04-21-2008, 08:52 PM
Quote:Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I'm living close to London at the moment, so if you want to go for a pint give me a shout. :)
London has great museums and most of the big ones (the ones you really want to visit) are free.....this is great because you can pop in for an hour and if you don't like it you go to another one.
Most special is probably the British museum which has so must stolen stuff from Egypt, Assyria, Greece etc. that you wonder if they still have something left in those countries. Seriously it is fantastic. The national gallery, Tate modern gallery, Imperial war museum are also very good but if you visit museums often (and you go to some pretty nice places on your tour) you might get tired of paintings.:D
If it is your first time you might want to take a open double decker bus tour (hop-on hop-off). Awfully touristy but a quick way to see most of the landmarks like tower bridge, big ben etc. (things that actually are not very great, but they are famous, so a 1 minute look from to bus is enough).
For food, try some Indian or Bengali, and have lunch in pubs (the food there is not fantastic but they have at least some atmosphere).
London is fantastic for shopping, but very very expensive, so don't take you girlfriend to Harrods, Selfridges, Regent Street, Oxford Street and Carnaby street.
On saturday or sunday you might consider an afternoon tea (with champagne) in one of the 5 star hotels (reservation necessary) (will be around 35 pounds pp but very romantic).
Amsterdam: nice relaxed atmosphere, just walk around...if you feel like it go and smoke some weed (never did it but supposed to be the best in the world). The famous rijksmuseum is closed so you will have to queue up for the van Gogh museum (very nice but too long lines)
Rhine valley; two words, white wine
Luzern;?? nice swiss town, but don't know much about it. (try the fondue)
Innsbruck; same as Luzern but than in austria....better for winter
Venezia: very nice but careful of the restaurants, expensive and unfriendly staff (goes for all the tourist places in Italy).
Rome: the high point of your trip...the most beautiful city on earth. Just be careful not to fall over historic structures and watch your wallet. Try to visit as many things as you can, forum romanum circo massimo, trastevere terme di Caracalla, colloseo vaticano (the sistine chapel only is open in the morning if I am correct). For restaurants try to find something a bit away from the main streets and not too close to the famous buildings. (look for trattoria or osteria, for typical food and nice atmosphere).
Firenze, almost as nice as Rome. If you want to visit the Uffizi (and you want that) book in advance otherwise prepare to stand in line for hours. Go up the Duomo.
I have not been very often in France, except for Paris. It is comparable in London in a certain way, only the food is generally a lot better.:)Visit your famous landmarks, and because you will be there a bit longer go to the Louvre and musee d'orsay for sure. Try onion soup.
For the bigger cities don't go really to the outskirts...nothing to see and often a bit rougher.
I hope this chaotic piece of text helps you a bit. If not I can explain some more if necessary.
I think you will have a nice holiday. (at least if you don't land on terminal 5 in London :blink:)