wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
I'm always worried about the language barrier, but did have any difficulty getting around in regards to that? I would imagine that those are all massive tourist destinations and plenty of people speak English, right?
The Travelling Thread
- Thread starter TrainFan73
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Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
This! is! the content I was hoping for! Thanks for this.
I've spent a little bit of time in Paris before, but my wife hasn't, so I was going to sort of let her take the wheel in deciding what interests her. But if you have anything you just *have* to share, I'm all ears.
Very hyped about that -- Magritte is a favorite of mine (and on the subject of Surrealists, tip for anybody who visits Barcelona, definitely take a day trip out to the Dali museum in Figueres -- one of the best, weirdest museums I've ever been to).
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
All four cities are overwhelmingly, almost sickeningly, English-friendly. Vienna was probably the least so in my experience, but even there it was not difficult at all. They're all touristy enough that at most restaurants, for example, a waiter would take one look at us and just hand us an English menu, no questions asked (and we aren't sandals & cargo pants tourists--although I do have a certain level of American fatness--it's just that identifying tourists is second nature).
I'm still resistant to the idea of renting a car or driving in Europe, but as a pedestrian in a city? Literally could not be easier, to the point where I wished it was a little more difficult so that I would be a little more out of my element and have more chances to practice the handful of phrases I tried to learn for each place.
The one exception I had to this was an incident where I had to visit an urgent clinic in Bratislava. Weirdly, the medical center was the one place we couldn't find an English speaker, but that's where some quick Google Translate came in handy, and we worked it all out from there (Slovakia, by the way, has an incredible health care system, which surprised me to learn.)
Oh, and when my train broke down on the Hungarian border and I had to hire a local cab to drive me the last hour to Budapest with a likewise-stranded Norwegian couple. But even that was basically a Hungarian, 2 Norwegians who spoke perfect English, my wife, and me, all just singing Depeche Mode at the top of our lungs on a Hungarian highway.
I'm a worrier who can get stressed out over small stuff (see: renting a car in Europe), but it's way easier than you think it'll be, especially if you stick to major metropolitan areas.
ETA: we found while we were traveling that this itinerary is an extremely popular one for Americans. We ran into one couple in two of the cities we visited, and later, after we got home, we learned that Rick Steves had been following roughly the same itinerary at the same time for a refresh of one of his travel guides. Fellow travelers are easy to spot and are usually eager to help if you need it.
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I've been in Barcelona once but on a business trip and couldn't visit anything. On the other hand, I was luck to visit the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL two years ago. The museum was beautiful from the outside and very well done with a lot of informations.
Back to your European trip. If you know Paris you won't need a lot of information from me. Though, I would recommend to go eat and drink a few beers at the Paname Brewing Company. It is close from a huge park called La Villette with tons of cultural activities, shows, museums, etc... You can easily spend an afternoon there. If you want to dive in a popular Paris, go spend a morning at Le Marché d'Aligre. All communities are mixed there, you'll hear many languages, see many "colours" and enjoy what I love in Paris. You can even have a brunch at Le China, it's a few minutes walking from there. One original thing (except if you're claustrophobic) to do is to visit the Catacombes. Then, even if it's cliché, take a boat tour, it's a lovely tour and romantic if you are with Madame.
If you want to visit a few record shops, I would suggest to save your time and money to Paris. If not, I recommend Quelque Part Records in Lille, Balades Sonores & Veals and Geeks in Brussels (nice crate of Belgian jazz), nothing in Bruges (I had a look, trust me) and, finally, Balades Sonores (original shop, fantastic people works there), Superfly Records (great people again), Heart Beat (specialized in Japanese
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong -- I only spent about a week, but to my wife, that's an eternity more than she has had. I saw some of the highlights and got somewhat familiar with the layout of the city, but that was about it, and I had to stay all the way out in Saint-Denis. Highlights for me were Montmartre in the evening, smelling the huge rotisseries on Rue Montorgueil (I'm a man of simple pleasures), wandering the Marais....
Actually, very few of the things I remember most are the most famous sights.
Museums and monuments are great, but what I love the most when I'm traveling is 1) food, and 2) the parts where I get to be a part of the city and use the streets/transit/etc. The parts of a city that are preserved are nice, but the parts that are living can be even better.
I travel the same way. What I prefer is when I go out at night and live with the locals, eat local food and drink local beers. At day, I like to get lost in the streets and see these little things that tourists usually don't see. You can easily do that in Paris. Just walking by the Seine from west to east is nice. You don't have cars, it's calm.
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
Oh! -- and CASSOULET. My god. Cassoulet.
Edit: Sorry, I got so excited when I remembered cassoulet that I forgot to actually reply. Yes, long walks are basically the only way to see a city, and it feels so refreshing, coming from an area where transportation is pretty much exclusively by car.
When I was in college, I got an opportunity to take a trip to London with one of my professors and a few other students. He taught Victorian literature, so he designed these long walks to replicate the walks that Charles Dickens might have taken during his famously long brainstorming walks, and we would get up early in the morning and just walk for miles and miles around the city. That has pretty much forever changed the way I think of traveling, at least when it comes to cities. I really appreciate going to places with great public transportation, which is something we don't have here, BUT: going underground and then popping back up in a completely different part of a city is no way to learn it. It's a great way to accomplish your agenda quickly, but you don't get to see any of the stuff in between.
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ChristoBee
Well-Known Member
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Sorry, was away from my computer for a bit, hence the late reply.
Weather. In all honesty, guessing Scottish weather is like guessing the lottery numbers. You could go in August to avoid the rain and it would tip it down and September would be lovely, or it could totally go the other way. If you're used to it and bring layers with you there won't be any problems. I'd be more inclined to book your time based on what you want to do rather than taking a punt on the weather. I've looked at my pictures from September last year and it looked fine, but who knows!
Football. I'm not a fan of the Old Firm, but you should be OK with getting a ticket for all games apart from a Rangers v Celtic game. Parkhead is the nicer stadium (and probably the better football), but i totally get it for Defoe/Gerrard. I'd be tempted to contact the box office in advance and see what help they can give you. One thing to bear in mind is that you can't drink at Scottish football grounds as they don't trust us!
Planning. The elephant in the room for your timing is the Edinburgh festival, that runs for the whole of August. Edinburgh will be heaving, but you could always take a trip from Glasgow for the day or stay in Stirling etc. It's absolutely not essential, but it could be something to consider. Orkney isn't really a day trip - it would take you a day to get there, and you need a couple of days to explore. Skye is a much better option, as you can drive there - I'd hire a car from Glasgow rather than Inverness. When my wife was first over from Australia we did a trip that started from Glasgow, drove through Loch Lomond, and drove to Skye through Mallaig. From there we then drove past Loch Ness to Inverness. From Inverness, you could then do a little bit of the North Coast 500 (this is a driving trip over a week across the top of Scotland - super, perhaps too, popular, but it's popular for a reason) or drive down to Aberdeen or Dundee or Perth, then back to Glasgow. The good thing about the central belt is that everything is so close - Glasgow to Edinburgh is 1 hour away, so is Perth, and Aberdeen is a couple - for a North American these distances are nothing.
Others. For accommodation, don't discount Youth Hostels, especially up north. You can totally book private double rooms, and they are decently priced. They are also handy for organising tours etc. on your behalf. Airbnb and booking.com are also good here. In August you might also be able to book empty student accommodation - look at Glasgow and Strathclyde uni to check. For music, Glasgow totally pumps Edinburgh. We have the better venues, and a lot more bands play here. If a band you like is playing the Barrowlands Ballroom or King Tuts don't hesitate to book a ticket. Look at Tickets Scotland, Gigs in Scotland or Ticketmaster for details. For other stuff, look at The List and The Skinny magazines online, which both have Glasgow an Edinburgh listings. Can hit you up with restaurant tips for Glasgow, lots to choose from.
Off the top of my head, here's a suggested plan for 7 days, driving from Glasgow: Glasgow 2 nights>1 day drive to Skye via Loch Lomond. 2 nights in Skye.>1 day drive to Inverness>2 nights Inverness>Drive to Perth or Dundee via Pitlochry>1 night, drive back to Glasgow. Full on, you'll be knackered, but you'd see loads. If that's looking tight, skip the overnight in Perth/Dundee and just drive through.
By Train. Glasgow 2 nights or 3. Early train Glasgow to Edinburgh; day in Edinburgh & late afternoon train to Inverness. 3 days Inverness with day trips (day trip to Skye is harder here) around. Train back to Glasgow, with maybe a stop in Dundee or Perth. You can do day trips to Skye from Glasgow (Isle of Skye, Loch Ness & The Highlands Coach Tours from Glasgow - only found via Google, no idea if they are good), which means you maybe use Glasgow as a hub and don't bother with a car.
If you need any more help or need me to book anything don't hesitate to get in touch.
wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
This is awesome
thank you!Weather - Yeah it’s honestly not a huge deal. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to California and it’s going to rain the whole time. It’s to be expected a few days will be “lousy”.
Football - that’s totally okay. The games are short so it’s not like a 4 hour NFL match or Baseball game. I’m also not sure exactly the days but it’s looking like the weekend may be spent in Inverness so there’s Ross County close by and an Inverness team in the Championship which would be a cool experience.
Planning - I think we’re leaning more towards September now, so Edinburgh may not be a worry. We may miss Edinburgh all together because I’m not sure if I’m going to rent a car to travel around. I know the train and public transport are good so if we do, it’ll be for a day or two up in Inverness. Missing out on Perth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh would give a reason to return too!
in regards to Orkney it’s totally doable according to a travel tour leaving Inverness, but apparently it’s a 14 hour day or something insane like that. Also the tour reviews have people saying there was not enough time spent at each place to really do anything. Isle of Skye might be the place to go. It’s only 2.5 hours from Inverness as a day rental car might be a cool trip.
Others - Likely will be AirBnB because my family gifted me some gift cards for that over the holidays I can use. Also I haven’t seen any gigs for that time that I’d want to see but it’s also too early for a lot of those venues to announce, I’ll keep any eye out closer to the dates.
Questions regarding food. My girlfriend is vegetarian with a dairy sensitivity, she can eat dairy but mostly vegan. Do you know of any veg friendly/vegetarian restaurants that are worth trying? I know there’s probably loads of Asian restaurants which are dairy free by default.
thanks again!
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Glasgow was voted the vegan capital of Britain once, so you'll be more than fine. Look at the Hug and Pint (also a music venue - 10 points if you can get the musical reference in the name), Stereo, Mono (also home to the best record store in Glasgow), the 78, Durty Vegan Burger (haven't been, but the chef is a legend - watch the Mad Chef section in the video below!). Even our corporate national bakers is doing a vegan sausage roll, so there is nothing to worry about.This is awesome
Weather - Yeah it’s honestly not a huge deal. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to California and it’s going to rain the whole time. It’s to be expected a few days will be “lousy”.
Football - that’s totally okay. The games are short so it’s not like a 4 hour NFL match or Baseball game. I’m also not sure exactly the days but it’s looking like the weekend may be spent in Inverness so there’s Ross County close by and an Inverness team in the Championship which would be a cool experience.
Planning - I think we’re leaning more towards September now, so Edinburgh may not be a worry. We may miss Edinburgh all together because I’m not sure if I’m going to rent a car to travel around. I know the train and public transport are good so if we do, it’ll be for a day or two up in Inverness. Missing out on Perth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh would give a reason to return too!
in regards to Orkney it’s totally doable according to a travel tour leaving Inverness, but apparently it’s a 14 hour day or something insane like that. Also the tour reviews have people saying there was not enough time spent at each place to really do anything. Isle of Skye might be the place to go. It’s only 2.5 hours from Inverness as a day rental car might be a cool trip.
Others - Likely will be AirBnB because my family gifted me some gift cards for that over the holidays I can use. Also I haven’t seen any gigs for that time that I’d want to see but it’s also too early for a lot of those venues to announce, I’ll keep any eye out closer to the dates.
Questions regarding food. My girlfriend is vegetarian with a dairy sensitivity, she can eat dairy but mostly vegan. Do you know of any veg friendly/vegetarian restaurants that are worth trying? I know there’s probably loads of Asian restaurants which are dairy free by default.
thanks again!
I'd go Skye rather than Orkney, definitely. My dad spent 3 days in Orkney and only saw part of it, so it's a trip in itself. County or Caley would be fun, Scottish football at it's most Scottish, if you know what I mean. I'd look about 3-4 months out for gigs.
Mad Chef - Munchies
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wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
Awesome thanks!
I did see a lot of restaurants do have a section for Vegetarian with a lot of options so I think we should be fine. That’s sometimes more than we get in the state’s.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
I'd check Inverness more than Glasgow for food. Glasgow will be fine, Inverness will probably do veggie, but maybe not as much vegan as here.
Driving in western Europe is fine, outside maybe Paris/Madrid which are insanely busy and a bit confusing. The standard of roads, driving cars is high and they drive on the wrong side of the road like you. One exception, no amount of money in the world would convince me to drive in Italy, they’re all insane!
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
Mostly my issue is street signs. On foot I can take the time my brain needs for translation; at speed, I’m not the coolest head in an unfamiliar place even when the signs are in English.
Ah right, that’s fair enough. Two things that negate that for me are that most town names are the same (only major cities tend to get translated), or understandably similar, and if I’m in an unknown place I rely on my sat nav which is directing me in English.
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it’s another one of those things that is probably easier in practice than in my imagination, but I’m still not quite ready to put that to the test. Plus, getting to take advantage of such an extensive rail system is a fun novelty for most Americans anyway!
Yeah it’s definitely easier than it seems, I was panicking before bringing my RHD car on the ferry to France and it’s was actually fine, going that way around a roundabout was a complete head fuck though! I’ve since driven a Vespa in Spain and it was similarly hassle free. That said I’m never going to discourage anyone from taking public transport, if it goes to where you want to go it’s always the best option!
ayayrawn
Well-Known Member
Cancelled my AirBnBs for my Japan trip that would have been in 4 weeks. Feels bad.
ayayrawn
Well-Known Member
Since all of my other travel plans were cancelled this year, I'm thinking about doing something different this fall: taking a solo trip to a national park or two. This will obviously depend on whether they are open or not, but seems to me like a good way to travel while avoiding close contact with other people. I'll take any suggestions, but I've wanted to head up to Montana for a long time. I'll do plenty of research beforehand, and determine whether it's safe or not before this fall of course, I just feel like if I don't get at least somewhat out and about this year, I'm going to fucking lose it.