Euro-Friendies - France, Italy, Zurich travel advice

[behndy]

figured out ACTUAL TRAVEL PLANS so, edited for Concise Betterness -

so. flying into Zurich the 29th, spending a day there, renting a car to drive to Milan for 3 days, drive to Genoa for 3 days, drive to Paris for the rest, then drive back, spend a day in Montreaux, then fly home.

any hidden and/or obvious things we should hit anywhere?

also, cell phones? who should we look at for 2 weeks of cell and data service across them yareas?

also also, any Tatty Humam Recommendations in France? we're going to each grab a small travel tat.

HELP A HONKY OUT.

love y'alllllll.

[oscillateur]

Trains are going to be more convenient most of the time. At least between the cities you mentioned. As you said, you leave from/arrive in the center of the city and it's all much faster/convenient in the end. Might not be the cheapest though, but plane tickets in Europe have hidden costs anyway (transportation to/from the airport, etc.)...

A couple of days in each place is not a lot so just focus on enjoying things as they come instead of trying to do "everything" (which you obviously can't, even if you spent weeks everywhere).

[coldbrightsunlight]

Trains probably are now convenient for most of the trip except possibly Italy depending where in the country you go.

As oscillateur said a couple of days isn't long in any of those so what sort of activities you looking for? Galleries, museums, history, wandering around bars/cafes and seeing the scenery....?

[D.o.S.]

If you don't say hi in London Imma be

Sads.

[tremolo3]

Man, I also have 10 days if I go with this girl, up to 20 if I go solo... decisions =\

I've been told there's a bus line that is way cheaper than trains and take about the same time, convenient for short distances only.

Following close...

[ProCarsteNation]

yeah, depending from where to where you wanna go, how far in advance you book, or whether they or the trains are running special offers,
Flixbus might be the cheapest option. You may have to spend a bit more time travelling though....
( edit: https://www.flixbus.com )

I personally wouldn't try to do more than 5 places in 10 days, preferrably less, because if you substract travel-days and getting-your-bearings... you kinda get a day each....
so as coldbrightsunlight said: Try to narrow down what you wanna see/experience and you will yield more better suggestions

[oscillateur]

Yeah, if it's two days for each place then you don't want to spend too much time traveling, so train is the most efficient (both bus or plane take more time in the end).

[fcknoise]

If you planning on going to museums, then look into pre-booking tickets that gives you a time for when you'll be let in. Otherwise you can end up spending hours in line where you could've been doing fun things

[Tristan]

Scratch Brussels, there's nothing there, it's like France in Belgium but then worse.
Paris is nice but if you really want a great city in France I would suggest Bordeaux.
London is incredibly busy, not sure if it's to be recommended honestly, there are nicer and more interesting cities that are more en route.
I haven't been in Italy but I heard good things about Bologna, Cinque Terre (national park), Florence and Verona.

Why not concentrate on maximum 3 countries and visit neighbouring cities instead of going all over the place.
Don't forget travelling takes a lot of time and energy, plus in each other country you would have to check in and out of a different accommodation, way too much hassle.

I would do something like this:
Zurich 1 day
Paris or Bordeaux 2 or 3 days
Amsterdam + Haarlem + beach 2 or 3 days
Berlin or London 2 or 3 days (Berlin is much nicer and more interesting than London, really)
Bologna, Cinque Terre, Florence or Verona 2 or 3 days
Zurich 1 day

I think that would be a solid plan if you skip the one of the above mentioned options that appeals to you the least.

[drolo]

Scratch Brussels, there's nothing there, it's like France in Belgium but then worse.

unless you are very interested in completely incoherent architecture and would like to witness the 20th century's biggest urbanistic mistakes all condensed in a relatively small city :-)

[goroth]

Ben - consider that each country you are intending to visit has a different language, different culinary traditions (even within the country itself) and vastly different cultures. And you've got two days in each, plus half a day travel at the least if you fly - because you are non-Eu and flying international you'll have to get to each airport a couple of hours early.

You've also chosen capital cities, and with the exception of London (which is a thing in and of itself, if you like big cities) they are not necessarily representative of what that particular country is like.

So you'll get to tick a lot of boxes on a trip like that, but it is questionable as to how much of each country you will "see".

If Zurich is a definite start and end point, and Paris NYE is a definite midpoint... What is it that you want to get out of your trip? What stuff do you think is cool?

I would also travel by train as it allows you to see more of the countryside, which depending on your chosen route could be absolutely stunning in that region and potentially a highpoint, but you should also be aware that it is winter and shit (snow) happens. So you need to have some space in your itinerary because of this. This is true regardless of whether you fly or train it.

[fuzzonaut]

Scratch Brussels, there's nothing there, it's like France in Belgium but then worse.

Otherwise, nothing new to add, except maybe that Venice is nice in winter.

[Dapper Bandit]

+1 to Goroth's suggestion of trains as a great way of actually seeing a bit of the country. Went on a choo-choo through Italy and the views were STUN. I have also trained through England and you see beautiful country and also odd little towns. Places that look like you could film The Cuckoos of Midwich there tomorrow, which is cool in of itself.

For London my biggest suggestion would be go to the Natural History museum. It is an incredible place, so full of natural history. Italy is also beautiful, I am personally a massive fan of having locations of historical interest smack bang in the middle of your regular city shit.

But back to trains! They are a great way of getting around, dump you in a city in actual close proximity to your hotel and it would be well worth looking into rail cards as a potentially cheaper way of getting from place to place. No check-in times and in my meager experience seem more reliable than air travel. Another plus is that you don't have to get bum-fingered by a furious customs officer like when you catch a plane. Well, for me it's a plus but I don't know you. Might be a game changer.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Agree with tris that Brussels isn't that great and there are better places. London I still like (no bias ) but there's so many things to see and good museums, food etc. However Berlin is also amazing and I highly recommend it

[ProCarsteNation]

Berlin really is something!! Totally recommended.
And I still say that despite the obvious gentrifications and capitalizations going on.
It's still so freaking Berlin

The City in Germany I would want to visit/explore next, though:

Leipzig.
our guitarist recently went with his lady and says
a) Beautiful
b )it has right now the old abandoned Industrial places & creative people pouring into them
that made Berlin so Berlin around (the fall of) that wall... it has that Vibe

I can't confirm this, cause I haven't been,
but: A friend of mine who did a lot of Djane & graphic design, mostly between Hamburg & Barcelona,
well I think she moved to Leipzig a few years back, so that would fit...