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Skip Belfast and Donegal. That alone will cut you down to ~500 miles from ~850 and reduce the time spent in the car by about 10 hours. Stay in Dublin for a few days, and spread the other days around a bit. Spending one day in a city is stupid, especially when you've got to spend half that day driving to get there.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:00
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I totally agree - my plan would have been to pick only 3 places from which to base ourselves for 2 weeks. She is bound and determined 'to see as much of Ireland as possible'. I don't think she has really thought about the distances involved, the condition of the roads, packing every day, etc. I spoke with her again and she isn't budging. It doesn't help that a lot of the B&Bs are non refundable. Ugh.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:06
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Start planning your revenge holiday now cause if you're the one doing all the driving that poo poo is gonna be rough. If no compromises can be worked out beforehand, just make drat sure she remembers who insisted on the itinerary when it comes to plan the next trip.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:16
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greazeball posted:Start planning your revenge holiday now cause if you're the one doing all the driving that poo poo is gonna be rough. Yes, I will be the one driving since she can't drive a stick and it was $500 cheaper. I'm basically going to be a zombie for 2 weeks.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:20
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Kaddish posted:Yes, I will be the one driving since she can't drive a stick and it was $500 cheaper. I'm basically going to be a zombie for 2 weeks. This could be the end of a relationship.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:26
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You two are going to be at each others' throats by about day five from the stress.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:44
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Day 7 - Ring of Kerry Day 8 - Drive back to Dingle You can do the ring of kerry in a few hours, and driving back will be like.. 30 minutes or something from Dunquin? Dingle is nice though I grew up there woo yeah  You're mad though, as everyone said. Have fun!
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Apr 16, 2013 15:03
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I'm sending her all of these responses in the hope that advice from internet strangers will persuade her.
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Apr 16, 2013 15:04
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So, is Deutsche Bahn an ailing and/or underfunded system? I was taking a DB train from Cologne to Brussels and they said there was a problem with the motor so we stopped in Duren and they brought a replacement train. We all got on the replacement but then that train started smoking and the fire department came. After like 40 minutes a local train came and took us to Aachen and from there some private contracted coaches took us to Brussels. It took like 5 hours to make the trip. Seems like DB wasn't really prepared though and nobody knew what was actually going on. I'm not actually complaining too much since I finally did get where I wanted to go and just lost a few hours of my time. But all the Germans I spoke to said "Man I never take Deutsche Bahn, but I just did this one time and look what happens"
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Apr 16, 2013 15:10
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Haha, I was right. Internet strangers have persuaded her to compromise. She has agreed to cut out Cong and Donegal but insists we must do Belfast. This means I have to drive from Belfast to Newmarket on Fergus in one day but that day will be the worst of it. Ideally we would re-work all of the bookings and do Dublin first but it's not in the cards. Still, a little compromise thanks to this thread!
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Apr 16, 2013 15:38
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Hooray! Now tell her she needs to agree to the BMW upgrade
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Apr 16, 2013 15:48
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Hog Obituary posted:So, is Deutsche Bahn an ailing and/or underfunded system? I was taking a DB train from Cologne to Brussels and they said there was a problem with the motor so we stopped in Duren and they brought a replacement train. We all got on the replacement but then that train started smoking and the fire department came. After like 40 minutes a local train came and took us to Aachen and from there some private contracted coaches took us to Brussels. It took like 5 hours to make the trip. Seems like DB wasn't really prepared though and nobody knew what was actually going on. Almost every time I've taken an intercity train in Germany it's been a disaster. I spent 3 hours on the tracks outside Freiburg for god knows what reason last year, on what was supposed to be like a 3 hout trip between Basel and Karlsruhe. Needless to say, I missed my connection. At least I got to see the flamingos at the Karlsruhe zoo! I spent 30 minutes waiting on the train to depart from Munich on the way back on the same trip. My previous IC train spent an hour sitting in Munich station too. Now I'm committed to only go to Germany by car, or flight + local trains. I looked into it at the time, and something like 20% of their intercity trains are more than 5 minutes late by the time they reach their final destination, and 10% or so are more than 15 minutes late (in fact, I even made a thread about it here on the SA forums!). Maybe they needed Mussolini to conquer their country and show them how to run a goddamn timetable. VVV: I've been in Europe for almost 5 years now, but only lived in Germany for 3 months. I've probably only taken 10 or 15 ICE trains, only 3 of which were catastrophically late. About half of them were on time, and the rest were 10-15 minutes late. Saladman fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 16:40
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Saladman posted:Almost every time I've taken an intercity train in Germany it's been a disaster. I spent 3 hours on the tracks outside Freiburg for god knows what reason last year, on what was supposed to be like a 3 hout trip between Basel and Karlsruhe. Needless to say, I missed my connection. At least I got to see the flamingos at the Karlsruhe zoo! I spent 30 minutes waiting on the train to depart from Munich on the way back on the same trip. My previous IC train spent an hour sitting in Munich station too. Now I'm committed to only go to Germany by car, or flight + local trains. I looked into it at the time, and something like 20% of their intercity trains are more than 5 minutes late by the time they reach their final destination, and 10% or so are more than 15 minutes late (in fact, I even made a thread about it here on the SA forums!). Maybe they needed Mussolini to conquer their country and show them how to run a goddamn timetable. I've never had problems when I was on an ICE train. One time my train was canceled and they put me on the Thayls. All the delays and times I've had to switch trains were when I was on a regional train. Generally speaking though I like the DB, but maybe I just haven't ridden them enough (been in Germany for three years).
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Apr 16, 2013 17:16
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My husband and I are going to Dublin in June, and we're trying to plan right now. I'm going to be in Dublin for a week before he arrives, for a conference. He's flying in on 6/30 and we're leaving on 7/7, so we'll have 7 nights together. I absolutely want to see Belfast and I want to get some hiking in around Belfast and Dublin. However, the cheap airfare has us seriously considering a 2 night trip to either Stockholm, Edinburgh, or Paris. Is this a terrible idea, or could it be fun? We really love museums and we generally just enjoy walking around and taking things in, but we get really stressed out when we try to shove too much into a trip. Edit: My husband is arguing that we should skip Belfast to save time for better stuff. I have it in my mind that Belfast will be awesome, but I can't really defend it beyond "Giant's causeway is cool! Hiking!", so I guess we might skip it. dopaMEAN fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 03:45
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Omits-Bagels posted:Hostels in Pairs are all kind of crap. I'd just go to hostelworld and see what gets the best rating. I know there is a hostel in the 18th district http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Square-Caulaincourt/Paris/2193 Oh sweet Jesus that site is awesome! I'll definitely look into it. EDIT: Quick question. Should I be booking hostels now to make sure they have availability or should I just wait till I get there and do it on the fly? I'll be over there June 17th-July 6. Mr.AARP fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 04:19
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Mr.AARP posted:Oh sweet Jesus that site is awesome! I'll definitely look into it. If you know you're going to be there then I would just book it now. July is the busy season so things tend book up around that time. Generally, you're safe if you book about a week in advance (although there are a lot of concerts and things that time of year so hostels book up for those events). And if you click on the link to hostelworld on that article and book, I'll get a small commission. Feel free to click around and read the other articles.
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Apr 17, 2013 04:47
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Omits-Bagels posted:If you know you're going to be there then I would just book it now. July is the busy season so things tend book up around that time. Generally, you're safe if you book about a week in advance (although there are a lot of concerts and things that time of year so hostels book up for those events). And if you click on the link to hostelworld on that article and book, I'll get a small commission. Feel free to click around and read the other articles. Sounds great. Thanks! Edit: I have my Easyjet flight from Amsterdam to Prague booked for June 29th at 17:05. Other than that, nothing else is set in stone. Would you recommend any alterations before I start booking hostels? June 17 (arrive at Noon) - 21: London June 21 - 26: Paris June 26 - 29: Amsterdam June 30 - July 3: Prague July 3 - July 6 (depart 10 AM): Berlin Mr.AARP fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 05:29
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dopaMEAN posted:My husband and I are going to Dublin in June, and we're trying to plan right now. If you don't have to fly back to Dublin for your return flight to the US or wherever, then this is feasible. If you have to fly back to Dublin it sounds awful. In either case though, it really makes more sense to just rent a car and drive wherever you want to in Ireland (Galway, Giant's Causeway, whatever) -- unless you've really been all over Ireland before and really don't care about traveling around it again.
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Apr 17, 2013 09:35
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I'm going to Oktoberfest this fall but will be flying into Frankfurt with my girlfriend the week before with the intention of spending 4-5 days in the Rhein and/or Mosel valleys before heading south. She's never been to Germany before and basically wants to see castles and drink wine. Nightlife isn't important, we'll be partying enough the next week in Munich. Any suggestions for spots? Right now we are thinking we'll do two nights in Trier but are looking for what to do the other nights. Basically so far we've got: Land in Frankfurt Wednesday morning, get rental car Wednesday night: ?? Thursday Night: Trier Friday Night: Trier Saturday Night: ??? Sunday Night: Mainz or Frankfurt Then get on a train to Munich on Monday morning. We aren't set on Trier, just have had some friends who have been there before and recommended it. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 18:47
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Thoguh posted:I'm going to Oktoberfest this fall but will be flying into Frankfurt with my girlfriend the week before with the intention of spending 4-5 days in the Rhein and/or Mosel valleys before heading south. She's never been to Germany before and basically wants to see castles and drink wine. Nightlife isn't important, we'll be partying enough the next week in Munich. Any suggestions for spots? Right now we are thinking we'll do two nights in Trier but are looking for what to do the other nights. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a really nice, quaint German town with a medieval feel and still has its town hall, one of my best memories from that area. It's worth a day, which is perfect in your itinerary. Trier is kinda way out of your way but I guess you already knew that. E: Heidelberg is also gorgeous, and probably one of the most touristic / famouse smaller cities in Germany. Saladman fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 20:20
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dopaMEAN posted:My husband and I are going to Dublin in June, and we're trying to plan right now. Thing is the Giant's Causeway is a good bit away from Belfast,( also the cheeky shites want £7.50 to allow you to look at this ancient natural formation, that's just shocking) I haven't been there that much and the last time I was there it was getting blown up pretty often but I honestly didn't find Belfast that interesting. For hiking, have a look at http://www.wicklowway.com/ It's a 127 km hiking route that starts in suburban Dublin and ends up somewhere in Wicklow. I've done bits of it over the years and it really is beautiful. You might be surprised by how quickly you can get from urban Dublin to really mountainy countryside in Ireland, but the truth is that this country tends to pack a lot of changes into a small space. Bad for long-distance travel, good for localised exploration. In the line of museums, the natural history museum in Dublin is one of my own favorites; it's free and is incidentally a perfectly preserved Victorian museum. It's all mahogany cabinets full of specimens collected in Bechuanaland by Lieutenant-Colonel Webster-Brooks-Cholmondeley during the Zulu uprising of 1847. Everything smells of formaldehyde and dust and you have to flip over big leather covers to view the collections of insects and butterflies.
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Apr 17, 2013 20:46
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Any suggestions for a nice romantic place to eat dinner in Paris? I would say probably under 50€/person is what I'd like to keep it at. e: Also, if I buy a ticket for the Eifel Tower online, does this let me just skip straight to the elevator? Is there a cheaper place than the official website for 14.50€? Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Apr 18, 2013 |
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Apr 18, 2013 16:28
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Boris Galerkin posted:Any suggestions for a nice romantic place to eat dinner in Paris? I would say probably under 50€/person is what I'd like to keep it at. I've eaten at a bunch of restaurants in Paris, many recommended by locals, none particularly catching or better than the random ones I've stopped in by chance. Under €50/person is easy though, you're unlikely to accidentally find a place that costs more than about €30/person. Re: Tower, yes, but there will still be huge lines at the elevator from the 'second floor' (about 1/3rd of the way up) to the top. And no, no cheaper. Second floor is like €5 though and gives you a pretty similar view.
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Apr 18, 2013 20:11
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Saladman posted:Second floor is like €5 though and gives you a pretty similar view. Here's an example, I took the first photo from the second floor, the second from the top:  Champ de Mars by hookshot88, on Flickr  Paris by hookshot88, on Flickr It's absolutely worth going all the way up. The elevator to the top usually isn't longer than a 15-20 minute wait anyways. Usually I find it's more like 10 minutes.
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Apr 18, 2013 20:58
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What is that one single jarring black skyscraper?
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Apr 18, 2013 21:29
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Boris Galerkin posted:What is that one single jarring black skyscraper?
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Apr 18, 2013 21:42
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They've recently added blue lights around the corners that look pretty nifty at night. Being pretty much the only skyscraper in the city of Paris, it is pretty jarring/a good landmark though.
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Apr 18, 2013 22:15
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You just know somebody got millions of Francs in kickbacks to be allowed to build it. The kicker is that it's filled with asbestos. But you can get amazing photos of the Eiffel Tower at night at the top.
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Apr 18, 2013 22:21
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All you guys keep going on about the elevators, but the last time I was there, mind you almost 20 years ago, when I was 12, I just remember endlessly walking stairs. Aren't
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Apr 18, 2013 23:53
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Rojkir posted:All you guys keep going on about the elevators, but the last time I was there, mind you almost 20 years ago, when I was 12, I just remember endlessly walking stairs. Aren't You can take the stairs to the second floor (still have to take the elevator all the way to the top), yeah. There's 700-odd of them, and surprisingly enough they're actually built at a perfect height that makes them really easy to climb. My grandad used to take me up them when he was in his 70s. There's also very little line compared to the elevators, but that doesn't really matter for the dude who's going to buy his tickets online.
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Apr 19, 2013 00:54
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Rojkir posted:All you guys keep going on about the elevators, but the last time I was there, mind you almost 20 years ago, when I was 12, I just remember endlessly walking stairs. Aren't When I went there last year the line to take the elevator to the first level was several hours long. The line to walk to the first level was like 15 minutes long. So we walked up to the first level and still were able to take the elevator to the top after only a few minute's wait. Cheaper too. Really, unless you are traveling with somebody who is physically unable to walk the stairs there is no reason not to walk the first part.
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Apr 19, 2013 01:55
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Thoguh posted:When I went there last year the line to take the elevator to the first level was several hours long. The line to walk to the first level was like 15 minutes long. So we walked up to the first level and still were able to take the elevator to the top after only a few minute's wait. Cheaper too. Two of the elevators were broken. They were broken for over a year and for all I know they still are.
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Apr 19, 2013 04:16
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Boris Galerkin posted:Any suggestions for a nice romantic place to eat dinner in Paris? I would say probably under 50€/person is what I'd like to keep it at. When I lived in Paris the La Table d'Eugene was one of my favorite restaurants. My wife and I went there for out first anniversary and she still talks about that meal. It is a great little place that is out of the tourist areas. I worked in tourism and we reccomended this place to all our guests. Everyone loved the place. They speak English there but I recommend calling ahead to make a reservation because they only have like 10 tables so it fills up quickly. http://parisbymouth.com/la-table-deugene/ Omits-Bagels fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Apr 19, 2013 |
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Apr 19, 2013 04:21
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Thoguh posted:When I went there last year the line to take the elevator to the first level was several hours long. The line to walk to the first level was like 15 minutes long. So we walked up to the first level and still were able to take the elevator to the top after only a few minute's wait. Cheaper too. Was that several hour long line to buy the tickets or to actually wait for the elevator? If I'm just buying tickets online then I don't mind standing around a bit to get into the elevator, but if I'm still gonna be waiting hours then I guess we can climb the first set of stairs.
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Apr 19, 2013 12:04
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Found it!
Carnival Rider fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Apr 19, 2013 |
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Apr 19, 2013 14:56
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You want to bring pepper spray to Germany because of an area that had a dog theft?
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Apr 19, 2013 15:20
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Yes, found what I needed.
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Apr 19, 2013 15:21
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Neris posted:You want to bring pepper spray to Germany because of an area that had a dog theft?  It's a shame that post was edited because this is an absolutely hilarious sentence.
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Apr 20, 2013 17:34
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I'm leaving for 4 week trip with one other person on May 23rd and have finished most of the planning. I'll be in Amsterdam for 3 days. Paris for 6 days. Rome for 6 days and then Greece for 6 days. What I'm having trouble with is figuring out the Greece part of the trip. Our main points were to visit the Oracle of Delphi, the Meteora, and then stumble around some islands. I'm just having trouble figuring out what would be the best way to handle transportation from Rome to Greece and to get to these places. I guess my main concern is how to get to meteora. Bus seems to be the most recommended option. Is it difficult for an American tourist to navigate greek public transportation? Would renting a car be a good idea? Can anyone share their experiences with Greece?
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Apr 20, 2013 20:28
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jyrka posted:
I'm going to be living in Germany in an area that had a dog stealing spree a year ago. I wanted to know if it was legal to carry pepper spray because my wife will be walking a dog out there. Yes, it is legal but only if it states that it's for animals, you can use it on people in self defense. Dude apparently thought it was weird that my wife wants something to defend herself with.
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Apr 20, 2013 21:54
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