I honestly enjoy hearing everyone's unique lists of must-sees and don't-sees in the states or abroad. My desk and inbox are comically cluttered with travel tips. Jason's Reddit-ing has also been incredibly helpful (thank you everyone at /r/travel!) We needed to write it all down in one place, so I thought I would share it here as well. Thank you to everyone who has so graciously shared with us! (Note: These are not endorsements, they may not be accurate, and they may not even be spelled right.) Packing
- Advice varies from 20 to 64L packs. We settled on 50L.
- www.duolingo.com to practice your foreign language skills. (I reached 1949XP in Italian!)
- Lay out everything you want to take and cut it in half.
- Bring an unlocked GSM phone. Oddly, one of my old ones will work for this.
- Small detergent packs, clothes line and a drain stopper to do laundry in the hotel.
- One book - ditch it when you're done and pick up a new one at a used book store.
- Travel-sized toilet paper roll and duct tape roll.
- Pull out only the relative pages or maps instead of bringing entire travel guides.
- NO JEANS - a rule we are both ignoring because who doesn't wear jeans on vacation?
- Tapas, tapas, tapas!
- Drink tinto de verano, not sangria.
- Fallas de Valencia - we're kicking off our trip with this festival.
- 100 Montaditos
- Churros (with hot chocolate)
- National armory in Madrid
- La Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Ciencias
- Turron (honey, sugar, egg whites toasted with almonds)
- Carcassone, a walled city.
- Lyon - I didn't hear rave reviews but it is the home of my favorite book, The Little Prince.
- Unique opportunity for boat travel: http://www.leboat.com/vacations/destinations/france/canal-du-midi
- Beer, beer, beer.
- Hofbrauhaus - Epic beer hall
- BMW factory
- Beer and sausages. Stick to local Bavarian Beers. Urban myth is they can't contain nasty chemicals, reducing the likelihood for hangovers.
- Starkbierzeit, strong beer festival
- Radler (beer and carbonated lemonade) for non-beer drinkers like me.
- Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle)
- Sachertorte - chocolate cake must-have in Vienna.
- Salzburg - setting for the Sound of Music.
- Chocolate
- Interlaken
- Matterhorn
- Beautiful but extremely expensive.
- Bern has bears.
- Ruin Pubs - abandoned buildings turned into pubs. Two of my favorite things combined!
- Great Market in the stain station
- Hungarian baths
- Budapest castle
- Funicular - vertical railway established in 1870
- Opera house
- New York Cafe
- All sources seem in agreement that Bled is the place to go.
- Ljubljana - City of Dragons. Yes, DRAGONS.
- Metelkova - reformed site of former military barracks.
- Hotel Celica - established in a former military prison in Metelkova in Ljubljana.
- Boat to Italy.
Italy
- It seems like everyone who visits leaves with a lifelong love affair with the country.
- Caffe and pasta
- Gelato. Sounds like if you get nothing else but gelato, the trip is well worth it.
- Climb the Duomo in Florence.
- Uffizi gallery
- Walking tour
This is a random collection of the many things we've heard lately and we appreciate every bit of it. With just a few days to go, our itinerary is still undefined so please feel free to keep sharing your tips and recommendations!
