European Trip Tips

[kysirsoze]

Hey CP,

So my wife and I are going on a (long delayed) honeymoon at the end of the month. 10 days in Europe split up like this:

2 nights in London
3 nights in Paris
2 nights in Amsterdam
3 nights in Paris

The double Paris visit is because we fly in and out of there and it's my wife's dream city to visit so it's pretty much the main event. We're taking a train right to London when we arrive because it is the lowest priority of the three and we will be adjusting to the time change and whatnot. Flights, hotels, and trains are already booked.

So... Who's been to these cities? Wife's been to London but I haven't. In fact this will be my first international trip unless you count an afternoon in Tijuana when I was 9. Any tips for first timers? Must see areas? Must visit restaurants or bars? General advice?

I can tell you we are already planning a day trip to Versailles and have booked tickets. Otherwise we're up for whatever. Museums, historic landmarks, scenic vistas, whatever.


TIA for all the honeymoon sex tips, too. You guys are the best.

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by Cave Johnson

Van Gough museum is a must.

I really liked the Ripper tour in London.

And for Paris, wish I'd done Moulon Rouge.

One of our Paris hotels is right across the street from the Moulin Rouge so we'll have to check it out.

[sd4chiefs]

My Wife and I really liked Amsterdam. When you are walking around watch out for the thousands of people flying around on their bicycles. I enjoyed the "coffee shops" the most. I never saw so many beautiful women in one place in my life.

[DaKCMan AP]

You'll have to check if days/times have changed, but attached is a planner I put together when I visited Paris in 2012. Cheers!

[Dayze]

watch your Le Cornhole bud.

[DaKCMan AP]

As others have said...

You don't have much time in London but I think that's ok because I enjoyed Paris & Amsterdam more than London.

Given your limited time, a hop-on-hop-off bus tour in London isn't a bad idea to help you move around the city. Definitely hit the big items: Tower of London, London Eye, Victoria & Albert Museum, Buckingham Palace (if you can get in).

In Amsterdam must-do's are the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt's House, Anne Frank House (I saw it's already sold out), Verzetsmuseum. I loved the food in Amsterdam, enjoy!

A couple of other notes on Paris...
Getting to Versailles is not that bad via metro and absolutely worth it.
I didn't find anyone to be rude there and I had no problems. Just adapt to THEIR customs - as someone said you greet people upon entering their shop/store (Bonjour) and upon leaving (Au Revoir). Someone mentioned the Rodin museum - Awesome! Look into getting the museum/city/cathedral pass since you'll be in Paris for 6 nights. Paris is a beautiful city, enjoy!

[raybec 4]

I spent 30 days in Amsterdam and it was marvelous, did the Anne Frank house and it was very sobering. Go to a little pub called the Bulldog. The basement has the recreational menu, the main floor is food and drink, avoid the upstairs if you're with your wife. (unless she's into chicks)

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I don't know anything about Amsterdam so nothing here on that. See prior post on Paris. 6 nights is enough time to do most of the major items on your checklist. Oh, one thing Rain Man didn't mention is the Rodin museum. Bit out of the way but I liked it, in part because it isn't ridiculously huge and endless.

So London. 2 nights. That, uhh, isn't enough time so you will have to be choosy.

Random, stream of consciousness, thoughts.

Day trip out to Stonehenge is out. Place sux.

Windsor Castle is very cool, but again, day trip out there.

British Museum is awesome. Endlessly huge, but how else do you see the Rosetta stone itself? Plan ahead, pick a handful of things you really want to see, and then go see them. Do a half-day or so there.

London Eye is a giant, enclosed ferris wheel. Huge attraction, but meh. Unless you do the romantic angle there. Go for that.

Food in London isn't THAT bad. It's just not special. Switching to Paris -- enjoy your meals there. They will be slow and relaxing, but awesome food there.

Tower of London is very cool. Crown Jewels are only part of it.

My single favorite thing in London was Westminster Abbey. If you're into history, it's crazy awesome. Not like any church you've ever been to, I guarantee it.

My crew really enjoyed the Churchill War Rooms, one of the lesser known attractions.

Buckingham Palace is pretty good, but don't kill yourself to see a changing of the guard. It's nice but you've only got a couple days so...

Same iwht Trafalgar square. It's cool but, ultimately, just a set of buildings and some pavement. I'd go if you had more time, but your call.

This is your HOneymoon and it is London, so great chance to see a show if you want. Les Mis or whatever. If you're into shows.

All of this is on point. Agree on the Abbey, seriously one of the coolest things I've seen. Only thing I would add that I think is a little bit of a well kept secret is the Imperial War Museum. If you're in to history, it's a must see. It has the most well done Holocaust exhibition I've ever seen. At least at did 10 years ago.

I'll take you to task a bit on the food. Go to any pub and order a steak and ale pie and a proper Guinness. FTW!

[kysirsoze]

Thanks for all the info guys! I knew CP would come through.

Originally Posted by raybec 4

I spent 30 days in Amsterdam and it was marvelous, did the Anne Frank house and it was very sobering. Go to a little pub called the Bulldog. The basement has the recreational menu, the main floor is food and drink, avoid the upstairs if you're with your wife. (unless she's into chicks)

I told my wife about some of the Amsterdam ideas on here and she was concerned there wouldn't be enough prostitute time.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Thanks for all the info guys! I knew CP would come through.



I told my wife about some of the Amsterdam ideas on here and she was concerned there wouldn't be enough prostitute time.

What a nice girl!

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Thanks for all the Info Amnorix! This is great. You've probably pushed Westminster Abbey onto the list. The eye is out due to the missus' vertigo.

Sorry to hear about the Vertigo. There are quite a few things that you CAN climb. Arc de Triumph, Sacre Coeur and Eiffel Tower. Some of those -- especially Sacre Coeur involve quite a few stairs. Like endless stairs, to some degree. Not sure how that does or doesn't factor into your thinking. You don't have to climb Sacre Coeur of course, but there are a fair few stairs just to get to the main entrance, as you can see from the image below.

Once you get there, you can THEN climb a craptop MORE stairs to get to the top, as it were.

[Amnorix]

Oh, and don't be afraid of the rapid transit systems. The Tube is the best way to get around London, unless you want to taxi it everywhere. A ride on one of those famed double-decker buses is fine too, and kind of a thing to do. But the Tube is pretty damn awesome and easy, and the city is stupid-big, so...

And short. The single thing that most surprised me about London was how SHORT the buildings were. Not a travel tip, of course, just a comment. Kinda like Washington DC, actually, where IIRC nothing can be taller than the Washington Monument or somesuch. Anyway, it sure isn't NYC.

Paris -- we primarily used buses. We took the train a few times also -- where teh aforementioned pickpocketing attempt took place.

By the way, I'm REALLY not kidding about the pickpockets. Tell your wife to pick a purse with a zipper and that she keeps tight to her side. No "one button" close jobs, and I'd avoid a backpack where you keep valuables. Water and snacks, sure, whatever.

[Amnorix]

Oh rigth, back to rapid transit. In Paris, you will likely want to buy a "carnet", which is a booklet with ten passes. They are good on both buses and trains. Buying these was actually more of a pain than most things in terms of teh language barrier. There was definitely some fumbling and bumbling with the idiot American trying to do the most basic goddamn thing in terms of buying tickets. Once that was resolved though, the rest was a breeze.

More info here: http://en.parisinfo.com/practical-pa...ses-reductions

For London there was something that we bought ahead of time as it saved a boodle of $$, but I'm pretty sure that was some kind of week-long pass. Not useful if you're there two days.

[Rain Man]

I've only done one short blip to London, but my top recommendations are:

1. Tower of London (by far the #1)
2. Windsor Castle (though it's not quite as cool as Versailles)
3. Westminster Abbey
4. British Museum, just to see the Rosetta Stone if nothing else
5. Churchill WWII HQ, but only if you're really into WWII.

That was all I did, so I can't comment on other stuff. Honestly, I think there's ten times more stuff to do in Paris.

[Amnorix]

Oh, and you're spending thousands on your honeymoon. Spend a few nickels more and buy this for God's sake:

https://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-P...teve%27s+paris


I also had this, which is not necessarily a must have, but I liked that it folded, and was laminated, so rain, etc. is irrelevant to the thing. And it has an overlay of the bus routes

https://www.amazon.com/Streetwise-Pa...wise+paris+map


WOW! Used only and $80+. JFC, I did NOT see that at first. Yeah, find yourself a good map, but maybe not THAT one. I definitely spent a fair bit -- but like $25 or something. Not freaking 80. Damn.

I also got this. Think we relied on the Rick Steeve's more, but it was nice. Probably only need to pick one though.

https://www.amazon.com/DK-Eyewitness...words=DK+paris

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Alright. I ignored this dude for his very not sarcastic, shitty, hateful comments. I'm ignoring four people on this site. Two for spamming Royals threads and the other one for pure insanity. That tells you how low my bar for tolerance is. To be honest, I was more annoyed at how boring and unfunny his post was than anything else.

Wow, who pissed on your prayer rug?