Hey teamsters,

So I'm doing my inaugural Eurotrip, and I could use the benefit of your cumulative experience/wisdom. My itinerary is as such:

London - 1 more day/night
Dublin - 5 days
Amsterdam - 5 days
Berlin - 5 days
Rome - 6 days
Athens - 6 days
Ios - 5 days

Any secret tips/tricks? Well-loved stopovers and bar-hops from your time on the continent? Help a fellow Massassian out..

By the way, an amusing anecdote to make this all worth your while: in the hostel I'm staying at (YHA London Central) there's a group of Americans staying here. Wonderful, great guys, we play cards and drink all the time. However, the first night we met, one of them attempted a bit of verbal sparring with me for fun. I'm Australian, and he said "by the way, fella, you don't mind if I call you Flight of the Conchords, do you?" to which I replied "you don't mind if I call you guys Canadian, do you?"

DEAD SILENCE. I didn't realise the cultural sensitivity there. You guys obviously still have it out for each other.

I've never been to any of these places!

Boco you hasn't even been to london or dubs what's wrong with you

I don't know what that guy was about, but I certainly wouldn't be /offended/ by being called a Canadian. I didn't realize there was anything to hate Canada for other than beating us at hockey.

i've even been to edinburgh and why wouldn't you hang out with me, anyway???

It's because canadians are hosers. Who wants to be called a hoser?

NOT THE CANADIANS!!!! ...wait, what?

Can't help you out with your other stops, but when I went to London, the coolest not-super-touristy thing I remember doing was looking around Camden Market... I'm assuming that wasn't super-touristy anyway, I hope.

Do you know what part(s) of the U.S. your random American friends were, by chance?

They probably didn't get it.

Crikey, I'm Australian
I'm a real Australian
I'm Australian in London

Allright, so you're going to Amsterdam?
If you're going to smoke some weed, please take it easy. A lot of tourists come here to smoke, get so stoned that they get sick and screw up an entire day.
The Bitterzoet is a really great club to go to, if you're planning on spending some night-time in Amsterdam.

And when you're in Rome, don't buy any gelato in the 'main streets', really expensive and the quality sucks. The same counts for restaurants!

Go to this location to buy some awesome gelato: 41.899209, 12.471816

Why would I have ever been to either of those places?

If it counts I've been to Belfast: Dublin with guns.

I didn't know you could get sick smoking herb..? Anyway, I didn't have any issues, the stuff is pretty quality and the prices are right. Of all the places I went to in Europe, Amsterdam was one of my favorites it really a beautiful place. I can't remember the name of the cafe I went to, but I ran into some Americans there that were from the same town as me!

Are you sure about that, zanardi?

I guess I could have been totally ripped!

Americans and Canadians are ancestral blood enemies. Any American who possesses Canadian ancestry, is found consorting with Canadians or involved in any way with the Canadian heresy is put into "hockey camps" and is never heard from again.

In fact, anyone who has a Canadian stamp on their passport is denied entry into the US. For an American to visit Canada they have to fly through Cuba, which is the only nation in the Western hemisphere sick enough to tolerate those North of the Border scum.

Uh oh does anyone have a basement I can hide in

My favorite nation-jab was (paraphrased) "hey guess what if you scratch an Austrian YOU'LL FIND A GERMAN"

I wish I had still that zmonks comic somewhere.

Looks like I'll be in trouble then come mid-August when I visit Krig the Viking.

PUB == CHANDOS == CHEAP BEER.

It's a Sam Smith's you see.

Ask me about those Germans!

I'll give you some quick comments on the places I stopped on my Eurotrip. BTW, although I didn't go to Berlin, I hear it is very awesome. I'd recommend trying to get down to Munich if you can as well. It seems like you are spending quite a lot of time in each area, but I think if you really pushed yourself that you'd be able to hit up some spots that aren't on your itinerary that are quite awesome, like Munich, Belfast, Florence, Capri, etc.

Dublin - Expensive. Very very expensive. If you can, I'd recommend you maybe split the time and hit up Belfast instead. Much nicer people, very nice city, and very calm, and MUCH cheaper Guinness. Definitely check out the Cliffs of Moher

Amsterdam - Very very busy. If you are into "that", the best coffeeshops (after experiencing many of them) are Grey Area, Amnesia, Blue Dolphin, and I really enjoyed Blues Brothers too if you can find a place upstairs. However, like someone mentioned above, do not go into shops asking "GIVE ME WHATEVER WILL GET ME THE HIGHEST LULZ". Most likely you will end up freaking out all day if you are not an experienced toker. Take it easy, buy a pre-rolled joint at first, and don't be afraid to put it away if you only finish half of it. Especially at the Blue Dolphin, the lady that owns that gets furious at tourists who don't really know anything about weed and ask her questions like "what will get me highest". Also like Ireland, I would recommend maybe checking out some other cities in Holland like Den Haag. It's much less crowded than Amsterdam, but all the same rules apply. Den Haag is supposed to be very pleasant in the summer. I believe trains from Den Haag to Amsterdam are like 7/8 Euro at most, so it's worth it.

Rome - 6 Days is definitley more than enough for Rome. If you push yourself, you can do Coliseum, the Forum, the Vatican, and the Vatican Museum in 2 days. For the coliseum and Forum, you can pay around 20 Euro to get guided tours of both venues, which I highly recommend. It's cheaper than paying separately I believe. For the Vatican Museum, book online so you don't have to wait in outrageous lines. need help might be referring to the place I'm about to talk about, but if you go to the Pantheon , face it, then turn around, there will be a road to the right of McDonalds, and if you keep walking up that and make a right at Via degli Uffici del Vicario, there will be a gelato shop called Giolittis that is one of the best in the world. If you get tired of Rome, try getting to Florence or Capri/Sorrento (DO NOT GO TO NAPLES TO VISIT, ONLY GO THERE TO TAKE THE FERRY TO CAPRI/SORRENTO). Florence is quite classically beautiful and also features a world renowned gelato shop, and Capri is one of the most gorgeous places on the planet. I believe train rides on regional trains are around 20 Euro, and the ferry to Capri is between 8-14 Euro.

Probably too late for this advice, but the cheapest beer in an English pub is almost always quite a bit better than the most expensive.

The last time I was in Ireland, I was about to go into fourth grade. The last time I was in Italy or Greece, I was taking my freshman year of high school off to travel the world. So you'll understand that the scope of my experience in most of the countries you're visiting was mostly limited to whatever my parents wanted to do. I will say that in Greece, you should try to get as much local food as possible. Real Greek cuisine is, in my opinion, unparalleled.

You're going to be in Amsterdam for five days. I've never been, but I was planning to make a weekend of it if I hadn't had an exam the following Monday. If you're not into "that" but like to drink (or even if you just want to take a day off from "that"), I recommend at least a day trip down to Brussels, where you can get some of the best beer on the entire continent. Best bars, in my experience, are Delirium Cafe, which holds the world record for most beers served in one bar, and A La Mort Subite, whose house beers are excellent.

Yes, going to Brussels is an EXCELLENT idea, as well as a visit to Delirium Cafe while you are there. I was there over Christmas, and dear christ I was so ****ing drunk. The beer is just amazing. Delerium Tremens and Nocturn are great

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. FYI, the Americans in question in London were Californians; we held the first international ice war on the streets of Camden that night, culminating in them having to chug a special 1 litre bottle of ice that they sell over here.

I got pictures, and will help you revel in them soonish.

[QUOTE=The Last True Evil]the Americans in question in London were Californians[/QUOTE]

Oh, they were idiots then. I got the joke.

Oh man, sorry TLTE, but when you talk about icing, I can't help but think of this cracked.com column.

...I await the pictures!

(and because I wish to continue playing thought association, this is what I think of when I think of California):

aww bless... Camden is really very touristy these days I'm afraid! Although it's certainly not on a par with going to the palace or tower of London or anything. Camden does at least benefit from being somewhere that Londoners choose to visit as well! But the homogenisation of the shops and market stalls is a response to tourism money that has been coming in.

Damn, oh well. It didn't really matter to me, as I tend to enjoy just about anywhere so long as I'm with good people.

Let me know if you decide to drop by to Budapest.

Icing bros in Europe? You are a terrible ambassador for your country.