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

maclean

Registered User
Jan 4, 2014
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K, so I don't particularly feel like listing all the places I've been because most of them have already been mentioned and I don't feel like I have any particularly novel takes on them, but if I had to pick which place I've visited I liked the most and wish I could go more, it would have to be the former Yugoslavia. Serbia and Bosnia both have a really neat atmosphere, Croatia is obviously gorgeous though kind of overly touristy for my taste plus I'm not exactly a swimmer or seafood lover so a lot of its virtues are lost on me. Slovenia's got some great nature, Ljubljana is cute but kind of too sleepy for me, though I have friends there so I always have a good time, but it can be a bit depressing having difficulty finding a place to have a beer when it's not even midnight yet.

Western Europe is basically all boring. London takes the cake in that regard, only thing that saves it is the variety of ethnic food. Paris is great as long as there's not a public transit strike at the time. I'm not as hot on Berlin as most people, but I lived there for a bit and have friends there so I don't mind it, just find people there too full of themselves. Had a good time in Hamburg, though I had the benefit of going there with my band and a bunch of Bohemians fans to see a St Pauli game and play a show for a local fans group.

But of course the best place in the world is the Czech Republic because no matter where you are in the country, you're guaranteed there's a pub or at least refreshments stand somewhere nearby.
 
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spintheblackcircle

incoming!!!
Mar 1, 2002
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This thread so Euro centric!

If I could go back to another city, it would be Santiago, Chile. Great people, great food, great drink.

Loved London/Amsterdam/Western Ireland/Venice/Switzerland/Vancouver

Did not enjoy Paris, but I was young and broke and the city was on a general strike.
 
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Incubajerks

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Feb 9, 2010
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Roma
If I could go back to another city, it would be Santiago, Chile. Great people, great food, great drink.

Loved London/Amsterdam/Western Ireland/Italy/Switzerland/Vancouver

Did not enjoy Paris, but I was young and broke and the city was on a general strike.

I must say that I too was a little disappointed in Paris, having said that I would like to go back, I had a very good time in Seville, Helsinki, Budapest, Madrid (probably the most beautiful I have seen that is not my city), I absolutely loved the Croatian coast and its islands although it must be said that it is better to cook than to go to a restaurant. I would also add that the only city in which I would be able to live that is not Rome is Palermo. Sicily is one of those places that I always recommend.
 

spintheblackcircle

incoming!!!
Mar 1, 2002
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I must say that I too was a little disappointed in Paris, having said that I would like to go back, I had a very good time in Seville, Helsinki, Budapest, Madrid (probably the most beautiful I have seen that is not my city), I absolutely loved the Croatian coast and its islands although it must be said that it is better to cook than to go to a restaurant. I would also add that the only city in which I would be able to live that is not Rome is Palermo. Sicily is one of those places that I always recommend.

Being 25% Croatian, I need to hit that spot.
 
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ScottishCanuck

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May 9, 2010
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Scotland
Got return flights from Scotland to Buenos Aires a few years ago for the amazing sum of £250. Great football city and a really cool vibe. I did get mugged in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon though, although I accept most of the responsibility for that. The people have been putting up with so much economic crap for so long that it’s difficult not to sympathise. And the wealth disparity is huge.

Salta in the Andean northwest is one of the coolest and friendliest places I’ve ever been. Incredible scenery too.
 

KingLB

Registered User
Oct 29, 2008
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Medellin and Piter huh? You probably know how to party haha

I mean, we had some fun. But Medellin also has great nature as well. Went white water rafting and ATV’ing as well. Couldn’t convince my buddy to ride motorcycles to a bunch of little villages. Really wanted my own motorcycle diaries story.

Also add me to the list of disappointed Paris attendees, though I did get rained on for 4 days. And all the smoking had my allergies in overdrive.
 

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,268
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St. Louis
Yeah I don't really understand the economics when it comes to flights, wouldn't supply and demand rise the tickets to those places instead of making them cheap?
My understanding of it is that because diplomats etc are being shuttled back and forth so often, there's enough volume to make having multiple flights daily worth it to airlines, or else the flexibility offered by a different airline would be a competitive advantage. However, because there are multiple flights daily, the tickets are inexpensive. Of course, I could also be wrong, but at the end of the day, there were a lot of cheap flights.

I think I flew round trip to Bucharest for 35 Euro and Budapest for 55 Euro? I also went to Israel for cheap but I don't recall those amounts anymore.
 
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bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
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I mean, we had some fun. But Medellin also has great nature as well. Went white water rafting and ATV’ing as well. Couldn’t convince my buddy to ride motorcycles to a bunch of little villages. Really wanted my own motorcycle diaries story.

Also add me to the list of disappointed Paris attendees, though I did get rained on for 4 days. And all the smoking had my allergies in overdrive.
Yeah, I was underwhelmed with Paris but I went on a cold and rainy spring weekend. The city of light felt more gloomy than anything.
 

maclean

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Jan 4, 2014
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I first went to Paris with my parents when I was 16, a young lad who had never seen anything other than Canada (where I grew up, though I've been in Czech over half my life now). It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, first time seeing actual culture. It's hard to imagine what my impression would be if I first encountered it today. Certainly my kids weren't overly taken with it when we were there just before corona, but we had just been in Stockholm visiting my cousin before that, and Stockholm was full of shops that had a huge selection of manga in English, whereas in Paris they were only in French (and in fact the shops would have us believe the law wouldn't even let them sell English versions). I guess they don't share my love of grit
 

Peen

Rejoicing in a Benning-free world
Oct 6, 2013
30,378
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Hey everyone. I have twenty days between semesters to travel in late April/ Early May. I want to take my girlfriend with me (both will be 23 during that time)

I did europe a few years ago - london, rome, milan, venice, barcelona, valencia, granada, seville, porto, madrid, paris, and some other day trips to smaller towns over a month long trip.

i want to keep the trip more focused on going to a few places. places in eu i have interest in potentially exploring

- full week or so in portugal
- amalfi coast
- croatia
- northern areas (sweden, norway, denmark)
- central eu (switzerland, austrian etc)
- scotland/ireland

I also have a ton of interest in going outside of EU if anyone here has done any of the following countries

- Japan
- Namibia - (also have family in Kenya but I want to do more travels on our own rather than family visits in groups and I don’t personally feel too safe in Kenya)
- Argentina/Chile

So, uh, yeah. I guess my overall thought is some sort of two/three week trip that isn’t overly travel intense in terms of big/frequent flights and trains. Also, fun areas.

I haven’t done much research into anything yet - and whether or not covid restrictions are intense. Also hard to confidently book anything when there’s always
a possibility of “wow look at this cool new variant that’s assuredly going to shut the world down!” and then get her and i stuck in a random country lol
 

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,268
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St. Louis
i want to keep the trip more focused on going to a few places. places in eu i have interest in potentially exploring

- full week or so in portugal
- amalfi coast
- croatia
- northern areas (sweden, norway, denmark)
- central eu (switzerland, austrian etc)
- scotland/ireland
I'll be in the UK in late April as well; trying to catch Arsenal-United but it's looking pricey and hard to get tickets.

Of those places, I've only been to Switzerland/Austria (and you could drop into Germany and/or Italy or over to Slovakia/Czech Republic). I personally love Switzerland but it is expensive. Austria is also very nice. Vienna is gorgeous. I loved Prague and it's pretty affordable. So is Budapest. In southern Germany, Munich is really cool and Neuschwanstein is really worth a visit, as are many towns in the Black Forest region (Freiburg, in particular).

I know that's not really a great answer, but it's what I've got.

Oh I've also been to Edinburgh, which I really liked, but I can't tell you about Ireland or anywhere else in Scotland (yet; I'll be going up to the Highlands on my trip).
 

Savant

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Oct 3, 2013
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Going to Italy in June. Seeing Venice, Florence and Roma. Boom
 

S E P H

Cloud IX
Mar 5, 2010
31,136
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Toruń, PL
Going to Italy in June. Seeing Venice, Florence and Roma. Boom
My friends live in Italia and they say that Venice is overrated (I thought it was overrate too IMHO). Go if you want to, but I rather spend that time in the lake district of Italy.
 

Savant

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Oct 3, 2013
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My friends live in Italia and they say that Venice is overrated (I thought it was overrate too IMHO). Go if you want to, but I rather spend that time in the lake district of Italy.
Not worried about it. I have family from that area and want to see it. Preferably before it sinks.
 

GabeTravels

ME > MN > GA
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Nov 24, 2011
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Marietta, GA
Hey everyone. I have twenty days between semesters to travel in late April/ Early May. I want to take my girlfriend with me (both will be 23 during that time)

I did europe a few years ago - london, rome, milan, venice, barcelona, valencia, granada, seville, porto, madrid, paris, and some other day trips to smaller towns over a month long trip.

i want to keep the trip more focused on going to a few places. places in eu i have interest in potentially exploring

- full week or so in portugal
- amalfi coast
- croatia
- northern areas (sweden, norway, denmark)
- central eu (switzerland, austrian etc)
- scotland/ireland

I also have a ton of interest in going outside of EU if anyone here has done any of the following countries

- Japan
- Namibia - (also have family in Kenya but I want to do more travels on our own rather than family visits in groups and I don’t personally feel too safe in Kenya)
- Argentina/Chile

So, uh, yeah. I guess my overall thought is some sort of two/three week trip that isn’t overly travel intense in terms of big/frequent flights and trains. Also, fun areas.

I haven’t done much research into anything yet - and whether or not covid restrictions are intense. Also hard to confidently book anything when there’s always
a possibility of “wow look at this cool new variant that’s assuredly going to shut the world down!” and then get her and i stuck in a random country lol

Just did a trip this fall in Ireland/Scotland. If you're cool with some driving the Irish countryside is beautiful and peaceful. Dublin's a cool city but I enjoyed the countryside more. And the Highlands are spectacular...I was only up north for a night but I want to go back and explore more.

Croatia's beautiful, and you can pair it with Slovenia, Bosnia, or Montenegro. Tons of history, beautiful coastline to drive, etc.

Japan (if it's open) would be my pick. It'd be different than anything in Europe. Tokyo's one of my Top 3 cities on the planet. SO much to see and do. Easy transportation, no driving necessary. Kyoto's not far away either via train. If you are traveling around the end of April the Cherry Blossoms could also be in bloom, which makes it even more special. Sapporo in the north is beautiful too, though not as much to do compared to Tokyo.
 
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Vasilevskiy

The cat will be back
Dec 30, 2008
17,988
4,770
Barcelona
Hey everyone. I have twenty days between semesters to travel in late April/ Early May. I want to take my girlfriend with me (both will be 23 during that time)

I did europe a few years ago - london, rome, milan, venice, barcelona, valencia, granada, seville, porto, madrid, paris, and some other day trips to smaller towns over a month long trip.

i want to keep the trip more focused on going to a few places. places in eu i have interest in potentially exploring

- full week or so in portugal
- amalfi coast
- croatia
- northern areas (sweden, norway, denmark)
- central eu (switzerland, austrian etc)
- scotland/ireland

I also have a ton of interest in going outside of EU if anyone here has done any of the following countries

- Japan
- Namibia - (also have family in Kenya but I want to do more travels on our own rather than family visits in groups and I don’t personally feel too safe in Kenya)
- Argentina/Chile

So, uh, yeah. I guess my overall thought is some sort of two/three week trip that isn’t overly travel intense in terms of big/frequent flights and trains. Also, fun areas.

I haven’t done much research into anything yet - and whether or not covid restrictions are intense. Also hard to confidently book anything when there’s always
a possibility of “wow look at this cool new variant that’s assuredly going to shut the world down!” and then get her and i stuck in a random country lol

Namibia is a lot of driving. And when I mean a lot, is a lot.
Thought of doing it myself but ultimately it was a turn off.

I come back tomorrow from South Africa and I had a fantastic time. Blyde River Canyon and the Kruger park (if you like animals and nature) are a blast.
Cape Town surroundings are astonishing but man, is this a country I don't want to be out in the streets at all when it gets dark.

I have not been to Japan but for two weeks that could be a great trip. Most people I know that been there have had a great time
 
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spintheblackcircle

incoming!!!
Mar 1, 2002
66,409
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Venice is wonderful, especially if you get out of the 3 touristy spots. Any church you go to is incredible and filled with paintings by masters.

I went in the early 90's when I was about 23 and the first nite we sat outside on the waterfront for 3 1/2 hours with a couple from Australia and had one of the best meals I had had to that point.
 
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Evilo

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
62,329
8,697
France
I'll be in Amsterdam this month, Mexico in july and Berlin and Paris in August.
Still looking where to go in April, but I'm looking at Spain right now (I've just come back from Sevilla).
 

bluesfan94

Registered User
Jan 7, 2008
31,268
8,380
St. Louis
Venice is wonderful, especially if you get out of the 3 touristy spots. Any church you go to is incredible and filled with paintings by masters.
I find this to also be true about Rome and Florence. I loved just ducking into random churches and seeing a Caravaggio or a Tintoretto or Titian or etc.
 
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