Chisoxfn Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 So I'm going out to London for work for a couple days in November (right after Thanksgiving) so I'm going to end up having my wife come out. I have points for hotels and thanksgiving week is one of the cheapest times to fly internationally. We've previously been to England, Ireland, and Paris/Champagne. Wanted to see if anyone had any good ideas for a good 7 night trip (whether it is 7 nights in Italy). Would want to limit it to about 3 cities, 4 at the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Where to begin!! Between a high school trip to Italy and studying abroad in college, I've been to over 20 cities in Europe. These are my favorite (won't count Ireland or UK cities in this list for you): Barcelona Berlin Bruges Krakow Zurich Rome Venice It really depends on what youre looking for in this vacation, some of these locations have better history (Berlin, Krakow, Rome), while others are more breathtaking (Barcelona, Zurich - for the Alps), and then there are the romantic places (Bruges, Venice). For travel reasons, I would choose 3 cities in a somewhat close area and go from there (Bruges, Brussels, Amsterdam) (Rome, Venice, Florence) (Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Russ...the trio's of cities is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm leaning towards Rome/Venice/Florence (with a potential day trip or two somewhere in there) or Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. Might come down to weather at either place during that time of year. How many days/nights would you recommend in each city? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiSox_Sonix Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 11:18 AM) Russ...the trio's of cities is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm leaning towards Rome/Venice/Florence (with a potential day trip or two somewhere in there) or Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. Might come down to weather at either place during that time of year. How many days/nights would you recommend in each city? If I was planning on going to Florence, I'd also stop in San Marino. Just because I think it'd be neat to be able to knock another country off as having visited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) Russ...the trio's of cities is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm leaning towards Rome/Venice/Florence (with a potential day trip or two somewhere in there) or Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. Might come down to weather at either place during that time of year. How many days/nights would you recommend in each city? I recommend 3 nights per city to truly get to enjoy it, but since your trip is going to be 7 nights I'd recommend 3 Rome/2 Florence/2 Venice. Or 3 Barcelona/2 Madrid/2 Lisbon, I stayed in Barcelona and Lisbon 3 nights each and Barcelona is definitely better but Lisbon has some really nice sites as well (check out the castle overlooking the city, beautiful), and my buddy on my trip went to Madrid prior and said he liked Barcelona a lot more. Barcelona was maybe my favorite city, amazing nightlife, beautiful beaches, stunning architecture, it just had it all including a good vibe to it. If your good with walking, many cities have walking tours that will show you the most popular sites along with some lesser known places, and they are usually quite cheap. Wherever you go, I suggest looking up New Europe walking tours, they were the best, most consistent ones I went on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 So, when's the final countdown to your trip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Barcelona and Madrid I can speak to - they're very cool. But also so is the balance of Spain, IMO. Great country because you have so much of the moorish influence and Europe all wrapped up into one. Plus the weather is pretty temparate that time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 So we've narrowed in on going to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Might make a day trip to Bratislava (assuming their is a train back, haha...good ole Eurotrip). Anyone been? Any recommendations? Will be arriving on a Friday in November and returning to London (where i'll actually go back to work) on the following Sunday AM (so 8 nights total). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 My travel buddy went to Prague, I'll ask him for recommendations, but I went to Vienna. Great city, definitely want to check out the palace that is there (large mansion with a huge garden area right in the city), and also get a walking tour. We had a great one that was advertised in our hostel. Also, make a day trip out to the vineyards just outside the city. My brother and I took a train out there for a few hours and saw one of the neighboring towns that was famous for it's wine, it was pretty damn good and the train ride out there was beautiful. They also had a large outdoor market with a bunch of food sellers among other things, and we had a fantastic lunch there while eating outside drinking beer. The public train system there is pretty nice, and some of the lines were elevated and went through some really nice parts of the city, I can't remember the specifics on that but I would honestly spend an hour or two sightseeing like that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 21, 2012 -> 08:41 PM) So we've narrowed in on going to Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. Might make a day trip to Bratislava (assuming their is a train back, haha...good ole Eurotrip). Anyone been? Any recommendations? Will be arriving on a Friday in November and returning to London (where i'll actually go back to work) on the following Sunday AM (so 8 nights total). Prague is outstanding. So much history, there are so many old castles, they were one of the few cities that was left relatively unharmed from World War II. You can stay by the Old Town in the main part of the city, tons to see within walking distance. And it's super cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I REALLY want to go to Spain, especially now that I've rekindled my studies of the language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 21, 2012 -> 10:15 PM) I REALLY want to go to Spain, especially now that I've rekindled my studies of the language. You would love it, seriously an amazing country, I wish I had more time to explore the countryside and smaller towns, but Barcelona was flat out amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 08:53 AM) You would love it, seriously an amazing country, I wish I had more time to explore the countryside and smaller towns, but Barcelona was flat out amazing. Totally. I went to Madrid in March and absolutely loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 18, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) Russ...the trio's of cities is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm leaning towards Rome/Venice/Florence (with a potential day trip or two somewhere in there) or Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. Might come down to weather at either place during that time of year. How many days/nights would you recommend in each city? My wife and I are debating this very same thing for next May - a few cities in Italy or a few in Spain. I'm leaning towards Italy to see the historical sites. You'll have to report back after your trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 10:07 AM) My wife and I are debating this very same thing for next May - a few cities in Italy or a few in Spain. I'm leaning towards Italy to see the historical sites. You'll have to report back after your trip. You honestly can't go wrong with either trip. Also, feel free to checkout this site for cheap airtravel (watch out for baggage fees though): http://www.skyscanner.com/ I used it for every flight when booking my backpacking trip, gives you every airline essentially, with flex times and even shows you alternate times/routes for cheaper flights. If you decide to train it (which I recommend for the shorter travel), you most likely will have to buy tickets at the train station if it's just a domestic train. International train rides can be bought online typically, just fyi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 10:14 AM) You honestly can't go wrong with either trip. Also, feel free to checkout this site for cheap airtravel (watch out for baggage fees though): http://www.skyscanner.com/ I used it for every flight when booking my backpacking trip, gives you every airline essentially, with flex times and even shows you alternate times/routes for cheaper flights. If you decide to train it (which I recommend for the shorter travel), you most likely will have to buy tickets at the train station if it's just a domestic train. International train rides can be bought online typically, just fyi. Definitely watch out for fees if you fly Ryan Air. It's worse than flying a US airline, but man is it cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 10:23 AM) Definitely watch out for fees if you fly Ryan Air. It's worse than flying a US airline, but man is it cheap. Don't fly RyanAir unless you absolutely have to. There are plenty of budget airlines that I had much better flights with, mainly EasyJet (Europe's Southwest essentially, though they charge for checked baggage). Also, 1 carry on per person, no matter the airline. So if you have a purse, that's your carryon, and they are VERY finicky about that no matter the airline (and it can be like $75 to carry on that extra purse plus luggage). Also, I know it's not really viable for most people, but if you can travel with one carry-on per person you'll save a ton of hassle/time/money. Just have your hostel/hotel wash youre clothes (most offer the service and it's typically cheap) when you need them washed. You won't waste your time checking/picking up luggage, it's easier to travel around the city without having to necessarily stop at the hotel first, and like I said, much cheaper. You can get a lot of flights for under 25 euro total, without checking baggage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 10:31 AM) Don't fly RyanAir unless you absolutely have to. There are plenty of budget airlines that I had much better flights with, mainly EasyJet (Europe's Southwest essentially, though they charge for checked baggage). Also, 1 carry on per person, no matter the airline. So if you have a purse, that's your carryon, and they are VERY finicky about that no matter the airline (and it can be like $75 to carry on that extra purse plus luggage). Also, I know it's not really viable for most people, but if you can travel with one carry-on per person you'll save a ton of hassle/time/money. Just have your hostel/hotel wash youre clothes (most offer the service and it's typically cheap) when you need them washed. You won't waste your time checking/picking up luggage, it's easier to travel around the city without having to necessarily stop at the hotel first, and like I said, much cheaper. You can get a lot of flights for under 25 euro total, without checking baggage. Is it worth taking the train to Venice/Florence and back to Rome for the experience, or would that be like taking the Metra from Union Station to Schaumburg (i.e, boring). Edited October 22, 2012 by Jenksismybitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 22, 2012 -> 11:47 AM) Is it worth taking the train to Venice/Florence and back to Rome for the experience, or would that be like taking the Metra from Union Station to Schaumburg (i.e, boring). I didn't take the train in Italy, that was actually my high school trip and we took a bus. But I will say the countryside in Italy is gorgeous as well, so I imagine the train would be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Prague to Vienna....should I take the train (6.5 hr's) or fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joxer_Daly Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 17, 2012 -> 04:31 PM) So I'm going out to London for work for a couple days in November (right after Thanksgiving) so I'm going to end up having my wife come out. I have points for hotels and thanksgiving week is one of the cheapest times to fly internationally. We've previously been to England, Ireland, and Paris/Champagne. Wanted to see if anyone had any good ideas for a good 7 night trip (whether it is 7 nights in Italy). Would want to limit it to about 3 cities, 4 at the most. Only saw this now. Come to Dublin for some Or make a quick trip up from London to Glasgow for a Celtic match - and Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 25, 2012 -> 06:01 PM) Prague to Vienna....should I take the train (6.5 hr's) or fly? Depends on where youre going in relation to the train station and airport. Sometimes between baggage checking, delays, and travel to/from airports it actually will be about the same amount of time as a train ride (minus the bonus views, and extra comfort). I remember Vienna's airport being fairly far away, about a 30 minute train ride (which by the way, you better have a ticket for, we were told by our hostel we bought the right ticket but turned out that was wrong and we each got charged about $100). So depending on Prague's airport access, I would suggest taking the train as it may be just a bit more time, but you'll end in a more central location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joxer_Daly Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 26, 2012 -> 04:05 PM) Depends on where youre going in relation to the train station and airport. Sometimes between baggage checking, delays, and travel to/from airports it actually will be about the same amount of time as a train ride (minus the bonus views, and extra comfort). I remember Vienna's airport being fairly far away, about a 30 minute train ride (which by the way, you better have a ticket for, we were told by our hostel we bought the right ticket but turned out that was wrong and we each got charged about $100). So depending on Prague's airport access, I would suggest taking the train as it may be just a bit more time, but you'll end in a more central location. As I recall, Prague Airport is a bit out from the city centre too - maybe about €25/€30 in a taxi. The train could be a good shout - only a couple of hours time difference plus the benefit of seeing the countryside, being able to walk around, bring on some booze for the journey, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 QUOTE (Joxer_Daly @ Oct 26, 2012 -> 10:24 AM) As I recall, Prague Airport is a bit out from the city centre too - maybe about €25/€30 in a taxi. The train could be a good shout - only a couple of hours time difference plus the benefit of seeing the countryside, being able to walk around, bring on some booze for the journey, etc... Definitely, a lot less stress (the booze helps, definitely suggest hitting up a local liquor/grocery store for some drinks and snacks/meal before you board), and typically bigger seats. Bring a deck of cards, a book, and/or a tablet and jsut enjoy the ride/views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joxer_Daly Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 26, 2012 -> 04:29 PM) Definitely, a lot less stress (the booze helps, definitely suggest hitting up a local liquor/grocery store for some drinks and snacks/meal before you board), and typically bigger seats. Bring a deck of cards, a book, and/or a tablet and jsut enjoy the ride/views. Cool. Train it is, so. Good that we have that all sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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