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Going to europe
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Subject: Going to europe From: KT Date: 27 Oct 05 - 01:23 AM Thinking of going to Europe at Christmas time. Trying to get a stopover in London and have some flexibility to go to some other European cities. Any suggestions for places we shouldn't miss? KT |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: KT Date: 27 Oct 05 - 01:25 AM oops, I hit submit before I realized I was in the wrong section. Perhaps a kind mudelf could remedy this for me. Thank you!! KT |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Manitas_at_home Date: 27 Oct 05 - 01:36 AM Bruges in Belgium is a lovely city to visit. Very compact and easy to walk around. Many beautiful buildings and churches crammed fulll of art. Good food and beer abounds. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: alanabit Date: 27 Oct 05 - 02:27 AM I'll second that. The other cities around it are worth a look too, but Brugge is one of my favourites. The nice parts of Brussels are worht a look, although the cafe´scene is unlikely to be in full swing at that time of year. Amsterdam feels different every time you go there. It is certainly an interesting place though and quite easy to walk around. The Rijksmuseum (forgive my spelling) is well worth a visit. Among other treasures, you can see Van Gogh's self portrait there. There is plenty more to see in that city. I think I would have to die to get bored there. I am biased, but Köln (Cologne) has a lot going for it. It has a good transport system, is easy to reach and has more art museums than any other city in Germany. You can speak English almost everywhere here and it is also easy to walk around. You might even run into Mudcatter alanabit there... In the Altstadt, ten minutes walk from the station, you can eat just about every type of food in the world in just about every national style of cooking. Let other Mudcatters extol the virtues of München and Hamburg. If you think small is beautiful, try Freiburg, on the Swiss border. It is a gorgeous little city and you can see the Black Forest Hills rising behind the lovely cobbled market place. Just about everywhere outside of the Swiss cities looks like a picture post card. The South part, with its lakes, is gorgeous. Frankfurt needs demolishing. Prague has a lovely centre, which is easy to walk around. Not far away is Dresden, which has stunning Gothic architecture in the centre, on either bank of the Elbe. They call it the "Florence of the Elbe". Apparently, it has improved a lot even since I was last there, now that most of the rebuilding has been finished. Como, is a lovely small city on the edge of a lake in Northern Italy, about a mile up from Milano. The Christmas markets in Wien (Vienna) are impressive for their hand made goods. The smell of the various drinks (punch and mulled wine) sold at Christmas markets in Germany and Austria is always very atmospheric. If you prefer smaller cities, which are also full of culture and history, Linz and Graz in Austria are always worth going to. Now I am going to go and write another tourist brochure... |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Rasener Date: 27 Oct 05 - 02:27 AM Amsterdam http://www.holland.com/amsterdam/gb/ |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Rasener Date: 27 Oct 05 - 02:29 AM Seems we posted at the same time Alanabit. Anyway good morning to you :-) |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: alanabit Date: 27 Oct 05 - 02:56 AM And to you good sir! |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: mooman Date: 27 Oct 05 - 03:37 AM Dear KT, If you include Brussels on your itinerary be sure to drop in on us for some hospitality and music! (You can get a cheap Eurostar (300 km/hour train de grande vitesse) ticket from London to Brussels and Bruges (a "must-visit") is a quick and cheap train ride from Brussels) The cafe and music scene is actually pretty active all year these days. I fully endorse the other suggestions made above plus would add Copenhagen as a great place to visit at that time of year. Peace moo |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,DB Date: 27 Oct 05 - 04:22 AM If it's of any help I went to Slovenia, for my annual holiday, this year. I was very impressed by the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. Small, compact, with a nice relaxed atmosphere. Parts of it, especially down by the river, reminded me of a sort of Italianate Amersterdam. Eastern Europe is full of the most amazing, and largely unspoiled, cities. Most people, these days, think of Prague - but there are plenty of others which are less visited and less 'touristy'. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: mooman Date: 27 Oct 05 - 04:30 AM On that last note, I have visited Tallin, Riga, Vilnius and Budapest recently for work and have trips to Bratislava, Kracow and Sofia in the offing. The first four I can certainly recommend (although a bit far-flung from London). Peace moo |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,Wherriebob Date: 27 Oct 05 - 05:26 AM Forget London; it's overcrowded and expensive. I'd suggest changing your stopover to friendly Glasgow or Edinburgh. Depending on you length of stay if you extend into January, Glasgow hosts a HUGE festival, Celtic Connections. The line up for Edinburgh's Hogmany Party has just be announced this morning, Texas, KT Tunstall. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Rasener Date: 27 Oct 05 - 05:30 AM Edinburgh makes sense for Hogmanay. Had some cracking times when I lived in Scotland. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Wilfried Schaum Date: 27 Oct 05 - 07:06 AM If it must be England, go to Hull. Lot of friendly and competent Catters over there with nice meetings. If Germany, inform me whether I might be of some help (living near Frankfurt). Alanabit's praise of Clogne is correct; lots of history, old churches, and new pubs. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Ernest Date: 27 Oct 05 - 09:07 AM If you are considering Germany, don`t miss Berlin. Lots of sights, museums etc. Also a good folk scene - contact me for more information, if you are interested. Best wishes Ernest |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Rapparee Date: 27 Oct 05 - 09:18 AM And don't forget Ireland. Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Sligo...very nice places, Dublin is another big city. The south of France...Arles, Bordeaux, Bayonne, the Trois Maries.... |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 27 Oct 05 - 09:30 AM Hey, KT: Ruth and I just returned from a 16 day tour of Europe. Of all the places we went, we enjoyed Venice most. Paris would have been our number one destination, except that we spent a week there on our honeymoon. The two days we had there were still delightful. When we were on our honeymoon, we took the Eurostar to London, and that was a great experience in itself. Last I heard, the train runs both ways. If you're in London and you haven't been to Paris, I'd strongly encourage you to take a two or three day trip over to Paris. For my money, Paris is unique and can't be topped. Of the other European countries we visited (admittedly, on a whirlwind tour) Switzerland and Austria really remain vivid in our memory. The Swiss Alps are something to see. Now, if you're going over for music, our European Catters can tell you where to go. We went over to see the countryside, the Cities and meet the people. Depends on what you're looking for.. Jerry |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Catherine Jayne Date: 27 Oct 05 - 04:02 PM Hi KT! It would be lovely to meet up with you and your family in London again...let us know the dates and we'll meet for a meal and a drink or something! Love to you and your family Khatt x |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Skipjack K8 Date: 27 Oct 05 - 04:25 PM Hiya KT, spent a warm day driving round Hull listening to your CD (What a voice! Please come and give a gig in Hull), which disappeared into Lorcan's stuff, and the dear fellow sent on to me by post. I digress. Eurostar Premier Class London - Paris (Stay in Claridges in London and George V in Paris), and then Orient Express to Venice (Stay nowhere other than the Cipriani). Or you could try Clacton, which is nice and quiet out of season. We went to both on our 20th wedding anniversary, but mercifully we flew over Clacton at 4,000ft |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,KT Date: 28 Oct 05 - 05:38 PM Hi all! Thanks for all of your great suggestions and information. I'm still trying to work out details. We're flying on mileage tickets and it seems there are very few seats available. I have until tonight to try to get an itinerary together. So far, we've got reservations to London and back again, but are having trouble finding seats to other cities. It'll be interesting....I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again, for your ideas. I'm logging all of them. KT |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: michaelr Date: 28 Oct 05 - 08:04 PM Use Ryanair to get to the Continent from London. It's practically free! |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Ebbie Date: 29 Oct 05 - 05:49 PM Have you thought about taking the train to the continent, KT? |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: KT Date: 29 Oct 05 - 09:58 PM ykes, Eb! That would make a tunnel look tame!! I'd haev to borrow Bobert's bag! KT |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Ebbie Date: 29 Oct 05 - 11:16 PM hahahah Ask Bobert- he prolly has a spare one. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 29 Oct 05 - 11:25 PM
So...nothing confirmed.
You are spreading yourself thin....LONDON....(let alone the rest of the UK) is worthy of two unto itself.
You appear to be new to travel. Select an American friendly area and do it in DETAIL....(or are you with a travel group and want to "assert your independence" for a few days?)
Paris (5days) Brussels (2days) Bruge (1 day) Amsterdam/Netherlands (5days)
Do NOT worry about the Chunnel - it is WONDERFUL!!!! After John and the Hull Ferry left me stranded.... the Chunnel (for one fare) will get you to anypart of western Europe quicker, without airport security delays, and almost doorstep delivery much better than BMiBaby, or SleazyJet.
Do ONE city or region to exhaustion - do not fetter your dollors on the folly of 14 cities in 12 days.
Sincerely,
I think.... you should think... a little more and then wait for Spring. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,. Date: 29 Oct 05 - 11:26 PM |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 29 Oct 05 - 11:28 PM The London "two" referred to above is TWO WEEKS.
The same could be said for Washington D.C., or Tokyo.
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Ebbie Date: 30 Oct 05 - 12:01 AM Gargoyle, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: George Papavgeris Date: 30 Oct 05 - 01:14 AM Base yourself somewhere just outside London, but with easy access to central London by train (say 40 mins), Heathrow airport (30 mins), the main motorways out of and around London (15 mins from M1, M25 and M40 - 25 mins from M4). Not too far from either Warwick Castle (1 hr) or Windsor Castle (50 mins). And somewhere with a spare car (automatic) for you to borrow. Also, somewhere where they can feed you well enough to put some lard onto your bones. And somewhere where your songwriting and singing will be nurtured, with contacts for 3-4 local folk clubs. And sod Europe - do Paris on the train for 3 days and leave it at that. Hey - I know such a place! It's called Chesham. Why don't you ask Mike C? He'll confirm it. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: KT Date: 30 Oct 05 - 02:14 AM Khatt, it's looking like we will have a little time in London. Thanks for your offer and I'll PM with more details later. Skipjack, thanks for your kind words. I 'm enjoying the CD you gave me, too, so much!! I would love to visit Hull, but don't know if it can happen this trip. How far is Hull from London? Moo, thanks so much for your suggestions and your invite. If we can get Brussels on our itinerary, I'll be sure to send you a PM. Alanabit, do you live in Cologne? Wilfried, I don't expect we'll get to Frankfurt this time. We are flying in and out of Munich, though. Garg, not completely new to travel, just not very familiar with Europe. This opportunity has come up fairly recently, and we're trying to coordinate with someone who's already over there. Can't go in the spring, but appreciate your suggestions, especially the one about not trying to cover too much ground. Makes sense. George, Chesham, eh? I'll have to check it out! Thanks again, everyone, for your thoughts! I wish you could all come along!! KT |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: alanabit Date: 30 Oct 05 - 12:30 PM I do indeed live in Cologne. PM me by all means. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: ranger1 Date: 30 Oct 05 - 02:11 PM Norway is beautiful in the winter, especially around the Christmas holidays. It's expensive and problematic to get to, though. |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: jimmyt Date: 30 Oct 05 - 08:20 PM I just returned yesterday from Geneva, Montreux, Asti, Alba and Turin. Too complicated to do too much ather than what has been suggested KT ie Paris, or Bruges (Brugge) via Eurostar. QUick easy from Waterloo to Paris in 2.5 or Bruge thru Brussels in 4 hours with a change of trains Let me know if I can help at all |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Leadfingers Date: 30 Oct 05 - 09:35 PM KT - There is an organisation just up the road from me ( I am five miles from Heathrow ) called rentabanger - car hire for Forty pounds (plus vat (17.5%) a week - I Could get you there from Heathrow so let me know ! And the Folk scene here is at least bearable !! |
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Subject: RE: Going to europe From: Col K Date: 31 Oct 05 - 12:11 PM I hope that I can get to meet you while you are in UK. Love Col |
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