OT: Europe Trip

[haunted]

Totally agree with you guys!

my personal chart for English speaking countries in Europe ranked from worst to best would be

1) FRANCE (granted French is not really the easiest starting point if you wanna learn English and work on a decent pronounciation) they couldn't care less about foreign languages. ignorant, cocky and proud. worst mix ever.
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2) SPAIN tough battle with Italy, bust still behind my fellow Italians. Spanish people just can't help it. But they're friendly, and that really helps
3) PORTUGAL same as Spain.
4) ITALY Nightfall is just spot on. Younger generations are ok, if "o"k" means survival english. OVER 40 are a mess. They try to make up for it with our peculiar (ad infinite) set of gestures though. Very entertaining, you're going to love it! Also, there's a huge discrepancy in general education from north to south, especially when it comes to languages.. well, don't get me started on this one

5) GREECE Pretty much in the same league of other Mediterranean countries, with the plus they have been stormed by hordes of English tourists for decades now, so people living in the most popular destinations are slightly more familiar with the language.

6) POLAND/CZECH REPUBLIC young generations are really ok. but in general these countries are not as good with english as people think
7) GERMANY/ good enough.

8) CROATIA/SERBIA/LITHUANIA/SLOVENIA they simply have a grasp for foreign languages. you're gonna be fine.

9) BELGIUM / NETHERLANDS / DENMARK entering the elite group here. their average skill is going to please you.

10) SCANDINAVIA as good as it gets. you're going to feel home.


PS: Nightfall, no wonder you're on this forum too.. giannis addicted uh? (its doomz from rotoworld forum here )

[MilHammer]

Man the French are annoying. One of my good friends is French-American, essentially fluent but still has an accent. When he goes to France, people will legit just speak back to him in English because they don't want him "butchering" their language.
To my Greek friends, what are the best cities/locations to visit?

[HurricaneKid]

Question for you experienced travelers out there - has speaking English been a barrier anywhere you've been to in Europe? I'm not just talking about the major touristy stuff, but some of the local things as well.

As a general rule the farther off the beaten path you venture, the bigger the obstacle it can be. If you are going to tourist locations there will be no issues at all. But if you want to see some actual local culture and end up at a restaurant miles away from the nearest tourist attraction, be prepared to deal with some road blocks.

French are getting blasted here but I LOVE France. Just make a cursory attempt at crippled French and it will go a long ways (pardon/excuse me/thank you). It always amazes me that Americans crucify people of other cultures for not knowing English fluently here while they expect to go to other countries and for them to know our languages there. Parisians in particular leave the city in the summer months because it is overrun with Americans. Do us all a favor and don't be the ugly American, demanding people stop their lives and help you with basic tasks. When I travel now I just shake my head when I see entitled Americans. And they are everywhere. Can you imagine a New Yorker on the way to work on Wall St stopped 100 times by a French tourists asking in French how to get to Ellis Island? It wouldn't go well...

Florence might as well be a theme park of Italy. The overpriced trinkets at the "oldest market in Italy" are largely made in China. David is neat, but forgettable. If you go you need to make reservations to the museums (David is at Accademia) but you can come into town in the AM and leave at dusk and not miss much. Its a fine stop between Rome and Venice and not much else in my book. And in the Summertime? Ugh.

[Nightfall]

To my Greek friends, what are the best cities/locations to visit?

Depends on what your preferences are. Trecking ? Sightseeing ? Beach all day ? Non stop party etc
From crowded islands/non stop 24hr party even at the beach like Mykonos, to remote islands with beautiful beaches. There is an ilsand for everyone.

The mainland Greece also offers some beautiful surprises. F.Ex the area of Ioaninna - Zagoroxwria - Meteora (Northwest Greece) is breathtaking. Just avoid Athens, spend 2-3 for some museums, bars / restaurants and off to the islands or other touristic locations

There was a beautiful campaign a couple of years ago that showed parts of Greece that resemble different parts of the world, in order to make people see that Greece is not just sunny beaches : https://greecealive.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/meet-the-world-in-greece-one-of-the-best-campaigns/

If you need more info about an area, let me know.

Cheers

[drew881]

Some of my photos from Portugal (Lisbon and Sintra). Definitely go here if you want wine and fish.

[BUCKnation]

Haven't read through yet, but I recommend google flights when trying to find ryanair flights. Its really helpful for finding the cheapest flight times and etc.

Flying into Copenhagen is usually the cheapest city in Europe. I'm thinking about going to Europe for a week or so and flights from Chicago to Copenhagen are just over $400 round trip and then if I wanted to go to London for example, I can find ryanair flights starting at $15.

[PedroGrande]

I was happy with Portugal references until I saw that Spain is the same as Portugal (except Galiza, they're cool) lulz. Yeah just go to Canada it's the same as the states but with universal health care. (lulz joking)

[PedroGrande]

Haven't read through yet, but I recommend google flights when trying to find ryanair flights. Its really helpful for finding the cheapest flight times and etc.

Flying into Copenhagen is usually the cheapest city in Europe. I'm thinking about going to Europe for a week or so and flights from Chicago to Copenhagen are just over $400 round trip and then if I wanted to go to London for example, I can find ryanair flights starting at $15.

Yeah in terms of value for money Ryanair (and whatnot) are the best way to travel inside Europe just to add a positive to Portugal. If you like to eat, comparing to the rest of Europe (excluding East Europe maybe) there is no place when you can eat so much and well for so little (ask Bourdain).

As for English, at least were I live (Oporto), even if they can't understand you (although a lot/most of people do) I would bet they would find anyone who can since helping to give foreigners a good impression of the city/country engraved into us

[drone3]

My favourite Europen destinations.

1. Paris
2. Barcelona
3. Amalfi Coast (Italy)

Paris and Barcelona are must visit cities. Full of culture, art and vibrant energy. Amalfi coast is magnificent with cliffs over the ocean.

[ReasonablySober]

This is a great thread. I've already emailed the post on the previous page to the people I'm going to Italy with and seeing if we can make any of those five destinations happen.

[DutchManDanFan]

I traveled through Italy in 1990. I loved Palermo, Messina, Napoli and Florence. I was in Rome when the World Cup final was there. Germans waiving flags in the Colosseum... Bologna was nice and I didn't like Venice at all (too crowded back then already). When I arrived in Milan I was broke and too tired to see the city so I used my one way ticket back to Holland.

If you want to see an old European city that's totaly different from all others then Amsterdam is a must see. I don't like Amsterdam at all but at least you want to stand in front of the Anne Frank house (at one of the canals) and the RIJKS museum. And enter if it's not too crowded. You don't need more then 2 days, unless you want too party...

[bizarro]

Great thread all. Haven't been to Europe since visiting the Basque region during a Sherman led playoff debacle at Lambeau vs. the Falcons (?). Hopefully we continue a travel thread for all regions! I, for one, plan on an Aussie visit in the upcoming few years and will be relying on the crew yonder for some recommendations and advice.

As an aside: just visited BC and Vancouver Island for a couple weeks. I love this part of Canada and it provokes a desire to see more of their country. I find the average Westerm Canadian interaction extremely pleasant and easy. And, man, it's nice getting near 30% interest in a dollar for dollar exchange!

[bizarro]

I traveled through Italy in 1990. I loved Palermo, Messina, Napoli and Florence. I was in Rome when the World Cup final was there. Germans waiving flags in the Colosseum... Bologna was nice and I didn't like Venice at all (too crowded back then already). When I arrived in Milan I was broke and too tired to see the city so I used my one way ticket back to Holland.

If you want to see an old European city that's totaly different from all others then Amsterdam is a must see. I don't like Amsterdam at all but at least you want to stand in front of the Anne Frank house (at one of the canals) and the RIJKS museum. And enter if it's not too crowded. You don't need more then 2 days, unless you want too party...

I last visited Italy for 3 months when the Lira was still the currency (so, take this for what it's worth. Edit: I see Dutchman was there nearly a decade prior to me!). I was visiting my sister and my now brother-in-law as he was playing professionally for Siena's pro basketball team. Siena and Tuscany at large is absolutely fantastic. Couldn't say anything negative about the region - well, don't get lost in the hills and find yourself stumbling onto the Autostrata in darkness after being chased up a hunting platform by wild bore (looooong day). I stayed outside a small walled town named Monterrigioni which featured a fantastic restaurant 'Il Pozzo' - it was rumored senator Ted Kennedy visited throughout the year. I was able to see Palermo, Pesaro, Bologna, Milan, Avelino, and spent numerous weeks in the Po region. There truly is soooooo much uniqueness and diversity throughout the country. The food styles so amazing and diverse (my experiences there really disallow me from eating 'Italian food'. That Americanized label means nothing when you experience the regionality and diversity of the cuisine.)

I loved the Po region as it was distinctly artsy and agrarian. But, really, I think what I'm getting at here is I could very easily rationalize a dedicated trip to Italy. The food. The climate. The diversity of micro cultures. The agriculture. The arts. The history. The passion. And, hell, I haven't even visited the islands surrounding and I hear these are simply breathtaking and beautiful.

[PANDEMONEUM]

i am born and raised in MKE, born to Greek Parents who immigrated to the u.s. in the mid 70s.
have been to Greece for vacation and family visiting, over 20x

for english speaking, in Greece,
id say under 40 is very fluent.
they can understand all basic questions that you might have.
maybe a bit shy to speak english.
they will all sound like GIANNIS.

traveling to Greece.
i DONT like adding Greece to your travels, if you are trying to see multiple cities and countries.
i feel like, it takes too long to get to Greece,
then too long to go anywhere in Greece.
you will waste time going from point A to B to C.

but,
if its Greece + Italy or just 1 other,
then Greece is fantastic.

Athens for Acropolis/Parthenon/Museum.
if you are motivated and can walk a bit, this can all be done in 1 day/event.
coastal Athens has some high end shopping, and great cafes, bars, people watching and night life.
just a bit outside, theres some nice beaches.

islands.
party, remote, some history.
best thing, u can rent a room for 7$ or 1000$
everyone eats at the same places, goes to the same beaches, enjoys the same nightlife.
as long as you look at the boat/ferry schedules, you can experience a bunch of islands.
you can pick 1 main one, Mykonos or Santorini.
then from each, theres 3 or 4 more islands within an hours boat ride.
or, pick those 2 islands and spend 3 days on each.

thats my experience and 2 cents for traveling to Greece.

depending on how many days you spend there, a different itinerary and places could be added.

[DutchManDanFan]

If you want to plan a trip through Europe, watch these first: http://www.everysecondcounts.eu/. There's a new one almost every day.

And remember: The Netherlands were second first!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ELD2AwFN9Nc

[Aaron It Out]

We aren't travelling until August but with all the planning we have left to do it feels like it's tomorrow. We have the flights and rooms booked so that's a huge relief. We ultimately decided to skip Brussels/Amsterdam because we didn't have enough time to do everything we wanted. We will return to that part of Europe another time. We are flying from Stockholm right to Barcelona and will spend about a week there. We're staying not far from Sagrada Familia in the some apartments in Eixample. We looked at a ton of hotels, hostels, and airbnb's and ultimately decided on this place due to a combination of its price and location. Hope we made a decent enough choice.

We should have a nice time. We still have a lot of planning to do as far as everywhere we want to go and places to eat and whatnot, but reddit has a pretty good wiki and I'll be digging through this thread again. If anyone has more suggestions in this area of course I'd love to hear them.

I'm hoping some can weigh in as far as maybe some do's and don'ts for the area. Mainly I'm just wondering where it's not safe for a young white American couple to be wandering around at night. I'm pretty comfortable, but I'd love to get a taste of some local pubs and restaurants and I want to make sure we're all good in that regard. Also looking for a beach, weather permitting, and quickly learning that la barceloneta is not the place for that. On that note, how likely is it to encounter a thief? From what I've learned it's not usually a life threatening situation if you have a little bribe. In most cases I would only be carrying enough cash to make someone like that happy (and how much would that be, if it's at all likely?) Can we get by speaking mostly English? My Spanish is so-so.. I can read but understanding the dialect might be difficult for me and my speaking will be pretty limited. Probably a 0% chance I learn any Catalan before we get out there.

We're also thinking of taking a day trip out to Montserrat and maybe to Girona. We'll probably get a metro pass for anything that isn't within a pretty long walking distance from the hotel. Of course we hope to find ourselves in all of Sagrada Familia, Barri Gotic, Born, Sants.. I MUST check out Camp Nou. Wine tasting.. So many other places. I hope we can find time for everything, but at the same time would rather over-plan than be trying to figure out what to do next. Again any suggestions please leave them in this thread. Sorry if I am coming off too much on the touristy side but I am beyond pumped now that we have the big stuff booked and are planning the small details now.

[Nightfall]

..... Barcelona...food...trips...drinks,,,

Well things are slow so far at work and Barcelona is one of my favorite locations, so I will try to give some insight.
First I created a small map with some major points, marked with numbers from 1 to 7 for better understanding the area and the distances:



Nr.1 is Sagrada Familia, so close to your residence, and this will be our starting point. To get a grip of distances. Going from Sagrada Familia to Camp Nou (from 1 to 5) by Bus will last about 35'.

Some general info first:
Language: People up to 35-40 will speak better english and you have relative good chances, the older the tougher it gets. Trying with even minimal spanish will go a long way. But in the centre of Barcelona you should have minimal issues with the language barrier.

Safety: Barcelona is safe. No chance of getting robbed at gun point , or knife or something similar, or feel insecure returning at night. Similar to Italy the only issue are pickpockets (the pedestrian street Las Ramblas and the train/metro stations are the areas they prey the most, so keep your valuables at good guard there and be carefull when you are asking for information, directions on the map etc).

Transportation: For general transportation you can buy a day to 5-days public transportation ticket. 5 days will cost you about 32 USD if booked online here : https://www.tmb.cat/en/barcelona/fares-metro-bus/barcelona-travel-card-hola-bcn

However in your place I would plan first my trips outside the center and then decide what and how many days you will need, since for Barcelona center the best way to go is the Tourist Bus:

https://www.barcelonasmartmoving.com/tickets/barcelona-hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour

a 2 day pass will cost 35 usd / person. It is hop on hop off, to all major attractions (Camp Nou included) and you can use them as many times as you want for that period. Use these 2 days to see the majority of attractions. They will also give you a book of coupons worth about 200 USD where you get discount to most attractions (f.ex Gaudi places), and restaurants etc. Check it then plan and use it.

Taxi is cheaper than US, but with Bus and public transportation you are covered.

Tips, Prices: All prices include VAT and all taxes plus service. In bar,restaurants, etc though a tip around 10% is very common especially for good service. For snacks, taxis etc, you usually just round (f.ex 4 euro instead of 3.50)

Now to the map:
1: Sagrada Familia, 2: Center of Barcelona (Placa Catalunya), 3: Gothic Quarters (many places to visit), 4: Port (Aquarium, Fish restaurants), 5: Camp Nou, 6: Museums (Art museum, Miro museum and more), 7: Park Güell

Most of the places to visit are between 2,3 and 4.

Everything from Gaudi is a must (Casa Batllo, S.Familia, Park Güell, Palau Güell). If you are into art then the Art museum (Nr.6) and if you are into modern/abstract art then Miro as well which is very close.
Next to 3 : Picasso museum, Xocolata (Chocolate) Museum, the majestic Palau de la Musica Orfeo Catala (concert hall and guided tours).
Nr.4 The Barcelona Aquarium is the largest in Europe and is amazing.
Walk Las Ramblas all the way to the Beach.
For more attractions it is up to your personal taste.
Nr,5 Camp Nou, book here: https://www.fcbarcelona.com/tour/buy-tickets

Day trips (Girona, Beach, Wine/Food tours): Great office with excellent ratings : http://spanish-trails.com/home-bcn

My area of expertise in drinking is Craft beer and Barcelona is becoming better and better. Msut visit places:

BierCab : http://biercab.com/ (30 taps and 200 Bottles)
Ale&Hop : http://www.aleandhop.com/ (10 taps and 100 Bottles, plus nice Pub food)
Napar BrewPub: http://www.naparbcn.com/ (One of the best local micros)
I can give you more if you are interested.

Food:
Yelp is used a lot in Spain so check there for reviews depending on where you are.
Some of my preferences:
1. La Boqueria : http://www.boqueria.info/index.php?lang=en , One of the most beautiful food markets in Europe with great options to eat (the seafood options and the italian ice cream place are top). You can shop spices, olive oil, stuff to bring back home here.
2. Seafood : Around Nr.4 in the map it is packed with seafood restaurants, most of the are good and they range from cheap to very expensive. Must try the various platters (grilled, fried, cold seafood). We always had a great meal here : http://www.pacoalcalderestaurante.com/es/ .
3. Paella: can be had in many places as well. A tiny place with few tables and excelletn Paella is here : https://www.yelp.de/biz/mi%C3%B1o-barcelona
4. Tapas: Again hundreds of places. Our favorite with nice ambience, more sophisticated but delicious tapas, good prices and quality : http://www.sensi.es/tapas/
5. Jamon : http://jamonexperience.com/en/ , hey have museum, guided tour and you get to taste different types. A must.

I think/hope it is enough to get you started

Have fun !

Alex

[ReasonablySober]

Never been out of the country and had to get a passport. For any of you who have gone through the process, how long did it take you to get yours back? Been almost a month.

[Beorn]

Had it not been for a gruesome injury, I would be an Erasmus student some hundred meters NW of the 5. point in Nightfall's map

[Aaron It Out]

Never been out of the country and had to get a passport. For any of you who have gone through the process, how long did it take you to get yours back? Been almost a month.

I just got my first one in March and it took less than 3 weeks. My girlfriend got hers renewed through the mail and it took about 4 weeks.