages, sometimes I thought I'm abroad xD. In the countryside of Germany you have more luck with young people who speak a bit english. English is foreign language no. 1 at school (in high school usually additionally french). Bus, tram, train in Berlin usually have speeches in english (like "next stop Brandenburg Gate", in german of course too ).
In the Netherlands, much more people speak english. And in the east much german, too. Logically, the country is smaller, has a lot more contact with other countries. I live in the middle / south of Germany. France is the next country with more than 200 km, Poland even 600 km (yes I know, no comparison to the big Australia). I see here almost never foreigners .
In Berlin there are so many sights, thats a good list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sights_in_Berlin A must see is in any case: Brandenburg Gate, TV tower, Alexanderplatz, Unter den Linden, East Side Gallery, Reichstag, A city tour with a bus (in english / every half hour), a boat trip on the river Spree (the same, every hour)
Btw: Aliya Garaeva is the last months often in Berlin (she is at the moment there!). Her friend studied in Frankfurt / Germany (50 Km away from me). http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=650526478297780&set=a.474283972588699.129785.100000213014078&type=1&theater _________________ Official *Kanarazzi* xD
"When the world would like an big cute Cheburashka, then the world would be good!" |
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Storm RSG.net Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2005 Posts: 4492 Location: Queensland, Australia
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Posted: Sun, 7-Apr-2013 13:07 Post subject: |
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OMG you people are amazing! you can't understand how I appreciate your help!!
@Alexandrafan: I am surprised that in germany people speak poor english.. they always gave me an impression of being accustomed to the language! thanks for letting me know but as Jewgenjia said, it must be more for the younger generations
Maksymehappy: yes I have looked at buses or trains between cities and they look cheap and fast
getting excited _________________ USE the same topics to ask, even if the links there are DEAD!
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Jewgenija
Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Posts: 1523 Location: Germany
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Posted: Sun, 7-Apr-2013 16:35 Post subject: |
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Remember that Berlin (except one part) is located in the former GDR. At that time the (now older) people learned russian, not english. The capitalists (Americans etc.) were "enemies" . Therefore, our Chancellor Merkel can understand russian (and english too ).Other parts were occupied by France. Logical that people there often learned French.
Btw. have you ever ask Tahnee? She made two years ago a trip through Europe. And don't forget the travel plug adapter . _________________ Official *Kanarazzi* xD
"When the world would like an big cute Cheburashka, then the world would be good!" |
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