Cost effective European Areas/Cities
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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.)
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@IRJ April - May is a great time to visit Europe. It's the shoulder season, so it's neither as crowded or as hot as the summer season. In fact, any place in northern Europe will be downright cold then, while southern Europe will be pleasantly warm to possibly hot.
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I like to describe Venice as "a dirty Disney World where an Oriental Trading Company catelogue exploded on the streets." The streets are lined with people selling Chinese trinkets that have no connection to Venice, in many cases they don't even bother writing Venice on them. It's like the whole city is an Chinese off-brand hot topic.
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@Dominica said:
@IRJ April - May is a great time to visit Europe. It's the shoulder season, so it's neither as crowded or as hot as the summer season. In fact, any place in northern Europe will be downright cold then, while southern Europe will be pleasantly warm to possibly hot.
It's May now and our friends who were in The Netherlands the last few days wrote to us and were like "save us, it is so cold". They are happily in Spain now enjoying the sun.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I like to describe Venice as "a dirty Disney World where an Oriental Trading Company catelogue exploded on the streets."
I've never been to Disney World but, Disney land was pretty dirty.. as was much the rest of SoCAL.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I like to describe Venice as "a dirty Disney World where an Oriental Trading Company catelogue exploded on the streets."
I've never been to Disney World but, Disney land was pretty dirty.. as was much the rest of SoCAL.
WDW has its ups and downs. Used to be better. WDW is far better than DisneyLand and tons bigger. I've done both. WDW is unique and special, even if not great. Some things that they do no one else does, so I recommend doing it at least once for most people. Not because it is the best thing ever, but simply because it can be done well and is really unique and interesting.
If you are visiting the US and have ten places to pick, I might not put it on the list. But if you are visiting the US and get to go to only one single place, it's my top pick - because it is like a weird microcosm of America. If that makes sense.
For Americans it is really hard to quantify the recommendation, but I say that it is worth a trip to at least once for most people. Expensive and you can't cut corners and get the experience, so it is an investment, but done well it can be pretty nice.
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But Disney World is all fake, just things for tourists. That's the big negative. There is no "Disney culture" or meeting the "real Disney people". It's not like that. Disney's value is embracing that it is all fake . Everything is a show put on for the tourist.
Venice is like this. It's all a show. It's all a put on just for you.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I like to describe Venice as "a dirty Disney World where an Oriental Trading Company catelogue exploded on the streets."
I've never been to Disney World but, Disney land was pretty dirty.. as was much the rest of SoCAL.
My sister works for WDW in one of the Orlando resorts in the park. She manages the front desk and a few other things. They treat their employees really well, which makes me happy to spend some money there. They also have the food of the world thing in Epcot every year... which while entirely fake and cheesy, is a lot of fun. We are planning on going down again this year.
