nightwolf Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 This weekend I went to Eurogamer - I finally in my 20 years went to London and in the end I loved it! I used to travel a lot when I was younger, mostly within the UK, France, Spain, the typical stuff really. Recently I've had a massive bug to travel again, I have the time and using coaches means it's incredibly cheap, however, I have no idea where to start! I started looking into Amsterdam, Belgium, France, but I need some inspiration. Where have you been within your travels, do you use coaches, trains? What was your favourite place?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murr Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 (edited) I guess it's not really in the same league as you're talking about but this year i've been a well travelled person around UK (majority England) Driven to Donnington, Stoke, Portsmouth, Birmingham, London, Reading, Swindon, Bath (the latter 2 are hardly long distance driving from where i live, but places none the less) .... and been to Glasgow and France. I actually really like driving long distance, I wanted to drive to Glasgow, but Girlfriends parents bought me a ticket to go there, so i had no choice in the matter. I'd LOVE to drive accross Europe, Like through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy then back through France home, but i'd need a lot of time off and alot of money for fueling a drive like that. One day As for places i've been too, Austria, Switzerland, France all via coach (once on plane). Mauritius 4 times (gotta love having an apartment in paradise ) and Dubai once. Future trips are, 2011 = Mauritius 2012 = Las Vegas Edited October 5, 2010 by Murr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I guess it's not really in the same league as you're talking about but this year i've been a well travelled person around UK (majority England) Driven to Donnington, Stoke, Portsmouth, Birmingham, London, Reading, Swindon, Bath (the latter 2 are hardly long distance driving from where i live, but places none the less) .... and been to Glasgow and France. I actually really like driving long distance, I wanted to drive to Glasgow, but Girlfriends parents bought me a ticket to go there, so i had no choice in the matter. I'd LOVE to drive accross Europe, Like through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy then back through France home, but i'd need a lot of time off and alot of money for fueling a drive like that. One day gotta love having an apartment in paradise as for places i've been too, Austria, Switzerland, France all via coach (once on plane). Mauritius 4 times (gotta love having an apartment in paradise ) and Dubai once. 2011 = Mauritius 2012 = Las Vegas Pft, you haven't been to Europe if you haven't been in Scandinavia! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I went to London a few years ago. Cost me £18 for a return (from/to Sheffield). Wasn't able to do a lot in London as I was attending an event (Guitar Hero 3 launch party). A few weeks ago I went on a business trip to Paris. The business part was dull, but the boss buying the beer and food for us all (there was three of us in total) was good, and we saw a couple of the sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Everywhere I've been in order of how awesome it was. New York Hong Kong Florida Disneyland Paris London Portugal Spain The rest of Paris Turkey Various islands around Spain which are all the same really Tunisia Macau New Jersey China Rotherham Honorable mentions to Amsterdam and Canada which were just refueling stop-offs. Places I'd love to see Japan Australia Italy Sweden Belgium Hawaii Germany Czech Republic New Zealand Los Angeles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murr Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Everywhere I've been in order of how awesome it was. New York Hong Kong Honorable mentions to Amsterdam and Canada which were just refueling stop-offs. Places I'd love to see Japan Sweden Los Angeles Jealous of New York & Hong Kong. New York is the top destination i want to go to, and share the same interest in wanting to see Japan, Sweden and LA. especially Japan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwolf Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 So, which places in Europe would you guys recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Belgium of course. =P But apart from that, I really loved travelling through Italy to see all the sights/cities, even though it was with school. Would love to do it again. Only properly been to Paris in France (and Disneyland), but I love them both. Would love to visit other places too though. In Spain I've mostly just been to our holiday place, but apart from that been to Barcelona and Valencia, which I both enjoyed. Been to Trier, Düsseldorf and Cologne in Germany, all quite nice. There's lots of places I'd like to visit, but money is lacking so it'll have to wait heh. New York is high on the list though, as are lots of other places in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I have backed packed my sweet ass round Australia for 9 months, Been to South africa, various trips to the alps for snowboarding, Been to NZ snowboarding and have just come back from Thailand which was fully awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganepark32 Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Not done a huge amount of travelling myself. Never had much of a chance to do any, even when I was younger as my father always worked abroad for most of the year so sorting out holidays was nigh on impossible. Of the travelling I have done, I've enjoyed where I've been but I'd love to travel a whole lot more than I have. Not including places in the UK I've travelled to, I've only been to Florida (Orlando and up on the Gulf Coast in the Northern part of Florida), Portugal (several times and I just love it there. The laidback atmosphere and general vibe just suits my lifestyle perfectly) and Sweden (Stockholm is a beautiful city and the country is also beautiful (Seeing it from a hot air balloon really brought home that one)). Hopefully, in years to come, I'll get to travel abroad more. Others have already posted places I'd like to go (such as New York/Other big cities in America, Japan, Australia/NZ) but there are plenty of other places I'd like to see (Vietnam, Finland (midnight sun!!!), Brazil, some of the Pacific Islands). And I'd certainly love to go back to both Sweden and Portugal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwolf Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Belgium of course. =P But apart from that, I really loved travelling through Italy to see all the sights/cities, even though it was with school. Would love to do it again. Only properly been to Paris in France (and Disneyland), but I love them both. Would love to visit other places too though. In Spain I've mostly just been to our holiday place, but apart from that been to Barcelona and Valencia, which I both enjoyed. Been to Trier, Düsseldorf and Cologne in Germany, all quite nice. There's lots of places I'd like to visit, but money is lacking so it'll have to wait heh. New York is high on the list though, as are lots of other places in the US. I was actually looking into Belgium today, but given I only know a tiny bit is there any chance you can give me some wisdom about things over there? Transport, museums, places to go, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 New York was pretty sweet. I don't think you ever truly appreciate how awesome it looks for the first time. Yeah, you've seen it millions of times on TV but until you actually witness that Manhattan Skyline, It's stunning. I'm currently debating next year's travel. Gonna have a few little trips but my main holiday will either be to the US or Canada. I'm fancying Chicago, Boston, Toronto or Vancouver at the moment, but it's constantly changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I was actually looking into Belgium today, but given I only know a tiny bit is there any chance you can give me some wisdom about things over there? Transport, museums, places to go, etc? Heh to be honest I've only really been to Brussels myself (and Antwerp, though not really as a tourist). Brussels has a few museums (well 80 according to this site , which also has other info about Brussels). It all depends what you want to see, there's quite a few art museums (one all about René Magritte), or a music instrument museum, modern art one, fantasy art even apparently etc. And there's some sights in Brussels, mostly the Grand Marketplace and Manneken_Pis. Or the Atomium. Antwerp might be worth a visit too (has a fashion museum and the zoo =P ). And Bruges, though I've never been myself. =( As for transport, big cities will usually have an underground, but there's buses too, or even those tourist buses you can hop on and off. And in some cities (like Brussels) you can rent bicycles for cheap at certain hotspots (you just put in money and can rent it for a certain time I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwolf Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 So very much like London then? I'll definitely give it a look, I can get to brussels quite cheaply via coach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyxis Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 (edited) I've been to Malaysia 5 times and would definitely recommend it. Places like the Cameron Highlands (in the cool hills above the clouds and famous for its tea plantations and strawberries), Taiping (lake gardens), Melaka (all the history and nice atmosphere), KL (KL bird park and the surrounding area is amazing) and Penang (botanical garden and dusky leaf monkeys) are great if you know where to go and how to get around. I'll be going for my 6th time in Jan 2012 or sooner and would like to visit a few more places there, like Langkawi. I've been to China, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, but Malaysia is my fav. Definitely going to Japan and I will also hopefully go to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore in the future. I've been to London over 100 times and it's indeed a great city! You could never get bored visiting it and just relaxing in the parks. Can anywhere rival London's parks? I doubt it! Edited October 5, 2010 by Pyxis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodleman Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Went backpacking for 10 months a couple of years ago: Canada Toronto 7/10 Ottawa 2/10 Montreal 10/10 USA New York 6/10 Philadelphia 9/10 Washington DC 3/10 Chicago 8/10 Mexico Mexico City 6/10 Brazil Rio De Janeiro 9.5/10 Paraty 8/10 Iguassu Waterfall 11/10 Argentina Buenos Aires 9/10 New Zealand Auckland 4/10 Wellington 6/10 Queenstown 8.5/10 Christchurch 4/10 Australia Melbourne 9/10 Sydney 10/10 Byron Bay 6/10 Surfers Paradise 2/10 Brisbane 3/10 Cairns 5/10 Thailand Bangkok 5/10 Koh Samui 6/10 Koh Phangang 4/10 Vietnam Hanoi 8/10 Ha Long Bay 7/10 Cambodia Siem Reap 7/10 Phnomh Penh 6/10 China Hong Kong 8/10 Beijing 8/10 Shanghai 5/10 Fucking loved it, already planning on doing an even more epic trip in 18 months time. Will spend a year in Sydney and hopefully a year teaching English in some part of south east Asia. (Hong Kong preferably). Will definitely be going to Vancouver, Machu Pichu, back to Brazil and back to Argentina. That said I haven't really been to that many places in Europe. Budapest and Ljubljana where both cool although probably not close enough to get to by coach. I would just get some Ryan Air tickets though and spend a long weekend in central Europe rather than going to France by the coach or something. I am also going to California/Arizona/Nevada for Christmas & New Year which I cannot wait for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorty Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Noodleman wins the thread so far I think! Any chance you could chat a little about funding, accomodation, people... the experience in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramar Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 So, which places in Europe would you guys recommend? One of the best places I've been to is Berlin. I can't say if its just the company I had or the fact we booked the holiday on whim and basically had no idea what to do there and found our own interests. But everyone is helpful and polite, the public transport is ace and beer is cheap. Winrar. Noodleman wins the thread so far I think! Any chance you could chat a little about funding, accomodation, people... the experience in general? One thing that always interests me about these backpacking trips is money, how do you not run out of it?.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodleman Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Noodleman wins the thread so far I think! Any chance you could chat a little about funding, accommodation, people... the experience in general? OK so basically when I finished uni I knew I wanted to go travelling. I also knew the only way I would get the money together would be to move back home Did that got a crap IT support job and worked stuck away £500 (just over half my monthly salary) a month for 18 or so months. None of my mates either wanted to go or could afford to because they had all moved out after uni so didn't have the cash. But I decided to go anyway by myself, most people I met whilst travelling said I was mad to spend that long away from home on my own, but on the whole I didn't regret it. So I booked the flights at about April 2008 to leave in September 2008, couldn't be bothered to sort it myself as a round the world ticket is quite confusing. Went to STA Travel and just gave them a list of places I wanted to go and they managed to sort it into some kind of route. Flights came £2200 including airport taxes. I think my initial route was London - Toronto - overland - Montreal - New York - Chicago - Mexico city - Rio - overland - Buenos Aires - Auckland - Melbourne - overland - Cairns - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Beijing - London. Although I wouldn't have bothered with the Montreal - New York flight and used that somewhere else with hindsight. But STA did an excellent job and I cant recommend them enough if anybody is thinking of doing something similar. So after paying for the flights I had a budget of about £800 a month. for 10 months. This wasn't really enough and I came back home broke, with a £1000 overdraft and £1000 on my credit card. Don't regret that either. What's the point of going somewhere and not seeing anything because you're worried about money. Accommodation was hostels mostly, although I shared a hotel room in Buenos Aires with an Aussie girl :wink: and spent about a couple of weeks at hers when I was in Sydney. I also stayed in a hotel in both places in Cambodia, one was $5 a night the other was $2 a night! After 7 months sharing a room with at least one other person generally 6 that was heaven. It is amazing the difference in hostels from place to place though. Some of the ones in Asia where practically hotels. The best hostels where the ones that organised group activity's in the evenings, or at least had somewhere cool to hang out in the evenings so you could meet other people. The ones in America where very good at this (apart from New York). On the whole I found the better the atmosphere in the hostel the better time I had in the place I was at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eenuh Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 So very much like London then? I'll definitely give it a look, I can get to brussels quite cheaply via coach! Hmm I wouldn't really compare Brussels to London myself heh. It's not as big and way less to see I think. But then I lived there and disliked living there, and London is foreign to me so I'm biased. =P And I keep forgetting about Berlin. I quite enjoyed it there, even though I wish I got to see more. But it was great anyway, and the underground system is great. =) Noodleman, I'm so jealous! I wish I could travel the world like that! It's one of my dreams. Someday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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