Czech Republic

Went to moravia last summer and must say its an absolutely stunning place,the trains are a bit rank but the people and places we seen during our 5 days there were fantastic,really enjoyed prague also.

We had the most wonderful thunderstorms you ever seen whilst we stayed in moravia,the show went on for hours,absolutely spectacular!

plus Czech Beer is one of the best in the world.....

Czech Girls - absolutely stunning - only slovakian girls looking better them in europe. Czech girls r more open, easy going and better in bed.. u simply cant compare british girls to them :-)

Lucky u mate...

Sport coverage much better than here in uk.. they showing more premier league matches than sky sport... true they dont show cricket..no one care about that game in europe anyway... :-)

I went to Prague this summer and although the city was pleasing on the eye I'd say the natives were the most unpleasant I've ever met, basically criminals trying to con you out of money at every opportunity, even in their equivalent of WHSmith at the train station.

really ics?

Didnt have any probs at all when i was there,are you a geeky looking chap,easily bullied?

Its extremely short odds that hes more refined than you patrick from your pathetic poster bashing you so love.

Far from it Patrick, I was also watching them try it on other people too. At one point some local tried to charge some tourists for parking in a regular street, I got involved and told them he was talking sh1t, eventually he wandered off. It was like that all the time. When I got into Vienna my next stop I had a look online and it turns out Prague is notorious for cons and rip offs, probably should have checked beforehand, but was expecting it to be sanitised because of the stag circuit. Vienna was a far better city anyway in every respect!

Will have to try vienna then ics,sounds interesting

I visited about a dozen big cities on my way round Europe, Berlin was comfortably the best, but Vienna definitely was up there. It was a shame about Prague as it's put me off Eastern Europe altogether- had hoped to visit places like Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb, but not so keen now. Prague was a very beautiful city, but they won't be getting repeat business from me. All part of the travelling experience I guess.

Am thinking along similar lines to yourself as regards eastern europe,theres so much of interest in their history.

Friends of ours just came back from bratislava and werent particularly impressed with place either,went on to Krakow and enjoyed their time there though,they did visit auschwitz though and thats not something i'd like to see i dont think,the mind is quite capable of painting a vivid enough picture without adding to it with the eyes

Did look at Bucharest myself and is very reasonable for flights(from luton though)if you do ever decide to try it again ics.

Inner ,what date was you in Prague this summer? i might have even walked past you in the street

Feck me Inner . were you following me around ?

Vienna - fantastic place agreed
Berlin - i found it an eyesore - truly depressing ,horrendous city ...looked like Basdildon new town  after a riot  - whatever did you like about it ?
Bratislava old town is a lovely place to spend a day or two.
Budapest - hmmm, poor quality is the keyword here like most of that end of eastern europe heading out to Ukraine...from hotels to food to well, everything really.
Zagreb and Belgrade- probably wouldn't bother from feedback.

I was in Prague 27th-30th June.

I loved Berlin because the history of the place was genuinely fascinating. The people were very friendly. It was an incredibly liberal place. It wasn't crowded. It was clean and safe, not incessant poverty like Paris (never seen so many homeless). Huge variety of nightlife, easy to get decent food. Loads of things to see and do. I can understand how visually towards the east it was more austere. Where else did you go?

I went Paris-Bruges-Amsterdam-Berlin-Frankfurt-Prague-Vienna-Venice-Milan-Zurich-Mo... to UK ferry.

Milan was possibly the most boring place on earth unless you like looking at expensive handbags- the only place I regret going on my trip!

I was in Prague 27th-30th June.

SNAP, exact 3 same days as me mate

what a co-incedence  ,and we talk about odds on here and stuff [;)]

That is some coincidence isn't it!

Berlin is a great place to live, lived there on and off for almost 2years, down in Neukoln, cheap (paid 200euros p/m for everything), food was great, neukoln predominantly turkish so great shops for cheap fresh food, better than the aldis and lidls, great kebabs too, its a very  friendly and safe city. 

It can be a bleak place, but as ICS says its history is incredible, and there is still a divide between the east and west which makes it bleaker, winter especially, you can go out one day and walk for 30minutes and not see another person, everyone crowds in small bars and stays there all night.  There isnt much work there, so it is a city in transit almost, with people living there for months at a time then going away to work, or at least this was the impression i got.

Great city, cant wait to go back.

ICS-I can understand the fascination from the historic point of view , and if you're big on all the pre communist events i can see the attraction -  but i guess i found it too unappealing on the eye (and it was cold and wet)  - still ,a lot of people love it and i hear some say its their favourite city in the world ,so each to their own . Places visited btw- Munich,Salzburg,Vienna,Balaton (Hungary) Budapest,Bratislava,Prague,Dresden,Berlin in that order .I can see your point about Milan .

Food is top notch all over East and West Germany Berlin no exception to that i must say  , something they do better than us - and i usually love everything British,but they win hands down 

28,29,30 Inner ... just looked on my photo dates,I wasn't there on the 27th

I think Berlin is a place I could live in during the summer, as said I think winter would be pretty joyless, I've been living in Leeds the last 6 years so I want to get out of that cycle.

In the centre the buildings seemed fine to me- I was down by Potsdammerplatz, all bright and shiny down there and Museum Island was pretty stunning. I'll be honest, I know nothing of Balaton, and Dresden doesn't mean much to me, the rest seem sturdy fare though. So how long were you travelling round for? Plans for the next trip?

To be fair coach on the 27th I was projectile vomiting whilst sat on the dunny in my hotel room, so I might as well have not been there.

jeez Ics- wonder what set that off ,the last thing yo need when you're away ?

only 2 weeks for me ,As nice as certain places are- that was long enough in all honesty ,couldn't do this 8 weeks round Europe milarkey - was curious about Budapest ,but it wasn't what i was hoping - thought it would be more grand -the place is falling apart , i think the trouble with me  is high expectations - feck knows where next time round  , Tallin looks appealing ,but is there anything else round that way ? have you been ?

I'd just left Germany and it was all the ecoli stuff going on too! I think it was some dirty ice in an Irish bar in Frankfurt that did it.

I took 7 weeks and by the end I definitely wasn't appreciating it. The food situation was dragging me down in Spain, I lost 9kg in 7 weeks. One thing I think we do better in the UK is that middle market for food, your Zivvi, ASK, Giraffe, Pizza Express level, it doesn't exist so much elsewhere, you're either eating the rankest sub-kebab house dross or paying £25 for a meal. Italy was the only place I was totally happy for food, Germany would be next.

I went on my own as well, and to be honest it wasn't as social an experience as I was expecting, although to be fair I was doing private rooms (good job in Prague too...). Some hostels were better than others for interaction but 7 weeks like that is pretty hard going. I think in some ways females have it easier in that they can approach people and never be perceived as a threat, when you're a bloke in your early 30s and the only person around is a single females there is a danger you can be misconstrued. Despite all this, I did enjoy it overall, but I was glad to get on the ferry by the end!

I'm toying with popping away for a couple of weeks soon and visiting a few places nearby (Brussels-Antwerp-Rotterdam-Eindhoven-Cologne-Dortmund) two days each place and trying shared rooms in the hostels. Not sure if it'll happen though.

That is some journey you went on there - got it all out of your system

The cost of eating out is horrendous ,also i'm glad that a lot of castles,cathedrals etc are free to visit  - seems that even in the poor parts of europe you're paying 20-25 a time like you say for a meal unless you're canny and an find a really nice local restaraunt off the main street .
Women do have an easier time - would you trust a bloke ? 
Fyfi Belgium is really pricey for anything right now for what it has to offer,i was over there last month on a visit (its only over the  water to me ) ....their prices are taking the p1ss

Yeah, Bruges wasn't cheap. Nothing compared to Zurich though. Paid about £20 to see a tiny band of no success or repute whatsoever in a pub room with about 30 other people. Even in London that's only £5 max.

It was a shame about Prague as it's put me off Eastern Europe altogether- had hoped to visit places like Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb, but not so keen now. Prague was a very beautiful city, but they won't be getting repeat business from me. All part of the travelling experience I guess.

inner city sumo - don't let Prague put you off those other places. The problem with Prague is it's so overrun with tourists that everyone is on the make. The other cities you mention, a lot less so (I haven't been to Bucharest or Belgrade but have been to the others).

My favourite of those is Budapest - it feels much more cosmopolitan and like a "real city" compared to Prague which is a bit of a tourist theme park (at least in the centre).

Also if you're in the area try to get to Sarajevo. I went there on a whim last summer, it wasn't on our plans at all but saw there was a train from Budapest. It's a fantastic place, friendliest city I've ever been to and in a beautiful setting. Feels almost Turkish in parts (Ottoman influence) and very laid-back. But then you go in the museum (which has been preserved in a shelled-out stae) and see how they were living under siege less than 20 years ago. A real eye-opener.

The countryside in Bosnia is spectacular too (bus from Sarajevo down to the Croatian coast is well worth the trip).

Hmm that first paragraph was quoting inner city sumo - don't know why the italics didn't work!

It was a shame about Prague as it's put me off Eastern Europe altogether- had hoped to visit places like Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb, but not so keen now. Prague was a very beautiful city, but they won't be getting repeat business from me. All part of the travelling experience I guess.

Yep, Switzerland is too much ,how can key workers  afford to live there ?

azir - beggars are a huge problem in Budapest - i always feel uncomfotable in poor cities anyway ,and i don't think the locals like us  over there to be honest,they seemingly don't benefit from our presence - certainly not by looking at the place anyway.

  Not sure what they make of us in Sarajevo . Grozny is another of those places that people are visiting now the dust has settled .

7% tax! 

Instinctively Sarajevo would be of interest because the modern history intrigues me. There's a lot of places I need to get ticked off the list and that's just Europe.

I wouldn't class Budapest as a "poor city" at all. Maybe when I first went in the 1990s it was a bit down at heel but nowadays it looks smarter and richer than a lot of cities in England!

Coachbuster - would def. recommend Tallinn, have been once in summer and once in winter (bloody freezing but looks great in the snow, and lots of cosy cafes etc). It has got a bit popular with stag groups etc (and also Finns go over from Helsinki for the cheaper booze). It would be good to combine it with St Petersburg but I didn't get that far. Instead I went down to Riga the first time I was there, which is also well worth a visit. That was 10 years ago though so might have changed - when I was there there were lots of dodgy Russian "businessmen" in the clubs with blonde tarts half their age :)

interesting info about Tallin azir 

Budapest struck me as a very poor run down  city ,certainly the Pest side -  there are poor cities in the UK of course  if you look for them  ,but Budapest is a capital city .
I didn't notice too many working age men in Hungary - have they all emigrated , almost all trains on the Budapest   underground were driven by young women or elderly men .

A lot of cities in the UK ? you are jesting of course azir [;)] Maybe  3 or 4  in the north west of England and Scotland.

I think the only countries comparable to the UK in terms of wealth and well being are Germany,Benelux, ,Italy,France ,Switzerland,Austria and the Scandinavian quartet.

Other than that , i don't think theres any comparison.

Even Spain is going downhill fast

really interesting to read all your comments lads,have given me some food for thought,thanks

aziraphale
baltic states definitely worth a visit, spent a month travelling round them about 5/6years back, the capitals, Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius are good, but the old towns are very touristy now though, but once you get outside the tall walls then you come across some amazing Soviet buildings.  I remember the 'businessmen' also, and there were plenty of stag groups, i remember eating in a restaurant in Riga one night, and on the hour every hour dancers would come out and dance round the tables for 10minutes, i decided the food was delicious and stayed for a couple of hours

got the ferry over to Helsinki for a few nights from Tallinn, wished i hadnt bothered, so expensive, scandalous scando's, shopping for booze is like going into argos, pick a ticket, write down what you want and some guy goes into a stock room to bring it out,

sweden is similar, but i love sweden

Yes the Scandinavians have some funny ideas about booze. I think the idea was that if alcohol was easily available and cheap then everyone would drink themselves to death during the dark winters...

Iceland was even worse, I remember paying almost £25 for a chicken schnitzel and a pint in the only restaurant in town 5 years ago. Guess it might be a bit cheaper nowadays.

(I mean the prices in Iceland were even worse. Loved the country though )

aziraphale
04 Sep 11 00:38 Joined: 05 Jul 03 | Topic/replies: 1,906 | Blogger: aziraphale's blog
Yes the Scandinavians have some funny ideas about booze. I think the idea was that if alcohol was easily available and cheap then everyone would drink themselves to death during the dark winters..

Given what the russians are like,they probably called that spot on...

..and the scots....

did a good trip round eastern europe a few years ago. gained the impression that from a value for money perspective almost everywhere offered a better deal than the uk (where the only good deal is to be on benefits or find some othe rform of income which isn't taxable).

i found bratislava the least impressive of the big cities we visited and was impressed by the czech republic in general although it was the most expensive of the former eastern bloc countries. i liked budapest and thought warsaw was much better than its reputation (except everyone stared at me in an unsettling way).

will consider relocating to eastern europe (or any other country in europe with a lower cost of living than here) once i'm shot of the kids (only another 20 years to wait then....).

are you mad ? you pay good money to live in England for a reason

Hi Morris

Long time since i saw you on here, (i dont bother much with the forum) glad to hear your're doing well and enjoying cz rep. Cant really comment on anywhere else to live. Have to say, Ireland is a good as anywhere, unfortunately guaranteed bad weather and a broken economy. I've been to Florida and I would have to say,it's great for weather and things to do. I'm heading to barcelona next month and taking in a game in the Nou camp, hoping to find it a lovely city,i'm trading more soccer now with a simple low risk strategy. So you could say it's a Betfair sponsored holiday.

you pay good money to live in England for a reason

i live in scotland at present. the reason has been i can watch live sport on the telly and make money from it but betfair seem determined to make that history. i've already lived abroad and found it preferable in many ways.

i can understand anywhere being preferable to Scotland

well i'm from england originally. scotland has its advantages and disadvantages.

I've been to prague - I understand what you're saying but I got impression (and told) that a lot of the pickpockets etc aren't czech and are from romania way. Having said that I'm still not in a hurry to go back. The fact it's full of stag parties trying to act uberlads (tw*ts) didn't help. What they must think of brits in these cities.... it's embarassing :(

I read just this week control freaks in Finland trying to get all but p*ss weak beer banned from shops and only buyable from their governemnt run off license as well, that would annoy me.