Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

Dec 18, 2005
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Anyone here know much about travel insurance?

Seeing as I'm not sure of a time period (minimum 4 months and max 18months) not sure if it's easy enough to just do 4 monthst for now and see how I end up

Anyone recommend any good companies?
 
May 27, 2008
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Two years ago my Wife and I did a six week trip consisting of Dublin, Manchester, London, Barca, Paris, Amsterdam.
We are beginning to plan for another 6 week trip and wanting to include places that are less touristy, Gotta included Dublin and Manchester so thinking of this North-south U-turn, Prague-Berlin-Dublin-Manchester-Marseille-Monaco-Venice-Zagreb-Home, I'd appreciate some thoughts, Positive or Negative, cheers.
 

ash_1050

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Anyone here know much about travel insurance?

Seeing as I'm not sure of a time period (minimum 4 months and max 18months) not sure if it's easy enough to just do 4 monthst for now and see how I end up

Anyone recommend any good companies?
I use Travel Insurance Direct because they are very comprehensive in their coverage. You can also buy the insurance and then extend it as needed and have an excellent iPhone app which makes things much easier.
 
Two years ago my Wife and I did a six week trip consisting of Dublin, Manchester, London, Barca, Paris, Amsterdam.
We are beginning to plan for another 6 week trip and wanting to include places that are less touristy, Gotta included Dublin and Manchester so thinking of this North-south U-turn, Prague-Berlin-Dublin-Manchester-Marseille-Monaco-Venice-Zagreb-Home, I'd appreciate some thoughts, Positive or Negative, cheers.
I think I'm the only person on here who didn't really like Berlin, I found it to be pretty dull. Munich on the other hand was probably my favourite city in Europe. Much more vibrant and upbeat
 
Apr 19, 2013
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Yep that is exactly the one!

Savoca is where part of the Sicilian scenes where Pacino was in hiding were shot. its a tiny community that is located about 1 hours drive from Taormina, on the east coast of Sicily.

The surroundings have obviously changed as the film was shot in 1972, so 39 years on, there are a few more houses around it, that have been built since then. The bar has obviously undergone renovations to some degree in that time too but the door entry and sign are the originals and they have the table they were sitting at when michael asked for her hand in marriage on display in the foyer, and also some awesome black and white photos on the wall from during the filming. Then we walked about 15 minutes up a winding path to the top of the hill where the church he married Apollonia in still remains... On that hill top, the view you get of the town, coast line and sea from there is spectacular, just a dream place, I swear if I ever get married, I'm gonna do it there..

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the house with the fountain in the yard, where Apollonia died in the car explosion because some prick brought it and built this humongous fence around it and charges some ridiculous fee to go in and see it lol.. That whole sequence of the film was shot in three separate little towns outside of Taormina.

The Godfather movies have always been one of my faves and was (apart from mt Etna) one of my main reasons for visiting and let me tell you, I got loads more than I hoped for as the place is magnificent, just amazing! We also sampled the cannolis that Don Corleone was fond off too :D
Damn I wish I was going to Sicily :( I'm spending 1 night on the Amalfi coast before I travel to Rome and then Tuscany.
 
Apr 19, 2013
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Haven't really put much research into the costs but i reckon those rail passes only work for people that are looking to travel within the next day or 2. But if you plan everything to a T a few weeks in advance you could probably do it much cheaper (i wouldn't recommend it anyway, much better to travel on the fly). The cost of rail travel in a lot of Western Europe and Scandinavia make Australian prices look like a 3rd world country. Won't need a rail pass for Eastern Europe, you can just rock up and buy a train or bus ticket to travel between major cities for next to nothing i found. It was around £10 to go between cities in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland etc by bus/train. You'd be lucky to get somewhere 15 minutes away in Western Europe for that.

Why move to London? lol. It's pretty much a mini Australia, everywhere you go you'll bump into Aussies doing the same thing, it's boring. If you want adventure, move somewhere else where you can learn a language. Difficult at first, but it would pay off handsomely in the end. An Australian moving to London is quite mainstream SA. ;)
My ex did that said the exact same thing. She thought it would be better, be more, be different, but she said it's practically the same
 
Jul 7, 2012
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Just left Rome, what a s**t hole. Watch out for the scammers, they are every where.

Hmm I found Rome to be an incredibly beautiful and historic city with the old buildings and monuments but just very dirty. As for the scammers, they seem to be all over Italy. When I was in Milan train station trying to buy tickets to Bolzano there was about 3-4 guys who were waiting by the door where everyone was lining up and then trying to direct you over to the machines and they would help you buy the tickets and then ask to be paid for it.
 
Jul 7, 2012
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Just a question, when you guys went over for say a backpacking type trip or trip for in your 20's etc did you plan everything out or just book a flight in and a flight home for a few months later and then just organise things on the go?
 
Jul 2, 2008
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Just a question, when you guys went over for say a backpacking type trip or trip for in your 20's etc did you plan everything out or just book a flight in and a flight home for a few months later and then just organise things on the go?

You can go about it either way just depends what suits you. I had everything planned out when I went because I just like being organized and wanted to make sure I got to visit certain places. Others I know have gone without plans and just winged it. I had about a week or two where I hadn't planned anything and I found it pretty annoying and time consuming having to find internet and then search for flights/bus tickets/accommodation etc. when I could have been out exploring the city I was in. Also if you book things on the go you can expect to be paying more than you would if you book in advance.

If anyone is planning on heading to any of the big festivals around Europe I recommend checking out www.***************

It's a new website I've been working on that allows you to compare tour packages from the big companies like Contiki, Busabout, Top Deck etc. Check it out!
 
Jul 2, 2008
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Two years ago my Wife and I did a six week trip consisting of Dublin, Manchester, London, Barca, Paris, Amsterdam.
We are beginning to plan for another 6 week trip and wanting to include places that are less touristy, Gotta included Dublin and Manchester so thinking of this North-south U-turn, Prague-Berlin-Dublin-Manchester-Marseille-Monaco-Venice-Zagreb-Home, I'd appreciate some thoughts, Positive or Negative, cheers.

If you want places less touristy then I'd avoid Venice. It's just about the most touristy city in Europe! Still worth checking out though. Prague is amazing so I'd definitely check that out. If you're planning to visit Prague then two cities close by that I would highly recommend are Budapest and Krakow.

Budapest is a beautiful city with some amazing architecture and some incredible ruinpubs, definitely worth the visit. Krakow is also a really nice city and from here you can do a tour of the Auschwitz concentration camp (45 min bus trip) which I highly recommend.
 
Apr 19, 2013
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If you want places less touristy then I'd avoid Venice. It's just about the most touristy city in Europe! Still worth checking out though. Prague is amazing so I'd definitely check that out. If you're planning to visit Prague then two cities close by that I would highly recommend are Budapest and Krakow.

Budapest is a beautiful city with some amazing architecture and some incredible ruinpubs, definitely worth the visit. Krakow is also a really nice city and from here you can do a tour of the Auschwitz concentration camp (45 min bus trip) which I highly recommend.

Boss said the same at work about Krakow, really nice place to visit. Lots more to do than the camps.
 
May 27, 2006
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Hi all,

I have intentionally avoided this thread until now (jealousy), but I will be in Western Europe for a month in the December/January period. I'm slightly apprehensive about the weather but at least, hopefully, the tourists will be fewer.

Can anybody shed some light on some good things to do at that time of year? Does the weather have a significant impact on what is open, transport etc.? Has anybody done a similar trip at a similar time of year?

Cheers. :)

EDIT: I have no interest in drinking.
 
Last edited:
Jul 7, 2012
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Hi all,

I have intentionally avoided this thread until now (jealousy), but I will be in Western Europe for a month in the December/January period. I'm slightly apprehensive about the weather but at least, hopefully, the tourists will be fewer.

Can anybody shed some light on some good things to do at that time of year? Does the weather have a significant impact on what is open, transport etc.? Has anybody done a similar trip at a similar time of year?

Cheers. :)

EDIT: I have no interest in drinking.

Skiing or snowboarding in Europe's pretty good around January!
 

Brad Goodman

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Two years ago my Wife and I did a six week trip consisting of Dublin, Manchester, London, Barca, Paris, Amsterdam.
We are beginning to plan for another 6 week trip and wanting to include places that are less touristy, Gotta included Dublin and Manchester so thinking of this North-south U-turn, Prague-Berlin-Dublin-Manchester-Marseille-Monaco-Venice-Zagreb-Home, I'd appreciate some thoughts, Positive or Negative, cheers.

Monaco is pretty cool but only worth a day trip or maybe an overnight stay. Marseille I didn't rate and would recommend Lyon instead, although if you are looking for more in the Marseille area Avignon and Aix-en-Provence are apparently pretty nice.
 
Oct 9, 2001
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Hi all,

I have intentionally avoided this thread until now (jealousy), but I will be in Western Europe for a month in the December/January period. I'm slightly apprehensive about the weather but at least, hopefully, the tourists will be fewer.

Can anybody shed some light on some good things to do at that time of year? Does the weather have a significant impact on what is open, transport etc.? Has anybody done a similar trip at a similar time of year?

Cheers. :)

EDIT: I have no interest in drinking.

I'm heading back for two months from mid December, I'm also interested to hear if anyone has done Europe at this time of year and what tips and suggestions they have (and no I won't be skiing;))
 
Apr 19, 2013
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Monaco is pretty cool but only worth a day trip or maybe an overnight stay. Marseille I didn't rate and would recommend Lyon instead, although if you are looking for more in the Marseille area Avignon and Aix-en-Provence are apparently pretty nice.
My France leg was going to be Nice > Marseille > Montpelier. I changed to it Nice > Cannes > Paris and a half-day in Montpelier waiting for the train. Some of the feedback I got about Marseille from people who visited said it just wasn't worth the could of nights I was planning.
 
Oct 9, 2001
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My France leg was going to be Nice > Marseille > Montpelier. I changed to it Nice > Cannes > Paris and a half-day in Montpelier waiting for the train. Some of the feedback I got about Marseille from people who visited said it just wasn't worth the could of nights I was planning.

Montpelier is one place I would love to head back and check out. Did the "wait for the train" there as well on my way between Barcelona and Lyon and would like to give it a few days if I could
 
Apr 19, 2013
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Why go to Montpellier at all? There's nothing there. It's a new city, only around 200 years old. I guess you could go to the beach, but you'd be disappointed if you've been spoilt by Australian beaches.

Go further east, or head to Biaritz and down into Spain.
I'm traveling from Paris to Barcelona. The cheapest way to get there was train with a 10 hour stop over in Montpelier. Otherwise, a direct train was something like 50eu more.
 
Apr 6, 2005
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I'm traveling from Paris to Barcelona. The cheapest way to get there was train with a 10 hour stop over in Montpelier. Otherwise, a direct train was something like 50eu more.

I tell you something. You're probably going through Nîmes on your trip. It's about 30kms before Montpellier. Stop there instead of Montpellier and you can visit an extremely well preserved arena in the style of Rome's colleseum. Very well looked after and recently laser cleaned to restore it to it's original 'look' it's over 2,000 years old. That's the time of Jesus man! I saw radiohead there in 2012 and blew my mind to think I'm sitting in a stadium watching radiohead in an arena that existed in the days of Christ!

Nîmes has some of the very oldest Roman artifacts and best preserved in the world. It's also the home city of my wife.
 
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