Travel Thread [Football, Tickets, Sightseeing, Etc.]

[Evilo]

Would love to see everyone’s “Best Of” list, where if you had to pick one city per country where that would be.

Spain : Sevilla
Italy : tough but Roma because I'm passionate about ancient Rome.
France : Paris still. So wonderful and beautiful.
England : Chester
Scotland : Edimburgh
Sweden : Stockholm
Australia : tough... I'll go with Perth
US : New York or Chicago
Mexico : Mérida
Canada : Montreal
Czech Rep : Prague
Tunisia : Cartagena
Russia : St Petersburg
Denmark : Copenhagen
Holland : Amsterdam
Belgium : Bruges is nice but I like Brussels better
Germany : Berlin
Portugal : Porto
I obviously haven't been everywhere in those countries. I'm also forgetting some countries I went to.
I've been to many places in France, Spain, Italy, England and the US.

 

[Evilo]

Read about Mario in Hockey Magazine. I was going to the states every now and then and fell in love with hockey.
Not until 2001 did I see Mario live in the Igloo with Jagr, Kovalev, Straka and Lang.

I should add my first north American hockey game was a WHL game between Portland and Tri Cities (or something close). Mid 90s? I'd say 96 maybe 97?
Robinson IIRC was the midget playing for Portland that was killing the WHL back then. Never made it to the NHL.

I used to post on a hockey discussion site called the Rumor Mill before joining Hfb and after a while the Mill went down.

 

[S E P H]

Going to Porto and Lisbon to "work from home" for March. Hoping to see a couple of games while I'm over there.

From my American friends who've been to Europe, they keep saying that Portugal was the best country they've been to. All I keep hearing from them is that the major cities have bloody good night life which is sort of unexpected when you think about Portugal.

Would love to see everyone’s “Best Of” list, where if you had to pick one city per country where that would be.

I haven't visited some of the major places like France, Spain, or Czechia, but from what I experienced...

Austria: Salzburg (Probably the place I would want to move to if I ever went back to Europe)

England: London (Only place I went to in England so it take it with a grain of salt, but I loved my time there. Sadly it has probably changed for the worst as it has grown larger)

Germany: Freiburg (Not even close, probably the most beautiful place in Germany that I've seen even if Munich is probably a better city for blokes in their prime)

Italy: Florence (Like it isn't close to second place for me, but I haven't been to Turin or Sicily)

Polska: Krakow if you're a tourist, if you're a local then the lake district of Poland in the Northwest corner of the country known as Masurian. I love me some Torun though because I like medieval towns and the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Russia: St. Petersburg (I like history and this town has it all)


I watched a ton of travel shows in the past and based on what I've seen I want to visit...
1. Budapest (Europe's hidden gem)
2. Prague (Touristy but for a good reason)
3. Lyon (Nothing more to say)
4. Seville, Malaga, or Granada (Not sure which one as all three look amazing, not a Barcelona fan from what I've seen)
5. Forest region of Croatia (Another hidden gem in terms of nature)
6. Western Turkey (for the history)

 

[Savi]

Yeah Budapest is fantastic, great nightlife too

I'll add Zadar (Croatia), the Algarve coastline (Portugal), Izmir (Turkey), Odessa (Ukraine, also amazing nightlife) and Basel (Switzerland).
I've also enjoyed several Greek Islands, I think Santorini is my favourite. Been to Athens once, on school holiday, but it was WAY too hot to really enjoy anything.

 

[Evilo]

Wouldn't move to Austria even when paid.
Bunch of fascists there.
Torino is not a nice city, especially when Milan is near by.

 

[S E P H]

Wouldn't move to Austria even when paid.
Bunch of fascists there.

What? Seriously? What type of fascists?

 

[Evilo]

Their government?

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Would love to see everyone’s “Best Of” list, where if you had to pick one city per country where that would be.

Not really a city person, but I would say Adelaide - clean, wide open, nice buildings, not a bustling "modern" city like Sydney.

I love York. Not a big city, but so much history and a lovely place.

I much prefer the countryside. Hadrian's Wall is my favourite place in the entire world. Gorgeous scenery with 2000 years of history running alongside you for 80 miles. Plus lots of very personal memories for me there.

 

[bluesfan94]

Would love to see everyone’s “Best Of” list, where if you had to pick one city per country where that would be.

Of the countries where I have been to enough cities to have somewhat of an educated opinion. I gave first the city that someone should go to if they've never been to the country and then second, if different, my favorite city.

Germany - Munich
Netherlands - Amsterdam
Belgium - Bruges
Spain - Barcelona, Sevilla
Italy - Rome, Florence
England - London, Durham
Austria - Vienna, Salzburg
Israel - Jerusalem, Haifa
Switzerland - Zurich, Lucerne

Of the other countries I have been to (Scotland, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Canada, and Greece), I would say the city I enjoyed the most was either Prague or Budapest.

In terms of watching a football match, I've been to a game at Arsenal, Fiorentina, Oxford, Anderlecht, St. Pauli, and Feyenoord. Of those, I think Feyenoord had the best atmosphere, St. Pauli was the most fun, and Arsenal was the best for me as an actual fan.

 

[robertmac43]

This is a fun thread;

I have not done much European travel but I'm hoping to pick that up more in the coming years.

Scotland; Edinburgh, is one of my favorite cities I have ever been. Glasgow is great too, especially if you are there for the football.

England; London, a great spot for many reasons. Insane amount of football, and lots of history which are basically the two reasons I travel. The food is bland but there are some decent Indian, Jamaican, and other multicultural eats.

China; Beijing is probably the coolest place I have ever been. Probably wouldn't go now given the political issues around China and traveling there.

Canada; Quebec City is a great spot. I like Toronto as well but in smaller doses.

 

[robertmac43]

Reading through some of the European's posting... I'm so jealous you have so many countries and cool places within close distances.

 

[bluesfan94]

Reading through some of the European's posting... I'm so jealous you have so many countries and cool places within close distances.

Same, although I always try to remember not to take domestic US vacations for granted. There's a ton of great cities across America (and I'm sure Canada) that all have very unique vibes and history. I really like the history and walkability of European cities, so there are definitely differences, but I can get to a ton of really cool cities within a two hour flight no problem. And Minneapolis, Denver, and New Orleans (for example) all have very different vibes.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Got into hockey same way as most of us.. due to the video game.
My favourite in-game player was Martin St. Louis so started following him and TB soon after, and watching games at 1 A.M. on schoolnights lol.
Hfboards was the most prominent hockey board I think so that's probably how I ended up here.

Lol just like me

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Stockholm is quite nice. I went there on my own to watch Tampa play Buffalo and I really liked it as a tourist.

Italy in general has fantastic culture, food, weather and nature. It is really a wonderful country.

I visited the whole Yucatán area and I did not really think any city was outstanding. Merida has a few nice spots and felt much more authentic than the others though.

I'm going to South Africa in 10 days

 

[ScottishCanuck]

Stockholm is my favourite city in Europe. Especially nice in the summer months.

Also love southern Bavaria. Munich is alright as a city, but it’s great in that it’s within easy reach of the Alps. One of my best day trips in recent years involved a days hike up at the Eibsee and swimming in the lake. Basically paradise.

Düsseldorf is the best football base. Within easy reach of a lot of good football cities.

And Switzerland is amazing but crazy expensive. Luzern is beautiful.

Also a shoutout to Freiburg im Breisgau. Not a huge amount to do, but a really nice place and of all the cities in Germany it’s the one I’d most like to live in.

 

[robertmac43]

Same, although I always try to remember not to take domestic US vacations for granted. There's a ton of great cities across America (and I'm sure Canada) that all have very unique vibes and history. I really like the history and walkability of European cities, so there are definitely differences, but I can get to a ton of really cool cities within a two hour flight no problem. And Minneapolis, Denver, and New Orleans (for example) all have very different vibes.

Yeah, that is a great point. Been trying to do more more 'local' travel recently. Canada is a great spot if you are big into hiking, camping and all things outdoors.

 

[bluesfan94]

Yeah, that is a great point. Been trying to do more more 'local' travel recently. Canada is a great spot if you are big into hiking, camping and all things outdoors.

Yeah I haven't done much in Canada. I've been to Victoria and then a little bit of the Maritimes while I was in Maine, but that's it. That said, I imagine there's a bunch of diversity between the cities as well. Like I can't imagine Montreal is anything like Edmonton

 

[bluesfan94]

Düsseldorf is the best football base. Within easy reach of a lot of good football cities.

I prefer Köln over Düsseldorf.

 

[Savi]

And Switzerland is amazing but crazy expensive. Luzern is beautiful.

This is true. I went to Basel once however it was on an invitation of someone who lives and works there so I could stay at their house luckily. It was also in the midst of Carnival week which is pretty huge in Basel so the whole city was in party mode when I was there.

 

[luiginb]

Haha how different experiences can be, I hated Stockholm, I found it lacked grit and personality (picture a city with graffiti only where graffiti is allowed haha), and being used to the people here, I found people there extremely unfriendly and uncommunicative. Not to mention the prices for alcohol and clubbing/nightlife. The only plus maybe people's fashion sense and the abundance of nice green spaces.

 

[Savi]

Yeah isn't Scandinavia in general also really expensive?
Also has anyone ever been to Iceland?

 

[luiginb]

My favorite place on Earth and probably where I'll retire is Tenerife, perfect weather all year round, beautiful nature, some great beaches and the friendliest people in Europe in my experience (a mix of Latin Americans and Spaniards from the South). I wouldn't live there as a young man just because it's hard to travel from, and there is a lack of cultural offer, although the nightlife in the capital of Santa Cruz was surprisingly vibrant. But it's mostly a place to enjoy the sun, nature, the ocean and the food.

 

[robertmac43]

Yeah I haven't done much in Canada. I've been to Victoria and then a little bit of the Maritimes while I was in Maine, but that's it. That said, I imagine there's a bunch of diversity between the cities as well. Like I can't imagine Montreal is anything like Edmonton

Haha yeah, nothing alike here! Edmonton is actually an underrated city. I went in November for WCQ and was pleasantly surprised by the food and brewery scene there. Just got to get over the cold and gloomy feelings of November in Alberta.

 

[theaub]

Of the places I've been:

England: Newcastle (combo of nightlife and bias, but I would also take Liverpool, Brighton, York and a number of cities over London)
France: Lyon
Spain: Barcelona (loved Madrid as well)
Portugal: Porto
Germany: Munich
Israel: Tel Aviv
Canada: Vancouver
USA: New York (never been to PNW but feel like I would like that a lot)
Mexico: Chihuahua

 

[bluesfan94]

Haha how different experiences can be, I hated Stockholm, I found it lacked grit and personality (picture a city with graffiti only where graffiti is allowed haha), and being used to the people here, I found people there extremely unfriendly and uncommunicative. Not to mention the prices for alcohol and clubbing/nightlife. The only plus maybe people's fashion sense and the abundance of nice green spaces.

Apologies if I’m wrong, but aren’t you from Romania? From my time in Bucharest, everything would seem expensive in comparison.