If Wikipedia is up-to-date, then Buenos Aires has a good claim to having the oldest subway coaches in commercial service in the world, built between 1913 and 1919.

They have been running on line

A since its inception.

These trains were being phased out as of 2010; I'll let someone with a better grasp of Spanish determine whether they are still running now.

I thought some impoverished East European cities had old stock, but they all seem to have renewed anything pre-1970.

The London Underground ran A60 and A62 for about 50 years, since the early 1960s.

These trains were due to be phased out in the early 2010s; the TfL plans called for A stock lasting until 2015, but the replacement seems to have been expedited.

The Metropolitan line might still be running some.

In the Tube, the 1959 stock is no longer doing passenger service but is still used for deicing in winter.

Pyongyang runs trains imported from Berlin, both West and East.

The Dora trains were built between 1957 and 1965 and are now running a quarter way around the world from their youthful home.

If you're willing to accept streetcars, then Hong Kong is still running rebuilt cars from the 1950s (older cars from the 1930s have been scrapped).

The Isle of Wight line (in England) still has 1938 ex-London Underground rolling stock in active service.

travel.stackexchange.com/users/277/Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'

The Schwebebahn suspended monorail in Wuppertal, Germany, not far from Cologne, still trots out Emperor Wilhelm's Kaiserwagen , built in 1900, for special occasions and tourist charters.

It's not in daily service though.

They’re not exactly the oldest and they are not a subway but an S-train, but they still fulfil the remaining requirements somewhat, especially since they use third rail electrification: The S-Bahn in Berlin still has four historic EMUs that will operate for touristic reasons.

Two are class ET 165 as seen in the image (taken from Wikipedia ).

They were originally introduced in 1928 and actually ran in daily traffic until the 1990’s.

The two that are remaining have been kept in different modifications: One is still in the original 1928 interior design according to Wikipedia.

(The other one has a 1950’s interior.)

Another two historic EMUs are class 167 .

It's above ground

and it's not in regular service, but the good folks at Market Street Railway in San Francisco occasionally roll out streetcar

No. 578 , built in 1896.

I rode it last September: http://imgur.com/gallery/zw3fP

They are DMU's with two axles used only by CFR (national rail company), built from 1935 to 1950, first refurbished in the 60s changed their motor from a Ganz of 130 hp to a Raba-Man of 180 hp, at the second main refurbishment from 2008

some of them got a new motor a Volvo Penta 226 hp, and a new paint scheme.

More details (but in romanian) http://transport-in-comun.ro/forum/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=423 more pictures and discussions (in romanian, but if you want to ask something in that forum most people know english) http://www.forumtrenuri.com/t3848p225-automotoare-clasa-77-malaxa

In Romania, Malaxa railbus class 77, built in the 30s, runs on different routes, with a low number of passagers.

Besides the antique cable cars, which are a protected National Monument, San Francisco runs historic streetcars on a daily basis.

("F" line.)

Most are the PCC streetcars from the 1940s and 50s.

Some are Peter Witt streetcars originally from Milan, which were built in 1928.

There is one from Melbourne, Australia built in 1929.

It's probably not the oldest, and the attraction isn't open yet, but it is possibly the quirkiest: Photo by Richard Pope, CC-BY, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/memespring/311144302/in/photostream/

Mailrail was a narrow gauge, underground railway used for moving post and mail around London.

It closed in 2003, however, at some time in the near future (between 2017 and 2020)

it is going to be reopened for visitors, as part of The Postal Museum : Just down the road, Mail Rail allows the public into the tunnels of the Post Office’s private underground railway for the first time in its hundred-year history.

Visitors can ride a looping mile of track to encounter the industrial heritage and secret geography of the capital.

It's not quite clear exactly which rolling stock and carriages they will be using, however according to this page , the two existing passenger carriages were built upon 1927 and 1930 base units.

Question: As a rider of various subway/metro/underground systems I was curious where would I find the oldest fleet still in operation.   NYC subway C line has cars built in the mid 60s. I was wondering if there is anything older than that?

Oldest subway/underground/metro rolling stock still in operation

Buenos Aires has subway coaches that were built between 1913 and 1919 and are still in commercial service, and the Isle of Wight line still has 1938 ex-London Underground rolling stock in active service. While Hong Kong's streetcars from the 30s have been scrapped, it is still running rebuilt cars from the 50s; San Fransisco also runs historic streetcars on a daily basis in addition to its antique cable cars. In Romania, Malaxa railbus class 77, built in the 30s, runs on different routes, with a low number of passagers. The Schwebebahn  suspended monorail in Wuppertal, Germany, still operates Emperor Wilhelm's  Kaiserwagen , built in 1900, for special occasions and tourist charters.

Old rolling stock is in daily use in a number of places, including San Francisco, the Isle of Wight and Buenos Aires. In Wuppertal, Kaiser Wilhelmàs carriage is used on special occasions.

A number of places have old rolling stock still in operation. These include Buenos Aires, Isle of Wight, Romania and San Francisco.

Wuppertal brings out Kaiser Wilhelms carriage for special occasions.


The Computerspielemuseum in Berlin claims to have been "the world's first permanent exhibition devoted to digital interactive entertainment culture."

Jan Orna has put together a comprehensive list of European arcade museums (all with over 20 playable machines):

Freddy's Pinball Paradise , Echzell, Germany Deutsche Flippermuseum Extraball , Neuwied, Germany Arcade Hry , Cerveny Ujezd, Czech Republic Pbal Gallery , Budapest, Hungary

For Amusement Only , Seligenstadt, Germany Muzeum Arcade , Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic Baboon City , Herning, Denmark RetroGames , Karlsruhe, Germany Spilmuseet , Ikast, Denamrk Big Ben Matic , Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines , Moscow, Russia Arcade Street , Paris,

France Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines , Saint Petersburg, Russia Sportland, Blankenberge, Belgium Oldenburger Computermuseum , Oldenburg, Germany Hearth of Gaming , London, U.K. Geek Room , Asnieres sur Seine, France Timewarp

Arcade , Bridgewater, U.K. Lunapark Reflex , Oostende, Belgium Be sure to check out the full site , as it has stats on each of the arcades, pictures, and more details.

Depending on your definition, arcade museums may or may not fall under the category “video game museum”.

I'm leaving this as community wiki

so there can be 1 canonical arcade museum answer

If you are going to Italy, the Video Game Museum

ViGaMus in Rome will be the place to visit.

Arcade Planet in Seville, southern Spain, is open every weekend afternoon, and has more than 100 arcade games.

The industry of video games designed for arcades, ceased to be present in Europe at the end of the year 2000.

The new generation of domestic video games, abusive taxes, and the crisis caused that the recreational machines stopped being manufactured, and the most serious ... that these systems were destroyed so as not to pay the monthly fees that their owners had to pay just for having them.

In Arcade Planet, we have managed to rescue and restore the best recreational games in history, while preserving the best games of all systems.

Arcade Planet offers its incredible collection of Arcades for events, exhibitions, organizanazación of tournaments, and sessions of free game "free play".

With this initiative, those who played in the 80's and 90's will remember the best moments of leisure in their lives ... and the new generations will discover the special interpretation of the game mode created for recreational salons ... where the only purpose is immediate fun.

The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, UK has an extensive selection of old computers and gaming consoles, many powered on and set up ready to be played.

Question: I'm looking for a museum that collects video games. Preferably, the museum should be located in Europe.

Is there a video game museum anywhere in Europe?

The  Computerspielemuseum  in Berlin claims to have been "the world's first permanent exhibition devoted to digital interactive entertainment culture." Arcade Planet in Seville has more than 100 arcade games, and the Centre for Computing History  in Cambridge, UK has an extensive selection of old computers and gaming consoles, many of which can be played.

Video game museums can be found in Berlin, Seville and Cambridge.


I was advised by both locals and colleagues who'd travelled to India to even be careful

which bottled water you drink, as some (such as refilled glass bottles provided in hotel rooms) are filled from tap water.

The rule of thumb I was given was to stick to brewery brands , as most have related bottled water brands.

These have filtration and other sterilising processes as their beer counterparts.

I would think the 'drinking water' taps are there for locals who are used to the bacteria which is in the water.

An 'initiation ceremony' I've heard of, for people who have permanently relocated to India is to be handed a glass of tap water and told to spend the next week at home ill...

once you've been ill you're good to go, but if you're only there for a few weeks it really wouldn't be good to be out of action for a week.

No, tap water is usually not safe to drink in India.

Households commonly buy large, office cooler type bottles of drinking water or have in-house filtration systems.

So if it's a normal tap, then don't drink from it.

The exception is if the tap has a cooling or a filtration unit next to it.

(I can't find a free image for this to include here.)

These could be a small single unit with tubes leading to the tap, or for larger multi-tap units then the cooling compressor should be obvious to notice.

I just spent 7 weeks in India and while I did not drink the normal tap water, I did drink the water from the Drinking Water stations in railway stations or near temples.

I also drunk the water served in restaurants.

I did assume that this water while not coming from bottles has been through some sort of filtering system.

I did this from day 1 and have had no health problems whatsoever.

Of course there is always a risk, but most people I spoke to who got sick in India did not drink the 'public water'.

Drinking tap water in India is not always safe, especially at railway stations.

However the tap water available at most of the monuments is safe to drink.

I advise you to drink bottled water in trains.

At many places there is an arrangement for filtered tap water by Indian government.

You can trust that water.

Drinking unfiltered water in India is the number one cause of illness for foreign (and local) travelers.

Consumption of tap water in India, unfortunately, carries the risk of water borne diseases such as Dysentery and Typhoid.

Even with bottled water, ensure that you purchase from a reputable outlet, and not from a street hawker, to avoid the risk of contamination.

On the other hand, if the water is heated to a boiling point (as in the preparation of tea/coffee), it will be potable.

PS>

I haven't heard much about the SteriPEN, but even if you had it, I wouldn't trust implicitly.

I'd advise not to drink tapped water from public places.

Water at railway stations/bus stations needs to be avoided.

Coming to museums and places with monuments, it depends on the hygienic conditions at that place.

Thus, bottled water is advisable.

In India we have places where you can get Rs.5000 worth shoes by Nike for Rs.500 by name nikee.

Duplicate brands or parts of almost everything, can be found in India.

Same applies to bottled water too.

Watch out for duplicates or local made's like 'Aqaufeena'(Aqaufina-->Trustworthy brand),'Besleri'(Bisleri--->Trustworthy brand).

If you are in Mumbai where the municipal corporation supplies drinking water to you then it is probably the safest water you will get anywhere in India.

If there are 2 different water supplies (one for sanitation and one for drinking and cooking)

then it pretty safe to drink the tap water.

Question: I ordered  SteriPEN  before I started my India trip but unfortunately it didn't arrive in time. I'm only drinking bottled water here but am interested whether tap water in train stations and some monuments is safe to drink or is the board which says  Drinking water  just put there as a decoration or is that water really safe.  Related:  Drinking tea and coffee on the street

Drinking tap water in India

Drinking tap water is not advised, even if some locals drink it and are used to the bacteria. Drinking unfiltered water in India is the number one cause of illness for foreign (and local) travelers, and households typically buy large cooler-style bottles or have their own filtration systems. Public sources like train stations are not necessarily safe, although Mumbai is probably the safest municipal source in India. Even when buying bottled water, make sure that itis from a reputable outlet to avoid the risk of contamination.

It is not considered safe to drink tap water in India. Indeed, bottled water is always recommended and, most importantly, a reputable brand. The one exception may be Mumbai where the water supply is safe.

Tap water is generally not considered safe to drink in India. Except in Mumbai where the municipal corporation supplies the water.

Bottled water is recommended and care should be taken to buy a reputable brand.


Kayak.com does that.

When you do the search, one of the options is to subscribe for updates for the route and dates you've selected, and they'll email you when the prices change.

Skyscanner is another that provides email alerts for price changes, I also use it to find the cheapest flights for any given route as it compares all available flight combinations for you, and if you are flexible about your dates you can view the search in month mode see the price for that route every single day, sometimes you can save significant amount by adding a day on to your arrival and departure days.

Jacks flight club is an email subscription where you can enter your departure airports and they send emails about any cheap flights, limited sales, discounted tickets etc, but I'm not sure if you can specify destination or not.

Google Flights http://google.com/flights also has price alert option and that is pretty decent.

Yapta.com uses Kayak's alerts for flights and hotels before you travel, but also tracks potential refunds after you buy.

FareCompare.com also has fare alerts for specific city pairs.

However, with the redesign of their site, I'm not sure how to set them up.

On http://www.fly4free.com/ you can sign-up for an E-mail newsletter of heavily discounted flights.

Currently its only possible to specify countries you are flying from, and it will send you all deals to any destination from that country.

But its only informing about unusually cheap deals.

You could also have a look at the hopper app.

It tries to predict airfare prices

so you know when is a good time to book.

You can find more info here : http://www.hopper.com/corp/announcements/hopper-app-predicts-airfares-and-notifies-you-when-to-book

I use it

and although I don't think it's perfect it does help in giving you a good estimate of a correct, cheap, price.

If based in Australia, my site Beat That Flight has cheap flight deals for Australians, focusing mainly on international travel.

It's possible to look at deals based on your state of origin, and get notified when deals come up.

Question: I currently spend long time periods outside my hometown and many people advise me to get my ticket for my vacation a month in advance, but I don't want to keep looking each day. Is there an online service that will help me to get cheap flights and allows me to subscribe to it, so I can get email notifications?  If not what do you suggest to get cheap flights from Europe to Central America?

Is there a site where I can subscribe for cheap flights for a specific place?

Several companies offer price notifications like this or email alerts of cheap flights, limited sales, discounted tickets etc., including kayak.com, Skyscanner, Jack's Flight Club, Google Flights, Yapta.com, FareCompare.com and Fly4free.com. You could also check the hopper app, or the site Beat That Flight if you are based in Australia.

There are a large number of sites you can subscribe to to get email alerts about flight prices and deals, including skyscanner and kayak.


In Germany, at the Bitburg Aiprort , the former Bitburg Air Base , there is such a possibility.

Well, they don't have MiG's, but you can have a flight on an L-39 Albatros , a trainer aircraft.

There is a website in German .

If want you to have more information, you can try to contact the guys.

Getting a ride in an ex-military jet is totally doable; pilots love to fly, and it's even better when someone else is footing the bill.

Ex-military aircraft in private ownership are often called "warbirds", and searching for that term will provide many leads.

Here's one:

http://www.warbirdalley.com/fly.htm Take a ride in a warbird!

Here are links to various organizations which actively operate warbird aircraft, including pay-per-flight operations and museums.

We've also listed a few miscellaneous other ways to get some hands-on flight experience with these exciting airplanes.

Or: http://www.flyfighterjet.com/

You can fly a jet fighter such as the Supersonic MiG-29 Fulcrum interceptor, the Aero L-39 Albatros or the Hawker Hunter fighter-bomber aircraft.

We offer fighter jet rides from various airfields all over the World.

This is no simulation: Here you can book a real jet fighter ride in a military aircraft If you're serious, you could even troll the FAA aircraft registration database for exotic planes, and contact the owners directly (or use your findings for more targetted googling).

Another fruitful technique would be to simply google for particular aircraft types.

For example, the L-39 is a Czechloslovak jet trainer of which there are many in private hands.

Googling reveals the existence of the L-39 Enthusiasts group, which could certainly direct you to a pilot happy to give you a ride.

One site quotes $3000 for a 45 minute ride .

Finally, aviation is sometimes a bit old-fashioned, and the best way to find what you want is often to simply show up at the airport and ask around.

Someone will know someone and soon you will find your way into the cockpit of a warbird.

adrenalin.com.au has some offers for Australia, and you have the choice between a L-39 fighter jet and a A37B ex-military jet.

Prices between AUD 1,200 (15mins flight) and AUD 2,700 (35mins flight) at the moment.

German event organizer Jochen Schweizer offers flying a MiG 29 in Nizhniy Novgorod for 14.5k EUR.

bestrussiantour.com has an offer for flying a MiG 29 and/or

Mig 31 at the same place, with a price list for download.

Ken Thompson wrote an article about flying a MiG29 in Moscow.

He booked the flight via a Miami based organization called Fly-With-Us.

The article is a fun read, though possibly a bit dated: I discovered it many years ago.

There is a company in Florida that uses L39 Albatross planes and others for NASA type astronaut training.

Question: I remember that there was a possibility that one could take a ride in a military MiG.  I think at one point the cost was $15k.  Are there any other places that would allow a person to take such a ride?

Riding in a military jet

There are options in several countries, including Bitburg Airport in Germany, with adrenalin.com.au in Australia, you have the choice between a L-39 fighter jet and a  A37B  ex-military jet, with a company in Florida  that uses L39 Albatross planes and others for NASA-type astronaut training or via the event organizer Jochen Schweizer, which offers a flight in a MiG 29  in Nizhniy Novgorod for 14.5k EUR. Aside from this, you could simply Google particular aircraft types or ask around at the airport itself. Pilots love to fly, and it's even better when someone else is footing the bill.

Google is a good way of finding out about flights in military aircraft as are othe rwebsites such as adrenalin.com.au. Many companies offer flights, however, it may be possible to find something by just turning up at the airport and asking.

It is possible to get a flight in a military aircraft. Several websites offer exactly that, for example adrenalin.com.au. There are companies specialising in this activity in Germany and Florida, USA. Using Google or going to the airport are other ways of finding out more.


Anywhere on the coast of the western Algarve in Portugal is beautiful, laid-back and in easy reach of Lagos - a very pretty, traditional Potuguese town that also has good nightlife.

The Western Algarve is not like other areas of the Algarve that are overrun with British tourists and tacky resorts.

Carrapateira on the coast is probably my favourite.

It has two beaches - Amado and Bordeira

(Bordeira is my favourite - it's a huge beach and very beautiful with hardly anyone on it).

Carrapateira is quiet but about 30 minutes drive from Lagos.

There are also plenty of other beaches places to explore.

I spent the month of August in a little town in northern Portugal on the coast - Praia de Mira.

It is a couple of hours west of Porto and an easy, beautiful train ride to get there.

Praia de Mira has that laid back vibe, but there are excellent restaurants and bars on or near the beach and in the town.

The food is AMAZING -- fresh fish, excellent grilled vegetables, and local wine is vino verde.

I spent most of my time on the beach (there were not cliffs nearby, that I knew of).

There are some campsites near by, lots of European vacationers and backpackers.

Excellent coffee spots too.

It very cool to see old school fishing on the beach -- fisherman would use oxen to pull nets right out of the surf.

I'd highly recommend it.

Very scenic but unfortunatelly full of tourists because of it, there is Nazaré, Portugal .

Cliffs, fishermen, beaches, surfing, traditional painted dish...

Everything is there.

If you can avoid crowd and walk on the small streets, you can even find cheap traditional old fashion restaurants where the dining room has only one long table with benches and everybody around it.

I would advise Vila Nova de Milfontes in the Alentejo region of Portugal.

Its still very unknown to tourists.

You can probably get cheap accomodation at this time of year and it's easy to get there by bus.

See some photos here Another option would be Porto Covo (near Milfontes).

But that place almost stops in winter.

If you really want it to be quiet, then this is it.

Here are some photos too

My recommendation is to go to the Cabo de Gata, specifically the town called San José .

It is in the south of Spain, in Almería province, so in September you will have very good weather (in the north the water temperature is very cold in September).

The Cabo de Gata is a protected natural park area, semi-desert, where you will find cliffs, long sand beaches, small stone or sand beaches, a lot of trekking routes, cheap accomodations, quiet villages, traditional spanish bars, not too crowded, hippie/backpacker feeling...

The only problem (if this is a problem for you) is that most beaches are clothes optional.

As you have asked specifically for "backpacker fell", let me recommend to go to the Albergue San Jose (San Jose hostel, sorry the website is only in Spanish,

if you need some translation, please let me know).

Here you will pay 12 euros for a bed in a 4-people room with shared bathroom.

The place is not very close to the beaches, but there is a public bus that will take you for a couple of euros.

If you are looking for something more...

wild or hippie, it's quite usual to camp in the beach in this area (it's not legal, but the police rarely goes to the beaches).

Even there is a permanent hippie-like campament, but that's another history.

All images were taken by me last summer.

I would recommend you to visit Nerja in Málaga province, Andalusia ( map ).

It has nice beaches and views:

Question: A few friends and I are looking for a small Spain/Portugal beach town or village to stay at for a week.  We want something scenic, ideally with cliffs or terrain on the beach.  We are all 28 to 30 and looking to have a good time, but are more into laid back bars vs. loud clubs and crowds.   Something with a backpacker feel may work well.  Any suggestions?  We are going in early-mid Sept.

Looking for a small scenic beach town village in Spain or Portugal

The Western Algarve is beautiful and laid back and not like other areas of the Algarve that are overrun with British tourists and tacky resorts. Praia de Mira is laid back, but with excellent restaurants and bars on or near the beach and in the town. Vila Nova de Milfontes in the Alentejo region of Portugal is also worth visiting. Cabo de Gata, specifically in the town of San José, is a good place to find cliffs, long sand beaches, small stone or sand beaches, a lot of trekking routes, cheap accomodations, quiet villages, traditional spanish bars, and a not too crowded, hippie/backpacker feeling.

Both Spain and Portugal have some interesting locations for people looking for a laid'back holiday away from the crowds. Some recommendations are Cabo de Gata in Spain and the Westen Algarve in Portugal.

Many areas in Portugal offer a laid'back holiday that is not too touristy, including Western Algarve, Nazaré and Vila Nove de Milfontes.

Cabo de Gata is recommended for a relaxing laid'back holiday with not too mnay tourists.


US "pants" = UK "trousers".

UK "pants" = US "underpants" or for some people "shorts".

Avoid the use of the word "fanny", as it is slang for, ah, a woman's front bits.

Be very careful when referring to your fanny pack!

Also, if an attractive member of the opposite sex asks you if you have a "rubber", double-check to make sure there aren't any chalkboards around because you're probably being asked for an eraser .

I heard an "Irish Car Bomb" and "Black and Tan" are types of cocktails/drinks.

These are not terms that would be understood in Ireland, nor terms that are particularly nice.

The Irish Car Bomb one is obvious. "

Black and Tans" were a group of British merceneries sent over in the Irish War of Independence in 1920s which were not exactly very honourable military people.

They are viewed by Irish people the same way African-Americans might view the Klan.

Nike and Ben & Jerry's have made this mistake.

Your example of fag is technically correct, but remember that "fag" would also be understood as an offensive slur in the UK & Ireland aswell, mostly depending on context/tone.

I have often heard Americans use the words "poof" and "poofy" to describe what English people would call "puffy".

For example: "That pillow is poofy.

" It should be understood that "poof" and "poofy" in England are slang for homosexual.

Would probably avoid trying to make jokes about "bad teeth" and horrible food as well.

Brits in general don't take to kindly to jokes like that.

In fact, I'm currently living in the states and some of the clichés the Americans have about us

I can't understand where they even came from.

Also, if someone calls you a "yank" they don't mean to be offensive.

It's quite common in the UK to refer to the Americans as yanks.

There's not a lot you guys say that offends us in general.

Don't make the mistake of calling an Irish, Welsh or Scotsman English or you'll probably be ruined for ignorance.

if you offer someone 'a ride', as in "I'd love to give you a ride" you will be offering something more intimate than a car journey.

Use 'do you want a lift' if offering to drive someone to their destination

It applies to gestures too.

If you're holding up two fingers to mean two (two pints, for example), be sure to do so palm out.

Holding up two fingers palm in, especially if accompanied by an upward motion, is rather rude.

(In the south of Europe it indicates a cuckold; in the UK and Ireland it doesn't have that specific meaning, but it's still rude.)

You may hear fanciful stories about how this gesture originated from the Battle of Agencourt.

These stories are not true.

Elevator = lift Garage/ parking lot = car park Hot chips/ French fries = chips Chips/ potato chips =

crisps Route is pronounced root.

Side walk = pavement Jelly = jam Jello =

jelly

For those with more time thean sense : look at the lists of false friends from wikipedia: a-l m-z

Some could be offensive, others not so, but also beware of things like rhyming slang found mostly in east London.

"Restroom" may be understood, but "bathroom" means exactly what it says(you know, shower & bath) and "prop room" is unknown.

What you mean is either "public conveniences" if you are extremely polite, but "toilet" and "loo" are the well known terms you search.

This may help you.

copied from here: http://funnychutkule.com/3446/british-vs-american-english-words-differences/

Question: We'll be spending a couple weeks this summer in the UK (Scotland and London), then a week in Ireland.  Is there any slang common in the United States that we be best avoided in either country?  For example, 'fag' is commonly used in the UK for cigarettes, but it's considered a slur in the US.

Is there any United States slang I should avoid in the UK or Ireland?

Words like trousers/pants, fanny or rubber have different meanings in the US and UK. Offer someone a lift rather than a ride, avoid jokes about bad teeth and horrible food and don't call an Irish, Welsh or Scotsman English. Finally, Holding up two fingers palm in, especially if accompanied by an upward motion, is considered a rude gesture.

Although the UK and US speak English, there are many differences in the meaning of words. Some of these differences are considered funny, others would be viewed as rude. Moreover, Scots, Welsh and Irish people are not English. Finally, be careful about hand gestures.

Many words have different meaning in the US and UK. Examples include pants/trousers and fanny. Some are funny and others rude.

Avoid making jokes about bad teeth and do not call Scots, Welsh and Irish people English.


The TSA guide says that "Realistic Replicas of Explosives" are not allowed, and yours kind of qualifies.

Of course it lacks a critical component, namely an accelerant and/or explosive, but good luck convincing airport authorities anywhere in the world.

The best thing that comes to mind is to disassemble partly the components, particularly the analog ones -- keypad and cabling, mostly (hopefully not everything is soldered) and pack them separately.

The rest would look much more like a harmless circuit board, and you can transport those without anyone making a fuss about it (I've done this previously with various hardware components both in my checked and hand baggage).

If that's not possible, then you should contact the airport security in advance and explain your situation.

If you are forward about it with and show them and explain what you are carrying, you should be fine.

Security personnel would probably want to look at it with bare eyes, so make sure it's easily unpackable.

Got a somewhat related anecdote as well: some 20 years ago, my mother travelled from Moscow on a business visit and had bought me a toy -- a fairly large moon lander, equipped with faux antennas, lamps, and "remote" controls with cables.

She packed without much thinking in her handbaggage, but without the box.

At the security scan at the airport, the security personnel became visibly agitated and reached for their guns until my scared to death mother showed them what the bulky box with doubly suspicious antennas and cables really was.

As a flight attendant before, If I see something like this onboard I have to report it IMMEDIATELY.

I have seen a lot of cases while queuing at security checks before, Even if the security personnel is 100% positive about the device

he/

she has to report it to senior personnel

so he

/she can get rid of the responsibility and throw it to someone else.

The problem with these kind of things similar to your device its not easy to determine if its something bad or not.

They will need an expert and that expert may or may not be available (most likely not available)

so you will end up either being refused to get onboard and getting asked 1000 questions.. or getting your device confiscated.

specially you will go through three different security systems!

Even if you passed one of them, you wont be able to pass the rest.

Solution :

As @Phoenix mentioned in his comment, Shipping it to yourself is the best you can do, Major shipping companies have their own cargo planes fleet and always have Dangerous Goods experts available to rule out things.

So the process is much easier since no airport security nor passengers involved.

I asked a friend about this (he does Arduino work and travels between New Zealand and the US).

He said that he personally hasn't had any trouble with packing electronic stuff in carryon luggage.

However, he also pointed to this blog entry: http://grathio.com/2012/04/flying-with-homemade-electronics/ which advocates packing everything in neatly organised and labelled boxes, with a friendly note to the baggage inspector.

May be a bit over the top, but it probably can't hurt.

Anecdotally, I have carried small development systems in my checked luggage a number of times (the most recently just last month, to China and back) and have had zero issues.

I don't think a proper development board (without all those loose wires and maybe without the motor) looks much different than the innards of a normal electronic gadget to an X-ray.

I suggest you try to avoid the "Rube-Goldberg" appearance and pack the loose bits and wires separately in a poly bag

and I think you'll be fine

-take the motor off and pack some spare wire ties to re-attach it.

DO NOT pack batteries in your checked luggage

(don't bring them at all, if possible) and take care about things like motors and certain optical components that tend attract attention because the screening people can't see exactly what they are.

On the other hand, I suggest that if your intention is to get some development work done during your flight- that would be rather " unwise ".

I've had stranger things both in checked and carry-on luggage without any problems, at least on flights within Europe.

Usually, you are required to show that electronic equipment is working, e.g. turn on a laptop or take a picture with a digital camera.

For disassembled or electronic parts with non-obvious functionality, the security officers often do a swab test for explosives.

On the other hand, security checks of carry-on luggage tend to be very random and the border between acceptable and non-acceptable items obviously depends highly on the moon phase or the security officer's current mood.

A few months ago, I was refused to bring a package of butter in my carry-on luggage, with the explanation that it may melt and as every passenger should know, liquids are forbidden.

On the other hand, I've never been denied to bring knitting needles or heavy glassware in the carry-on luggage.

Since it is really impossible to predict what is allowed and what is not, I eventually have started to avoid anything "could-be-slightly-suspicious" in my hand luggage.

If I still do, I also read a suggestion somewhere else to bring a self-addressed and stamped envelope.

If security officers refuse you to bring specific items on board, they are said to be decent enough to allow you to deposit the items in an addressed and stamped wrapping (of some kind) and post it for you.

In my experience, there was no problem.

I came to this page before traveling.

Now writing after having my own experience.

Hardware will be recognised very easily during check in scan.

So be ready with a proper explanation without any hesitation.

As per other peoples advice I've labelled all my boxes and sealed them with tape.

The person did ask me the use and purpose of it, so I provided them with proper reasons for having all this stuff - batteries, microcontroller board, WiFi board, BT module, RF module load cell-which looked like bomb fuse.

Within 5 minutes I was on my way to check-in.

It was all in check-in baggage.

Don't know whether they will allow it in Cabin baggage.

Question: I'm travelling to the UK and while I'm away, I have a university assignment due, and I'm concerned that I might not be able to get it finished before I leave, and would therefore need to work on it while travelling.    The problem is that the assignment requires a development kit that might appear at first glance to be something else:   I will be passing through Sydney, Abu Dhabi & Heathrow airports.  Would I have any issues taking this AVR board in my checked baggage?  What about carry-on?

Can I take an AVR development board on a plane?

This may well be allowed without any problem, but the TSA  guide prohibits "Realistic Replicas of Explosives" and this could be reported as it is not easy to determine whether something like this is bad or not.

It is prohibited to carry anything ressembling an explosive device on a plane and flight attendants are obbliged to report suspicious items. However, some people appear to have travelled with such items without problems.

Anything that may be an explosive device is not allowed in luggage. Flight attendants are obbliged to report anything suspicious immediately.

Some people have carried various devices on board with no problem.


With backpacks, The small outer pockets are the target for pickpockets.

They are easy to open without you noticing it.

So always leave your valuable stuff at the main pocket of the backpack even if you use locks on the outer pockets they can still steal stuff from it.

In Egypt around 2001-2002 I have seen some one whose passport was stolen from his backpack while using locks, The pickpocket used a sharp blade to make a cut in the lower part of the small outer pocket where the passport was and let the contents of the pocket slide easily.

So locks are not really the way here.

Yes it will add extra difficult steps to the pickpocket but still they can beat it.

Regarding keys or combo locks I would go combo locks because you will not need keys so there is no way to forget them!

Using common sense, I would say locks with keys are more secure, most combo locks have just 3 digits and it doesn't take that long to test 1000 combinations.

I had long bus rides where the bags were on the roof of the bus along with some locals riding for cheap.

They had all the time in the world to open the locks.

Having said that, I still use combo locks, because I hate to carry keys with me.

They are small and I may lose them, the second copy would be in the locked bag.

If someone really wants your stuff, they just cut your bag open.

Don't bother with any locks.

Always have your bag in your sight and keep more valuable items deeper in the bag, and you will be fine.

If your bag is out of sight, no lock will save you.

They will just take your whole bag or they will cut it open.

I am going to put forth a suggestion that I had put forth before about the luggage.

Get wireties

they are cheap to get at any hardware store and without strong scissors or wirecutters impossible to get off.

For pickpocket its a difficult proposition to get something off someone moving with this obstacle in the way but one has to consider that in the past pickpockets(at least in former Soviet Union) used to use sharpened coins to cut through cloth and thin leather.

The other advantage of this is that if you have to check this backpack in.

You don't risk losing the locks to someone in security deciding to check the contents.

I'm throwing out a suggestion that works well in my favor: Assuming you are carrying a daypack for your excursions, I would simply wear it upfront in crowded spaces, so it is always in my control and line of sight.

This will be my first time in Asia and i have come to the conclusion:

Don't take anything you don't mind losing Be vigilant and keep all your docs and money on your person at all times

I have cables and padlock purely to strap bag snatching, if they want a rummage

my hot pants and toothpaste is all there is!

Use a body pouch and keep money to a minimum and separated, take care have fun and remember you don't need to be flash

just do what they do

and you won't stand out as much

Question: I leave on my trip next month, and I wanted to buy locks for my backpack since I'll certainly be passing through crowded areas of the city where it may be difficult for me to notice a pickpocket attempt. What I want to know, is whether a key or combo lock offers a higher level of security over the other. Also, would anyone know where I might be able to purchase a set of 4-5 locks that unlock with a single key?

Key vs. combo lock security for international travel

Combo locks would be easier to use, but less secure as they often have just 3 digits. You could also use wireties, but it is still not difficult for a thief to cut the bag open or steal it. Keep the bag in your line of sight at all times, and if wearing a daypack for your excursions, wear it in front in crowded spaces to keep it in your control and line of sight.

Although locks with keys, combo locks and wireties can all keep your bag closed, they do not really protect angianst pickpockets, as the bag can be cut open or the whole bag stolen. The best protection is to carry your bag on your front and make sure it is always in your sight.

Locks with keys, combo locks and wireties are ways to stop people opening your bag when travelling.

Locks do not stop people stealing as they can cut the bag or take the whole bag. Keep your bag on your front rather than your bag and make sure you can always see it.


In general in Poland specialized currency exchange offices ( kantor ) are much better than banks.

I would guess that in bigger cities you will get a better deal, you should shop around and compare rates in different offices (so probably Wroclaw or Krakow).

Google shows the average exchange rate at a given moment, so you are pretty much guaranteed that you will get a worse rate (because the exchange office earns on the spreads).

However, the rate does change all the time, so it will be different in a few days.

In my (recent) experience, better than change money is to find any cashier and get money from it.

That's when you need cash, because almost any restaurant, hotel, shop, etc will accept paying by card, that gives even better exchange.

Note :

My credit card is an Euro based VISA, I don't know if that's important.

I been to kantor s all over Wrocław and looked at the exchange rates all over the city the exchange was 3.45 at most places, where as the best exchange price was 3.497 at the Alior bank near the city center (rynek).

The exchange prices change every day

but I suggest checking this location before exchanging somewhere else.

At many exchange shops (kantor) you even can negotiate exchange rate, if you sell or buy larger amount of dollars/euro.

Watch out for those "kantors",

that are in very touristic places, like in Old Town of Kraków (Cracov).

They often have very bad exchange rate.

The rate when selling is always lower than average and for buying is always higher.

There is however no commission.

If someone wants you to pay commission, find another place.

Wroclaw: Crossroad Swidnicka and Olawska street in the old town.

kantor:

CENT Olawska street 50 m from the main square: GANT The best way to find good echange rate is to look at the difference between the sales and buy rate.

If it is higher than 7 groszy on one unit price eg 1 Dollar look for another place.

Question: I am looking for a place to change dollars to Polish zloty and I wonder where the best place to do such exchange is.  I am looking for exchange places in following cities (or nearby):   Wroclaw  Krakow  Walbrzych   Additionally can I ever count for an exchange rate that is better then what google shows?(06/01/12  1 U.S. dollar = 3.55219597 Polish zloty)   Does anyone knows a good  kantor  in wroclaw and what the exchange rate there is ??What is the exchange rate at galeria dominikanska??

What is the best money exchange place to exchange dollars to PLN in Poland

Larger cities will generally be better, as will specializsd currency exchange offices ( kantor ) rather than banks. At many kantor, you can negotiate a better rate if you are selling or buying larger amounts of dollars/euros.

In Poland changing money in exhange offices rather than banks is recommended , as the rate is better and sometimes you can negotiate that rate. Better deals are probably also available in big cities.

Echange offices, known as kantor, are better places to change money than banks. Many allow you to negotiate an exchange rate.

It is likely that you can get a better deal in big cities and it is best to shop around.


Simple: Label them as saline solution .

We took our shoes off and placed our laptops in bins.

Schneier took from his bag a 12-ounce container labeled "saline solution.

"It's allowed," he said.

Medical supplies, such as saline solution for contact-lens cleaning, don't fall under the TSA's three-ounce rule.

"What's allowed?

" I asked. "

Saline solution, or bottles labeled saline solution?"

"Bottles labeled saline solution.

They won't check what's in it, trust me."

They did not check.

As we gathered our belongings, Schneier held up the bottle and said to the nearest security officer, "This is okay, right?"

"Yep," the officer said.

"Just have to put it in the tray."

"Maybe if you lit it on fire, he'd pay attention," I said, risking arrest for making a joke at airport security.

(Later, Schneier would carry two bottles labeled saline solution—24 ounces in total—through security.

An officer asked him why he needed two bottles. "

Two eyes," he said.

He was allowed to keep the bottles.)

Travel tip courtesy of security guru and merciless TSA critic Bruce Schneier .

Probably not worth trying with a green goopy bottle of shampoo though.

For the most part, the 3.4oz rule isn't strictly enforced, in the sense that they don't normally physically check ever single container you have to make sure that it's less than 3.4oz.

If it's significantly larger than 3.4oz they will normally be able to see that on the X-ray, and will physically inspect it.

As an example, I travel with a can of spray deodorant that is around 4oz, but is only labeled with "100g", where other cans of the same product are labeled as "4oz (100g)".

To date, having gone through airport security probably over 100 times (incl 5 times in the past 3 days) I've had them manually inspect it exactly twice.

So if what you're traveling with is close to 3.4oz, you're probably fine.

However, if they decide to look at it, and it's over 3.4oz, then you'll almost certainly lose it.

It's up to you whether it's worth the risk/cost of losing whatever it is you're trying to take through.

If it's a 4oz tube of toothpaste

it's a different answer than if it's a 5oz bottle of $200 perfume!

The best way for TSA agents (or any other airport security in the world) not confiscating liquids larger than 3 ounces is to not carry them.

You can replace toothpaste by tooth powder .

You can replace shampoo by Aleppo soap .

You can replace shave cream by shave soap (or Aleppo soap if you don't mind travelling light with one multiusage item).

You can replace after shave and deodorant by potassium alum .

They usually tell you to throw them away.

I had to throw away a brand new tube of toothpaste that I have mistakenly left in my bag.

But they do miss occasionally, or rather "look the other way", and it happened to me as well a couple of times.

I wouldn't count on it.

I believe its more of a common-sense-bend-the-rules discretion of an individual officer, rather than a matter of policy.

And while common sense is something we all like, it is apparently something frown upon at TSA.

Legally they're required not to let you in with too big a jar of liquids.

For short-term travel, I often bring small reusable nondescript containers which can be bought from your favourite make-up store, and fill them with any lotions, ointments, balms, unguents, pastes and other colloids I might need.

Obviously you can't use this method for products which are pressurized (shaving cream/gel), as well as fragrances.

For the former, you might consider replacing with soft soap (which works well unless your beard has the density and abrasiveness of a metal brush), and for the latter, non-liquid sticks kind of work.

Unmarked containers that are of reasonable size can get through, too.

I've been using Crest toothpaste that comes in a blue plastic flip-top bottle that is 5 or 6 ounces.

The label is shrinkwrapped around it, and removing that removes the size marking, making it an unmarked, but oversize, container.

I've flown enough to go through three of them in the past few years.

Question: I know as a fact that I've gotten liquids larger than 3 ounces through the TSA scanner systems (such as sunscreen). I was scolded one time for bringing a shampoo container, but I was still ultimately allowed to bring that container through.  In any case, how often are liquids larger than 3 ounces ultimately confisticated, if I put them in a ziploc bag where they can be clearly seen?

How do I minimize the chances of TSA agents confisticating liquids larger than 3 ounces?

Medical supplies, such as saline solution for  contact-lens cleaning, don't fall under the TSA's three-ounce rule, and for other liquids the rule often isn't strictly enforced unless it's significantly over the limit and shows up on the X-ray. To avoid risk, don't carry liquids larger than 3 ounces and use small reusable containers which can be bought from your favourite make-up store.

It is recommended to buy small containers for your liquid items while travelling as you may be stopped at the airport with large bottles of liquid and be asked to throw them away. However, the rule does not seem to be strictly applied unless the bottle is obviously bigger than 2.4oz. Larger bottles labelledsaline solution, on the other hand, are allowed.

Bottles labelled saline solution are allowed on planes even if they contain more than 3.4oz.

The 3.4oz rule is not struictly enforced unless the bottle is obviously much bigger.

It is best not to carry larger liquid items onboard. You may be asked to throw them away.

Buy small containers to carry liquid items you need while travelling.


The simplest and cheapest way to get to Khao San Road from Suvarnabhumi Airport is to take the Airport Rail Link (ARL) City Line train to Makkasan Station (20 minutes, 35 baht) and then a #556 bus at the bus stop immediately in front of the doors to the station (35 baht).

Don't take an Airport Express train - you'll pay a lot extra to save 5 minutes.

(As of end of 2010, the #556 no longer runs from the Airport Transportation Centre.

This is also the bus you should take in order to get a safe GOVERNMENT LICENCED bus from Southern Bus Terminal to destinations like Samui or Phuket.)

The answer to your question will depend on which Bangkok airport you are referring to, as there are two of them.

The primary airport is Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), which is often referred to as "Bangkok International Airport", and handles all International flights.

The second airport, Don Mueang International Airport (DMK), is the old Bangkok International airport, and although it was shutdown for commercial flights several years ago when Suvarnabhumi opened, it has since been reopened and a number of domestic airlines fly from it.

Over the next few months many more domestic airlines will relocate from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang, such make sure you are aware where you are flying to/from.

Most likely you are referring to Suvarnabhumi, so this answer is based on that.

There are a number of options for getting from Suvarnabhumi to Khao San Road.

The best option really depends on the time of day you arrive.

If you arrive any time of the day other than peak period, the best option is normally to just take a taxi.

Including road tolls, the cost will be around 400 Baht (~$13)

through the day, or around 500 Bhat at night, and it will be the fastest option.

All taxis are legally required to use a meter - and make sure that they do as it will be the cheapest option.

In general taxis from the airport will use a meter without you asking, but taxis TO the airport will often try and set a fixed price - if they refuse to use the meter just get another taxi.

If you arrive during peak, or if you're alone and really want to save every last dollar, then there are various other options including buses and train that may be faster than sitting in traffic, but personally I would avoid them and just go with the taxi - especially if you have luggage.

To get from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport into town, you could typically take the Airport Express Link or the standard train lines.

Unfortunately, the area where Khao San Road is, is not connected AT ALL by any of their intra-city train lines.

So depending on WHEN you arrive, here are your options (I don't remember that exact prices, I looked these up on Wikitravel's excellent entry on Bangkok ): Take the Airport Express (20 minutes) or slower City Line (15-45 baht) to Phaya Thai (90 baht)

then take bus 15 to Khao San.

This means, however, that you will need to orient yourself and find out where the bus stand is heading towards Khao San and that is NOT going to be easy when you've just landed in Bangkok.

If you give up and try to take a tuk-tuk / taxi, there are more than enough of them around to gouge a high fare out of you.

The cheapest option is to take the free shuttle bus from Suvarnabhumi Airport to the Public Bus Interchange.

From there, take bus 556 to Democracy Monument.

Once you're there, Khao San Road is not that far.

(Seriously, don't believe tuk-tuk drivers who tell you it is.)

Another option at the Public Bus Interchange are private van drivers who pick up backpackers going to Khao San Road.

The schedule for these is pretty much "when it's full".

I don't remember how much I paid (not more than 100 baht, I think, and I don't see any details on Wikitravel for this).

Anyway, these take you either to Democracy Monument or

straight to Khao San Road, and thanks to the stuffy vans it feels a bit like getting kidnapped, but you can't be arsed waiting for the bus you do tend to at least meet other travellers on these.

If your wallet is deep, you could always get a taxi.

How much you get charged will depend on how well you can haggle , so your mileage may vary.

Take mrt to phyathai then change to bts.then exits sapantaksin station.go to the pier take public boat to pra atrit pier.walk out to main road turn rright 200m turn in small lane on yours left.then

you are there.

There is lot of way to travel from BKK airport.

Limo : located just outside arrival level door 5 > highly priced about 800-1200 Baht depending on which car do you use.

Taxi :

Easy one: from arrival go to ground level (just downstairs) door

4 or 7 > taxis desk give you a ticket.

The price is meter price + 50 Baht surcharge +

Toll fee is you use Expressway (not needed at night).

Minivan and bus :

Cheapest option.

first you have to go the transportation center >

take the shuttle bus on arrival level door 5

(avoid limo touts) or departure 4 floor door 5.

you should see a blue sign Shuttle Bus.

Bus runs every 20 minutes 24h.

From the transportation center take minivan #551 to victory monument!

(40 Baht) Minivan

#551 to victory monument Note the minivan is NOT convenient if you have large luggage!!!From victory monument you can take bus #12 or 157 (12 Baht) to democracy monument 2 minutes walk to Kao san road.

Sources

Question: What are my options to go from Bangkok airport to Khao San Road? And what are the expected prices for this?

How to go from Bangkok airport to Khao San?

The simplest and cheapest way would be to take the standard train and/or bus lines, but not the Airport Express train. However, it may be more convenient to take a more expensive taxi or private van taking backpackers to Khao San Road. Limos are available just outside the arrival door, costing about 800-1200 Baht depending on the car.

There are a number of means of transport to take you into Bangkok from the airport. Trains are considered a good option, followed by buses. Taxis are the fastest means of transport, especiall during off peak hours. The most expensive option is a limo at 800 to 1200 Baht.

There are trains from Bangkok airport into Bangkok, including the Airport Express train.

Buses are a chepaer option from the airport to Bangkok.

Taxis are more expensive but are the fasest option especially at off peak times.

A limo can be taken from the arrival area at the airport, costing 800 to 1200 Baht.


new bus companies and bus search engine Flixbus , Fernbusse and Aldi-Fernbuslinien are new to me, so I'll share this here.bus search engine: busliniensuche DeinBus.de is a another alternative.

Bus transport is going to get bigger in Germany since there is no more monopoly to long-distance travel from Deutsche Bahn.

I read they even want to start their own Bus connections.

Though that's not bus-related but I'll post it anyway.

Ltur offers one way tickets prior 7 days to the departure from 25€.

Also every week is a special European destination from 35€ one way.

That takes effect on the high speed trains (ICE).

If time isn't your problem or you are in a bigger group you can travel cheaply to the whole country by using the regional trains everything explained on their homepage .

You could try BerlinLinienBus .

It's a company for cheap bus lines operated by DB.

Eurolines also have domestic lines.

The cheapest way to travel in Germany is actually to get a ride.

Take a look at mitfahrgelegenheit.de or mitfahrzentrale.de/ .

The trip will cost about 30€ - you just share the fuel costs

At the moment, the best way to find a cheap bus service is the Busliniensuche search service.

It currently offers a search function across 57 companies running one or more bus lines, and all the ones that greg121 and gerrit mentioned are included there.

Germany is not Hungary.

Labour Costs in Germany are higher than in Hungary.

So don't expect that the bus tickets are the same price.

Hungary is not a good benchmark for Germany.

It is definitely possible to find train tickets for less than 100 EUR between Munich and Berlin.

I can point you to what I have written elsewhere : The strategy to find a "cheap" ticket, for IC or ICE trains, is the same as if you are looking for "cheap" flight tickets.

The earlier you book the more chances you have to make a good deal.

Moreover, avoid peak times, like Friday evening or Sunday evening.

In the past I have made some good deals on Wednesdays ...

Flexibility pays off.

Also check the DB's search engine for saver fares .

If you travel frequently, you might consider to buy a Bahncard .

This entitles you to discounted fares, as well as other advantages.

But it is possible to travel cheaper by train.

From Monday to Friday you can travel on a so-called " Quer durchs Land Ticket ".

And on the weekends you can use a " Schönes Wochenende Ticket ".

These tickets costs 44 EUR and 42 EUR for one person.

If you are more than one person, the price per person is highly digressive.

In the most extreme case, if you are 5 and you travel on a weekend, you end up by paying 8.40 EUR per person!

With these tickets you can travel all over Germany in regional and local trains.

You cannot use IC, EC, or ICE trains.

From Berlin to Munich will take you 10 to 11 hours.

That's almost the double of the travel time of an ICE train.

But, it's pretty close to the duration of a bus trip.

www.klickbus.de offers cheap tickets from Munich to Berlin.

I booked there my trip to the Oktoberfest last week.

Price was something like 20€

I found a website where you can compare the respective providers of bus connections.

If train travel is still an option, apparently if your destination (and perhaps also where you start from) is not in Germany then the train tickets costs a lot less.

It was mentioned on the news

and we tried out such a search on the Deutsche Bahn website

and it was the case.

Question: Are there any cheap bus lines inside Germany? Something like  Orangeways ?  I've checked Deutsche Bahn cost for transport from Berlin to München and I was shocked with the price about 100 Euro. By Orangeways similar distance costs about 20 Euro... Is there any operator that allows to travel in Germany with so attractive prices?

Cheap bus lines in Germany, something like Orangeways?

BerlinLinienBus, Eurolines and Klikbus offer cheap tickets from Munich to Berlin, or you could take the cheapest option and get a ride.

There are a number of bus companies in Germany with long distance routes, including Eurolines. However, the cheapest method of travel in Germany is getting a ride.

There are a number of bus companies that serve long distance destinations in Germany, including Eurolines.

The cheapest method of travel in Germany is getting a ride.


I was not able to find train connection but on the pages of the central bus station in Ljubljana you can find buses that go to Trieste (local name in Slovenian: Trst).

This is much shorter trip than taking detours and taxis as suggested by Paola.

Here is a sample: Date 18.7.2012Departure TrstArrival LJUBLJANA AVTOBUSNA

POSTAJADeparture Arrival Duration km

14:00 16:15 2:15 106 18:20 20:20 2:00 80

There is a railways (in fact even several) between Italy and Slovenia, but they only carry freight at the moment.

The main reason is that Trenitalia is not an easy company to cooperate with, and the Slovenian railways don't have the money to go on their own (like for example the German and Austrian railways have done)I have travelled from Ljubljana to Trieste when cross border trains were still running, but this was a few years ago.

Currently the options to get from Trieste to Ljubljana are:- Direct bus.

- Bus to Sezana and train from there.- Tram (it's quite an interesting tram actually) to Vila Oppicina.

Taxi to Sezana from there.

Then train.

www.bahn.de will give you info for trains from Sezana to Ljubljana.

www.autostazionetrieste.it has info about buses.

You can also go via Gorizia (and walk from the one station to the other)

but that's a bit roundabout.

Update:

Since the last timetable change there is again a train from Vila Opicina (above Trieste) to Ljubljana.

So the trip now involves using the tram,bus or a taxi to get to Vila Opicina, where you can now board the train again.

Lets hope this improves in the future.

Strange as it may seem because of the limited distance, the journey between Trieste and Ljubljana is rather tortuous and complicated, but there surely is a connection between Italy and Slovenia.

As you can find in this link , you go to Gorizia by train, then you need to catch a bus or a taxi to reach Nova Gorica in Slovenia, from where you will catch another train to Jesenice and finally to Ljubljana.

A different itinerary will take you to Gorizia by train and then to Nova Gorica by bus or taxi, then you take another train to Sezana, hence change to Divaca and finally to Ljubljana.

This way you have to catch a series of means of transport, but the whole journey should last only 5 hours.

I suppose that you could travel faster if you chose to travel by coach, but I couldn't find reliable information about this.

EDIT : I'm sorry, but the correct page disappears whenever I try to link it.

It is however to be found on www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de , then fill in the details of your request.

The official Swiss Train Company, called SBB , has a lot of connections from Triente to Ljubljana.

However, you have to change the train twice, and it is a rather long journey.

On the other hand there are frequent connections.

Typically, you have to change in Udine, Italy and Villach, Austria which is a ridiculous detour.

The fastest connection includes a bus connection (90 minutes between Udine and Villach, but there is also a train available, e.g. connection number 3, that takes a little bit longer).

After the timetable, I also included a Google Maps picture so that you can see the huge detour ;)

Unfortunately, I can't get an immediate price quote.

You have to either call them, or use the online form to enter your personal details

and then you will get a price quote in a few hours.

If you really want to travel by train but still want to travel less than a day, then take a bus from Trieste bus station to Sezana and then a train from Sezana to Ljubljana.

The train station in Sezana is right close to the bus station.

The alternative, and a longer option, is to take a bus to Koper (about 20km), and then a train from there to Ljubljana.

There is actually a train connection between both cities again since September 2018.

From

The Man in Seat 61 : A new twice-daily regional train started running between Trieste & Ljubljana from 9 September 2018, restoring rail travel between Italy and Slovenia after a gap of several years.

It's now the comfortable and civilised way between Venice, Trieste, Ljubljana and Zagreb.

You can check these times using www.bahn.de/en .

Surprisingly enough, there is indeed no railway between Italy and Slovenia.

One can see that on the map of European railways provided by Interrail that even though the Italian and Slovene railways are very close to each other, they do not connect.

While I do not have a definitive reason, it might be because this is a former border of Yugoslavia.

An article on Wikipedia on Italy-Yugoslavia relations shows they were quite animated.

On the map, we can see that the cities of Gorizia, in Italy and Nova Gorica in Slovenia are pretty close, as well as Trieste is close to Sezana and Koper.

One can find on wikitravel a suggestion for a bus between Nova Gorica and Gorizia, a 10 minutes ride.

By the way, I am also surprised no one looked at a map when trying to answer this question.

Question: My Italian part of my trip is almost over; currently enjoying Trieste.  I have been using the train around Italy but when I checked the Trenitalia website to see if a train left from Trieste to Ljubljana it says it does not know of any trains?  This does not make sense, surely there must be a train service from Italy to Slovenia?  http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD  If not does anyone know the best way to get from Trieste to Ljubljana?

How to get to Ljubljana (Slovenia) from Trieste (Italy) by Train?

According to the Man in Seat 61:  A new twice-daily regional train started running between Trieste &  Ljubljana from 9 September 2018, restoring rail travel between Italy  and Slovenia after a gap of several years.  Prior to this, trains running between the two countries only carried freight. This journey is quite complicated despite the short distance, but the official Swiss Train Company, called SBB , now has a lot of connections between the two. It is also possible to take the bus to Sezana or Koper, then the train from there to Ljubljana.

There is great debate about the availability of a train service from Trieste to Ljubljana. However, it appears the service has now been re-established and there are two trains a day. An alternative route is a bus to Sezena or Koper then a train to Ljubljana.

The railway connection between Ljubljana and Trieste has a complicated history, although it appears that the connection has now been re-established and there are two trains a day.

An alternative to the direct train is to travel by bus from Trieste and pick up a train in Sezana or Koper.


A popular company that does this is Intrepid Travel .

They do group tours everywhere including Europe.

Just make sure you change your country of residence down the bottom of the page if it is not correct already.

Since you are Italian, you may want to give Avventure nel mondo a try.

It is a well known site that perfectly fits your needs.

If I can give you a piece of advice, don't understimate travelling alone.

It's one of the best ways to meet other people during your trip, not only other travellers but local people too.

Being alone makes you more responsive to people around you and you will be more inclined to talk with them.

Even if in your country you are not the kind of person that can easily approach other people, it will surprise you to find out how easy it is to do that while travelling alone.

Contiki is another company that does group trips, though for a limited age range (18-35).

They have tours on several continents, including Europe.

I haven't personally used them, but know of people who have and

they were very happy with the trip.

They called it exhausting, but the time of their life.

Couchsurfing can be used to do something like this: the site includes city-specific forums.

Using these forums you can meet up with other travelers who are visiting a particular city.

Honestly, I am surprised at the question.

This is how the majority of tours work.

There are thousands of companies offer tour all around the world.

All you have to do is Google Search a desired destination plus the word tour .

It can be as specific or a general area are you like:

Europe tours Spain tours Madrid tours Tours where you are not travelling with other people are generally called private tours which are much more expensive because costs are not shared between so many people.

Also, when looking at tours, group tours have specific dates stated since people must travel together.

Highly popular tours can run each week and less popular (or very expensive) ones can have only one or two dates per year.

Most group tours do not include airfare to where the tour starts and from where it ends.

So try to arrive one or two days before not to miss a tour which goes out far the very first day.

For example, tours to Machu Picchu usually pick up participants in Lima and fly the next day to Cusco, so if your flight gets delayed, then it is difficult to catch up.

Since you stated your goal is to meet people, you can do improve your odds of encountering people you can relate to by looking for a specialty tour of your interests.

Example of those are photography tours , culinary tours , adventure tours , cycling tours , etc.

They even have singles tours where people who participate are usually single.

Some companies even have tours where the goal is to meet locals.

Usually they include stays with local families, rather than hotels.

This can be fascinating and they can teach you local cooking, crafts among other things.

If that interests you search for local living or home stay tours.

A bit late to help the OP, but maybe useful for others who read this question and its answers.

HF holidays is very good for walking and other activity holidays in the UK (also for foreigners) and in Europe (which will suit the British more than people from outside the UK.)

As a solo traveler who loved walking but not alone, I did enjoy staying with them some time.

I am just a happy customer, not involved with the organization at all.

Question: Are there any online resources that help in organizing group travels?  Perhaps a site with a bunch of trips that people can join and if they join they are going to travel with the company of new people who have booked the same trip. In other words a vacation which allows you to meet new people.   I'm from Italy and I'd like a European trip.

How can I participate in group travel?

Many companies offer group tours around the world, and you could try Intrepid Travel, Avventure nel mondo, Contiki (for travellers aged 18-35) or HF Holidays (for walking and other activity holidays in the UK and Europe). Couchsurfing also includes city-specific forums that could be used to organise this, or you could Google a desired destination plus the word  tour.

Many companies offer tours in different countries. These can easily be found on Google searching the destination name plus the word tour.

Couchsurfing can be used to do something like this: the site includes city-specific forums. F15

There are many companies offering tours in many different countries.

Serach for tours on Google using the name of the destination plus the word tour.


I don't know about a specific Kindle version, but if I have a limited number of destinations with some long WikiTravel articles, I just save the pages: Option 1, in Google's Chrome browser open the print preview and then save the page as PDF, then just copy that PDF to your Kindle, it's okay in vertical screen rotation and very readable in horizontal.

Option 2, on the left-hand menu choose 'Printable version' then save the complete web page.

You can now use that HTML directly or use a tool like Calibre to convert the html into mobi format which can be read by your Kindle.

In some cases I do both to get the best of both worlds.

Dolphin Books is producing E-Book versions of parts of Wikitravel at $2 each - suitable for the Kindle.

For example, their London e-book .

Depending on where you're going, they may have a guide for you that works.

A review from Amazon:

This is about 75 Kindle pages of Creative Commons (or in some cases, public domain) materials.

Of limited value, but also not expensive.

OxygenGuide is an electronic world travel guide for use when traveling abroad with no (or expensive) Internet connection.

You can use it on your PDA, notebook, cellphone or computer.

OxygenGuide is basically an offline version of the excellent Wikitravel collaborative travel guide, restructured for use on potentially small devices.

Supported hardware:

All laptops and netbooksAndroidKindleNokia smartphones

Similar to Peter Handorff's solution, I use Instapaper to save articles and send them to my Kindle.

You can send articles individually.

If you want to combine articles into a 'book', create a folder in Instapaper, then move all the relevant articles to that folder.

In the right sidebar you'll see a download link for Kindle.

This produces a nicely wrapped 'magazine' — with a table of contents and chapter markers for each article — that you can copy to your Kindle via USB or Calibre.

It's free to use; Instapaper offers a subscription but you don't need it for the methods described above. http://instapaper.com/

If you don't want to use calibre for the process, you can also (1) open print preview (2) save

pdf (3) email it to your kindle at kindusername @kindle.com.

Your kindle will download the attachment the next time you're connected to wifi.

As you are asking not only for a kindle version, but also other sorts of offline version, I'd like to point out the Kiwix reader for Wikivoyage.

(Since the time the question was asked, wikitravel split up into two forks and wikivoyage seems to be the more up to date one).

It's an app for both iOS and Android which saves an offline copy of all wikivoyage articles.

This is especially useful, as you don't need to download all the articles you want one by one.

One downside is that it's not always the most current version of the article.

If I'm not wrong it's updated every few months, which for most purposes is still okay.

Question: Is everyone's favorite open content travel guide,  WikiTravel , available in some sort of Kindle / off-line format? Since I'll be travelling around, I won't have internet access. However I do have a kindle, so is there anyway to put wikitravel pages for areas I'll be visiting on my kindle before I leave?

Kindle version of WikiTravel?

Dolphin Books is producing E-Book versions of parts of Wikitravel at $2 each, which are suitable for the Kindle. You can also try OxygenGuide, which is basically an offline version of WikiTravel, or the Kiwix reader for Wikivoyage. Finally, you can just use Instapaper to save articles and send them to your Kindle.

There are travel guide options available on kindle, including Dolphin Books E-books. Kiwix is an alternative to kindle displaying Wikivoyage. Oxygenguide, the offline version of Wikitravel, is available for use on small devices

Dolphin Books produces E-bookversions of Wikitravel for use on kindle. Alternatively you can use Instapaper to save article for use on kindle.

Oxygenguide is an electronic travel guide for use on small devices.

Kiwix reader for Wikivoyage is an alternative to a kindle.


My name is Olivier, from FrenchConnection.

The thing we usually do is deliver in advance in the hotel or camping where you will be staying overnight.

As mentioned by someone earlier, we can still organize a collection in Paris gare du nord (it does not appear anymore on the website, but if you ask politely, we will of course do it).

Also a very useful solution if you do not have a delivery address:

Poste RestanteYou give the address of a post office, and specify "POSTE RESTANTE"The device will be waiting for you there.

To collect it, show your ID, pay the 0,60€ fee (sorry we cannot pay it from our side) and here you are :-)

To find the most convenient post office, check their website (in French)

La Poste or get in touch with us!

Sure you can.

There's a number of options.

Here's the most basic one.

If you just need to have a french number for a week and then throw it away, just go to any post office ( La Poste ), which you can find literally everywhere and they sell both only sim-cards (10 Euros cost, 5 Euros credit included) or with the basic phone (30 euros cost, 10 or 15 euros credit included).

The recharge cards are sold there as well.

Actually prepaid cards are sold everywhere (in all the Tabac stores, all the major mobile providers sell them as well), but La Poste Mobile is really easy to find and it looks like it's a bit cheaper ( the page with the details in French).

If you need something more long-term, then you need to find any mall of the Leclerc network and buy the card from their virtual provider ( here 's the page with the cost in French).

The difference between these two is that La Poste Mobile sim-card has a really short expiration period.

I.e. if you recharge your card with 10 euro credit it will expire in a week even if you don't use it 100%.

But the Leclerc card will expire in a year no matter how much credit you recharge it with.

According to their website, there is an option to collect the device yourself.

The only possible place is Gare du Nord (Northern Paris mainline station).

This is a solution if your itinerary goes through Paris.

Another solution is abroadband.

More expensive per megabyte, but works all over the world.

I am heading to France again.

Before ordering a frenchconnection device, I did yet another google search on the topic.

Tripadvisor had the answer.. ...

Print off the following page from the SFR website before you travel ( sfr.fr/mobile/… ) which shows details of the prepaid iPad 3G data micro SIM ...

The major prepaid carriers have SIMs and their stores are everywhere in Paris.

You can even get a prepaid SIM in the post office.

SFR, Bouyges, and Orange are all decent options.

You'll need to show your passport and fill out some paperwork to get the card, which means you can't get it till you arrive.

I suppose you can try creating a Google Voice number and have it forward to the SIM once you know the number.

I don't know if that's actually feasible

I am from LeFrenchMobile, if you are looking for a cheap data prepaid option you can choose our DataSIM, we deliver anywhere you want or you can find our SIM cards in shops in Paris or the Alps for now, the list of distributors is here .

Question: I will be driving through France soon and would like to have a local prepaid sim with data capabilities. I found a very interesting sollution in the  French Connection , but I need a French delivery address. I don't have that on such a short notice, so I am looking for a plan that I could buy while on route (gas station, shopping malls, etc)

Can I buy a prepaid mobile data plan while on route in France?

Basic SIM cards for all major providers are available in post offices and Tabacs, and can be purchased in person after showing your passport and filling in a form. Longer-term options can be purchased from Leclerc's virtual provider at any mall on their network.

Buying a pre-paid sim in France is not considered a problem Short-term sims can be purchased from the Poste, Tabac stores or Leclerc. Moreover, all the major carriers offer pre-paid sims, you just need your ID to buy one.

There are a number of options for buying a sim card in France.

Short-term sim cards can be bought from the Poste, Tabac stores and Leclerc.

All the major carriers offer pre-paid sims, you can buy them in shops but you need your ID.


If you pay by Dollar (or home currency)

The hotel will add a charge for this, hence you will be paying more.

If you pay by local currency the exchange rate will be decided by the credit card company or bank.

These exchange rates are much better than the hotel rates.

Check this Visa page for more information regarding this service for Visa holders.

AFAIK, Other companies have similar services so this applies to all other credit cards.

As others have noted, you are almost always better off paying in local currency as the credit card company's exchange rate will be at least as good as the hotels.

The only possible exception is if your booking specified the price in dollars.

In this (rather rare) scenario, in order to pay in local currency, the hotel will convert your price into local currency at some exchange rate, possibly an unfavorable one and then the CC company converts it back into dollars (or your home currency).

I've had something similar happen once (in Prague) where the price was quoted in EUR

but they could only accept local currency for CC payments.

They did however use a fair exchange rate.

I could also have just payed in EUR if I had had cash which I didn't.

If they had accepted EUR payments via CC that would have been better given the circumstances.

The big advantage of paying in your own currency is that you know the exact amount in your currency you were charged, and you can do your expense report right away.

You don't have to wait for your statement or do any currency conversions on the expense report.

Since you're not spending your own money in this case, it seems attractive.

I believe it's offered as a "service" and a "convenience" for business travellers.

Like many things hotels offer to business travellers, it's a good revenue source for the hotel.

Think about car rental places that will fill the tank for you as a convenient service :-)

I doubt very much you would save money paying in your own currency.

If the early or easier access to the number isn't worth anything to you, don't take this option.

If you are familiar with the exchange rate, you could ask them what rate they'll use to decide whether to take it or not, but I would be very surprised to hear that it ever saved anyone any money

: that's not why they offer it.

If the country you are traveling through faces major inflation of its currency, it might be worth paying in local currency (if they allow you to).

At the end of the eighties I was in a south American country with huge inflation rates where once people got their salaries they rushed to the shop to spend it all.

The same amount could just drop in value by tens of percentage points within a day.

I am not so sure if these hyperinflation rates still occur, but it is worth considering when deciding between paying in the local currency or your home currency.

Personally I apply the "when in Rome do as the Romans"-dogma.

Meaning that I choose to pay in the local currency.

There is no logic behind this choice, other then to keep things simple.

I don't want to account in two currencies, at least until my final accounting where I sum up what a trip cost me in total.

If you pay in local currency, you control the exchange rate, or at least international banking rules do.

If you pay in dollars, the shop owner applies whatever exchange rate is best for him.

This is usually not in your favor.

If you know the official exchange rate at the time of your transaction and are able to make quick comparisons in both currencies, you can ask both prices and choose the best one for you.

Question: Recently I had to pay for a hotel in a foreign country using credit card, and the guy at the hotel asked me if I wanted the bill to be paid in the local currency or in US dollars. I didn't even know I had this option.  Which currency should I have chosen if I wanted to pay less? What are the pros and cons of paying in each currency?

Paying by credit card while overseas cheaper in US dollars or in the local currency?

You can calculate the best option if you see both prices, but it is almost always cheaper to pay in local currency as the credit card company's exchange rate will be at least as good as the hotel's. On the other hand, paying in dollars means that you know the exact amount in your currency for your expense report.

Paying in local currency is considered the better option, unless you need the value in dollars to make a travel expenses claim. The exchange rate is different depending on the currency you pay in and it is more favorable when you pay in local currency. If you know the exchange rate, do quick calculation and decide at the time of making the purchase.

Paying in local currency is better than paying in dollars as the exchange rate is controlled by the banking system. If the country you are in has inflation this may make it a better option too.

Paying in dollars is better when you need to know the dollar value for travel expenses. However the shopowner decides on the exchange rate.

If you know the exchange rate, do a quick calculation and decide which is best.


I don't recall any bars in NYC having a dress code, so T-Shirt and Jeans should be fine as long as you don't come in looking like a complete bum.

Having said that there are quite a few rooftop bars.

Here is the list of some of them that have menus available.

Fifth

The Heights

The Local cafe

But you can simply look at the top 10 list(?) to pick the one you fancy the most.

The rooftop bar at Hotel Metro in midtown is unpretentious, cheap (by midtown standards), and gives you a pretty spectacular view of the Empire State building, though not a lot more (since you're more or less surrounded by tall buildings).

They have no dress code.

Top of the Strand (at the Strand Hotel) is similar to Hotel Metro - same neighborhood, same view, same prices.

The Brass Monkey in Chelsea is great - laid back, awesome views, very casual, and reasonably priced.

Other than that, my advice is to avoid going to any of the "top-rated" places (unless it's a list of the top 10 "unpretentious" rooftop bars like in Karlson's answer ;), as those will tend to be both pricey and snobby.

(FYI: $20 for a cocktail is definitely upscale pricing; mid-range bars will be more like $10-13 for a cocktail and $8-10 for beer.)

Using review sites like Yelp will give you a good idea of places convenient for you (NYC is very big!) and will almost always give you a heads-up about unspoken dress codes, rooftops closed for renovations or the off-season, etc.

Here are two hotel bars where you can find quality cocktails (fresh ingredients, top shelf liquor, skilled bar staff): Soaked at the Mondrian Soho hotel - they have a great punch program Gallow Green is a rooftop bar at the McKittrick Hotel.

They have aserious classic cocktail program and occasionally the servers willtake on characters from a bygone era For a more casual atmosphere, try VU rooftop bar in Korea Town.

It's located in a random location, La Quinta Hotel, and offers a spectacular view of the Empire State Building.

The Jimmy at the James Hotel in Soho is a beautiful place to get a drink.

So too is Le Bain atop the Standard in the Meatpacking District (probably my favorite rooftop in Manhattan).

But I say skip Manhattan and hop on the L to Williamsburg.

The Wythe Hotel has one of the best rooftop bars in the 5 boroughs.

Anyway, isn't the view of Manhattan better than the view from it?

I realise this question is old but if anyone is looking for something a little unusual with great uninterrupted views of the park and midtown then

the Met have a roof garden/terrace which is open at certain times of the year (usually the beginning of summer, May/June).

For the cost of admission to the Met (suggested donation) there are reasonably priced drinks for Manhattan with great views out over the park from 5th Avenue.

No dress code required.

Question: Currently I'm in New York. I'm looking for a rooftop bar that provides a great overview about Manhattan, but is still affordable. (20 dollar for cocktail at maximum.) Additionally, I want to go there wearing jeans and a t-shirt, so nothing too fancy.

Rooftop bar in Manhattan?

230, Fifth, The Heights, The Local café, the rooftop bar at Hotel Metro (with a great view of the Empire State Building), Top of the Strand, The Brass Monkey in Chelsea and The Jimmy at James Hotel are all good places to get a drink with a view without being too expensive. Bars in NYC generally don't have a dress code, so T-shirt and jeans should be fine as long as you aren't too scruffy.

New York is full of cocktail bars and many have a great view , including The Heights and The Brass Monkey. Two bars are expecially recommended for quality cocktails and they are Soaked and Gallow Green.

Bars in New York do not usually have a dress code.

There are many good bars in New York for cocktails with a view, including The Heights, The Brass Monkey, Top of the Strand, among others.

Two bars are recommended for quality cocktails. They are Soaked and Gallow Green.


You may enjoy Rhein in Flammen (Rhine in Flames), a festival taking place annually from May to September along beautiful sections of the Rhine, with fireworks and ships with a lot of lights.

It strolls along the Rhine river valley, passing by wineyards, castles, cities, forests, lakes...

You can find a bit of information on its Wikipedia page , especially in the German version if you can read it.

A page of a German fan of fireworks gives you the German highlights too ( including Rhein in Flammen ), as well as a calender of fireworks events in Germany .

On the National Holiday in Liechtenstein on August 15, there is always a huge firework for 40 to 50 minutes.

The firework is launched from the Prince's castle, but it is visible in half of the country.

If you're in the center of Vaduz it is really great, since the lights are following directly down on you.

And you won't be alone, since there are around 20'000 to 30'000 people coming to see it.

(The country has only 35'000 inhabitants.)

To make the event even better, there are a lot of different bars, food corners, and other shows during the whole night.

And to make the day really great, you should be aware that in the morning there is free wine and beer for everyone next to the Prince's castle.

I added some picture of the firework so that you get an impression:

The Tsarevets (Царевец) hill in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, is a mediaeval stronghold from XII-XIV century.

It has been the seat of the Bulgarian kingdom during that period and a large portion of the castle wall and some buildings have been found.

It offers a great view to the city and the surroundings, and to your question, there is a "Light and Sound" audiovisual display which depicts scenes and events from Bulgarian history from this time period.

It's on display during the summer months Image from Wikipedia, licensed under CC-BY 2.0

It is a remarkable experience, even if I do say so myself as a Bulgarian.

Nothing is as good as Lyon's Fete des Lumières!

haha just kidding,

but yeah I can't think of something of the same type.

Maybe Cannes's pyrotechnical festival : It's fireworks that are particularly sophisticated, the place is usually crowded so it's probably good.

There are videos on youtube

Las Fallas (Els Falles) in Valencia , Spain.

It's a week long party, with huge displays of fireworks , and ends with La Cremà (video) : Formerly, much time would be spent by the Casal faller preparing the ninots

(Valencian for puppets or dolls).

During the week leading up to March 19, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard and paper-mâché artistic monument in a street of the given neighbourhood.

This whole assembly is a falla.

On the final night of Falles, around midnight on March 19, these falles are burnt as huge bonfires.

This is known as the cremà (the burning), and this is of course the climax of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions are called falles ("torches").

Traditionally, the falla in the Plaça de l'Ajuntament is burned last.

There is a similar looking festival of lights in Berlin from 10 to 21 October, not sure if how it compares to Lyon's Fête des lumières, but probably fairly similar.

Question: Any recommendations on light, fire, illuminated art, etc. shows in Europe that are at least as impressive as Lyon's  Fête des lumières ?  ( images ,  more )   I'm after impressive city-wide-ish shows, not simple laser shows on the side of only one building.  I'd slightly prefer fall stuff, but whenever.

Light Shows in Europe

Lyon's Fete des Lumières is particularly good, but you may enjoy the Rhein in Flammen (Rhine in Flames) festival that takes place annually from May to September, the 40-50 minute firework display on the National Holiday in Liechtenstein on August 15, the sophisticated fireworks and the crowds at Cannes's pyrotechnical festival, Las Fallas (Els Falles) in Valencia, Spain, or the festival of lights in Berlin from 10 to 21 October.

Many places in Europe have light festivals, including Valencia, the Rhine and Liechtenstein. However, some believe that they can never rival the Fetes des Lumieres in Lyon.

Many places have light festivals, for example there is Las Fallas in Valencia, Rhein in Flammen along the Rhine and a firwork display in Liechtenstein. Berlin also has a festival of lights in October.

Nothing compares to the Fetes des Lumieres in Lyon.