Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

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wadistance

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Saturday I just checked out Stadpark and walked around the city a bit, got a doner and wept a bit comparing it to what we get in Sweden, had a few drinks on the Reeperbahn. Sunday I did the walking tour, had a look at Millentor, went down the the Fish markets in the morning for some live music, fischbrot and breakfast beer, walked up to Sternschanze, got some coffee, remembered that things tended to be closed on Sunday. Probably a few other things in there, but just getting around the neighborhoods was enjoyable.

Absolutely the way to enjoy the city - like a local. I live between the Stadtpark and sternschanze - such a great area to be amongst it all


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raskolnikov

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Hi all
I’m thinking of heading to Europe next year
Specifically Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland to see Auschwitz, France and the Uk
I’ve been to the states and Canada a few times and had no problem driving, however this time I’m keen on moving around maybe by train
Has anyone got any info on how the train passes work?
I’ve had a look and find the whole thing perplexing
Can I get a pass to travel around independently for about a month?
Cheers in advance

Train passes in Europe tend to be a bit of a rip off. I found I was better off just paying for individual legs.
 

wadistance

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Train passes in Europe tend to be a bit of a rip off. I found I was better off just paying for individual legs.

Rail passes are more expensive as they’re not tied to a specific date, and are super flexible. You pay for the convenience, and you still need to book a seat for a fee. I’d be more inclined to solidify your route and dates and book direct from the national rail providers. Reckon you’ll save plenty of money that way


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Another alternative is to book your cities around flights. For instance, although it's seven years ago..

We searched cheap fares from city to city via Ryanair. We flew Nimes(France) - London - Dublin - Brussels - Porto - Rome - Marseille = $109. 7 flights for under 110 bucks.

On the other hand the train lets's you see the regular change of landscapes of course.
 

wadistance

Norm Smith Medallist
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Another alternative is to book your cities around flights. For instance, although it's seven years ago..

We searched cheap fares from city to city via Ryanair. We flew Nimes(France) - London - Dublin - Brussels - Porto - Rome - Marseille = $109. 7 flights for under 110 bucks.

On the other hand the train lets's you see the regular change of landscapes of course.

As long as your travelling light and don’t mind the commute + check in + waiting around etc. if you’re not paying baggage fares it can be dirt cheap but also tedious as fck


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Hawk Dork

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Another alternative is to book your cities around flights. For instance, although it's seven years ago..

We searched cheap fares from city to city via Ryanair. We flew Nimes(France) - London - Dublin - Brussels - Porto - Rome - Marseille = $109. 7 flights for under 110 bucks.

On the other hand the train lets's you see the regular change of landscapes of course.
Problem with flights is you lose a day on every flight
Getting to airports and waiting then getting to the place your staying from the airport.
We caught trains and it wasnt that expensive in Europe just buying them at the station before we went
I remember Italy was cheaper than France and France was cheaper than the UK
 

Great8

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Car for me every time. Flexibility to do what you want, when you want. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I drive nearly everywhere OS.
 

Hawk Dork

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Car for me every time. Flexibility to do what you want, when you want. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I drive nearly everywhere OS.
What do you do with a car when you get to a hotel in an old city built with narrow streets ?

I drove a campervan around Europe and it was convenient for getting from A to B but pretty useless for getting you into the good bits ,you end up on the outskirts catching trains and buses to see the good bits.
 
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Hi all
I’m thinking of heading to Europe next year
Specifically Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland to see Auschwitz, France and the Uk
I’ve been to the states and Canada a few times and had no problem driving, however this time I’m keen on moving around maybe by train
Has anyone got any info on how the train passes work?
I’ve had a look and find the whole thing perplexing
Can I get a pass to travel around independently for about a month?
Cheers in advance

Would highly recommend using FlixBus to get around Europe.
Can't quite remember the exact routes they offer (but they are everywhere)

Fairly reasonably priced, can book only a day or two in advance (if thats your thing) or further, and their own buses are pretty spacious with powerpoints, and wifi.
 

Great8

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What do you do with a car when you get to a hotel in an old city built with narrow streets ?

I drove a campervan around Europe and it was convenient for getting from A to B but pretty useless for getting you into the good bits ,you end up on the outskirts catching trains and buses to see the good bits.
Most places will have some form of paid parking garages or parking lots close by.
Our last stay at Innsbruck for example we stayed at the Goldener Adler in the old town and the narrow cobblestone streets were closed for vehicles but the hotel gave us directions to the closest car park which was about 200m away. The hotels normally give a discounted rate aswell to park
 
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Car for me every time. Flexibility to do what you want, when you want. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I drive nearly everywhere OS.

Just come back from 4 weeks driving thru Spain, Portugal and Bordeaux region and stayed very close to the city centres (generally with 0.5 - 1.0km). Car parking can cost $15-$17 per night however worth it. We only booked accommodation a couple of days in advance to give us flexibility. Wouldn’t have done it any other way. Spent 2-3 days in each location and traveled generally only 200kms per day (a couple of days were big ones).
 
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What do you do with a car when you get to a hotel in an old city built with narrow streets ?

I drove a campervan around Europe and it was convenient for getting from A to B but pretty useless for getting you into the good bits ,you end up on the outskirts catching trains and buses to see the good bits.

Been there done that and had a BMWX2 recently (just got back). Interesting experience with Córdoba being most challenging - all others we were with 0.5 - 1.0 km of the old city.
 

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raskolnikov

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wadistance how much of Germany have you seen? I will be in Germany in March. Definitely going to Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden. Contemplating Leipzig, Cologne and Bremen as well. Thoughts?
 

Hawk Dork

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wadistance how much of Germany have you seen? I will be in Germany in March. Definitely going to Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden. Contemplating Leipzig, Cologne and Bremen as well. Thoughts?
you have to say Guten tag to the Musicians of Bremen to return
I still havent returned though
Nice town though
 

wadistance

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wadistance how much of Germany have you seen? I will be in Germany in March. Definitely going to Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden. Contemplating Leipzig, Cologne and Bremen as well. Thoughts?
Bremen is a really nice city - I would probably do it as a day trip from Hamburg. Just choose a sunny day and go on a whim. It has some really beautiful buildings in the town centre, and the Schnoor is really cool as well.

Haven't been to much of the east - but quite a few places up here in the north. Have had summer holidays at Timmendorfer Strand (very Noosa vibe), Lübeck is a great medieval town to visit for a day trip from Hamburg. Flensburg is quite cool, very Danish, and has a really beautiful main street and harbour.

Having not been to either Dresden or Leipzig, I'd hazard a guess to say you could get away with going to one of the two, depending on what works on your travel plans. Cologne is also pretty cool, I might actually be moving there for work in the next 12 months or so - but without knowing it that well, its not somewhere that I think you need more than a couple of days in. You could use it as a base for the area though, and check out some of the mining cultural things in Essen, the German Football Museum in Dortmund, or the former West German capital of Bonn if that floats your boat. If you're into football, try and be in the major cities on a weekend. Dortmund is notoriously hard to get tickets to, but you may have better luck in Berlin (not Union, they've got a tiny stadium), St Pauli in Hamburg, Düsseldorf/FC Köln or even Freiburg if you end up that way.

For a totally oddball suggestion if you're in Köln, take a day trip to the city of Wuppertal, and ride the Schwebebahn.

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Easily the most beautiful area of Germany is the south. I would definitely try and work Munich into your schedule, and if you cant get down to the south east, perhaps a combo of Heidelberg, Freiburg and quickly across the border to Strasbourg. I spent two days in Freiburg en route to Lake Como, and 1 day in Strasbourg on the way back, and both places were really really cool. Freiburg you have so much access to the black forest, so if you like hiking, schnitzel, beer and relaxed country vibes, then thats definitely for you.

So to rank the cities you've listed in my opinion, and places you can go that are nearby

1)Hamburg (Lübeck)
1)Berlin (Potsdam)
3)Leipzig/Dresden (Dunno)
4)Bremen (Just a day trip from Hamburg)
5)Köln (Essen/Dortmund/Düsseldorf/Bonn)
 
Have done a day trip through Dresden. Only stayed in the city centre, but I really liked it.
yeah Dresden is a really nice city.

It was my wifes idea to go there and I am glad we did.

Would recommend

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I believe there is also a concentration camp maybe 90 mins - 2 hours from the city. Matthausen, I think?
could be.

The couple of weeks I spent in Germany I didn't go to any concentration camps, they don't interest me.

I learnt enough about how terrible the holocaust was in school, no need to go and see something so depressing in real life when I am on holiday.
 
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could be.

The couple of weeks I spent in Germany I didn't go to any concentration camps, they don't interest me.

I learnt enough about how terrible the holocaust was in school, no need to go and see something so depressing in real life when I am on holiday.
I "liked" them - for lack of a better word. Very eye opening.
 
I "liked" them - for lack of a better word. Very eye opening.
Yeah I totally get why people go and see them and I did thing about it but just decided not to.

Maybe in the future I might visit one
 

revo333

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Munich and the south was my favourite area of Germany.

Nuremberg was interesting and is a good base to do some great day trips.

Köln was my least favourite city but Eltz Castle I highly recommend.

Might be going back to Berlin for NYE.
 

wadistance

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Munich and the south was my favourite area of Germany.

Nuremberg was interesting and is a good base to do some great day trips.

Köln was my least favourite city but Eltz Castle I highly recommend.

Might be going back to Berlin for NYE.
Absolutely get that about Köln - maybe its a place you gotta love once you've lived there for a while and work it out. But nothing really screams out at me apart from the Kölner Dom.

The area to the south of that though - Koblenz/Cochem/Trier - now thats what I'm talking about.











 

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