Hi All,
My wife and I are considering traveling to Europe at the end of August. We will most likely start in Paris and are considering Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. We are open to ideas. We will have roughly two weeks. We like good food, wine, and beer, especially the less expensive, local variety. It would be good to see some iconic European sights, historical things, romantic what-do-you-call-its, etc. What would you all suggest?
P.S.: It is possible that I could sneak away for an evening of VTES, especially if there is something for my wife to do that can keep her attention.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
Welcome to Paris fellow v:tes player
There are plenty of things to see, and we play regularly on tuesday night in a medieval style bar around St Germain des prés, so your wife can visit a bit while you bleed us relentlessly.
When you know more, just pm me or better : go to www.veknfrance.com/forum and open a topic describing what you want to see and when you are available for playing :)
Imagination is our only weapon in the war against reality -Jules de Gaultier
It really depends on what you're interested in.
We have plenty of museum of course, ranging from medieval to modern art, nice architecture etc. It also depends on your budget: for example there's a very nice restaurant on the Eiffel Tower, but it costs at least 180€ per person...
Anyway, visiting places like l' Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame, going to the Eiffel Tower, cruising on the Seine with the " fly-boats ", going in good restaurants are must-do.
You can do some shopping too at Les Galleries Lafayette or Le Printemps (where there is a very nice tea-room under an Art Nouveau dome or at the avenue Montaigne (near the Champs Elysées).
The quartier Latin (near La sorbonne, Saint-Michel and Notre-Dame) is very nice too though a bit touristic like Montmartre (and the Sacré-Coeur which is not worth imho the visit).
Avoid the 20th and 16th arrondissement that are mostly residential.
Prince of Paris, France
Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director
Hi,
I can recommend a visit to Ghent (though I'm heavily biased about that).
Bruges is also nice (smaller, more of an open-air museum than a city).
www.visitgent.be/en/home
If you are interested in playing vtes, check the forum on vtes.be
We announce our weekly play in Antwerp, Ghent or Brussels (same people playing, just different locations). We play mostly on friday, but we can change plans to fit your travel agenda
Have a nice holiday!
Dennis
www.facebook.com/groups/vtes.belgium/
The Mont Saint Michel is definitely worth seeing, but it is 350km west from Paris. There must 1-day tours there from Paris. Otherwise, if you rent a car, you can spend a night there: first visit the Mont itself, then drive along the bay up to Cancale, a nice oyster farming village, and Saint Malo, a XVIIth century military and privateer port. Spend the night in Cancale of Saint Malo (not in the Mont, it's horrendously expensive), finish visiting the next morning then come back.
If you go to Germany, you should try to have a step in Strasbourg as well. Very nice city center and pink stone cathedral. The food is very nice there too.
+1 for Bruges and Ghent in Belgium.
And I don't know if you wrote that off your trip on purpose, but London is only 2 hours away from Paris or Bruxels by train. If you come to London, we play on monday nights.
> Non-existant user wrote:
> And I don't know if you wrote that off your trip on purpose, but London is only 2 hours away from Paris Bruxels by train.
>
That's true, but both Paris and London have enough must-see to fill two week of vacations alone. People trying to do multiples country in one vacation never cease to amaze me, even if I understand most peoples can't pay an oversea vacation every two year.
As far as wine go, the "easy" way to get local and good wine is to tour small winery ; often they offer to taste for free, and often it's near impossible to spot the difference with better-known wine while they cost between five and ten time less. Problem is, thoses winery aren't in Paris, often don't advertise much, and may not alway speak english. In Paris itself, it may be possible, but it's a lot harder to find in my experience, because you often have mainly very well-known wine, which are often very good but very expansive.
Thank you for the good tips so far guys. It looks like it is significantly cheaper to fly into and out of London, so we will probably do that and then take the train to the mainland. It looks like the trip will be August 24 through September 7 or 8. We might do 2 days in London (at the beginning of the trip or the end, not sure), 4 in France, then have another 6 or so days to split between other countries. I'll try to make plans when we get a better idea of when we will be where.
By the way, does Yelp do a good job of covering Europe? If not, is there something similar that caters to english speakers?
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
trust me, 4 days for Paris is nothing.
i was in Paris for 10 full days, and STILL i did not see all what i wanted to see, nor do i consider i properly enjoyed and given enough time to what i did see and where i did go.
if you would take my advice, sit all the time in Paris, and enjoy your experience
Here is my itinerary:
8/23 leave from SFO for Belgium.
8/24-5 Brussels
8/26-7 Brugges
8/28-30 Amsterdam
8/31-9/6 Paris (and maybe a couple of roads rips)
Looking forward to VTES Tuesday, 9/3 and a few beers with friends (or wine with a good recommendation). Please give me some details on this.
Thanks,
Brandon
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
> brandonsantacruz wrote:
> 8/31-9/6 Paris (and maybe a couple of roads rips)
>
> Looking forward to VTES Tuesday, 9/3 and a few beers with friends (or wine with a good recommendation). Please give me some details on this.
>
We gather every Tuesday to play V:TES in a place where they sell very good beers. Isn't that a coincidence?
Starting from 7 P.M. (approximatively, may be a little later depending on the time everyone leaves work) in a place near Odéon (which is quite central).
Caves Alliées
44 Rue Grégoire de Tours
75006 Paris
Métro Odéon ou Mabillon
lescavesalliees.fr/
Prince of Paris, France
Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director
> brandonsantacruz wrote:
> Here is my itinerary:
> 8/23 leave from SFO for Belgium.
> 8/24-5 Brussels
> 8/26-7 Brugges
>
I will post on www.vtes.be that we could play vtes on saturday the 24th (evening) or sunday the 25th (afternoon).
Where are you staying in Brussels?
We play in the Outpost Gamestore ( Rue de la Tribune 8, 1000 Bruxelles )
Do you travel around by car or by train?
If you feel that after one day of Bruges, you've seen it, don't hesitate visiting Ghent (it's only 20 minutes by train, halfway between Brussels and Bruges).
See you next month!
Dennis
www.facebook.com/groups/vtes.belgium/
hey there, any recommendations as to what to see in eastern Europe? we're thinking of going to Czech Republish, Hungary, Poland and Ukraine and probably visit Russia (would love to see the white nights in Saints Petersburg). so I checked booking.com for hotels -- The Bonerowski Palace , Premier Hotel Dnister and Mamaison Riverside Hotel Prague look pretty decent. If anyone booked a room in one of those, let me know how was your stay.
Also, if you've got any recommendations as to what to see in Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Lviv
Hi Bestie,
I went back to Europe last year and went to Turkey, CZ, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia. All great places for their own reasons. Here's a quick intro: Use Rick Steve's guides including Central Europe and some that are country specific. He has good videos on Youtube, too: www.youtube.com/user/RickSteves
All of these cities are good for walking, so bring good shoes! Pack light, like Rick says. Avoid suitcases if at all possible, just bring a backpack. Use a money belt for added confidence around areas that you might otherwise get pickpocketed. Do not buy package deals from the visitor centers anywhere, they are a ripoff.You will never be able to do all that stuff to make it worthwhile.
CZ- I was in Prague and Chezky Krumlov (sorry for bad spelling). Saw Mucha's artwork, which was a highlight. Chesky has a good museum, too. Lots of old buildings, info about soviet occupation.
I'll come back to this later, need to serve dinner.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
All of these cities have interesting events going on. I actually found an English language comedy show in Prague through Facebook. Do some research and you never know what random stuff will pop up. Czech goulash with dumplings is the best, take my word for it. The Jewish Quarter is very interesting because they were able to save much of the historical stuff during the Holocaust. Very somber and informative.
Vienna, Austria of course has good museums. The Prater was a fun nighttime diversion. The metro is excellent. Trip adviser led me to a gamer bar on the other side of town that had free nachos that night. I saw Jezebelle at the opera house in the standing room section for a bargain of a few Euros. Get there very early and stake out a spot on the railing with your scarf. Don't stand behind a tall person.
Spent just two nights in Bratislava, Slovakia and happened to be there during a craft brew festival. Craft beer making is very new there and there were some snobby Austrians who punctuated the fact that they mostly like weak, plain beer there. It was cool to see Devin Castle by bus, which was originally built during the Iron Age. Napoleon blew it up because he was pissed at the Slovaks. He also left some cannonballs in the old down Bratislava walls.
Hungary is very different from everywhere else I went in Central Europe. The Magyar influence combined with the neo-fascist government keeps things interesting. The past is hotly contested here given the collusion with both the Nazis and the Soviets. New monuments are build while large sections of buildings slough away. Incongruous to say the least. The best meal I had in Europe this time I found after doing an Airbnb "experience" wine tasting with "Mikki." I had the Hungarian boar and pork will never be the same. The House of Terror was great, but try to find a time when it is not busy or you will be stuck in line in the basement forever. Played VTES here, which was fun. Could have probably timed things better and included VTES in Austria, CZ, and Croatia, too. The Grand Bazaar is good to walk through, especially for touristy stuff on the top floor or for supplies for a picnic on the bottom.
In Croatia Zagreb was cool to walk around, as was Zadar. I wasn't in Split for long enough to appreciate it and Dubrovnic is a combination of way too many tourists and locals who are tired of them. Plitzvice (sp) national park is great. Prepare for an unbelievable crowded, touristy, slow walk through a beautiful park. The sea is super salty to the point where you may not enjoy it, even if it looks great.
What to drink in these countries:
Istanbul- Raki
Cz- Beer!
Austria/Slovakia- Wine>beer
Hungary- Palinka or wine
Croatia- Wine >> Beer
That's my quick review, I hope it is helpful. Rick Steves for details. I did Airbnb all the way, except for Istanbul.Worked out.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
If you will be in Germany,
it's good to know where exactly. Because the German community has just a few hot spots. But maybe we can offer you some idea.
Let us know where you will be and left a note here:
www.vekn.de
Prince of Wiesbaden, Germany