Cost effective European Areas/Cities
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@scottalanmiller said:
The only two places I've ever been to in Europe that I would say are actually not worth visiting, even if they were free and you were already there are Venice and Brussels. If I was to win a free vacation in either, I'd rather not take it than have to go to either place. They are that bad.
WOW - and Venice was on my list for next summer... now to reconsider.
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Cheap places I've lived: Sarajevo, southern Moscow, parts of Bratislava, many crappy towns in former East Germany, though still more expensive than a lot of places.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
The only two places I've ever been to in Europe that I would say are actually not worth visiting, even if they were free and you were already there are Venice and Brussels. If I was to win a free vacation in either, I'd rather not take it than have to go to either place. They are that bad.
WOW - and Venice was on my list for next summer... now to reconsider.
For some people, and I totally understand this, Venice is one of those things that you just can't resisting hitting as a "check box" as it is so iconic. I can understand. But the cost of doing Venice is enormous - both the financial cost of being in the city and getting to it, but also in the cost of time. You might give up several far better trips of awesome experiences in exchange for that one checkbox.
But I've hit that checkbox, so it would be unfair of me to say that there is no value to that. We were lucky, we arrived by overnight train, saw the city for about one hour on a boat and decided to just get on another train and leave feeling that there was nothing more to see in the city. Having the ability to just get on a train and leave to go on to our next place and having no ties to Venice (like a hotel reservation in town) allowed us to just escape.
If you are really into museums, Venice does have some. For me, travel is not about seeing famous sights which is all Venice has going for it. The value for me is mostly around people, culture, history and Venice is nearly vacant when it comes to that stuff. Yeah, it has cool history, but very little of it to see.
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Slight off topic but, Is Hawaii a good vacation place? seems to be popular but, I know a guy stationed there and he says it's a overcrowded and dirty place with really not that much to do.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Slight off topic but, Is Hawaii a good vacation place? seems to be popular but, I know a guy stationed there and he says it's a overcrowded and dirty place with really not that much to do.
I have several friends who have done it and love it. It's anything but cheap and lots of it is fake. But if you are there for the sun, weather and Pacific ocean then it has a lot to offer. If you want to "do something" then it has very little.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Slight off topic but, Is Hawaii a good vacation place? seems to be popular but, I know a guy stationed there and he says it's a overcrowded and dirty place with really not that much to do.
I've know a few people who went on vacation in Hawaii. They basically said if you stay off the beaches and the touristy areas it became much cleaner and easier to get around. Although the price was insane.
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@dominica and I are going to Hawaii in 2017. I'm interested but not super excited. But have never been on a Pacific Island so that will be a certain amount of interesting.
@smartkid808 lives in Hawaii.
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@Dashrender said:
WOW - and Venice was on my list for next summer... now to reconsider.
Do it! Venice is one of my favourite cities. I think it's my wife's favourite. Don't listen to Scott, there is nothing fake about it. It's just the most beautiful city I can imagine. There's plenty of cheap restaurants where the food is plain but perfectly edible. We didn't spend much there. We mainly just spent the week walking around going "Wow!".
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I lived in Guam for 2 years growing up... I'm kinda over Hawaii, but my wife wants to go some day.
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We honeymooned in Barcelona. It's probably my favourite city. I'm into architecture so it was worth it just for the Gaudi stuff, but I appreciate that's not everyone's cup of tea. We went in January and the weather was great and it wasn't too crowded. I'm not sure I'd fancy it in August.
Seville was a disappointment, I just didn't get what all the fuss was about.
What do you mean by scenery? I generally prefer cities, but for scenery you can't beat southern France and Italy. I love Provence, but it is pretty expensive. A lot depends on what time of year you are planning on going? Provence in the winter isn't so great.
For cost effectiveness, eastern Europe is the place to go. I've only been to Prague which was so-so, but Croatia is supposed to be pretty amazing.
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Any German recommendations? I am just trying to get a general consensus of good areas.
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Good scenery. Fairly expensive.
I love Florence. The only problem with it is too many American students
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Boppard, Germany on the Rhine is amazing, and I really liked Munich, but Germany is more expensive than southern Europe. What time of year are you considering? Time of year absolutely makes a difference in recommendations.
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April - May
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@Dominica said:
Boppard, Germany on the Rhine is amazing, and I really liked Munich, but Germany is more expensive than southern Europe. What time of year are you considering? Time of year absolutely makes a difference in recommendations.
Boppard and the middle Rhine really is awesome. And while not cheap, it's not expensive. Small town Rhine Germany is "moderate" priced.
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@IRJ said:
Any German recommendations? I am just trying to get a general consensus of good areas.
I've done the Rhine and loved it and I've spent time in Lower Saxony and loved it. Munich was good, but I've preferred "Germany" over "Bavaria" for the most part.
Germany is loaded with great options.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
We honeymooned in Barcelona. It's probably my favourite city.
@dominica and my favourite city too. At least to visit. But pretty far from "anything else" if you only go to one place.
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@Carnival-Boy I cannot imagine spending a week in Venice. It was wall to wall tourists to the point where you couldn't even walk down the street without stopping every few minutes. It was decaying and dirty, with tons of abandoned and crumbling buildings, and it didn't smell very pleasant. There were hustlers and panhandlers everywhere, because they go where the tourists are, and Venice was one of the only places we went (along with Brussels) where I was super glad I was wearing a money belt. Also "cheap restaurants where the food is plain but perfectly edible" doesn't sound like a very good recommendation. There is so much amazing food in Europe, why settle for "edible"?
Lots of people love Venice. I have no idea why, but different strokes for different folks. I would classify it as the most overrated place we've visited in Europe. -
@Dominica said:
@Carnival-Boy I cannot imagine spending a week in Venice. It was wall to wall tourists to the point where you couldn't even walk down the street without stopping every few minutes. It was decaying and dirty, with tons of abandoned and crumbling buildings, and it didn't smell very pleasant. There were hustlers and panhandlers everywhere, because they go where the tourists are, and Venice was one of the only places we went (along with Brussels) where I was super glad I was wearing a money belt. Also "cheap restaurants where the food is plain but perfectly edible" doesn't sound like a very good recommendation. There is so much amazing food in Europe, why settle for "edible"?
Lots of people love Venice. I have no idea why, but different strokes for different folks. I would classify it as the most overrated place we've visited in Europe.Important to note, we were there really close to the first of June, if that matters. I'm sure in April it is better as the tourist season isn't in full swing.
It's important to note that we loved Italy so much that we continue to seriously consider moving there permanently and plan to live in Italy much of next year. That Venice is the worst city we've visited is in contrast to the unbelievable amount that we love Italy in general (and I fully support Venice's desire to separate and no longer be Italy.)
