Late European holiday - where to go?

grimm2005

Hey all,

Me and a couple of mates are heading for a trip to somewhere in Europe around mid-October to mid-November (probably leaning towards start of November) for 1 week. I'm pretty much arranging things so looking for somewhere decent around this time. We're kind of looking at more of a city break then a sun holiday I think, somewhere with lots to see and do and a good nightlife. Were on a tight enough budget, around €200 - 300 each for travel and accomodation but will be going for cheap flights and staying in hostels probably so relatively flexible.

Barcelona, Budapest and Berlin are 3 places I've looked at so far and that are within budget but I've been to Budapest this time last year and my mate has been to Spain within the summer so atm Berlin is top of the list. Would Berlin be worth a trip for a week in November? Was looking at Paris but it seems pretty expensive. Any other suggestions are welcome and much appreciated!

Thanks!

Amirani

Berlin is fantastic, evidenced by its constant mentions on here, and the fact that I personally have visited on 5 occasions in the past 4 years.

There's a great nightlife and it's steeped in history so you wouldn't be stuck for things to do. Relatively cheap to in terms of accommodation and general cost of living.

grimm2005

NiallSparky wrote: »

Berlin is fantastic, evidenced by its constant mentions on here, and the fact that I personally have visited on 5 occasions in the past 4 years.

There's a great nightlife and it's steeped in history so you wouldn't be stuck for things to do. Relatively cheap to in terms of accommodation and general cost of living.

Cheers for the suggestion Niall! I realise it'll probably be pretty cold which I can live with but would there typically be a lot of rain in early November d'ya reckon?

schemingbohemia

Berlin is perfect for your plans. I think November should be ok but apparently it gets very cold in the winter.

Amirani

grimm2005 wrote: »

Cheers for the suggestion Niall! I realise it'll probably be pretty cold which I can live with but would there typically be a lot of rain in early November d'ya reckon?

I've been there before around November, I didn't find it exceptionally cold (not too much worse than Ireland at that time). If you make sure you have a decent coat with you then you won't have any worries.

enda1

Barcelona I'd choose. Or Madrid.

grimm2005

enda1 wrote: »

Barcelona I'd choose. Or Madrid.

Barcelona was actually my first choice as I've heard numerous great things from several people but one of the lads has Spanish relatives and is over in Spain all the time (although never in Barcelona) so he's not really up for it (plus he hates being that guy who has to work as a go between when there's a language barrier :P).

munchkin_utd

I'd say Berlin would be a good bet and not to worry too much about the weather as it could go either way (and even Barca could be a wash out rather than balmy), although other cities like Hamburg or Munich have as much to do and might be an option if the flights suit.

enda1

grimm2005 wrote: »

Barcelona was actually my first choice as I've heard numerous great things from several people but one of the lads has Spanish relatives and is over in Spain all the time (although never in Barcelona) so he's not really up for it (plus he hates being that guy who has to work as a go between when there's a language barrier :P).

That's fair enough i suppose. How about Dubrovbnik and and island or two instead. None of ye speak any Slavic languages I presume!

grimm2005

munchkin_utd wrote: »

I'd say Berlin would be a good bet and not to worry too much about the weather as it could go either way (and even Barca could be a wash out rather than balmy), although other cities like Hamburg or Munich have as much to do and might be an option if the flights suit.

Ah cool, good to hear, might have a gander at them as well so!

That's fair enough i suppose. How about Dubrovbnik and and island or two instead. None of ye speak any Slavic languages I presume!

Had thought of that actually but Aer Lingus stop flying out there from 25th October and the other options are far too complicated/expensive! cheap enough accomadation though so definitely one to consider later on down the line! thanks!

I think I'm getting pretty close to going with Berlin, just have to agree it with the mates. The hostel I've been looking at is Generator Mitte Berlin which seems very central and right beside a metro station also, anyone stayed there or got an opinion on the area? It's nicely in budget for a triple private room too.

enda1

Berlin's cool all right. Mitte's good. Make sure to rent the bikes - it's a fantastic cycling city and a generally great way to travel around. The Stasi prison tour is really good if you get a chance to do it. Only thing, a week in Berlin's a long time.

grimm2005

enda1 wrote: »

Berlin's cool all right. Mitte's good. Make sure to rent the bikes - it's a fantastic cycling city and a generally great way to travel around. The Stasi prison tour is really good if you get a chance to do it. Only thing, a week in Berlin's a long time.

Thanks for the tips. You reckon a week would be too long for Berlin? Would we likely run out of things to do within a week?

munchkin_utd

grimm2005 wrote: »

I think I'm getting pretty close to going with Berlin, just have to agree it with the mates. The hostel I've been looking at is Generator Mitte Berlin which seems very central and right beside a metro station also, anyone stayed there or got an opinion on the area? It's nicely in budget for a triple private room too.

stayed in the baxpax which is round the corner - which seems to be even nicer than it was then.
http://baxpax.de/downtown/
The area is grand, good for action but safe enough too.

Hackescher markt is down the road (big square with bars under the railway arches) as well as plenty of bars and restaurants on orangienburgstr itsself

and sure you're only a walk then to all the sights like the brandenburg gate, reichstag and whatnot.

schemingbohemia

I stayed in the Generator Copenhagen which was grand, I'd stay with them again. Wasn't a dorm mind you, just a twin room with a mate but you can usually get 4 person dorms.

grimm2005

munchkin_utd wrote: »

stayed in the baxpax which is round the corner - which seems to be even nicer than it was then.
http://baxpax.de/downtown/
The area is grand, good for action but safe enough too.

Hackescher markt is down the road (big square with bars under the railway arches) as well as plenty of bars and restaurants on orangienburgstr itsself

and sure you're only a walk then to all the sights like the brandenburg gate, reichstag and whatnot.

That does seem pretty nice and it's a similar price to generator.

I stayed in the Generator Copenhagen which was grand, I'd stay with them again. Wasn't a dorm mind you, just a twin room with a mate but you can usually get 4 person dorms.

Yeah, we'll be getting a triple room for 3 people so won't have any privacy issues. They seem to be a good bet alright, the Dublin one looks fancy enough from the outside and the reviews on hostelbookers are almost universally positive (albeit with only 50 odd reviews) and the hostel always leaves replies for any negative points the reviewer made.

ardmacha

You reckon a week would be too long for Berlin? Would we likely run out of things to do within a week?

It depends on your interests, but there are loads of things to see, several days each of 20th century stuff (WW2 & Wall periods), then the likes of Olympic Stadium, Spandau, art museum, relics of Troy etc. Also go to Potsdam, a Berlin public transport ticket for the week and then a Potsdam zone extension for one day.

grimm2005

ardmacha wrote: »

It depends on your interests, but there are loads of things to see, several days each of 20th century stuff (WW2 & Wall periods), then the likes of Olympic Stadium, Spandau, art museum, relics of Troy etc. Also go to Potsdam, a Berlin public transport ticket for the week and then a Potsdam zone extension for one day.

I'm pretty open to doing anything but I wouldn't want daytime activities to be purely museums if you get me, I love museums but I think the lads would tire of them. The WW2 types and Jewish memorials and the Berlin wall stuff would be interesting and definitely want to see a lot of that but wouldn't want to go overkill with it all. I'm open to any and all suggestions really. I noticed that they do segway tours of some of the major sights which lasts about 4 hours, I did a tour with the same company in Chicago a couple of years ago and it was really enjoyable and a great, different way to see the city and the guide was really funny as well as informative. It's pricey enough but reckon I'd give it a go.

ardmacha

I'm pretty open to doing anything but I wouldn't want daytime activities to be purely museums if you get me,

well then, declare war yourself, http://panzerkutscher.de/en/

grimm2005

ardmacha wrote: »

well then, declare war yourself, http://panzerkutscher.de/en/

haha! that looks incredible! Have you done it yourself? The website is pretty hard to understand as it's mostly in broken English. Is it based in Berlin? Kinda hard to figure out how the booking procedure would work, contact them first before buying voucher or vice versa?

ardmacha

grimm2005 wrote: »

haha! that looks incredible! Have you done it yourself? The website is pretty hard to understand as it's mostly in broken English. Is it based in Berlin? Kinda hard to figure out how the booking procedure would work, contact them first before buying voucher or vice versa?

I haven't been, I saw it on TV (on Top Gear?). It is 50km from the centre of Berlin, I expect you can go for about 45 mins on a train and take a taxi.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

grimm2005 wrote: »

haha! that looks incredible! Have you done it yourself? The website is pretty hard to understand as it's mostly in broken English. Is it based in Berlin? Kinda hard to figure out how the booking procedure would work, contact them first before buying voucher or vice versa?

Looks to be about an hour train ride out of berlin, about 6 euro each way.

The weather here is a bit unpredictable abotu that time of year, but shouldn;t be too bad. Won't be a sun holiday, certainly!

It'll be realitvely inexpensive though, depending on how you do it. Night trainsport is cheap and efficient and there are plenty of good places to go out in. Kreuzberg-Friedrichshien will give you the best of both cheap and entertaining.

Someone mentioned Hamburg and Munich: Munich is a bit more expensive, Hamburg you might be able to do on a day/overnight trip from Berlin.

ONe last thing: very frequently Aer Lingus are cheaper than Ryanair, and they fly into the same airport (Shoenfeld - abotu 30-40 mins from cetner of Berlin, 3.10 euro one way) so compare before you book!

grimm2005

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Looks to be about an hour train ride out of berlin, about 6 euro each way.

The weather here is a bit unpredictable abotu that time of year, but shouldn;t be too bad. Won't be a sun holiday, certainly!

It'll be realitvely inexpensive though, depending on how you do it. Night trainsport is cheap and efficient and there are plenty of good places to go out in. Kreuzberg-Friedrichshien will give you the best of both cheap and entertaining.

Someone mentioned Hamburg and Munich: Munich is a bit more expensive, Hamburg you might be able to do on a day/overnight trip from Berlin.

ONe last thing: very frequently Aer Lingus are cheaper than Ryanair, and they fly into the same airport (Shoenfeld - abotu 30-40 mins from cetner of Berlin, 3.10 euro one way) so compare before you book!

Thanks! great info there. Yeah, I kind of figure weather will be like Ireland but colder probably, I'd just hope for it not to rain but I guess it could go either way!

Definitely under no illusion of a sun holiday anyway but I'm fine with that! (mind you could always fit in a day at this place to create the illusion!: http://www.tropical-islands.de/en/attractions/) I went to Budapest last November and while cold, I still loved it (and it didn't rain!).

Oh yeah, I'm always comparing flights alright, I don't assume anything, I'm on skyscanner all the time checking. There's about €30 between ryanair and aer lingus at the moment with the former being cheaper which is enough of a gap for me to just go ryanair plus the flight times are much nicer.

Day trip to hamburg would be something to consider, would probably leave munich for a seperate trip I reckon.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

grimm2005 wrote: »

Thanks! great info there. Yeah, I kind of figure weather will be like Ireland but colder probably, I'd just hope for it not to rain but I guess it could go either way!

Definitely under no illusion of a sun holiday anyway but I'm fine with that! (mind you could always fit in a day at this place to create the illusion!: http://www.tropical-islands.de/en/attractions/) I went to Budapest last November and while cold, I still loved it (and it didn't rain!).

Oh yeah, I'm always comparing flights alright, I don't assume anything, I'm on skyscanner all the time checking. There's about €30 between ryanair and aer lingus at the moment with the former being cheaper which is enough of a gap for me to just go ryanair plus the flight times are much nicer.

Day trip to hamburg would be something to consider, would probably leave munich for a seperate trip I reckon.

Tropical islands is a place I have not been too but heard mixed reports about. Mostly saying it;s nice, but not so nice as to be worth the expense.

Flights - take into account luggage: ryanair jacked up their prices up for extra baggage recently, skysanner probably doesn't take that into account.

One other thing: there is a "schones wochenende" ("happy weekend") ticket done be deutchebahn: 40 euro return anywhere in most parts of germany on a saturday and sunday and it covers 5 people for a day trip. I'm not sure of the full regualtions of it, but it might be worth investigating.

grimm2005

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Tropical islands is a place I have not been too but heard mixed reports about. Mostly saying it;s nice, but not so nice as to be worth the expense.

Flights - take into account luggage: ryanair jacked up their prices up for extra baggage recently, skysanner probably doesn't take that into account.

One other thing: there is a "schones wochenende" ("happy weekend") ticket done be deutchebahn: 40 euro return anywhere in most parts of germany on a saturday and sunday and it covers 5 people for a day trip. I'm not sure of the full regualtions of it, but it might be worth investigating.

Ah ok, wasn't sure about it, just had read about it on a blog.

As for baggage, I'm all too aware of Ryanair's quite frankly insane baggage charges but I can manage a week with a carry on just about. Did a week in the Algarve around 2 years back and got a weeks worth of clothes, toiletries and even a netbook plus charger into a really good carry on bag that I have. So long as I'm not expecting to bring lots of stuff back, the carry on gets the job done (don't think I could manage longer then that though :P)

That ticket sounds really good, will definitely look into that!

TourRadar

Lisbon might also be an option its still pretty cheap and will be sunny and nice beaches even in November!Another option is somewhere East likeRiga- although you certainly wont get beach weather! Otherwise, Berlin and Budapest are both great but yea Berlin probably wins! If you think that you would get bored spending 10 days in just Berlin you should consider doing a bit of a tour between a few cities!

grimm2005

TourRadar wrote: »

Lisbon might also be an option its still pretty cheap and will be sunny and nice beaches even in November!Another option is somewhere East likeRiga- although you certainly wont get beach weather! Otherwise, Berlin and Budapest are both great but yea Berlin probably wins! If you think that you would get bored spending 10 days in just Berlin you should consider doing a bit of a tour between a few cities!

Cheers, Lisbon is a good shout, was there (very briefly) a couple of years ago and seemed like a cool city. I think it's gonna be more like 7 days around but the latest plan I think is 5 days in Berlin, then a train to Warsaw where we'll spend another 2 or 3 days as we have a friend who lives over there and decided it might be cool to double up as you've suggested. I've worked out all accommodation and travel will cost under €300 each which would be grand, I just have to wait on mates now to find out what time and how long they can get off. Kinda anxious to get booking as I have the moola and the go ahead for time off!

Kevcol

Hey guys,

Heading to Berlin in about 2 months time with a group of friends. Just wondering would there be much nightlife on weeknights in Berlin. We're going from Monday to Friday so we won't be getting any weekend night. Or would Hamburg be a better option for nightlife.

Cheers

grimm2005

good call Kevcol, any recommendations for good spots after dark would be appreciated now that it seems we'll definitely be hitting Berlin, will be there weekend as well so anythings fair game

Kevcol

Did you end up going Grimm?? Heading away now next week so looking forward to it

grimm2005

Kevcol wrote: »

Did you end up going Grimm?? Heading away now next week so looking forward to it

Heading in 2 weeks from tomorrow, got some recommendations from this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057040394

Looking forward to heading myself, need some time off and out of here for a bit :P