BrianKitts Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 completly off topic subject here..... I know there's a lot of european's residing here so I thought I'd toss this out to see what comes up. I'm taking a vacation to London, Paris, and Amsterdam in may, and wanted to know if any of the locals or people who have already travelled there have any suggestions of unknown awesome places to visit. Yeah I might take a day to hit the some of the main tourist spots, but I'd rather hit the random fun places. We're flying in to london for the weekend,taking the train to Paris, spending the begining of the week there. Then renting a car and driving up to Amsterdam. Hostels and cheap living the whole way... living out of the backpack of course! any suggestions??? thanks! -bk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IC Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I'm just back from a weekend in London and I've been a few times recently. The great thing about staying there is it doesn't matter where you stay in Central London as there's always a tube station nearby. You can get to just about anywhere in a few minutes on the underground network and it costs you less than £5 for unlimited travel all day. I know where you're coming from about the tourist side but check out the London Eye if you can. It's a sight to behold on its own and the views from the top are amazing. You can walk along from there to see Tower Bridge and Norman Foster's City Hall. Soho and Portobello Road are among my favourite 'rambling' places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisHolland Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Think this over... Rent a car in Paris and drive down to Barcelona for a fun weekend. Have a cool trip, Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Think this over... Rent a car in Paris I used to own a French car...take the train. Unlike the US, Europe knows how to make trains work. Its great! And the many train stations in places like Paris are fun to visit. You can get a better deal on a train pass from the US than you can get from within Europe. If you time things right, you save on hotels by doing overnight trains. Its fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IC Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Think this over... Rent a car in Paris and drive down to Barcelona for a fun weekend. I'd second Barcelona if you haven't been already. It's a wonderful place. But then nowhere is like Paris. And if you speak French the people aren't rude at all Talking of overnight trains, I once got good advice in Egypt and instead of spending £250 on a flight from Luxor to Cairo, I spent £10 on an overnight train. We were warned to stay on the 'tourist track' but the locals on the train fed us and offered to look after our stuff when we slept. Great people, the Egyptians. This is a new one for us-the Paul Theroux thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted March 14, 2006 Author Share Posted March 14, 2006 sounds good, yeah I wish we could venture off to barcelona, but we're meeting friends all along the way so it kinda dictated the travel path. any really good pubs that I shouldn't miss?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 But then nowhere is like Paris. And if you speak French the people aren't rude at all The people in Paris are wonderful, even if you don't speak French. As long as you make an attempt to get along with the language, anyone will go out of their way to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IC Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 On my first trip to Paris I was waiting in the queue for the Eiffel Tower when a French couple walked right up to the gate and squeezed past us as if there was no queue. I asked what they were doing and I got a right mouthful. Although I do speak a fair bit of French, this wasn't my only such experience and after a while I came to expect it and started doing it back. To my mind that is rude but it doesn't happen nearly as much to my sister in law and her friend who lived there and are fluent in French. It has almost put me off going back, that and the overpowering in-restaurant smoking. Just my experience I suppose but I do think of myself as being quite thick skinned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 It has almost put me off going back, that and the overpowering in-restaurant smoking. I didn't get into the smoking, I figured Europeans don't need to be reminded. Anyway, come to New York--we've got some of the rudest--and nicest people on the planet. Perhaps the same is true of Paris. I love the place, and if someone is rude to me in French, I wouldn't know it anyway. I can order a croissant, that's all I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliviercampagne Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Sometimes you meet this ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbarc Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Gordons Wine Bar 47 Villiers Street - stumbled on it last time I was in London on an unassuming street I've walked past oblivious for years. An absolute gem of a bar specialising in fortified wine. It's in these atmospheric vaults and feels frozen in time some time in the 17th century. Also Highgate cemetary - there's two bits, the free bit where Karl Marx is buried (well it would be ironic if you had to pay) but mainly the closed bit you can get a guided tour round - amazingly evocative atmospheric victorian cemetary with some impressive inhabitants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliviercampagne Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 .. oh ja, .. , in paris you will find also the ice-bar, seems to be a pretty cool place, at least from what i have heard. I think it is situated near the 19th ( arrondissement).. basicelly, you need to wear a thick coat and you drink vodka in an ice-glass... --- edit and forget the picture i have posted, that was the mood, today in paris... but tomorrow, the last demonstration.... was hard to find croissants chauds today in paris.. joking ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbarc Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 .. oh ja, .. , in paris you will find also the ice-bar, seems to be a pretty cool place, at least from what i have heard. I think it is situated near the 19th ( arrondissement).. basicelly, you need to wear a thick coat and you drink vodka in an ice-glass... That sounds wicked! You can potentially die of alchohol poisoning AND hypothermia at the same time;) I thought of another London one - The John Soanes Museum - the house of famous 18th century architect (Bank of England, Dulwhich art gallery..) Amazing archtiecture stuffed full of artefacts from the ancient world he collected from around the world. And finally (unless I think or anything else cool) - Brompton Oratory. During the Cold War, the soviets used it as a dead man's letter box. You can see the actual place secret agents used to drop off and retrieve orders and military secrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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