City Breaks

[aRdja]

1 hour ago, Bob Spunkmouse said:

My missus stumbled across something about this place but reading some posts online the council seem to have cut down the fun here by cutting back all the trees so it’s essier to spot trespassers and putting big fences round the best stuff.

 

when did you go?

 

seeing this is right up my ally.

 

 

To Spreepark, I went in the summer of 2013. We had to wait until the security guy walked past and we crawled under the fence. Walked around, took a few shots, and then bailed, cos my friend (now wife) got spooked.

[aRdja]

9 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Jesus, I've just googled that. What are you recommending next? Chernobyl? 

I will probably visit at some point. Photos look real cool.

 

https://thriftynomads.com/how-to-visit-chernobyl/

 

 

 

[Bob]

1 hour ago, aRdja said:

 

To Spreepark, I went in the summer of 2013. We had to wait until the security guy walked past and we crawled under the fence. Walked around, took a few shots, and then bailed, cos my friend (now wife) got spooked.

Ok, cheers. Post i read said something like “it’s not like it was in 2013 anymore” so that’s probably true then.

 

shame.

[aRdja]

40 minutes ago, Bob Spunkmouse said:

Ok, cheers. Post i read said something like “it’s not like it was in 2013 anymore” so that’s probably true then.

 

shame.

Seen a few photos taken recently up on Instagram mate.

 

 

[Bjornebye]

5 hours ago, Bob Spunkmouse said:

I’m off to Berlin in the 7th Jan with my missus for 3 nights and have fancied it for a while but as it gets closer and we’ve dne more reading and planning I’m now dead excited.

 

im more keen to see the socialist DDR side of things than anything and she’s found a free Cold War/soviet walking tour which looks boss.

 

staying near checkpoint Charlie in a district called Kreuzberg which seems to be where the bars are, too.

 

we picked it as a last minute swap out for Seville which we’d plsnned to go to, but the prices had shit up. 

What a shitter

[Oh Buoy]

6 hours ago, Bob Spunkmouse said:

I’m off to Berlin in the 7th Jan with my missus for 3 nights and have fancied it for a while but as it gets closer and we’ve dne more reading and planning I’m now dead excited.

 

im more keen to see the socialist DDR side of things than anything and she’s found a free Cold War/soviet walking tour which looks boss.

 

staying near checkpoint Charlie in a district called Kreuzberg which seems to be where the bars are, too.

 

we picked it as a last minute swap out for Seville which we’d plsnned to go to, but the prices had shit up. 

Berlin is one of my favourite places and in Jan it means all the wasps will have died which is nice. 

 

Check out this place in Tiergarten - https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187323-d695546-Reviews-Cafe_am_Neuen_See_Biergarten-Berlin.html

 

It's quite hidden away (we used GPS) but if you go doing the evening/late afternoon, it's boss. You can even get a little boat and have a row in the lake. 

[stringvest]

On 12/27/2018 at 9:56 PM, Dr Nowt said:

Chuck it over mate, it’s looking like the hot favourite. 

 

Was already top of my list.

Here's the website

 

https://www.tornabuoni1.com/en/the-terraces/

 

just a really fabulous experience.  The breakfasts are fantastic, the staff excellent, it's not ostentatious, there are fewer than 20 rooms, all the rooms are different, the hotel is built across two towers, 

View from the breakfast terrace...

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

When you cool cats go away, do you hotel it or Airbnb? 

 

I've done hotels/aparthotels until recently. Never done an Airbnb (I'd probably go for whole place, rather than a room in an occupied house) but been looking into Nice and it's either hotels that are too expensive or quite shoddy looking ones. There doesn't seem a middle ground. 

 

I've seen some nice Airbnb places in goid locations at much better prices. Tempted. Experiences? I'm only looking at "superhosts" for my first go though. 

[Tony Moanero]

Airbnb are cunts.

[Oh Buoy]

33 minutes ago, Nelly-Torres said:

When you cool cats go away, do you hotel it or Airbnb? 

 

I've done hotels/aparthotels until recently. Never done an Airbnb (I'd probably go for whole place, rather than a room in an occupied house) but been looking into Nice and it's either hotels that are too expensive or quite shoddy looking ones. There doesn't seem a middle ground. 

 

I've seen some nice Airbnb places in goid locations at much better prices. Tempted. Experiences? I'm only looking at "superhosts" for my first go though. 

I've always priced up both options and googled whether there's any restrictions on AirBNB. The majority of the time though, if you factor in the cleaning/extras on, AirBNB is usually just as expensive as the hotels. I've always DIY'd the hotels and buy the flights ~3-4 months in advance and the hotel I opt for "free cancellation" and check them on a daily basis. 

 

I think the best deal we've got is NYC for 1 week for ~£1k incl. flights and hotel in Midtown. Booking.com mispriced a hotel and then when they realised tried to offer us another hotel in the financial district which we refused. Ended up having to pay the full price of the hotel (~£1,200 instead of the £400 we initially paid) and then get refunded by Booking.com to get our original price. Told them that I expected a bottle of wine to be brought up to my room which was both hilarious and brilliant as they'd clearly forgot and had to call the hotel to request it. 

 

Anyway, point of the story is constantly monitoring hotel prices on a daily basis has done us wonders over the years. I think we also did Krakow, Warsaw and Budapest for £600 (hotel/flights) over two weeks too which was ace. 

[Red_or_Dead]

If it's just me and the Mrs then we usually just go with a hotel, with daughter in tow usually go for AirBnB.  As Season said above there isn't much in price, but what we found with AirBnBs they're a godsend in hot countries if they've got a balcony/terrace/outside space as in hotels things like that will knock the price up.

 

 

[Rico1304]

Here’s a nice place in Rome. Right in the centre but off the beaten track.  Think I mentioned at the time the right wing opposition are based in a hotel down the road so if you could collect my membership card whilst you’re there I’d appreciate it. 

 

https://www.hotelnerva.com/

[mattyq]

Porto and Lisbon both ace as is Riga

Off to Istanbul on the 10th for 5 days... looks great and the Lira seems to be the only currency in the world that has actually depreciated against Sterling

[Chip Butty]

On 12/28/2018 at 10:24 PM, Bjornebye said:

Mate nothing wrong with saying about Tuscany. It is fucking gorgeous. My mate lives in Florence and we had a drive to some village in the hills. Had dinner backing onto a huge vineyard. I'd love to live there. 

 

Siena is fab mate, only went there for 2 hours driving through but its lovely. Looks like Lucca but bigger. 

I'm guessing you haunt your mate with offers of "I'll come over and we can catch up"....... I know I would!

[Jairzinho]

10 hours ago, Tony Moanero said:

Airbnb are cunts.

Tony knows. 

[aRdja]

17 hours ago, Nelly-Torres said:

When you cool cats go away, do you hotel it or Airbnb? 

 

I've done hotels/aparthotels until recently. Never done an Airbnb (I'd probably go for whole place, rather than a room in an occupied house) but been looking into Nice and it's either hotels that are too expensive or quite shoddy looking ones. There doesn't seem a middle ground. 

 

I've seen some nice Airbnb places in goid locations at much better prices. Tempted. Experiences? I'm only looking at "superhosts" for my first go though. 

Book on Expedia through Quidco, and you get 9% cashback.

[VladimirIlyich]

8 hours ago, mattyq said:

Porto and Lisbon both ace as is Riga

Off to Istanbul on the 10th for 5 days... looks great and the Lira seems to be the only currency in the world that has actually depreciated against Sterling

Am I wrong,or even pedantic but isn't it Oporto to the locals and cool kids?

[Karl_b]

Going to Belfast next weekend for 2 nights, to watch ice hockey and see the sights. I've only ever been overnight for work before so looking forward to it.

 

[VladimirIlyich]

58 minutes ago, Karl_b said:

Going to Belfast next weekend for 2 nights, to watch ice hockey and see the sights. I've only ever been overnight for work before so looking forward to it.

 

Ice Hockey? The Portadown Penguins?

[mattyq]

5 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Am I wrong,or even pedantic but isn't it Oporto to the locals and cool kids?

To the locals or any other Portuguese it's Porto

Apparently us Brits called it Oporto as we heard the locals say it all the time so we assumed that's what it's called

Turns out they were saying o porto which means to Porto

[VladimirIlyich]

2 hours ago, mattyq said:

To the locals or any other Portuguese it's Porto

Apparently us Brits called it Oporto as we heard the locals say it all the time so we assumed that's what it's called

Turns out they were saying o porto which means to Porto

Well researched.

[Nunavut Patrick]

8 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Ice Hockey? The Portadown Penguins?

Belfast Giants!

[Carradona]

On 12/30/2018 at 9:08 AM, Karl_b said:

Going to Belfast next weekend for 2 nights, to watch ice hockey and see the sights. I've only ever been overnight for work before so looking forward to it.

 

If you're out and about for drinks, head to the Cathedral Quarter and do a bit of a pub crawl which should include The Harp Bar, The Duke of York, The Spaniard and The Thirsty Goat (usually has good traditional live Irish music on). It's a 5 minute taxi from where the Giants play, or a 15/20 minute walk. 

 

A few other random pubs you could visit which are all in city centre are Kelly's Cellar, The Crown Bar (most popular tourist bar right opposite the main bus/train station. Also happens to be opposite the Europa Hotel which is the most bombed hotel in the world) and The Points (usually great local music).

 

If you haven't got breakfast included at your hotel, try get to Harlem Cafe which is near the City Hall. Nice building and was a great breakfast when I last went about 18 months ago.

[aRdja]

3 hours ago, Carradona said:

If you're out and about for drinks, head to the Cathedral Quarter and do a bit of a pub crawl which should include The Harp Bar, The Duke of York, The Spaniard and The Thirsty Goat (usually has good traditional live Irish music on). It's a 5 minute taxi from where the Giants play, or a 15/20 minute walk. 

 

A few other random pubs you could visit which are all in city centre are Kelly's Cellar, The Crown Bar (most popular tourist bar right opposite the main bus/train station. Also happens to be opposite the Europa Hotel which is the most bombed hotel in the world) and The Points (usually great local music).

 

If you haven't got breakfast included at your hotel, try get to Harlem Cafe which is near the City Hall. Nice building and was a great breakfast when I last went about 18 months ago.

Take a pic and upload to the breakfast thread please @Karl_b

[Karl_b]

4 hours ago, Carradona said:

If you're out and about for drinks, head to the Cathedral Quarter and do a bit of a pub crawl which should include The Harp Bar, The Duke of York, The Spaniard and The Thirsty Goat (usually has good traditional live Irish music on). It's a 5 minute taxi from where the Giants play, or a 15/20 minute walk. 

 

A few other random pubs you could visit which are all in city centre are Kelly's Cellar, The Crown Bar (most popular tourist bar right opposite the main bus/train station. Also happens to be opposite the Europa Hotel which is the most bombed hotel in the world) and The Points (usually great local music).

 

If you haven't got breakfast included at your hotel, try get to Harlem Cafe which is near the City Hall. Nice building and was a great breakfast when I last went about 18 months ago.

Nice one Cain, cheers. I've been in The Crown but will try some of the others and will try and get to the Harlem Cafe.

 

Don't know whereabouts you are in relation to Belfast but if you fancy a beer on Saturday or Sunday then drop me a pm.