Travel EUROPE: Travel Tips & Tricks

[raskolnikov]

Just spent 10 days in the Baltics. Now at Tallinn airport waiting to fly to Amsterdam. My ranking of the three Baltic capitals.

1. Vilnius - amazing little city
2. Riga - took me a while to like it after Vilnius but in the end it was good
3. Tallinn - was ok but nothing unique about it.

 

[Spirit Level]

Frankfurt airport gave me PTSD and I've got to do it again on the way back.

Horrendous, although I also think Heathrow gives it a run for it's money

 

[Great8]

Horrendous, although I also think Heathrow gives it a run for it's money

As someone who has flown through European airports far too much I still have CDG as my most hated but somehow I find myself having to go back through it. Another 5 times this year and no doubt many more to come next year

 

[Spirit Level]

Ok friends, planning a 3 week honeymoon in July centering on Portugal and Northern Spain.

The must dos are Lisbon, Porto and San Sebastian, would also like to spend a few nights at a resort on the beach somewhere just sitting on beach/by the pool doing nothing,

Is there any other must dos? Looking at places like Faro, Lagos and Bilbao.

 

[Neese]

I loved Bilbao. Very pretty city and some great art. Ask the locals where to get some authentic stews and food.

 

[errant bounce]

Ok friends, planning a 3 week honeymoon in July centering on Portugal and Northern Spain.

The must dos are Lisbon, Porto and San Sebastian, would also like to spend a few nights at a resort on the beach somewhere just sitting on beach/by the pool doing nothing,

Is there any other must dos? Looking at places like Faro, Lagos and Bilbao.

I honestly don't rate Lisbon. it's got a real coldness to it, it feels like everyone there is a tourist but they're also just walking around wondering what to look at. the people seem resigned to tourism and things are more expensive, though it had some really really outstanding restaurants. expensive, a little more upmarket, but really good food. but the place itself feels empty. it's almost like the whole place revolves around its main shopping hub. also has a bit of a scummy local population, the kids there will constantly ask if you want to buy weed.

Porto though is sick. it feels way more diverse, you can walk around all day and end up in a neighbourhood that looks nothing like the next one but they're all equally as stimulating. beautiful buildings, the tiles, the port, there's parks everywhere, you're just always surrounded by these beautiful sights. it's also vibrant because of the uni and clearly has locals who are really dedicated to their city, people really care about the place: the hospitality is really accomodating, people will also point out things to see, and I don't think you are but if you like bars and clubbing there are some sick spots to have a beer or places like Plano B that feel like the coolest places in the world.

It's just this relaxing place, you walk around all day and find a new little nook, pop into some little cafe for lunch, sit in the park and people watch, there's also this viewpoint everyone sits up at sunset and has a few beers on. forget what it's called but everyone there knows what it is.

If you're from Freo or surrounds as well it's interesting as a port city too obviously.

imo don't bother going that far south and don't bother with Faro. it's alright. the Algarve isn't as spectacular as Italian, Greek, or Turkish beaches. sands a bit shit and it seems to always be ****ing windy and the sun never seems to stay out that long. iirc transport suddenly becomes a lot less regular and comfortable there too.

Go to Aveiro instead. it's like a Dutch or Danish city, all based along the river. it's also a bit different because there's a focus on museums and galleries there. it's one of those cities that is really really worthwhile to have a walking tour in.

Honestly the beaches in that area a bit shit, they're not very well contained and are always blustery and a real prick to get to, there isn't much going on (and not in a quaint way, a lot of these places have a couple of small shops and that's it). no clue on a resort.

I really really love those 'secondary' cities though like Lyon, Ghent, Manchester though and that's my thing and isn't everyone's.

 

[Spirit Level]

I honestly don't rate Lisbon. it's got a real coldness to it, it feels like everyone there is a tourist but they're also just walking around wondering what to look at. the people seem resigned to tourism and things are more expensive, though it had some really really outstanding restaurants. expensive, a little more upmarket, but really good food. but the place itself feels empty. it's almost like the whole place revolves around its main shopping hub. also has a bit of a scummy local population, the kids there will constantly ask if you want to buy weed.

Porto though is sick. it feels way more diverse, you can walk around all day and end up in a neighbourhood that looks nothing like the next one but they're all equally as stimulating. beautiful buildings, the tiles, the port, there's parks everywhere, you're just always surrounded by these beautiful sights. it's also vibrant because of the uni and clearly has locals who are really dedicated to their city, people really care about the place: the hospitality is really accomodating, people will also point out things to see, and I don't think you are but if you like bars and clubbing there are some sick spots to have a beer or places like Plano B that feel like the coolest places in the world.

It's just this relaxing place, you walk around all day and find a new little nook, pop into some little cafe for lunch, sit in the park and people watch, there's also this viewpoint everyone sits up at sunset and has a few beers on. forget what it's called but everyone there knows what it is.

If you're from Freo or surrounds as well it's interesting as a port city too obviously.

imo don't bother going that far south and don't bother with Faro. it's alright. the Algarve isn't as spectacular as Italian, Greek, or Turkish beaches. sands a bit shit and it seems to always be ****ing windy and the sun never seems to stay out that long. iirc transport suddenly becomes a lot less regular and comfortable there too.

Go to Aveiro instead. it's like a Dutch or Danish city, all based along the river. it's also a bit different because there's a focus on museums and galleries there. it's one of those cities that is really really worthwhile to have a walking tour in.

Honestly the beaches in that area a bit shit, they're not very well contained and are always blustery and a real prick to get to, there isn't much going on (and not in a quaint way, a lot of these places have a couple of small shops and that's it). no clue on a resort.

I really really love those 'secondary' cities though like Lyon, Ghent, Manchester though and that's my thing and isn't everyone's.

Yeah thinking of ditching the beach resort bit and staying somewhere in the Douro valley instead, should get enought beach in the North.

Agree on secondary cities thing, Manchester is the best city in England (IMO), Hamburg, Aarhus, Florence ect

 

[ash_1050]

Heading back to Europe in June for a month. Trying to keep plans open but will be going to Le Mans 24 hour race, visiting the tiny town in Switzerland that my family originates from, and spending some time distillery hopping in Scotland among other plans.

 

[errant bounce]

Heading back to Europe in June for a month. Trying to keep plans open but will be going to Le Mans 24 hour race, visiting the tiny town in Switzerland that my family originates from, and spending some time distillery hopping in Scotland among other plans.

Of course you're Swiss.

 

[errant bounce]

Yeah thinking of ditching the beach resort bit and staying somewhere in the Douro valley instead, should get enought beach in the North.

Agree on secondary cities thing, Manchester is the best city in England (IMO), Hamburg, Aarhus, Florence ect

I know it's quite popular to just rent a house along the coast for a week or so, it's way cheaper than doing the same in France or Italy and the trains there are really good. no one like spends two weeks hopping from town to town like they would on the Cote d'Azur so apparently it's really quiet and really really cheap.

But if you like those places, bin Lisbon. it's dead. you also get a fair few bucks/hen's sort of crowds there.

 

[Sttew]

Puglia - I'm visiting this area in September and have a good idea what towns we want to visit. For anyone who has been there my questions is whether we should base ourselves in Lecce and, possibly, Bare, for 4 -5 nights a piece, and then do day trips from our base to all the smaller places. Or is it best to immerse ourselves in the smaller towns as well by staying overnight.

 

[errant bounce]

Puglia - I'm visiting this area in September and have a good idea what towns we want to visit. For anyone who has been there my questions is whether we should base ourselves in Lecce and, possibly, Bare, for 4 -5 nights a piece, and then do day trips from our base to all the smaller places. Or is it best to immerse ourselves in the smaller towns as well by staying overnight.

This is the best way of doing any area like this, if you end up really liking the town you can just park there for four days and if not, just day trip. most of the towns always have a similar pace as well so it's not like you're doing a disservice to 'authenticity' (not that there's much left anywhere these days).

 

[Plugger35]

Portugal is a great country, Lagos was the best place I went to there, a great party town on the Algarve with some great beaches.

I thought Porto was better than Lisbon as you could get some free port samples on the port cellar tours, both great cities though.

.

 

[.Shotties.]

Lisbon is great. I've been there multiple times at multiple life (and financial) stages and there was always something there to do. Plenty of small bars, snack places and squares, even when you look outside of Bairro Alto. Short trips to Cascais or Sintra depending on what you want.

 

[Spirit Level]

Thinking of either a shorter stay in Lisbon then heading up to Sintra for a couple of days, or a longer stay in Lisbon to use as a base and do day trips to Sintra, Cascais ect.

Former option is probably the best way to go eh?

 

[conrad_437]

Wasn't huge on Porto (to be honest, it was my least favourite destination on my Europe trip a couple of years ago). Judging by the overwhelming majority of opinion being in favour of Porto as a destination, it was probably just my own experience.

I stayed in a relatively shite area, around a lot of boarded up buildings and plenty of prostitutes around. And tbh, aside from much of the city centre, the rest of the areas I walked around felt similar, a little downtrodden.

It was also super overcast and a bit dreary (think UK) - which coming from Lisbon, where it was 27 and sunny without a cloud in the sky, definitely compounded my dismay.

Cherry on top was my mate absolutely carking it on a night out (claims he was spiked - I think the jury is out on this one), and ending up in a Portuguese hospital at 5am.

I had good experiences in every city but Porto. But reading back over what I just wrote, I certainly wouldn't take that experience as gospel.

 

[Spirit Level]

I honestly don't rate Lisbon. it's got a real coldness to it, it feels like everyone there is a tourist but they're also just walking around wondering what to look at. the people seem resigned to tourism and things are more expensive, though it had some really really outstanding restaurants. expensive, a little more upmarket, but really good food. but the place itself feels empty. it's almost like the whole place revolves around its main shopping hub. also has a bit of a scummy local population, the kids there will constantly ask if you want to buy weed.

Porto though is sick. it feels way more diverse, you can walk around all day and end up in a neighbourhood that looks nothing like the next one but they're all equally as stimulating. beautiful buildings, the tiles, the port, there's parks everywhere, you're just always surrounded by these beautiful sights. it's also vibrant because of the uni and clearly has locals who are really dedicated to their city, people really care about the place: the hospitality is really accomodating, people will also point out things to see, and I don't think you are but if you like bars and clubbing there are some sick spots to have a beer or places like Plano B that feel like the coolest places in the world.

It's just this relaxing place, you walk around all day and find a new little nook, pop into some little cafe for lunch, sit in the park and people watch, there's also this viewpoint everyone sits up at sunset and has a few beers on. forget what it's called but everyone there knows what it is.

If you're from Freo or surrounds as well it's interesting as a port city too obviously.

imo don't bother going that far south and don't bother with Faro. it's alright. the Algarve isn't as spectacular as Italian, Greek, or Turkish beaches. sands a bit shit and it seems to always be ****ing windy and the sun never seems to stay out that long. iirc transport suddenly becomes a lot less regular and comfortable there too.

Go to Aveiro instead. it's like a Dutch or Danish city, all based along the river. it's also a bit different because there's a focus on museums and galleries there. it's one of those cities that is really really worthwhile to have a walking tour in.

Honestly the beaches in that area a bit shit, they're not very well contained and are always blustery and a real prick to get to, there isn't much going on (and not in a quaint way, a lot of these places have a couple of small shops and that's it). no clue on a resort.

I really really love those 'secondary' cities though like Lyon, Ghent, Manchester though and that's my thing and isn't everyone's.

Reaching the end of our Portugal stint now and it's interesting how different peoples experiences can be i guess.

I loved Lisbon, something happening on every corner, great coffee shops, bars, some of the best food I've ever eaten. There's this park with like 5 wine bars surrounding it where everyone just gets a glass and goes to sit in the park, felt like something you'd be able to do in Berlin. All the neighbourhoods felt different, Santos had a great 30 something vibe, the moorish quarter was gritty yet really interesting and you could just feel the history walking through Alfalma. Didn't really rate Barrio Alto but i can tell 10 years ago i would've been all over it.

Porto, i dunno. I was blown away by how pretty the Ribiera is when we drove in but it didn't seem like there was much more under the surface. The Ribiera and Gaia are cool but super touristy and once you get up the hill everything felt a bit drab and Grey. There was one neighbourhood to the East i quite liked which felt like a uni district bit that was about it.

Loved the Algarve, stayed in Lagos which is a beautiful old town and really relaxed. The pace of life down there is so nice.

Currently in the beautiful Douro valley to finish, one of the most amazing places I have ever been. If anyone is thinking of coming to Portugal and likes wine you must come here!

This is the view from our front porch