OT: Europe Trip

[HurricaneKid]

Has anyone ever been to Colmar, France? GF and I are going to London -> Colmar -> Paris and then back home in April/May. Total round trip flights to and from Europe was less than $800 including bags.

Wondering if anyone has ever been to Colmar, we decided to split up the big cities and see something that's a little more unusual.

Why Colmar? Its quite a hike from Paris.

I've been to Paris 5X (love it) and have never felt the need to go there. Switzerland is equidistant and easier to get to and pretty amazing by train. French Riviera is a little further but far more romantic and (IMO) impressive.

[jschligs]

Has anyone ever been to Colmar, France? GF and I are going to London -> Colmar -> Paris and then back home in April/May. Total round trip flights to and from Europe was less than $800 including bags.

Wondering if anyone has ever been to Colmar, we decided to split up the big cities and see something that's a little more unusual.

Why Colmar? Its quite a hike from Paris.

I've been to Paris 5X (love it) and have never felt the need to go there. Switzerland is equidistant and easier to get to and pretty amazing by train. French Riviera is a little further but far more romantic and (IMO) impressive.

My gf wanted to go to a smaller town as well as London and Paris. Not really sure where she found Colmar but she has her heart set on it. Only a 2.5 hour train from Paris so not too far, I had originally wanted somewhere in Germany (I'm a little over 1/2 German) but I don't mind going another time.

[thomchatt3rton]

Has anyone ever been to Colmar, France? GF and I are going to London -> Colmar -> Paris and then back home in April/May. Total round trip flights to and from Europe was less than $800 including bags.

Wondering if anyone has ever been to Colmar, we decided to split up the big cities and see something that's a little more unusual.

Why Colmar? Its quite a hike from Paris.

I've been to Paris 5X (love it) and have never felt the need to go there. Switzerland is equidistant and easier to get to and pretty amazing by train. French Riviera is a little further but far more romantic and (IMO) impressive.

My gf wanted to go to a smaller town as well as London and Paris. Not really sure where she found Colmar but she has her heart set on it. Only a 2.5 hour train from Paris so not too far, I had originally wanted somewhere in Germany (I'm a little over 1/2 German) but I don't mind going another time.

I'm very familiar with France, but I never saw that part of the country. I've heard it's beautiful though- the general region around there is pretty different than the countryside tourists normally see. Hilly, forested.
I vaguely think of Colmar as a place to go during Christmas time (like Strasbourg kinda) but I could be remembering wrong. I think it's kind of a "fairy-tale charm" type of place.

When are you going?

[jute2003]

Have a trip booked for the end of the year. One leg is in Europe, the rest in the US. I hope people don't object to me asking for recommendations for places in the US in this thread Travelling with the wife.

In essence the trip is this - flying out from Melbourne on Xmas Eve. Arrive in Knoxville TN (also on Xmas eve) to spend a week in East Tennessee with these friends. Then we are going to road-trip to Nashville, Memphis and down to New Orleans over about 7-8 days.

From NO, we fly to London for a week to visit another friend. The plan is to spend time in London town and then explore out to Bath, Stonehenge, Cornwall and Oxford.

From London, we fly back to the US for a week in San Fran and then a night in LA to see a mate on the way home. When in San Fran, the plan is to drive out to Yosemite for a night or two, and also drive to Sacramento to see an NBA game against the Jazz (believe it or not, I will pass through 3 NBA towns and none have home games when we are there).

Would love to hear peoples recommendations for things to do at any of the places I'm passing through.

Cheers

Edit because reading is hard

[KidA24]

Have a trip booked for the end of the year. One leg is in Europe, the rest in the US. I hope people don't object to me asking for recommendations for places in the US in this thread Travelling with the wife.

In essence the trip is this - flying out from Melbourne on Xmas Eve. Arrive in Knoxville TN (also on Xmas eve) to spend a week in East Tennessee with these friends. Then we are going to road-trip to Nashville, Memphis and down to New Orleans over about 7-8 days.

From NO, we fly to London for a week to visit another friend. The plan is to spend time in London town and then explore out to Bath, Stonehenge, Cornwall and Oxford.

From London, we fly back to the US for a week in San Fran and then a night in LA to see a mate on the way home. When in San Fran, the plan is to drive out to Yosemite for a night or two, and also drive to Sacramento to see an NBA game against the Jazz (believe it or not, I will pass through 3 NBA towns and none have home games when we are there).

Would love to hear peoples recommendations for things to do at any of the places I'm passing through.

Cheers

Yosemite is a high snow area, you might not be able to see much and through much of the park, tire chains are required during the winter.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/winter.htm

[tyland]

Have a trip booked for the end of the year. One leg is in Europe, the rest in the US. I hope people don't object to me asking for recommendations for places in the US in this thread Travelling with the wife.

In essence the trip is this - flying out from Melbourne on Xmas Eve. Arrive in Knoxville TN (also on Xmas eve) to spend a week in East Tennessee with these friends. Then we are going to road-trip to Nashville, Memphis and down to New Orleans over about 7-8 days.

From NO, we fly to London for a week to visit another friend. The plan is to spend time in London town and then explore out to Bath, Stonehenge, Cornwall and Oxford.

From London, we fly back to the US for a week in San Fran and then a night in LA to see a mate on the way home. When in San Fran, the plan is to drive out to Yosemite for a night or two, and also drive to Sacramento to see an NBA game against the Jazz (believe it or not, I will pass through 3 NBA towns and none have home games when we are there).

Would love to hear peoples recommendations for things to do at any of the places I'm passing through.

Cheers

Yosemite is a high snow area, you might not be able to see much and through much of the park, tire chains are required during the winter.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/winter.htm

From my research there is one road in which is "all season". So will take this route. Plan is to rent a 4WD and live near snow over here, so used to using chains.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

[Beorn]

Has anyone here been to a World Cup city during a WC gameday? Is it any fun? I 'll ne in Vilnius in June, 3 hours from Kaliningrand and I'm still mulling whether to take the day trip there during the World Cup

[LuessiT]

Has anyone here been to a World Cup city during a WC gameday? Is it any fun? I 'll ne in Vilnius in June, 3 hours from Kaliningrand and I'm still mulling whether to take the day trip there during the World Cup

Don't think it's worth it. I lived in Munich during the 2006 WC (and went to two games) and I don't think it's anything you'd miss. If you are in the area it makes somewhat sense, but 3 hours away is a ton.

[jschligs]

Why Colmar? Its quite a hike from Paris.

I've been to Paris 5X (love it) and have never felt the need to go there. Switzerland is equidistant and easier to get to and pretty amazing by train. French Riviera is a little further but far more romantic and (IMO) impressive.

My gf wanted to go to a smaller town as well as London and Paris. Not really sure where she found Colmar but she has her heart set on it. Only a 2.5 hour train from Paris so not too far, I had originally wanted somewhere in Germany (I'm a little over 1/2 German) but I don't mind going another time.

I'm very familiar with France, but I never saw that part of the country. I've heard it's beautiful though- the general region around there is pretty different than the countryside tourists normally see. Hilly, forested.
I vaguely think of Colmar as a place to go during Christmas time (like Strasbourg kinda) but I could be remembering wrong. I think it's kind of a "fairy-tale charm" type of place.

When are you going?

We'll be going in early May. From what I've read they light up the multi-colored houses/buildings during the weekends. It's even more crazy during Christmas time like you said, but hopefully we'll still get something cool.

Another reason we don't mind doing it is just that, it's really different from what people usually do. The pictures have been really amazing, there are vineyards and castles nearby, and it's just a quaint town that we can relax in before going to the big city of Paris after.

From all my travels abroad, I've really enjoyed the small stops I've made as they seem to have the most character. I will always love the big cities with history and landmarks and lots of tourist-y stuff, but I definitely want to check out something small. It'd be like if a friend was traveling to the US for the first time, I'd tell him to pick a small city to go to besides just NYC or something.

[thomchatt3rton]

My gf wanted to go to a smaller town as well as London and Paris. Not really sure where she found Colmar but she has her heart set on it. Only a 2.5 hour train from Paris so not too far, I had originally wanted somewhere in Germany (I'm a little over 1/2 German) but I don't mind going another time.

I'm very familiar with France, but I never saw that part of the country. I've heard it's beautiful though- the general region around there is pretty different than the countryside tourists normally see. Hilly, forested.
I vaguely think of Colmar as a place to go during Christmas time (like Strasbourg kinda) but I could be remembering wrong. I think it's kind of a "fairy-tale charm" type of place.

When are you going?

We'll be going in early May. From what I've read they light up the multi-colored houses/buildings during the weekends. It's even more crazy during Christmas time like you said, but hopefully we'll still get something cool.

Another reason we don't mind doing it is just that, it's really different from what people usually do. The pictures have been really amazing, there are vineyards and castles nearby, and it's just a quaint town that we can relax in before going to the big city of Paris after.

From all my travels abroad, I've really enjoyed the small stops I've made as they seem to have the most character. I will always love the big cities with history and landmarks and lots of tourist-y stuff, but I definitely want to check out something small. It'd be like if a friend was traveling to the US for the first time, I'd tell him to pick a small city to go to besides just NYC or something.

Totally agree- I thought it was a great decision on your wife's part. I wish I would've taken a day or so off my Barcelona/Valencia trip and visited some places in the Basque country region down in southern France/northern Spain. Seems like a pretty unique area. Gorgeous. One less day in Barcelona would totally have been worth it.
One of the best things about France is that for a European country, it has comparatively good variety in terms of different regions/topographies etc so definitely take advantage!

[jschligs]

I'm very familiar with France, but I never saw that part of the country. I've heard it's beautiful though- the general region around there is pretty different than the countryside tourists normally see. Hilly, forested.
I vaguely think of Colmar as a place to go during Christmas time (like Strasbourg kinda) but I could be remembering wrong. I think it's kind of a "fairy-tale charm" type of place.

When are you going?

We'll be going in early May. From what I've read they light up the multi-colored houses/buildings during the weekends. It's even more crazy during Christmas time like you said, but hopefully we'll still get something cool.

Another reason we don't mind doing it is just that, it's really different from what people usually do. The pictures have been really amazing, there are vineyards and castles nearby, and it's just a quaint town that we can relax in before going to the big city of Paris after.

From all my travels abroad, I've really enjoyed the small stops I've made as they seem to have the most character. I will always love the big cities with history and landmarks and lots of tourist-y stuff, but I definitely want to check out something small. It'd be like if a friend was traveling to the US for the first time, I'd tell him to pick a small city to go to besides just NYC or something.

Totally agree- I thought it was a great decision on your wife's part. I wish I would've taken a day or so off my Barcelona/Valencia trip and visited some places in the Basque country region down in southern France/northern Spain. Seems like a pretty unique area. Gorgeous. One less day in Barcelona would totally have been worth it.
One of the best things about France is that for a European country, it has comparatively good variety in terms of different regions/topographies etc so definitely take advantage!

Awesome - thanks for your input. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. I was really excited to see my German heritage, but she convinced me we'll go again (we will no doubt) and that this was the best given the time frame we have, I think we'll be there 10 ro 11 days total throughout the 3 cities.

[ReginaldDwight]

Have a trip booked for the end of the year. One leg is in Europe, the rest in the US. I hope people don't object to me asking for recommendations for places in the US in this thread Travelling with the wife.

In essence the trip is this - flying out from Melbourne on Xmas Eve. Arrive in Knoxville TN (also on Xmas eve) to spend a week in East Tennessee with these friends. Then we are going to road-trip to Nashville, Memphis and down to New Orleans over about 7-8 days.

From NO, we fly to London for a week to visit another friend. The plan is to spend time in London town and then explore out to Bath, Stonehenge, Cornwall and Oxford.

From London, we fly back to the US for a week in San Fran and then a night in LA to see a mate on the way home. When in San Fran, the plan is to drive out to Yosemite for a night or two, and also drive to Sacramento to see an NBA game against the Jazz (believe it or not, I will pass through 3 NBA towns and none have home games when we are there).

Would love to hear peoples recommendations for things to do at any of the places I'm passing through.

Cheers

Yosemite is a high snow area, you might not be able to see much and through much of the park, tire chains are required during the winter.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/winter.htm

From my research there is one road in which is "all season". So will take this route. Plan is to rent a 4WD and live near snow over here, so used to using chains.

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

Some of the roads are pretty gnarly going into the valley, if possible make sure you hit the highlands portion of the park absolutely beautiful and most people skip it and stay in the valley.

[MickeyDavis]

You have to go in from the west (to Yosemite), the East entrance is only open a few months. Snow can definitely be an issue but at least you won't have the massive crowds to deal with. Yosemite in the summer is a pain in the ass.

[Whiteman]

From all my travels abroad, I've really enjoyed the small stops I've made as they seem to have the most character. I will always love the big cities with history and landmarks and lots of tourist-y stuff, but I definitely want to check out something small. It'd be like if a friend was traveling to the US for the first time, I'd tell him to pick a small city to go to besides just NYC or something.

So true.

I've been to the Alsace ages ago (not sure about Colmar specifically), and it's beautiful. Feels more central-European with the timber-frame houses.

[Johnny Kilroy]

Go to Monte Carlo. That's where Kidd takes Porschla for some energy and effort. It's great.

[ReginaldDwight]

Any of the Greeks have any thoughts about a week in Mainland greece in march? Some cheap flights keep popping up and wondering if there would be enough to keep the GF happy for a week. Basically looked into paris for some time then looking for a 2nd place in europe to kill 5 or 6 nights Rome is leading right now, but part of me wants to put off italy till I can see more cities.

[Beorn]

Well, mainland Greece is a really generic term, where exactly are you interested in landing? I'd argue that a week isn't enough see most of the things in a 2-3 hour radius (by private car) around Athens. Late spring or early autumn is the best time to visit the mainland if you aren't here for the beaches, as the weather is terrific, without being extremely hot like it is in summer. It's not very good if you are visiting the touristic island, as most things are closed down or under maintenance in order to prepare for the new tourism season which begins at Easter.

[DutchManDanFan]

Any of the Greeks have any thoughts about a week in Mainland greece in march? Some cheap flights keep popping up and wondering if there would be enough to keep the GF happy for a week. Basically looked into paris for some time then looking for a 2nd place in europe to kill 5 or 6 nights Rome is leading right now, but part of me wants to put off italy till I can see more cities.

Go to Amsterdam. It's totally different then any other city you'll ever see. And it's not very far from Paris.

[ReginaldDwight]

Well, mainland Greece is a really generic term, where exactly are you interested in landing? I'd argue that a week isn't enough see most of the things in a 2-3 hour radius (by private car) around Athens. Late spring or early autumn is the best time to visit the mainland if you aren't here for the beaches, as the weather is terrific, without being extremely hot like it is in summer. It's not very good if you are visiting the touristic island, as most things are closed down or under maintenance in order to prepare for the new tourism season which begins at Easter.

Would probably rent a car and drive around the Peloponnese after landing in athens and spending 2 days there.

[Beorn]

Would probably rent a car and drive around the Peloponnese after landing in athens and spending 2 days there.

Τhat's a hell of a plan, if you love history and nature. There's everything down there, from mountains and beaches to castles, ancient cities and traditional towns. If you need more detailed description of the region feel free to ask, I've close family and friends in Peloponnesos, so I've been almost everywhere for short periods of time