Eastern Ukraine isn't an ideal tourist spot at the moment.
But the minefields are a banger scnr
Russia in general also.
As a European from elsewhere in Europe, I'm never going back to Milan. Maybe it's fine if you're into fashion, but if you're not there's not much to look at except a cathedral which resembles every other cathedral, and it's impossible to get a photo of it without also having a friendship bracelet scammer in the frame, actively harassing you.
All tourist locations in Italy and France have people trying to scam you (and some non-scammers just trying to sell you cheap toys), but Milan is the only place I've been to where they're straight up harassing you non-stop. Go to Pisa instead, it's super relaxing there and you can marvel at their past mistakes in structural engineering. A far better deal.
Scammers abroad: Troll with randomness. Laugh at inappropriate times. Nod at them while making the eating food gesture. Randomly start pointing down a street like you're trying to give directions but just shrug. Pick a random sports team name and say, "Gooooo EAGLES!" while nodding and dancing. Basically pick some random thing, pretend they said it, and you're going along with it.
If they're pointing to friendship braclets, you say "9 o'clock." even though it's 1:30. If they keep doing it, you just laugh, nod, and clap.
My favourite is pretending I'm deaf and making up signing. When they start gesturing, I repeat the gesture in shock. When they nod, I act disgusted like they're sick in the head.
They will very quickly move on since you're a waste of time. The more awkward you make it, the better, especially if you're drawing looks from others.
I've used very similar techniques on men in bars who don't think no is a complete sentence.
I'm well past the age for shame. I will make a fool of myself if it means some twerp will think twice about harassing a woman who's repeatedly turned them down
I'd never considered doing the same for scammers - great idea! I'm just overly polite and that makes me seem like a target I think.
I just don't engage. You don't have to talk back and they get the hint rather quickly that there are more rubes nearby.
Pisa is bad too, it is just the tower and crazy tourist prices.
Pisa has a few other places, but you can see the city in a day and not miss anything.
We were in the mood for a chill day, so it was nice to just chill in a park and walk through some random old neighborhoods until we stumbled across a restaurant. There's nothing chill about Milan, though, at least not where a clueless tourist would find it.
I liked the middle finger statue
Funny you should say that; I went to Florence some years back and we took a day trip to Pisa and had to deal with the worst, most aggressive scammers I've ever experienced.
We may have just gotten lucky. I also had a great time in Venice once by wandering off randomly and ending up somewhere I can only assume tourists don't normally go. We bought some fruit off a boat which was both delicious and very affordable, so I assume the target demographic was not tourists. I'm pretty sure that's not the universal experience of Venice either.
I really enjoyed visiting Cimiteiro Monumentale in Milan. A historic cemetery with lots of lavishishly designed huge tombs. Very few tourists there and no scammers whatsoever.
Canary Islands. Great place, but the mass tourism is actually killing them, provoking skyrocketing rent and shortages of power and water.
Indeed. My girlfriend lives there, last time I was over we went to the big demonstration against mass tourism. I felt a bit sick at the airport listening to all the north European pensioners talking about how they rent a place year round for 800€/month just to spend the odd week now and then there. While many locals working in tourism make minimum wage, around 1300€/month I believe.
Hey that's exactly what my rent / wage split was in the UK last year. The only reason anything got better is that minimum wage went up while my rent hasn't yet.
Switzerland. If you've got buckets of money it's fine but donair can easily run you 18 francs and a real meal will cost you 100+. I've visited twice and both times the extreme costs involved have hamstrung my ability to actually enjoy things. The trains and geography are amazing - but the streets full of jewelers and high fashion specifically targeting millionaires or up are an awful example of late stage capitalism.
Sorry but you're exaggerating, a full meal including drinks in a mid-level establishment will be at max. 50 chf and that's being generous. And with cheaper places you can even stay below 20 chf.
Yes, Switzerland is expensive but there's no need to lie about it. Also the stuff about millionaires and all maybe fits a couple streets in Switzerland that are very touristy but there are plenty of places not at all like this.
A full meal including drinks will usually run 50 chf per person if you're a couple most meals will run 100+ - it is possible to eat on a budget (we've usually relied on sausage stands and donair). And yea, I'm mostly talking about what you'll find in Lucerne, Zurich, or Geneva where you're likely to visit.
I’ve visited multiple times with a camper, and if you use apps like park for night to find free or cheap places to stay!then buy your own ingredients to cook, it’s actually really acceptable. And the nature is gorgeous!
Same for me, with a bicycle and tent. Camp sites are also ok priced, at least for cyclists. Very much enjoy cycling in switzerland, i also think people are friendly. I used to have different experiences but those were just single persons / crazy people or something.
donair can easily run you 18 francs and a real meal will cost you 100+.
What the fuck...??? 😲
Well it's simply not true, doeners are 10-15, and meals in sitdown restaurants are 12-25. I live in Zurich, restaurants are slightly cheaper than in the US ( plus there is no tip or extra tax, what you see on the menu is what you pay) - but there are less budget options available.
I paid 20€ for a Pizza Margherita in Oslo once. In some very rich places you can feel like a tourist from a developing country even if you are from a less-rich high-income country yourself.
Andorra. Full of motor bozos, duty free shops, terrible cities in the valleys. A tax haven joke country. Nice mountains i guess.
What's a motor bozo?
The tax criminals / profiteurs of tax criminality driving their loud fancy sports cars through the andorran valleys and up to the golf courts.
It is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy and stop calling me Bozo.
Hey! I will not tolerate this kind of racism against influencers! /s
Oh influencers. Haven't thought of those, that fits i guess.
Passed through earlier this year specifically to visit Caldea mineral springs. Absolutely worth it if you’re nearby.
That's the same in San Marino. It's nice but come on, it's full of duty free shops and shops that sell arms that are illegal in Italy
As others said Switzerland. It's beautiful and all but really expensive. It really took away a big part of fun when I went there. But not only that, I thought the swiss people seemed sometimes kinda "rude"or maybe a better word for it "cold" and a little annoyed if it came to tourists. I get it, it's a small county and a lot of people are visiting each year, but it still wasn't fun for me to be there and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone to go there.
And North France near the German border like Strasbourg. The city and the region is beautiful as well, but the people are often like the cliché everybody knows and that sucks if you're a tourist. But the south of France like Marseille and the Provence is always worth a visit. The people are chill, enjoying life in the typical mediterranean way and are often friendlier (and often speak English at least in the bigger cities/tourist areas).
I thought the swiss people seemed sometimes kinda "rude"or maybe a better word for it “cold” and a little annoyed
I have some Swiss-American relatives, and I think this is cultural. They just have a different set of indicators, they're not going to be grinning and hugging.
As an Anglophone who lives in France, I agree. Although where I live (east / south-east) English is not very widely spoken, even in bigger cities, but the people are generally very friendly.
...but it all goes wrong again at the south coast. Even the locals leave for the summer.
cold
This is my experience with Europeans in general tbh
So knowing that European consider Swiss people cold, imagine how cold they are.
They are stone cold to foreigners - so many English speaking wealthy people live there and they are not welcomed into the local communities. It can take a decade to make local Swiss friends.
Then you should visit south europe. Europe is divided by the alps in a lot of things, like potato or tomato as main ingredient in meals. But also in culture itself. Everything north of the alps is kinda cold and seems unhappy/angry and stressed all the time and south of it people seem chill, happy and friendly.
As a counter example, I managed to make friends with a Swiss person while elsewhere in Europe, and then later in my travels got to visit them in Switzerland for a few days. My time there was truly one of the most breathtaking and memorable experiences of my trip.
Maybe it's expensive, maybe Europeans are "cold" personality wise, but God damn they have got some incredible scenery.
Not a place in particular, but if you're driving, avoid any border crossings during peak holiday seasons. Specifically when you're crossing from the EU into non-EU countries or crossing from Schengen into non-Schengen area. During peak times you might be waiting at the border for hours.
Don't drive! You're in Europe... trains go fucking everywhere!
Things get less well connected in the more eastern nations, especially heading down to Greece.
For driving tunnels in the Alps are the worst. The Gotthard tunnel or the Karawanken tunnel on the first days of the vacation period were the worst traffic I have ever seen.
I wouldn’t say at all cost, but Montenegro isn’t fun. Russians have built massive hotel resorts on the beaches there, the locals are unhappy that they’re there so they don’t like tourists. They’ll try to fight you on the beach because you’re not local. Get hassled by the cops because you’re not local, but you’ll be able to buy your way out of your problem if you’re lucky. People don’t want to talk to you, everyone is pretty cold and borderline rude. Go to a bar for a drink and you get a glass nominally washed/rinsed in tubs of soapy water behind the bar that the previous 100 glasses went through and hasn’t been changed out. The landscape is beautiful in a hostile sort of way, but there’s just not much reason to visit. It’s not even particularly inexpensive. The hotels will try to charge you for everything, including a scuff on the wall that you didn’t do, a chip on a planter on the balcony, etc. ridiculous money grabs.
idk about the process in montenegro, but it's pretty normal in america for bars to use a three compartment sink with a christmas tree scrub brush stuck to the bottom of the first sink, which is filled about half full with soapy water, a rinse water mixture in the next one and a sanitizer water mixture in the last one.
it's a fast and safe way to do dishes by hand, especially glassware if you always inspect for chips afterward (which you should be doing anyway!).
I understand there’s a right way to do it, but allow me to assure that the two murky trays behind this bar were not acceptable by any means. I didn’t want to get too graphic, but glasses went from the customer hand, a quick slosh and a rub in liquids that would make any civilized health department shriek, wiped “dry” with a filthy rag that had just wiped the bar top, filled with the next drink and handed to the next customer.
This is the kind of stuff where you see it in a movie like so: the scoundrel hero walks into a dive bar in the spaceport, orders a drink, the camera makes sure you see the pustulent, greasy alien clean the vessel using the above process. The alien pours a questionable liquid into it, and slides it to the observing hero who has been keeping a stone-faced expression but for a hint of discomposure as he receives the drink. After the briefest pause in frame to let you know he questions what he is about to do, he downs the beverage. You can’t help but cringe along with the hero and think licking the alien might have been safer.
(Am not comparing or suggesting Montenegrins are in any way shape or form like the hypothetical alien)
Common tourist places during tourist season are usually the worst. I took a 10 day trip to Paris one summer and it was a mix of the most popular tourist places (Louvre, Eiffel tower, etc) and some underground shit my sister found.
Every tourist place was jam packed with annoying tourists, costly and had tons of scammers surrounding it. Every less known place was really awesome, aside from one sketchy neighborhood we had to walk through where we were followed for a while.
I'd also say that Northern Europe has generally been much more pleasant to travel through, for me.
Here's what I would avoid when traveling to Poland:
- Zakopane, it's overpriced and very crowded. If you want to visit the area the town is in your better off staying in smaller villages, unless you have to use public transit.
- Szczecin --not an 'avoid at all cost' but more of a 'there are better cities to visit'-- this-or-that part of the city is always being remodeled/reconstructed and there's no 'old city' with day and night life focused between two shoping centers and some roundabouts in the city center. If you want to go sight-seeing Kraków, Wrocław or Gdańsk are much better choices.
- Mazury lake district, beautiful lakes and decent nightlife, shit infrastructure - roads are narrow (two bigger cars can't pass eachother without going offroad) and often lacking sings and other markings
- Podlaskie Voivodship, even worse infrastructure than Mazury, it's rural, mainly towns and villages with nothing a tourist might want to see. You might think it's a good place to go star-gazing but Bieszczady are a lot better for that (Tho you should probably go to a Dark Sky Site for that, there's one close to Bieszczady, in Slovakia)
- THE SEASIDE, it's crowded, expensive, the sea is cold and it's fumcking wimdy, go to like Italy, Croatia, Portugal or Spain instead
Also in general avoid capital cities, they are often the worst of major cites in a given country.
My wife an I were on a Roadtrip from Germany to Poland for a holiday and did go to a lot of beautiful places. But Zakopane is stuck in my mind as the most touristy place I did ever go to. The High Tatra mountains are still beautiful but we had to wait in line to even enter the hiking trails. And on the trails it was just hundreds of people trying to make photos without other people in the background.
I forgot two places - both as bad as Zakopane - One is the Hel(l) Peninsula, it's as overcrowded as Zakopane; but it has a single road (one lane each way) that gets jammed very fast, you can be stuck there like 5 hours, even though it's only 30 Km long. The second one is Krynica Morska, a town located on the Vistula Spit(separating Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea) and it has the same problem as Hel - it's a popular destination with only one road in and out.
Paris, it's the WORST city in all of France.
Yes, please don't come to Paris. It's crowded enough as it is. Also we're all very rude.
My experiences in Rocket League can confirm. People being toxic in chat? Tell them something in chat back -- get the "tg" to confirm French. Every goddamn time, always the French that are so rude.
Why? Why are they having such a bad day every day? Play a game to have fun ffs.
Not to hijack a thread, but what does lemmy consider the BEST place in France? I'd like suggestions.
Please don't hate me: Paris, really.
Bretagne
the south, I'm told.
Toulouse is a pretty laid back larger city that is beautiful without being overly touristy
If you want to stay in Germany and hop across the border, Strasbourg and Colmar are both nice towns. Has German influence but you get the benefits of being near the black forest for a 2 for 1 trip.
Most places in the south
La Rochelle, Nantes are both nice from my experience.
I really liked Paris 🥲 I did go during the end of October though, so that might've have been a factor. People still didn't want to talk to me in French, but they weren't rude about it.
My favourite place to visit in France was La Rochelle, I feel like I got most of the benefits of visiting Coastal France but without the Marseille/Toulon/Monaco crowds (yes I know, Monaco is not France).
I've been to Paris 3 times, I'm from BC in Canada. April, May and October I went. Had an amazing time every time, people, food, places. It's one of my favorite cities.
I also liked Paris and I've been there twice in summer. People weren't actively going out of their way to be unfriendly to us, so this was great compared to the rest of france.
Everyone we asked for help did their best to help us, though we have 0 french knowledge. I had very different experiences elsewhere in France (we quickly learned to only speak to arab people outside Paris, if we needed help, worked fine).
We skipped most touristy places and just had a few relaxing days there both times. So that might also be, why we had a pleasant time in Paris.
"Nobody goes there, it's too crowded"
Correct, it's the worst most popular place
Done. I’ve been on vacation in France many times, visited many regions and provinces. Never been to Paris.
The capital cities. If you want authentic Europe, find the weird local festivals where people chase cheese down a hill or celebrate local culture or something. That's real Europe. Fuck the big cities and their galleries and museums.
https://www.egremontcrabfair.com/
https://airguitarworldchampionships.com/en/home/
https://www.latomatinatours.com/
https://www.theshed.co.uk/independent
https://cipc.pipeclubs.com/events/british-pipe-smoking-championship-2/
https://www.visitvoss.no/en/smalahovetunet
https://www.sbf.se/sportgrenar/folkrace
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinkensport
https://eukonkanto.fi/en/front-page/
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/man-shatters-toes-winning-world-8977482
These are a few things off the top of my head mostly northern and western Europe because it's what I'm familiar with. Also if you want to see something bizarre, go to Finland on free bucket day. But seriously Europe is full of unusual things to do. Or you could go to yet another gallery and pretend to be interested in paintings.
Not sure what answers you looking for, if you want to have a carefree vacation just read some reviews of specific countries and regions.
If you are backpacking or planning a multi-country trip I would check the crime rates of the places, there are many websites with the statistics available, like THIS
As a general rule of thumb popular places and big cities will have the highest crime rates, while smaller cities and countryside the lowest.
Also I would avoid solo trips and backpacking in general in the rural parts of less-developed countries, like Romania, etc.
Pretty much thats it. Europe as a whole is probably one of the safest travel destinations in the earth with some planning and common sense.
Ignorant North American here but I'm now legit wondering what happens to people backpacking-possibly-solo through places like Romania. 😬
Natural hazards like "If you twist an ankle you'll get no comms service and be eaten by a bear." aside, of course.
Buddy system is never a bad idea. :)
I'd say Romania is actually relatively safe crime-wise for tourists. Comms services are better than in my homecountry (always had 4G on my last trip to Romania even in rural places in the mountains, while I sometimes do not have any signal in German high-speed trains between two large cities). Dangerous widlife is actually an issue. Lot's of bears, wolfes, snakes, etc. Also bad tourist infrastructure in really rural places.
Nothing happens to them because all the bad parts of Romania aren't in places where backpackers would go. Only "bad" part of visiting Romania is that tourism isn't as developed as in other countries. So not as many signs/information/buses to and from places. That also makes lots of places harder to find and reach but also a lot more pristine. Romania's countryside is one of the best, hands down.
No problem, its not some golden rule you should follow (especially from an internet stranger) but it's mainly bad roads, bad economy (poor police/ambulance availability), the little Roma villages/gipsy makeshift living areas, where I would not show up alone with any valuables (similar to gipsy ghettos near big cities) and last but not least wildlife. While bears and other predators are not uncommon, rabid dogs are also a possibility.
Before somebody accuses me hating Romania (its a beautiful country with incredible landscapes and the capital and developed parts are very popular tourist destinations), the above is also applicable for many other europen countries. This is why I strongly suggest doing some research before planning such trips, as the relative safety and enjoyment of a holiday can vary from region to region within a small country. This is why its borderline impossible to give a straight answer to the original post.
Nothing. Romania is generally fine. I hitchhiked an couch surfed solo. Had only good experiences.
Don't come to Greece, over tourism is a huge problem here...
I feel you lol. I wish less people came to Portugal, especially Lisbon and Porto. It's a bit ridiculous sometimes. The culture people come looking for is slowly dying or becoming a fake version of itself because legit stuff is being pushed out of historical centers, in favor or tourist attracting alternatives. The issue of overpricing (because all the English, German, French, etc, visiting Portugal earn way better than us here in average) is ludicrous, it's becoming harder to enjoy the places we used to go 15 or 20 years ago.
sighIt really is sad. For more than 25 years I've been visiting Portugal (so yes, I'm part of the problem...) and every year it gets a bit worse: endless new hotels destroying the beautiful views of the cliffs, villages mostly catering the needs of tourists, ...
I just wish I hadn't told everyone how amazing it is in Portugal 🥲
ΝΑΙ ΓΑΜΩ. Even though my family works in the tourism industry (because my island literally only has that. Any sort of local economy was eradicated and everything is incredibly overpriced and imported), I have felt the negative effects deep in my soul, so much so I wish it would just dissolve even if that means they need to find another way to make a living. I'll be damned if I ever willingly work for traditional tourism (ecotourism I will consider)
Was about to say the same for Spain. Fuck you, tourists. Stay at home.
I got dragged to Málaga against my will (family stuff) and it was horrible. More pubs than tapas places to cater to the British crowds...
But Im planning a Honeymoon and want to enijoy your history. Can I go if I dont use airbnb?
I don't think there is any way right now to come without negatively affecting the locals. Essentially, the tourists to locals ratio is out of hand. A few of the problems we are facing:
- Everything is overcrowded. Our public infrastructure is barely equipped to handle the population of 10M, on top of that add the 36M visitors we saw in 2023. It may be fun and exciting if you are here for a couple of days, but living through that all year long is exhausting.
- Everything is overpriced. Most people coming to Greece have expendable income we don't have, along with overcrowding, this sets prices we cannot afford. Airbnb has definitely exaggerated the housing crisis, but it's not the only issue. When you are eating, drinking, visiting historical sights, or doing any activity, you are contributing to that.
- Our economy is over-reliant on tourism. As someone else commented, no other type of industry can compete with tourism, every year more places lose their identity as they adapt to the ever-growing needs of the tourism industry.
- Our history is being erased. Visiting a historical sight may a wonderful experience for you, but every step you make, every photo you take, every trash you throw, impacts the place you are visiting, destroying little by little thousands of years of history.
As a personal note, my income is a few times the national average, and yet I cannot afford to go on vacations this year...
As a (not) fun challenge you can try to limit your budget to around 30 eur per day per person. You will fail, probably won't even find living accommodations within that budget, but it will give you an insight on our struggles.
Belgorod.
Feel free to cross post to [email protected] , a laid back discussion community for Europeans
is there a good or suggested community for people looking to move to europe who are looking for advice? or is that place welcome for such discussion? dont want to intrude.
This is definitely a discussion that can take place over there!
I have read of tourists coming to Vienna and thinking there is anything worth seeing north of the Danube.
Unless you count the UN headquarters, there isn't. All of that is a completely unstructured and boring mix of industrial, commercial and residential zones mostly built after WW2 like you find anywhere in the world.
I visited Vienna in 2015 and that's one of the places where I'd gladly move if I could.
In Sweden/Stockholm:
Avoid Akalla/Hjulsta/Kista
They are all boring and sees a lot of gang crime.
Just avoid Stockholm. Too many stockholmare. Visit Gothenburg instead
Both Stockholm and Gothenburg are really nice cities - they're pretty safe too unless you seek out drug lords or park your bike without a decent lock. Just don't come here during the winter - you'll be depressed by the lack of daylight.
True, but Göteborg has its own areas to avoid. Hjällbo comes to mind...
The worst thing of Copenhagen is that you can see Sweden from there
I don't think many tourists would head out to the far away suburbs by subway. My recommendation is to avoid Drottninggatan and "City" with the exception of some architecture or particular places of interest because it is just really too much busy people and pickpockets and hot asphalt and concrete and glass and tourist traps and chain stores.
France is becoming a far right country on two weeks. Do yourself a favor and stay as far as you can.
So, should I stay on the left side of France?
Hold up, let's see what happens with the front populaire
Honestly, I'll vote for them. But they disgust me with all their power struggle about who's going to be prime minister. In doing so, they're tearing apart the whole thing. They swore that they wouldn't betray us. They're betraying us everyday by showing everybody it's just a struggle between egos. They're paving the way for the far right too with this ridiculous display of inflated heads.
I'll vote for them, then I'll puke. The only frontliner I'm feeling like supporting in the future is, maybe, Manon Aubry.
And Italy, and Switzerland, and Hungary, and Finland....
The green dots are all fascinating places that I've visited or want to visit in France
Note that none of them are in P🤮ris
Just make sure to avoid Brussels. Belgian myself and I hate the place.
Kinda enjoyed my 2 day trip....
I visited Brussels this a month ago, I loved it.
Just got back from a 3 day trip to Brussels, we loved it. Plus, Smurfs (Les Schtroumpfs) everywhere. We did take a day trip to Bruges though, that was even better than Brussels IMHO. Especially since I could walk around saying to my wife "If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.".
I wanna move to Belgium. Not once have I considered Brussels as my new demeure. It's got some cool stuff, but it has little to no revisit value.
Quite a lot of the cities in the Flemish region look absolutely beautiful (Bruges especially), yet everyone I know of just sees Brussels and thinks of it as all of Belgium, then comes to the conclusion that the entire country is basically rubbish.
But I personally think that Charleroi is way worse.
I went to Charleroi once and it was awful. Brussels is fine.
Charleroi is super depressing indeed.
Not a European, but I'm going with dark alleys.
Well, yeah, in some places, but there's countries where that's a far worse idea than in Europe.
If you used that rule in US cities, you would both stay alive, and miss out on some really cool bars.
CDG airport. I hate that place so much.
Heathrow, Schiphol and Frankfurt are all so much easier to navigate.On a serious note though: I’ve never bern anywhere in Europe that I straight up disliked. Sanremo was probably the «least friendly» with locals all pushing us towards the casino at every oportunity. The city was also surprisingly worn down.
The local market was awesome though.
Sanremo is a joke town, the only thing keeping it alive is the yearly Italian music festival (the one that inspired the Eurovision Song Contest). Also, don't go there in February because that's when the festival is taking place.
Dublin is a kip, you have far better options throughout Ireland, if you want a city go to Cork or Belfast. Galway is a bit boring to me but could be your scene. After that there are loads of little spots with loads going for them. The entire west coast is great.
Dont rent a big car, I mean big by irish sandards.
Dont rent a big car, I mean big by irish sandards.
My first time in Ireland, I rented a campervan. Found roads that were exactly 2.00m wide, with either stone walls or tree walls on both sides right on the edge (what are sidewalks). The van was 2.01m wide. At least we very rarely came across other cars or bikes.
Almost every reason given sounds like a description of my home of Florida.
Zakopane, Poland. Greedy bastards.
Don't go to Amsterdam.
Well, it's more like we don't want them to come here.
this is an extremely tourist friendly city. but it's also filled with drunk pieces of shit at night. they will try to fight you for a cigarette.
Why? Amsterdam is always a great time.
wat is dit nou weer voor onzin?
it's one of the more friendly capitols in europe
Ten opzichte van welke andere hoofdsteden?
I can assure you that my van and my basement are totally save! So come right in stranger.
Berlin
Olten
Shhh Olten doesn't really exist. It's just a railway junction.
I was disappointed with Paris in my last visit. It's filthy, dirty and disgusting.
Aah, Paris 🥰
Compared to NYC, Paris is downright spotless.
NYC was also disgusting.
Outside of the obvious war, Kaliningrad in certain conditions. If you have local friends there you trust, or you are fluent in Russian, you'll have a great time. Its got a lot of nice history, some nice views, and its cheap. But if you're an obvious tourist, they do not treat you kindly. I wore a tank top and shorts in the city on my way from Svetlagorst beach and got side eyes for my tattoos and attire. If you're used to stereotypically polite service, it's not as prevalent there in Russia. And if you try to be nice, you're seen as a weirdo.
Lithuania is also hit or miss. Vilnius and Klaipeda are nice, but are NOT tourist friendly. I used to live there, but when I went back as a kid, my mom and I spoke English and Russian. They tried to overcharge our meal significantly but my mom knowing Lithuanian caught it. The people at the corner store also questioned why I only speak Russian, and hesitantly spoke with me. Plus people on the street would call out appearances if you look different. Really good fuckin pizza though
Can't exactly blame the Lithuanians for distrusting Russians, tbh. They have been not exactly kind to the country in the recent past, with their russification and whatnot.
Yes, but you can give grace to a 12 year old child who speaks Russian with an American accent minding his own business buying an inch cream cone. Prejudices exist, but so does a brain cell. Still, I have to give grace, this was ~2009
It's been rough for both due to the tensions. I was supposed to be Lithuanian but ended up born in Russia. My brother is Lithuanian. He would fail classes just because he was Lithuanian in a Russian school (90s). My mom had to pretend to be best friends with the teacher so he could pass. He used to also get into a lot of fights to and from school.
We immigrated to the United States when I was 5, so luckily I didn't get that treatment in Lithuania. Fortunately, I have good memories from my Lithuanian pre-school
Kursk
Usa
What part of europe is that?
Depends. Are you white? Would you be recognizable as a "foreigner"? In the latter case avoid all of Germanys provinces, especially in the former East. Do not travel alone and be wary of the cops. They are usually the same groups as the local Neonazis.
Those who work forces are the same that burn crosses.
love me some rage
I'm white af, but, as an American, I didn't get treated as rudely anywhere else in Germany than Berlin. Still had a great time overall in the city, but, not really in a rush to go back.
My friend and I were standing at a bar mulling over the menu, just kind of murming to one another over what drinks we wanted while we were waiting for the bartender to finish up with his other customers. It wasn't busy, but he was attending to other people. When he was finally done, he approached us and I said "Hi how are you?" with a smile. He didn't say a single word to us, just took the menus from in front of us and put them on the back shelf, and then turned away.
So we left. Our money clearly wasn't good enough there, and we spent it in another bar across the alleyway instead.
When he was finally done, he approached us and I said “Hi how are you?” with a smile.
There's probably the problem. Don't ask a german "how are you", they will interpret it as the start of a conversation, not a greeting. You might either get weird looks or a detailled personal and medical history of that person. In food service, you get to the point. A "Excuse me" or "Can we order please" is a way better way to initiate an order.
As a Dane I’d guess they didn’t realize Americans use it as a greating and so assumed you to be initiating a conversation unrelated to ordering, possibly with bad intentions.
It would be a little like starting the conversation with a “how is your mother”, it would signal way more familiarity than was had, come way out of left field and be generally unwanted when you are working if you don’t have time to stop for the conversation that would ensue.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you did anything wrong necessarily, it’s just a cultural difference that likely causes misunderstandings if none of the parties are aware of it. I’d liken it to a Eurpean going to a restaurant in the US, not tipping anything and how both parties may feel the other party to be rude after the fact if the server let their dissatisfaction show.
I could of course be wrong and they may just have been an ass, plenty of those in tourist heavy areas for sure. Just something to consider if it could have been the case.
In the east maybe, its definetly not bad at all in northern germany (Schleswig Holstein).
Rostock is okayish too, we're a tourist town with quite a few foreigners. Just don't go to the rural areas as a non-white person.
Do you mean "provinces" as in federal states or as in hillbilly regions?
"hillbilly regions". But that can include cities with up to 200k 300k inhabitants in the former eastern Germany.
Beware of blind Belgian nuns
Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg are kinda famous atm.
Aberdeen. It smells like piss.
You should avoid France.
That’s actually a good rule of thumb for every scenario in life.
France is beautiful, i'm always coming back.
I mean I'll probably never get over there, but I'd love to visit Carentan (because WWII...well COD2...I loved that map lol) and Suave (because a cartoonist I like lives there.)
Paris is a hard no-no. The rest is fine.
Disagree. Central Paris is something special. Like any European capital there's tons of stuff to see and do.
It falls off off a cliff once you've done the centre though.
I just went on a trip to France last month and while I wouldn't say Paris was the highlight, the Louvre and Musée D'Orsay were unforgettable experiences. The Versailles gardens were pretty great too but that's not really in Paris I don't think.
If you go to Britain, bring your own food.
Britain has some seriously great food - I don't know if you're just memeing but their Indian food is probably the best in the world and traditional fare like pies, sausages, cheeses and fried fish are all delicious.
If you're vegan you are going to have an unpleasant time, though.
Depends where you go, the vegetarian and vegan scene in Brighton is pretty damn impressive.
I have a friend who went to London and just ate at Whole Foods all the time. So, vegans can survive.
Everybody did. Now we have everything.
Feck off. Have a curry, ffs.
What a trope
No, no, let's let this play out.
Nah. Went over to Liverpool and London, there's good food. Just avoid low-end british cuisine, high end is fine, but expensive. Lebanese places in particular seemed to be all-around great, with good prices, tasty food, and friendly people.
Also tons of great indian restaurants and some intersting traditionally english foods to try.
Had a couch surfer stay with us a while in Kuwait. He'd been everywhere. He said that, of all places, Moldova had no redeeming qualities. Granted, things might have changed in 10 years. Does anyone care to weigh in?
France.
Foreigner in France here. Couldn't be more wrong Beautiful country, amazing food. People are... People. Good and bad, as with every other place. Plenty of places I didn't feel welcome. France wasn't one of it. Except Marseille. Yeah, avoid Marseille. (Altho it has its good parts)
Fully agree. I've been to France a few times and a properly used (if not pronounced) Bonjour and Merci and my rudimentary and poorly pronounced French went a long way there. Even in Paris. Be polite and try to learn even a little French and all but the grumpiest French will be very pleasant to and likely be amused by you. I LOVE France. Interesting that you suggest avoiding Marseille. I spend some time nearby (Aix au Provence) and I could easily see living there.
Skelmersdale.
Never thought I'd read that word on this website!
The news say Eastern Ukraine, though take that with a grain of salt as I haven't been there personally.
Bude. Don't go to Bude. There is nothing to see there.
France
avoid Malta at all costs.
Why?
aside from the weather (which is nicer in Sicily), it's an archipelago that pretends at all costs to have a relevant European history while offering no way of exploring that history whatsoever. The rampant touristisation of La Valletta has turned it into what's basically an all-ecompassing sprawl of luxury hotels and discos where prices are inflated. I did not have a nice time there and would not go back even if I had the chance.
Avoid coming, because i hate you
Sweden.
Avoid French cities: people constantly harass you for money and drugs and it looks shady and feels uncomfortable everywhere. Smaller towns can be nice.
And Italy: it's expensive, people are rude and arrogant and nearly every place I stayed at gave me a curfew so you can't even go out at night (but there's nothing to see there anyway).
Sorry, who gave you a curfew?
Several hostels I stayed at closed at 10 pm and wouldn't allow people to go in or out
I’m always impressed by people projecting “arrogance” onto others, especially people you don’t shared a language with. Rude? Sure. Dismissive? Why not. But arrogant? How do you know? Did he give you a five page newsletter that extols his superiority? Are you a mind reader?
This comment doesn‘t hold any value anyway. Just bashing the people living there and then saying the whole country is shit.
Better avoid the whole of Europe to be safe.
Usually when hotels close past a certain time you can use a secondary entrance with your keys/card or at most call. Most hotels have a desk open 24h so this doesn't even apply.
Also, I really don't think Italians are generally rude. People are friendly, but also loud and warm, which often can be misunderstood. Assholes exist, obviously.
Usually, yes. But not where I stayed. It was all locked down. Maybe I just had bad luck. It was in Triest and Milan by the way.
As one of said foreigners (an American) I'd say "all of them." International travel is for people not living below the poverty line.
Helpful. Im glad you had something meaningful to contribute to the discussion.
Europe
Sorry, jokes are not allowed on this instance. Please find a less serious one to make such frivolous comments, thank you
