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[OracleHCR]

There is more to see in London for sure but Amsterdam in the spring is beautiful. Everybody wants to see Paris but the french are rude as hell and Paris is dirty. Rome is a great choice and lots to see there also. Italy is solid no matter where you are.
No body ever wants to check out Germany. The German countryside is gorgeous and there is a lot to see. There is a beer or wine fest going on somewhere also. If you travel through Germany you see either a castle or a cross on every mountain top and there are tours of most of them. Most Americans never get to see the burning of the castles on the river in Heidelberg. It's amazing. Neuschwanstein castle is worth the trip to Germany itself.

[cdub21]

watch hostel and human centipede before for best advice

[Weasel]

Thanks Oracle. Seeing as we're taking my parents, definitely looking to hit the main points in Europe (and Paris is on the list). Im hoping this isnt my only trip to Europe though, as we'd love to check out a LOT of other places (Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Switz., etc), but obviously we can only do so much in two weeks. Really excited about the trip though

[Weasel]

Leaving in two weeks, heres what I have planned as things to-see/do, otherwise we plan on walking the cities and ducking into any shops and restaurants along the way. Spending three full days in each city with a travel day in between. If anyone has any hints, tips, tricks, or cheat codes I should know please feel free to chime in

London
Westminister
Parliament
Tower Bridge/London Tower
St Pauls Cathedral
London Eye
Harrods

Food
No idea, but Im pretty excited to drink some of their beers.


Rome
Roman Forum
Colosseum
Palatine Hill
Vatican (tour)
Castelo de San Angelo
Villa Borghese
Pantheon
Fontana de Trevi
Spanish Steps
Capuchin Crypt (this looks fucking nuts)

Food
Pizza, Gelato, shitloads of wine. My guess is I could eat anything here and be impressed

Paris
Notre Dame
Jardin du Luxembourg
Eiffel Tower (didnt book tickets in time online, so we'll have to go the day of. Any tips?)
Arc de Triomphe
Louvre
Jardin des Plantes

Food
Wife heard of some place that only serves steak and fries so we'll check that out, gonna try some crepes. More wine. Otherwise, I dont have a clue what the French eat. Of course Im gonna have to get a Royal with Cheese too just because it probably tastes better that way

[Uuaww]

london underground is awesome, if you plan on being there for a certain set of days, all day and multiday passes are a must. It really will get you anywhere. Tons of good ethnic food in london, I would make a point to try and hit up some indian restaurant. Wifi is everywhere and if you want to find good restaurants, just use yelp, will guide you well.

The british museum was cool and the tower of london is def. worth a go. I was there in january though and it was 30 degrees and snowing and places were packed . I can't imagine how bad it must be during the 12 days of the year that city actually has nice weather. So I would try to hit major things very early or on off days.

The premier league season should be winding down about that time but you could get tickets to a game. Itd be super easy to get tickets to a team thats not playing for much and from when I went it was pretty reasonably priced.

[Weasel]

Yeah for transportation there Ive read the Oyster cards are the way to go, so we'll be doing that. Is the wifi public throughout the city, or only in certain pubs/restaurants?

Id be the only one interested in catching a sporting event, and even then Im indifferent (although watching a premier game live would be sweet)

[Uuaww]

Yeah for transportation there Ive read the Oyster cards are the way to go, so we'll be doing that. Is the wifi public throughout the city, or only in certain pubs/restaurants?

Id be the only one interested in catching a sporting event, and even then Im indifferent (although watching a premier game live would be sweet)

what week are you in england? you should at least head to a pub inthe part of the city that has chelsea fans as they could be playing for something and having a pint and watch the game with locals. not free but finding spots wasn't hard from when i was there.

[Weasel]

May 15-18

[DRiccio21]

i'm embarrassed by your 'food' section.

get your shit together. to me, one of the best parts of travelling is experiencing great food whether it be world class restaurants or great local cheap eats. don't waste a meal by saying 'we are going to eat crepes'. do some work and find the best crepes. imagine some dude saying 'i'm going to the US and going to get a cheeseburger' and ending up in Applebees. don't be that guy.

in London:

-- never walk up the stairs out of the subway. there are elevators (lifts) that take you up... I learned the hard way cause there was a huge line and I decided to take the stairs which ended up being 8 stories of spiral staircase straight up with mine and my wife's suitcases.

-- city has some great parks. We were very lucky and it was in the high 70's when we were there and we spent an afternoon in Hyde park.

-- Portobello market is a great street fair/street mkt. it was a highlight of my trip as I bought a bunch of stuff there and ate a bunch of quick eats from street vendors. i'm pretty sure its only open on Saturday. and I think I read you are afraid of crowds... its typically a mob scene.

-- The Comedy Store is a good comedy club in Picadilly Circus (think Times Sq. in terms of touristy shit). I went to a show there, it was awesome, got wasted and the dudes were hilarious. go to the late show on a Friday night if possible.

-- go see a show. great theater in London. I saw a show called 'one man two guvnors' while I was there. well worth it. grab cheap tix online.


Paris

-- I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower. if i'm travelling i'm not waiting in lines during my trip. I walked there from my hotel and stopped at a few markets on the way and bought some wine and some food and chilled in front on the grass and spent the afternoon that way.

-- Louvre is massive. have a plan. if you just want to see the Mona Lisa and the 'top attractions' then just do that and leave. if you are a museum lover, do some research first and plan it out. if not you'll get lost there since its enormous.

-- I took one of those river cruises at night. we just wanted to see the Eiffel Tower at night from the water. I could have done without it, but it was something to do and they serve beers on the boat.

-- when I was there it was French Open time. I went over there, very easy subway trip. Subways in Paris are a little dirtier. obviously in any major city be aware of your surroundings/pick pockets, etc.

-- I didn't do Vesailles. I've heard its great, but I didn't want to spend a whole day there.

-- I could give food advice for each meal, but Frenchie was the best meal I had on my honeymoon. its fine dining in a normal atmosphere without the fine dining prices. its still expensive, but for the quality of meal in Paris it could be a $500 per person type place. its not. Its a prix fixe menu of I think 2 options. I think it came to 200 bucks after a bottle of wine. the restaurant only has like 8 or 10 tables, try to call now to get a reservation. when we called it was impossible to get a reservation so the wife and I just walked up and got lucky.

[Weasel]

i'm embarrassed by your 'food' section.

get your shit together. to me, one of the best parts of travelling is experiencing great food whether it be world class restaurants or great local cheap eats. don't waste a meal by saying 'we are going to eat crepes'. do some work and find the best crepes. imagine some dude saying 'i'm going to the US and going to get a cheeseburger' and ending up in Applebees. don't be that guy.

Ive been using Trip Advisor to scout out some of the local joints with the highest ratings, I imagine that should at least point me in the right direction. Though I do like the idea of stopping at local open markets and getting some food for a picnic and whatnot

and I think I read you are afraid of crowds...

"Afraid" is the wrong word, I just get a little anxious. Im around crowds all the time without issue.

[Cnasty]

You want this guy to "adventure" out and he hasn't even eaten an orange in his life?

[DRiccio21]

Ive been using Trip Advisor to scout out some of the local joints with the highest ratings, I imagine that should at least point me in the right direction. Though I do like the idea of stopping at local open markets and getting some food for a picnic and whatnot

use Yelp for food.

[ajalves]

You want this guy to "adventure" out and he hasn't even eaten an orange in his life?

its not like he saying he never had an avacado. that i could totally understand. An orange though?? i mean sheesh. A good orange is delightful

I eat an orange most days with lunch

[Cnasty]

It was something absurd like an orange or banana?

[Weasel]

Had my first orange at 21, Ive been eating that shit for years now! Had my first pepper last fall though

[packsyD22]

Just got back a few weeks go from being in Normandy/Paris for 13 days. I will post some pics and things I saw you may want to check out. I didn't care for the Louvre, it was way too big, saw all the famous sculptures and art I needed to see. Versailles was the same way but the back yard of Versailles is unreal.

[Weasel]

Versailles was the same way but the back yard of Versailles is unreal.

Yeah as badass as it looks, since we're only there for three days we decided against taking an entire day to head out there

[packsyD22]

Versailles was the same way but the back yard of Versailles is unreal.

Yeah as badass as it looks, since we're only there for three days we decided against taking an entire day to head out there

If you get there early like around 9 AM, you could be done by 1 or 2, you seen one Chateu, you've seen them all. The train ride from Paris and back round trip is like an hour and a half. I think it is worth it, you can't believe how large it is till you see it.