Amsterdam, Spain, Portugal, London

[davidI]

In 3 days I'm headed to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Granada, Seville, Lagos, Lisbon, South Hampton and London. Does anyone have any "must-sees" or favourite bars, museums or other sites I should check out?

I haven't had much time to plan my trip so I'm not familiar with what's worth checking out in each city. I'm a 50/50 traveler in that I spend 50% of my time checking out the sites and 50% of my time partying (getting wasted / picking up chicks) so I'd like to hear about any good experiences!

[ashee]

I stayed in Madrid for 2 weeks and I loved it there.
You should check out the zoo, it's really neat the animals have little to no caging and you can almost touch the giraffes! There's dolphin and sea lion shows and you can rent mini cars to drive around in. Take the Casa de Campo (green) line all the way to the end and walk down the hill.
Do not go to the club WIND it is a really strange bar with terrible music, Puerta del Sol has a pretty good night life though. Oh and don't head to the clubs until at least 2am, we go to the club at 12:30 and we were the only ones there until 2....
You should also check out the Palacio Real, it is emmaculate inside and if you say you're a student it's only 3.50euro to get in, take the Moncloa (yellow) line to Plaza d'Espana, walk away from Gran Via and you should see the palace. A bull fight or Real Madrid stadium too....

Valencia you def need to check out the Science City it is crazy! The buildings are so wicked and they have some neat stuff inside. The beaches there are super nice as well, we went to Playa de Levante o Malvorrosa and there's a ton of beach front night clubs along the strip there.

London if you want to find a good party or some good shopping go to Soho/Picadilly Circus, always lots of people and lots to do there. Buckingham Palace is good to see but if you don't care about seeing the changing of the guard (11:45am everyday) avoid it, there are SOOO many people you don't get to see much and it's more irritating than anything. St Paul's is a MUST see, an amazing building inside and out it's about 8 pounds to get in I think? (again ask for student pricing) You can walk right to the top of the dome and it's about 500 spiral stairs, well worth it. The hostel we stayed in (Hostel 639) was really fun, all young people and there's a bar attached to it with people always partying.

Seville was one of my favorite cities, it was 37 degrees when we were there, so bring sunscreen =P Plaza d'Espana is a good sight to see, the bull ring, the university, Expo grounds... a good way to figure out what you want to see is by getting on the Sight Seeing tour bus which drives you around to all t he sights and explains what everything is and lets you get off to go look at them and stuff and catch the next bus, that's what we did because we didn't really know what to see... Wandering the streets is always good too, there are tons of windy streets that lead to neat little shopping areas and resturaunts.

Granada you have to see the Ahlambra, go early though because the available tickets to see the palace are limited and usually sell out by 2pmish. The cathdreal is also a must see, and go for tapas when you're there. You can take the sight seeing bus here as well, they're good for the smaller cities.

[davidI]

Wow, thanks Ashee. I'm printing your post and will use it to figure out my days when I'm all blurry eyed and hungover!

Does anyone else have juicy tips?

[ashee]

You should try and check out Alicante if you can, it's just a bit further south of Valencia along the Costa Blanca and it's a lovely city, the people are so friendly there and the beaches are emmaculate!

[pints]

If you're in London definetly check out Greenwich, you'll get some amazing shots and has kind of a small town feel to it. The Imperial War Museum is good if your into military history and has really good exhibits. The Science and natural History Museums are also worth checking out. I wouldn't reccomend the hop on hop off tours as they cost quite a bit and most of the attractions are along tube lines, heavily serviced bus routes and within close walking distance of each other. I think you can also take tours of the football stadiums if you're into that. There's alo a McVities biscuit factory in North London, but I didn't get around to check if they did tours. If you want to keep some of your costs down Tesco's and ASDA do cheap groceries/sandwiches and theres a chain of pubs called Witherspoons that do 2-for-1 pub entrees. The Walkabout pubs are good craic if you like partying with the aussies. If you want to shop without the crowds catch the 89 bus up to Brent Cross (you can catch this from Oxford Street) in North London, they've got most of the same shops as Oxford Street but minus all the tourists. The Generator Hostel is a good place to stay, there's a bar and a ton of people to party with.

[JAYMEZ]

Amsterdam - Stay in the "Flying Pig Downtown" its about 200meters from the Red Light district and you can check out all the boobies and what not , its also 50meters from the Sex Museum. Defiantly go see a live sex show , its fuckin hilarious , it was 20 euros and you had 1 hour of UNLIMITED Drinks! (Also all the munchy food in the world hah)

London - Obviously your going to go see the Castle and the bridge (Make sure you purchase a "Oyster card" , its for the subway (Put 10 pounds on it to start) .. Go to Soho and check out the night life (Dont go down the rainbow road unless your interested in gay bars) , also defiantly check out Ministry of Sound , i had a freakin blast there (Pete Tong was playing)

The British museum i believe is free and there is alot of cool things to look at (Egyptian , Chinese ect ect) ... Greenwish is pretty cool , my sister lives there so im kinda bored of it.. They had a really cool 1600 Boat there that you could go on , but someone just tourched it 3 days ago!! .. They also have a really cool Military base in Greenwich that you can check out , its also the where times start haha , they have the observation thing you can see (lots of people play footy in the park)

Edit: Also if you can , defiantly check out the Shakespear stuff!!

Umm Spain.. Ive only been to Ibiza , so unless your going there , i dont know didly about it!

[ashee]

In London Camden Town is a good area for markets.

[94SSEi]

Barca: I recommend staying at Kabul Hostel if you're looking for a party. Decent bar with cheap beer there to pre-game (3euro for a litre), and it's right on La Rambla, where all the bars/clubs/food are. Really close to the beach and decently priced (22 euro per night for a dorm room).

Right off La Rambla there is also an amazing Fruit Market. Cheap and delicious, you can eat most of your meals there (if you are on a budget like I was).

Don't bother going into Sagrada Familia, it's 8 euro and all you can see is scaffolds pretty much.

On Calle de Mallorca (street near Sagrada) there is a really cool bar called Dow Jones. Basically the prices of drinks fluctuate based on demand, and there are little screens that tell you the increase in price, decrease etc. Once it is decently busy (about midnight, don't go out much earlier), the "market crashes" about every half hour and the prices hit rock bottom. Can get a half litre of Paulaner for 2 euro or so, Mojito for like 3-3.5, but you have to get up to the bar in the 5 minute span, then the prices go back to their starting point and fluctuate again. I know it sounds like an involved process, but it's a good place to start before going to a club.

Don't go to a club until 130-2 or you'll be the awkward early guy...everything in Spain happens a lot later. Dinner is usually around 9...



Madrid: Can't recommend much, but I think that is because we had a car and driving there pretty much taxed us (side note: anyone on here that thinks they are a good driver has nothing on drivers in Madrid! :P). The one place I can recommend highly is a little Tapas bar called El Tigre. It's around Plaza Chueca downtown, on a street called Calle de Infantes. Either way, if you get to Chueca (there is a Metro stop of the same name), ask someone that looks local and they will know as it is well known to locals. Get there a bit early (around 830-9) cause it gets packed quick, and it's small. Stay away from the Tapas labelled "Oreja" (as it is Spanish for ear), we think it was pig's ear but either way it was nasty (according to my roommate, I'm a veg so that payed off). Can recommend trying the Patatas con Bravas, potatoes in a delicious sauce.

Order a drink called a Calamotcho (not sure of the spelling), it's half red wine and half coke. Sounds weird I know, but it's really good, really refreshing, and in the future a good way to down cheap, nasty red wine.

I just got back from a roadtrip there with my roommate, we were in Valencia too, so if you have any more questions PM me. Enjoy the trip!

[Mckenzie]

Amsterdam- the flying pig seems to be the place to go if you want to party and stay with younger people. That being said, the red light district is a dive and a bit sketchy. Check out a live sex show and make sure you go to the 4:20 Cafe or Hillstreet Blues for some special times. If you head out of the red light district you will see the city clean up considerably and it gets much nicer....some cool parks, etc.

London- Westminster Abbey and St Pauls are a must see.....absolutely incredible. You have to go to the top of St Pauls too. Other places are the Imperial War museum (world class museum with amazing exhibits), the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeares Globe Theater and the London Museum.

Spots to see- Piccadilly, SOHO, and all cool spots along the Thames.

All in all, what a cool friggen city.

Barcelona- The cleanest hostel in the city is Pere Tarres. It is right in a modern commercial district and the building is virtually brand new with a ton of rooms. I met some super cool people there that I eventually ended up travelling up the coast to Nice with in a car. It is a transit ride away from La Rambla (an absolute must go every night).

You should also see-

Gaudi Park (unreal place- world famous park with incredible architecture)
Segrada De Familla (see it on the bus tour)
Coastal Fortress (cannot remember what it is called)
Christopher Columbus Museum



Other points- Take the bus tours as they are a great way to see the city with professional tour guides and you can also benefit from discount tickets and maps of all the cool spots. Take tons of pics and be the biggest tourist you can be- spare no expenses- enjoy it for all its worth because you probably wont go back anytime soon. And if you can, book the hostels from this website as they are the cream of the crop for accomodationsl.

http://www.famoushostels.com/

Have a wicked trip David!

[forced14]

When in Barcelona also take a walk up to the Olympic Area. It has a great view of the city and is just a cool place to walk around.

As for bars in Barcelona, we ended up doing a pub crawl for 20 euro. Cant remember the name of it off the top of my head but it was awesome. If you are staying in a hostel you might not need to do the pub crawl because you meet so many cool people there, but we were in a hotel and met alot of cool people on the pub crawl. It also took us to a club and another bar closer to the beaches which was pretty cool.

I only ended up staying in Amsterdam for two nights but they had one pretty cool and large park to walk through although at night it looked pretty shaddy... And keep in mind that in the red light district the cater to many different peoples tastes in women/men haha so you might find yourselves walking by those buildings fast.

[ashee]

Sea Point hostel in Barcelona is reasonably priced, clean and right on the beach.

[davidI]

I´m in Valencia right now. Been running into friends from all over the place. Amsterdam was out of control. Smoke, drink, party party party. Good times. Checked out the Flying Pig Beach Hostel in a town called Noordvijk. Very chill place. Barcelona was ridiculous - not sure if we´ll ever be allowed back into that city. Did a pub crawl last night and managed to last for 9 hours. Rolled back into my hostel at 7 am. Usually I do the tourist thing on my trips but this has just been a big party. After 13 days of drinking I think I´ll give my liver a couple days rest and do the tourist thing for a bit. Off to Alicante tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions of what to check out and I´ll try to post up my experiences later in case anyone else was using this thread to help plan their trip.

[ashee]

I'm jealous, I loved Alicante.

[Goo_wak_jai]

YES I'm leaving in17 days to europe, I want to go see pete tong, does he spin there often??

[davidI]

Originally posted by ashee
I'm jealous, I loved Alicante.

Where did you stay there?

[ashee]

With family.