City break recommendations

[Soup]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

I love berlin it’s an amazing city, however I imagine in February it’s probably the same sort of weather as over here cold, wet, windy same for the likes of Prague, Vienna, krakow etc so would think of somewhere more southern people have already mentioned Seville.  I thought Porto was nice the other year.  I really like Valencia although the locals are absolutely bonkers.

 

i went in March when they have this festival called mascleta where they basically just blow the city up! They have these fireworks everyday for the first two weeks in March. I say fireworks but it’s just noise and smoke everyday at 2pm never seen or heard anything like it, the ground was shaking. And then as you are walking around kids are just throwing fireworks around.

 

about 5min in it goes real crazy, 7min in its carnage and the do this every day for two weeks

 

 

oh and the Mestalla is a great stadium if you can sneak in a game!

 

I hear that this year's Fallas was toned down a little. Something to do with security after last year's terror attack in Barcelona. Locals were not happy at all ??

[CosbehFox]

On 17/08/2018 at 16:26, Samilktray said:

All city breaks should contain trams imo 

Copenhagen and Milan freaked me out when the trams didn’t have drivers. Then I was double freaked out when I went on the DLR for the first time. 

[adam1]

Did Verona for a weekend about 2 years ago. Got cheap return flights from Birmingham. (About £60 return).

Whilst it isn't big enough for a 3 or 4 day stay, you are well located to get to other places by train. The line goes from milan and ends in venice (goes through verona and other places such as vicenza).

Venice is about 2hours on the train so possible for a day trip.

[Col city fan]

Krakow is a very attractive City. The central square, Castle, Cathedral, River..all very pleasant.

And you can visit Auschwitz and Birkenau if you want to get a proper understanding of what man can do to man (and woman). Birkenau is a haunting place.

Edited 19 August 2018 by Col city fan

[RonnieTodger]

I can vouch for Budapest, Berlin and Brugge. Also Hannover in Germany was great.

Went to Budapest in January and whilst it was snowing/freezing, we still had a great time. Beautiful and really cool place. 

[UniFox21]

Amsterdam is an amazing city, would highly recommend. Its an absolutely stunning place. 

[Costock_Fox]

On 19/08/2018 at 22:46, RonnieTodger said:

I can vouch for Budapest, Berlin and Brugge.

 

[Milo]

Off to Berlin on Friday - no kids 

Whats good to do? (apart from going to watch some footy...doubt I'd get away with that...)

[Costock_Fox]

16 minutes ago, Milo said:

Off to Berlin on Friday - no kids 

Whats good to do? (apart from going to watch some footy...doubt I'd get away with that...)

Near checkpoint Charlie there is an outdoor museum (Topography of Terror) which is worth a look. The graffiti on the wall is great if you like street art, going up Reichstag is free and you get great views but you need to book. I also went to a cracking bar overlooking the zoo which gives you great views of the city.

I loved it there, enjoy!

[ScouseFox]

the zoo bar was pretty cool, yer. 

 

that massive tower at the end of the big road with the big archway on it is cool to go up (unless you’re scared of heights like me in which case it is literally the worst idea of all time). 

[ajthefox]

Hamburg is a good city as well, only a couple of hours from Berlin on the train too.

[daventry_fox]

Me and my wife went to Prague for our honeymoon in July. We both loved it, it's dirt cheap over their to beautiful city 

[CollinsLCFC]

On 17/08/2018 at 15:27, foxfanazer said:

Is it as bad as people say for pick pocketing? Love the look of the architecture 

I would also say Barcelona. Been there a few times now and love it more everytime I go. It's an all in one, city break, beach, culture, art, good food and drink.

I think people over react with the pickpockets, they are in every major tourist attraction, not just Barcelona. Just use common sense and be cautious, don't stop for people and don't keep your wallet and phones in your back pockets. Simple.

[what?]

10 hours ago, Milo said:

Off to Berlin on Friday - no kids 

Whats good to do? (apart from going to watch some footy...doubt I'd get away with that...)

My city! In which district are you staying? I can give you some recommendations for stuff off the beaten track 

Edited 22 August 2018 by what?

[Wrighty22]

Spent the past 2 days in Utrecht with work but got to see a fair amount of the city. It’s a beautiful place. Got a few hours to kill today before my flight so going to Amsterdam to have a look around. 

[cambridgefox]

8 hours ago, ajthefox said:

Hamburg is a good city as well, only a couple of hours from Berlin on the train too.

She will love the Reeperbahn!

i went on a stag do years ago when Hamburg were playing St Pauli.It was like a war zone.

 

i fancy Budapest myself and reading this my mind has been made up to go.

 

Barcelona,never been but my wife went last year and raves about it .Which takes a lot.

 

Something different.

Bordeaux.went in May and was impressed.

[Costock_Fox]

4 minutes ago, Wrighty22 said:

 going to Amsterdam to have a bit of drugs and poon

Google translated for you...

[Wrighty22]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Google translated for you...

I was trying to be discreet 

[Milo]

1 hour ago, what? said:

My city! In which district are you staying? I can give you some recommendations for stuff off the beaten track 

Haha - we're in the Mitte district. Got the all night museums on Saturday and a river trip booked and I think we'll do the spy walk/museum as well - but a couple more fun suggestions would be very welcome!

[what?]

1 hour ago, Milo said:

Haha - we're in the Mitte district. Got the all night museums on Saturday and a river trip booked and I think we'll do the spy walk/museum as well - but a couple more fun suggestions would be very welcome!

Cool, I'd suggest heading south into Kreuzberg or east to Friedrichshain. Remember on Sundays nothing is open except corner shops (Spätis), cafes/restaurants and flea markets. So the best activity would just be exploring somewhere with pretty buildings or chilling with some nice food. Boxhagner Platz is a cute little square surrounded by great places to eat. There's a popular Flea market there on Sundays. The Landwehr Canal which runs between Kreuzberg and Neukölln has lots of beautiful old buildings and nice places to sit and relax or explore. Bergmannkiez is one of the most desirable spots in the city to live. Incredible old architecture and beautiful little parks. Any of those three spots would give you a sense of what Berlin is to the people who want to live here. You'll also be fine speaking english there. Lots of expats and foreigners for whom english is a common language. I worked in a cafe near boxhager platz when I first moved here without speaking any German. 

The places I circled below are interesting enough to just go and explore, particularly the bits shaded yellow by google.

Other interesting places to check out might be Tempelhofer Feld. It used to be an airport but it closed and in true Berlin style they just left it how it is and opened it to the public. There's no trees or anything so it's not like a normal park. If you rent bikes then it's a great place to go and it's weirdly liberating having such a huge empty space right in the middle of the city. But on foot it might be a bit 'is this it? Now what?' if you catch my drift.  

Last recommendation would be the Thai Park. There's always talk that this will be shut down but i went a couple of weeks ago and it's still running so maybe they made a deal with the authorities. It's essentially an illegal Thai street food market that takes over a park every weekend. Expect it's not professional street food. It's just a bunch of old Thai ladies with camping stoves making incredibly authentic food whilst their grandkids make cocktails. The best part is that it's crazy cheap. There's also a flea market very close by. When the weather is good getting buzzed on cheap cocktails and then browsing the market can be fun. Only problem is that it's a bit out of the way in the West but worth the trip if you have time. 

While you're in Mitte check out the courtyards at Hackesche Höfe. 

Sorry that got a bit long but final general tip, make sure you have a valid ticket for the trains and don't forget to stamp it, especially if you're in mitte. The controllers are bastards who work on commission and will absolutely not hesitate to pull tourists off the trains and shout at them on platforms even if they don't speak german. If you're flying into Schönefeld pay particularly close attention to your ticket because the airport is one stop into zone C and they patrol that border looking for people who just have A/B tickets. Getting fined 40€ on your way from or to the airport would really suck.

Have a great trip! The weather is gonna be nice I think. 

Edited 22 August 2018 by what?

[lgfualol]

Going Milan for a couple nights in a couple weeks on my way to France, anyone got any tips for things to do? Never been. 

[Finnegan]

Copenhagen, Brugge and Prague probably my favourites in Europe. 

Prague is fantastic and still pretty cheap. All of Prague 1 (most central district, the old medieval town etc) and most of Prague 2 (where you'll probably stay) will do you for a short city break and is absolutely stunning, almost all of it looks amazing. 

I'm sure if you go further out you'll find shit holes like any major city. 

We went in a January during a cold snap and it was like -10 and covered in snow which was ridiculously picturesque. 

Would recommend a day trip to Kutna Hora if you do more than a couple days. 

[Finnegan]

I was really disappointed with Amsterdam. As a standard nerd more interested in history and architecture than accessible weed and the sex industry, I thought the old town had completely sold out to cheap student tourism. 

Tacky drug paraphernalia, dodgy steak and pizza places and unwashed stoners and perverts were pretty much on every other street. 

Possibly been spoilt by Belgium really but I was kinda expecting more of the same from Brugge / Ghent but it just didn't quite live up. 

[Milo]

11 minutes ago, what? said:

Cool, I'd suggest heading south into Kreuzberg or east to Friedrichshain. Remember on Sundays nothing is open expect corner shops (Spätis), cafes/restaurants and flea markets. So the best activity would just be exploring somewhere with pretty buildings or chilling with some nice food. Boxhagner Platz is a cute little square surrounded by great places to eat. There's a popular Flea market there on Sundays. The Landwehr Canal which runs between Kreuzberg and Neukölln has lots of beautiful old buildings and nice places to sit and relax or explore. Bergmannkiez is one of the most desirable spots in the city to live. Incredible old architecture and beautiful little parks. Any of those three spots would give you a sense of what Berlin is to the people who want to live here. You'll also be fine speaking english there. Lots of expats and foreigners for whom english is a common language. I worked in a cafe near boxhager platz when I first moved here without speaking any German. 

The places I circled below are interesting enough to just go and explore, particularly the bits shaded yellow by google.

Other interesting places to check out might be Tempelhofer Feld. It used to be an airport but it closed and in true Berlin style they just left it how it is and opened it to the public. There's no trees or anything so it's not like a normal park. If you rent bikes then it's a great place to go and it's weirdly liberating having such a huge empty space right in the middle of the city. But on foot it might be a bit 'is this it? Now what?' if you catch my drift.  

Last recommendation would be the Thai Park. There's always talk that this will be shut down but i went a couple of weeks ago and it's still running so maybe they made a deal with the authorities. It's essentially an illegal Thai street food market that takes over a park every weekend. Expect it's not professional street food. It's just a bunch of old Thai ladies with camping stoves making incredibly authentic food whilst their grandkids make cocktails. The best part is that it's crazy cheap. There's also a flea market very close by. When the weather is good getting buzzed on cheap cocktails and then browsing the market can be fun. Only problem is that it's a bit out of the way in the West but worth the trip if you have time. 

While you're in Mitte check out the courtyards at Hackesche Höfe. 

Sorry that got a bit long but final general tip, make sure you have a valid ticket for the trains and don't forget to stamp it, especially if you're in mitte. The controllers are bastards who work on commission and will absolutely not hesitate to pull tourists off the trains and shout at them on platforms even if they don't speak german. If you're flying into Schönefeld pay particularly close attention to your ticket because the airport is one stop into zone C and they patrol that border looking for people who just have A/B tickets. Getting fined 40€ on your way from or to the airport would really suck.

Have a great trip! The weather is gonna be nice I think. 

Great help, thanks for taking the time. We were wondering what to do on the Sunday, so maybe a mooch around the flea markets and a bit of sightseeing would do the trick. 

[Voll Blau]

14 hours ago, Milo said:

Off to Berlin on Friday - no kids 

Whats good to do? (apart from going to watch some footy...doubt I'd get away with that...)

If you're round the East Side Gallery check out Scheers Schnitzel. Best I've ever tasted in Germany with top homemade sauces.

In Mitte, Brauhaus Georgbraeu is great for a spot of lunch and has two extremely good varieties of house-brewed beer on draught. Just along the river from the DDR Museum, which can be a bit crowded but is worth an hour of your time.