|
Post by Sir William on Jan 16, 2006 12:34:58 GMT
So this summer I'm planning to take a nice train ride around Europe, and seen as lots of you guys live there I thought maybe you could point me in the direction of some places I should visit. As a rough guide, things I'd be interested in are: -Big old buildings with good architecture eg churches -Nice rivers/lakes/hills/mountains -Places likely to have good gigs/cheap beer Any suggestion is welcome
|
|
|
Post by Javac on Jan 16, 2006 13:31:15 GMT
For your first interest, I'd suggest Brugge (Bruges) & Brussel (Bruxelles, Brussels) (both Belgium of course). Don't think you'll have cheap beer there, but you might find lots of beer anyway. ;D Gigs: that would have to be Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. Nature: (south of Belgium). Like Dinant, Bouillon or something.
|
|
|
Post by sadie on Jan 16, 2006 15:41:23 GMT
Luzern is nice! You can explore the mountains AND they have cool things going on at night, like men dressed up in interesting attire lying on benches. and bands playing. and people walking around hitting drums.
|
|
emma
Butch's Beard Sculptor
Emma the Great
not for profit, just for students
Posts: 73
|
Post by emma on Jan 16, 2006 15:43:27 GMT
inter railing rocks!! its like £200 and a bit for a whooolle month!! i was gonna do it last summer.. but then i didnt.. sounds ace.
if you visit paris go up tour montparnasse rather than the eiffel tower.
|
|
|
Post by sadie on Jan 16, 2006 15:46:37 GMT
interrailing does rock! did it last summer. mmm i like trains and train stations
|
|
|
Post by cedric on Jan 16, 2006 18:56:29 GMT
For your first interest, I'd suggest Brugge (Bruges) & Brussel (Bruxelles, Brussels) (both Belgium of course). Don't think you'll have cheap beer there, but you might find lots of beer anyway. ;D Gigs: that would have to be Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. Nature: (south of Belgium). Like Dinant, Bouillon or something. well that's about it for belgium. This country is only famous for beer/ chocolate and women tennis players. Ancienne belgique is indeed our coolest venue. Although "hallen van schaerbeek" is also a nice venue but it's badly situated in Brussels (not a nice neighberhood)
|
|
Great Mistake
Bobby Jnr. Underwear Model
she's my sweet li'l thing
Posts: 175
|
Post by Great Mistake on Jan 16, 2006 18:59:45 GMT
NO. Go to Ghent !!.. it's much cooler than Brussels.
|
|
|
Post by Javac on Jan 16, 2006 19:12:55 GMT
NO. Go to Ghent !!.. it's much cooler than Brussels. Venues? Buildings? Me think no.
|
|
Great Mistake
Bobby Jnr. Underwear Model
she's my sweet li'l thing
Posts: 175
|
Post by Great Mistake on Jan 16, 2006 19:53:56 GMT
de vooruit? where the first eels concert in belgium took place? where I last saw an amazing mercury rev concert? there are good concerts in ghent all year, often good unknown bands... and a great film festival.. and gentse feesten (where people come to from spain)..
it's full of great middeival buildings! belfort, gravesteen,... it's the most "gezellige" city (nice feeling to be there): the water (graslei!!), the small streets, "middeival" atmosphere,... I agree that Brughes is also beautiful, probably even more.. but Brussels... is ugly and dangerous and french and it sucks!!!
For nature you need to go to the south, that's true.
edit: and that's not all: it has a lot of old churches too, and more venues (handelsbeurs for example sometimes has good gigs) no man, you don't know anything!
|
|
|
Post by Javac on Jan 16, 2006 20:01:16 GMT
In de Vooruit there aren't always good concerts... Not always concerts and not always good ones. You'll have to agree the AB is *the* Belgian venue, together with probably Vorst Nationaal. I was in Ghent once and it didn't impress me much to be honest... Edit: i don't pretend to know anything
|
|
Great Mistake
Bobby Jnr. Underwear Model
she's my sweet li'l thing
Posts: 175
|
Post by Great Mistake on Jan 16, 2006 20:02:31 GMT
you're stupid.
edit: I hardly ever go to concerts in AB when I go to concerts in brussels it's mostly royal circus or botanique
|
|
|
Post by Javac on Jan 16, 2006 20:03:15 GMT
Now that's not nice...
|
|
no mayo please
Butch's Beard Sculptor
Just Ketchup
They make me pee but boy are they tasty
Posts: 78
|
Post by no mayo please on Jan 17, 2006 11:22:31 GMT
Go to Prague, best place I've ever been in Europe. Do they do Eurail now? Even if they don't walk there, there is some awesome castle just outside that has the Hapsbourgh jewels or something equally as cool. Lotsa castles and churches, the only one I've ever found with Jesus crucified through ankles and wrists rather than hands and feet is in Prague. Other best place would be Spain, the food sucks, but the culture's awesome!
|
|
renie
Butch's Beard Sculptor
Posts: 89
|
Post by renie on Jan 17, 2006 11:35:29 GMT
"Europe" is such a big word. Europe . . . You could spend your whole holiday just visiting France!!!! Okay, here's what I think: 1) Amsterdam. A must, really. 2) For partying and sightseeing purposes: Barcelona.From Amsterdam you could go to Bruges, yes. I like Bruges. The shame about France is that you won't be able to reach the best spots by train, you'd need a car to drive around Provence and Bourgogne . . . But while you're in Barcelona, you could go north, see Montpellier. Then go to Albi, Carcassonne, you could go to Toulouse and visit Airbus enterprises (free of charge, they only want your passport number ;D). Go to Aix en Provence, Arles, avoid Cote d'Azur and go straight to Italy. Siena. Florence, Rome. I mean, you could spend your whole holiday in Rome! Go to Innsbruck, lie on a meadow and see if you'll get ideas as mindboggling as Douglas Adams did when he was doing inter rail and was stranded in Innsbruck with no money. Go to Prague, indeed. Lots of sightseeing, lots of partying. Go to Switzerland for the "glamour" part. I don't know enough about Switzerland to recommend a spot. But Geneva should be nice, everyone keeps talking about Lake Geneva. Maybe Lausanne? Why not take Sadie's recommendation and go to Luzern. Go to Munich afterwards. Chiemsee. Bodensee. Mainau -- the flower island (only recommended in good weather). If you don't mind a lot of American and Japanese tourists, you could go visit Neuschwanstein. Errr, what else? I think I might have to get back to you. Edit: I see you like churches. Go to Chartres, then. The most important of the French Gothic cathedrals. Tours and Poitiers are very nice, too. And easily reachable by train.
|
|
Great Mistake
Bobby Jnr. Underwear Model
she's my sweet li'l thing
Posts: 175
|
Post by Great Mistake on Jan 17, 2006 12:03:59 GMT
Barcelona is a really nice place, but the "partying" really sucks, and is way too expensive for words. The dancing girls were hot, ok, but in the end it was pretty boring.
Oh and Rome is nice too. But that's been a while. I only remember it was beautiful. And Napels too.
And the north of Europe rocks too. Copenhagen is great (but don't expect anything from the little mermaid, it's just a stupid statue. go to Christiania -> beautiful hippy town)
I think there are really nice things to see in every country.
|
|
|
Post by Mr Butterfly on Jan 17, 2006 12:32:31 GMT
Go to Prague, best place I've ever been in Europe. Indeed it is, beer and hostels are so cheap.
|
|
|
Post by Sir William on Jan 17, 2006 14:00:15 GMT
Thanks for the advice, I'm gonna get my map out and try and plan a route.
Does anyone know anything about Poland? Someone told me it's beautiful and cheap and a must see.
|
|
horndog
String Section Groupie
Country boy
Posts: 49
|
Post by horndog on Jan 17, 2006 19:41:28 GMT
well im going to second great mistake. Gent is really lovely, possibly my fav european town/city. Definately go there. koln cathedral is pretty cool too, thats if ur going near it. i dont remember much else striking me around there. La rochelle is a really nice bit of france, good for evening walks round the streets, and the waterfront. i think cognac is round there too. u can get tours of the plant with free samples if i remember correctly. for nature and stuff go to the ardennes (spelt something like that ) lots of steep valleys, winding rivers, and little fortress towns. as a general rule tho, go for the smaller towns. and stay clear of the bull fighting places.
|
|
renie
Butch's Beard Sculptor
Posts: 89
|
Post by renie on Jan 17, 2006 21:21:45 GMT
Does anyone know anything about Poland? Someone told me it's beautiful and cheap and a must see. Hrm, Poland a must see? I never heard that before. I'm sure the countryside is lovely, but if you are travelling by train, you'll probably want to stick to the bigger cities and Gdansk and Szczecin are industrial cities, aren't they? Well, maybe Warszawa is nice but I really wouldn't know. If you want to go east, I suggest Prague and Budapest. Or you could buy yourself a ticket for Sziget and party with sjaakie (are you going this year, stefan?) for three days and listen to tons of music (since you were looking for gigs . . .). This year the festival takes places from 9 to 16 August. You could stop by Berlin, too. Gigwise Berlin is the best place to be. There's so many concerts every year, it's crazy. In my opinion, the only city that is any competition for Berlin when it comes to concerts by "independent" artists is Cologne (home, sweet home). I don't suggest coming to Cologne, though. The north of Germany has been largely destroyed during WWII and there wasn't a whole lot of money for rebuilding it, so everything around here is pretty ugly. There are a lot of good bands playing Munich as well, and Munich is much nicer. But if you're on your way to Prague or Budapest, Berlin is on your way. Niels is right, you shouldn't neglect the north. I hear nothing but good things about Stockholm, too. Never been there myself though.
|
|
horndog
String Section Groupie
Country boy
Posts: 49
|
Post by horndog on Jan 17, 2006 23:13:21 GMT
dont forget to stop off in kent on ur way!!
|
|
Great Mistake
Bobby Jnr. Underwear Model
she's my sweet li'l thing
Posts: 175
|
Post by Great Mistake on Jan 17, 2006 23:15:46 GMT
well im going to second great mistake. Gent is really lovely, possibly my fav european town/city. Definately go there. Yay! You see
|
|
|
Post by aeiou on Jan 17, 2006 23:40:14 GMT
Go the long way around and travel west! That means you can take in Wales on your travels. And the rest of the world!
|
|
sjaakie
Butch's Beard Sculptor
The Frying Dutchman
piratE
Posts: 70
|
Post by sjaakie on Jan 17, 2006 23:58:11 GMT
sziget sound lovely but i cant go (p.s. it's 7 days) i got werchter and lowlands planned (as always)
and billy as yourre going to study in holland (and probertly but i'm not sure about that got an studenttravvel card) i would leave holland out of this trip or just visit leiden to smell the city. paris,berlin,rome,barcelona are all great city's in belgium i would recomend leuven (be) nice thing if you got enough time just jump out of the train at an random small station some were and see what happens in my opinion always great fun
|
|
no mayo please
Butch's Beard Sculptor
Just Ketchup
They make me pee but boy are they tasty
Posts: 78
|
Post by no mayo please on Jan 18, 2006 2:49:06 GMT
Thanks for the advice, I'm gonna get my map out and try and plan a route. Does anyone know anything about Poland? Someone told me it's beautiful and cheap and a must see. Poland is still sort of coming into the first world, as is Spain and most of the old Eastern Bloc. Depends what you want out of Poland, there are some amazing holocaust museums and historical type stuff, but all the cool architecture is pretty much gone what with WWII tearing Poland apart. I went to a few places in Eastern Europe with my family, seeing as my Mum payed for it we stayed in pretty up market places, I spose if you don't mind some crummy accomodation in the East then it's ok, but for me it was a bit of a shock after staying in fancy French and Austrian hotels. I agree with Renie though, you could just spend the whole time in France, I loved Carcassonne and Foix and all those Southern places.
|
|
|
Post by Colin on Jan 18, 2006 9:04:17 GMT
not going anywhere this holiday only the Lowlands Festival in August.
|
|