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Eurostar only, where to go?

Not denying that, but Paris is hardly lacking in art galleries. It's not that I don't understand people liking Amsterdam, but I really don't get the level of enthusiasm some people on here have for it.
I find it friendly than Paris.
 
I wonder if you'd think that if you weren't there for the hash, though.

Anyway, last time I anything negative about Amsterdam on here several people got VERY angry and this isn't really the thread for it.
We did Amsterdam purely for kulture last time, no drugs. Mrs tag would go back tomorrow.
 
Eurostar isn’t going south of Paris this year, I looked into it as going to Marseille for the World Cup; given my dad lives in Ashford it could have been perfect. But not to be
 
If you could pick a destination on Eurostar, where would you choose?
Anniversary trip, 2 adults for maybe 5 days in mid July next year.
I guess we could do 2 destinations but would rather not.
We like food, bit of art/museums but not loads.
Happy to wander, get drunk and just spend time with each other.
Neither of us have been to any of the possible destinations.

I’m terrified of flying so train only please.

If you can recommend areas and hotels, even better. I would like to go to Paris but lots of people seem to hate it.
Lille is a nice quick trip


And Amsterdam is great too

 
I've been to Avignon. It's small enough to be mostly walkable, iirc.

Yes, there's Palais des Papes - at one point due to a schism in the Catholic church, Avignon became the headquarters, where the popes were, because reasons. I can no longer remember, but it's interesting.

Nice wine, château neuf des Papes.

There's also an outdoor swimming pool, La Palmeraie, so even though it's not on the coast, you can still get a bit of that kind of holiday vibe by spending a morning/afternoon chilling by the pool on loungers and taking dips.


And if you time it well, you might be there for le bal des teinturiers.

A French colleague had mentioned the rue des teinturiers to me, suggested I check it out, and it was a random coincidence that their annual festival/outdoor event was taking place.

Rue des teinturiers is the old tanneries district, there were some nice little bars and restaurants, we had a great Maroccan meal. And then we followed the sound of some music wandered down some little back streets and found a stage and some live music, a makeshift trestle table bar, and had a great time.

Just did a quick Google search, more info here, le bal des teinturiers is some time in July, apparently, so check the dates and you might catch it.

 
Also, if you wanted to explore wider area, Nîmes is a cheap half hour train ride away from Avignon. There's some gardens, ruins, and also a huge Roman amphitheatre that's still in use, so you might want to check if there's any concerts you might be interested as it's often on the tour schedule for big international stars.
 
Tbh I would go to Paris. I think its fantastic! No bad experiences there for me. Museums great food nice enough people good bars and cheap random arty cinemas you can watch old movies for 4€... plus its just great for cycling and walking and being outside in summer. Plus its very easy to get to and get around.

And if youve never been well... go! If you get bored you could head somewhere else no problem and im sure there's good day trips too...
 
If this were actually true (hint: it's bollocks), add 30% more immigration desks.
Are you saying that its a lie, its not true about them selling fewer seats to keep post-brexit delays under control?
It says that they lack space and staff, for the desks you're proposing, its not like they havent thought about it is it.
 
Are you saying that its a lie, its not true about them selling fewer seats to keep post-brexit delays under control?
It says that they lack space and staff, for the desks you're proposing, its not like they havent thought about it is it.


From that article:

About 350 out of 900 seats are normally left unsold - Tomorrow Amsterdam to London there are 4 trains, the 0747 has space, the other three are totally sold out. Maybe cos they are blocking the seats, yeah? Check the seat map, all seats taken. Their trains are nearly all sold out in all classes, pretty much all of the time.

So let's see who's making these claims..."Cazenave, who has run the group since October 2022" - oh yeah, it's the new boss of Eurostar, who wants to run more trains. Who also claims:

Passengers are now told to arrive up to 90 minutes before some departures - you'd have thought they'd have mentioned it to me then, no?

I have not had a single passenger miss a train or even nearly miss one due to delays at immigration, and I have around 20 passengers a day, every single day use it, if this really was a thing it would have impacted some of those and they'd be straight on the phone for me to get it sorted.
 
So she’s just lying her face off about the whole thing, she’s made it up because she thinks that if she claims to be unable to sell all the existing seats then she will get to run more trains? i dunno obvs but someone with your superior knowledge should probably tell the journalists they've been conned.

I'm glad if its not true because it's shit news if it is, just means trains being even more expensive and happy days for the twats at ryaniar.
 
Another vote for Ghent. It's like Bruges but with some actual life going on, doesn't feel like a film set.

And Amsterdam is great. You can have a brilliant time there and completely avoid red light district and drug scene if that's not your bag. The city is well set up like that. Something for everyone. ;)

Brussels is more interesting than it might first appear. Plus the advantage of Belgium is great bars and beer.
 
Just dont go to Bruges. Paintfully boring. The pretty horses that they have to drag bored tourists around the pretty square have these sort of bibs like a sling attached to them to catch their shit as it falls, so that the streets stay pristine and pretty. I didn't like it there.
 
Just dont go to Bruges. Paintfully boring. The pretty horses that they have to drag bored tourists around the pretty square have these sort of bibs like a sling attached to them to catch their shit as it falls, so that the streets stay pristine and pretty. I didn't like it there.
It's also about 20 per cent more expensive than the rest of Belgium.
 
So she’s just lying her face off about the whole thing, she’s made it up because she thinks that if she claims to be unable to sell all the existing seats then she will get to run more trains? i dunno obvs but someone with your superior knowledge should probably tell the journalists they've been conned.

I'm glad if its not true because it's shit news if it is, just means trains being even more expensive and happy days for the twats at ryaniar.

Glad you mention Ryanair, O'Leary's another CEO of a transport company who claims that Brexit's ruining his business whilst posting 1/2 year profits of £1.2bn.


Oh noes: Ryanair boss blames Brexit for airport chaos and says era of €10 airfares over

Oh: Ryanair half-year profits soar to record £1.2bn amid strong flight demand
 
And Amsterdam is great. You can have a brilliant time there and completely avoid red light district and drug scene if that's not your bag. The city is well set up like that. Something for everyone. ;)

This is right. But for those interested in the cannabis scene - I was there in August. The mayor is REALLY pushing again for a drug tourism ban (weed passes for those with a Dutch address - this already happens everywhere else in Holland). I even got to do an interview on Bloomberg about it. I was fairly strident (and stoned) in my views. So as they haven't yet pushed through the ban, I'm claiming credit.

But it's on the cards, even more so than in the last 10 years since they first started talking about it.
 
This is right. But for those interested in the cannabis scene - I was there in August. The mayor is REALLY pushing again for a drug tourism ban (weed passes for those with a Dutch address - this already happens everywhere else in Holland). I even got to do an interview on Bloomberg about it. I was fairly strident (and stoned) in my views. So as they haven't yet pushed through the ban, I'm claiming credit.

But it's on the cards, even more so than in the last 10 years since they first started talking about it.

It's much more restricted now than it ever was. New York is the place to go for weed tourism, you don't need coffee shops, it's perfectly OK to smoke it on the streets whilst talking to the cops...
 
Is this new? As far as I'm aware, the weed pass is only in the southeast.

You might be right, I thought I was told otherwise but it's not a hill I'm prepared to die on. I know my German friends in Dusseldorf have given up popping over the border.
 
Eurostar are full of shit. They scrapped all the cheap tickets (eurostar snap!) while moaning they cant make any money. Theyve scrapped the direct trains for the south of france. Theyve scrapped using two stations in south east England. Theyre just a useless shell of a company used to collecting money without doing fuck all. Theyve had 6 years to work out the logistics of a passport queue at St Pancras and they cant even do that. Number one obvious thing they should do is introduce monthly or yearly passes. Next obvious thing... make it free to travel from anywhere in the UK with a Eurostar ticket. And what about checking passports when people are already on the train or introducing more eGates?

Dont let this stop you using them (Id love to more its just so spenny) but they make Ryanair look like the pinacle of efficiency. That Guardian article is just an excuse to whine on about Brexit without looking at the deeper issues.
 
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