jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Im looking for a weekend away in a couple of months and just wanted a bit of information from people that have done it before regarding location, price, things to see, things to do, etc.
Im looking at somewhere like Prague, Paris, Venice, Etc.
Id be either driving or getting a cheap flight or train depending on location and travel costs.
I would like a quiet place but with quite a bit to see both during the day and at night. E.g. Paris - shopping, Eiffel Tower during the day then a restaurant and Champs Elysees at or something like that at night.
Obviously everything has to be pretty close by the hotel or all in one area or a short taxi ride away.
Id be looking to go for 3 days, 2 nights.
Now for the questions 
Can anyone recommend a location and say why you would pick there?
What would you think would be worth seeing in that area?
Would you book it online or through a travel agent?
Id also like to hear both good and bad points of different locations just to get an overall idea of the place.
Cheers 
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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prague is nice tbh, depends what your going for mind (didnt seem the place to go for nights out as such) but plenty of sites to see there just dont go to the famous clock you'll end up thinking is that it?
there isnt a massive amount of stuff to do as in when your at the sites theres not much around as in go in and walk around if that makes sense. but its a nice place to walk around take in the scenery imo, would happily go back though.
paris - bin many times, loads to do like the louve (sp) takes an entire day (actually longer if you took your time, we skimmed through it all in a day), also can catch a train just out side paris and visit palace of versailles (sp) if your into that, then obviously got the roundabout thing which is mental + blackpool tower + notra dam.
prague is the quieter of the 2 places imo as in things to do but it feels busier or did for me as its quite a small place compared to paris.
and everytime i've been its either booked through expdia or booked the flights direct through the company and then called hostels 
[Edited on 29-06-2010 by Matt L]
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Spot on Cheers Matt. Im looking through expedia and Thomson and the others but the average package for a 4-5* is about £550 for 2 people. Which is cheap but do you reckon i would get it cheaper if i booked the flights separate to the hotel? Is it worth ringing the hotel and trying to haggle? Or does that only work on luckylucky men?
[Edited on 29-06-2010 by jibjob]
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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sometimes is cheaper but expedia is normally the cheapest place in all honesty (for me anyway).
could get it alot cheaper if your stayed in hostels mind but if your taking someone with you (female) then they may not appreciate it
oh and paris is quite expensive for food imo although saying that prague isnt in the euro and uses stupid currency which i never worked out if stuff was expensive or not
never tried haggling either may be worth a try but if its a proper hotel doubt they will really change their prices.
[Edited on 29-06-2010 by Matt L]
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Ye i dont think a hostel would cut it somehow
If im honest ive been debating Disneyland hotels but id want to do more than just that and i wouldnt really have chance with only going for 2 nights.
Whats the exchange rate like at the moment? 75p=1 euro?
Id be splashing out anyway if i went so it would probably a Michelin star restaraunt on the second night but McDonalds during the day
Ye i dont think they would change their prices but they could upgrade the room or chuck in extras?
[Edited on 29-06-2010 by jibjob]
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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disneyland paris is errm... (well i didnt like it asmuch as america but its just because of the french lol).
exchange rate = not a clue atm,
mcdonalds ftw i think its france (could be germany) but you can buy beer in there .
worth a shot, i know my cousin (lucky sod) when he went to london got upgraded to the penthouse + waited on for an extra £100 when he went to london because who ever was supposed to be in it cancelled last minute and the girl on reception liked him (even though he was with his gf ) so you never know
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Well ye being French does make it not as good It wouldnt be for me though obviously id prefer to split the time there 50/50 doing things we both enjoyed but i just dont think there would be time to fit it all in.
Ye i dont think dinner matters too much. Just a cheap restaurant next to the river or something but then a nice one at night.
I dont know whether they would go for haggling over the phone though Might get more done face to face. I'll just have to brush up on my french
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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hahah yeah try and speak french first means they are that little bit nicer to you just start of english and they will be gimps in most cases from my own experience
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Well my C and GCSE should come in handy I'll only need to know the basics just so its polite. Like hello, please, thank you etc
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Did you ever pay the hotel tax that expedia go on about?
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mwg
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Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
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Paris is good. I really enjoyed it. But its expensive.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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What sort of prices am i looking at for say a meal or a taxi? Just the normal stuff. Also what added costs are there that might not be obvious such as taxes etc?
Ive already got the baggage allowance at check in and the hotel tax but i cant think of any others.
[Edited on 29-06-2010 by jibjob]
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williamz
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Registered: 29th Nov 05
Location: stoke-on-trent
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Amsterdam! Plenty to see and do there But then again expensive lol
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Not really what i had in mind though
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SportBoy
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Registered: 5th Oct 01
Location: Retford, Nottinghamshire
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i went to amsterdam a couple of months ago .. missus booked it and it was alot better than i thought it would be .. its not all weed and slags and i thought the people there were very friendly without having to speak dutch.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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What is there to do in Amsterdam? How does it compare to Paris for sights?
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Anty
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Registered: 19th Mar 08
Location: droitwich
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center parks
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williamz
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Registered: 29th Nov 05
Location: stoke-on-trent
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i went amsterdam in march for 5 days, was awesome! but i admit i went for the slags and drugs lol But i must admit its a city everyone should experince once in there life
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Right im definately set on Paris now and ive found the hotel and flights. Theres just a couple more questions.
Whats Paris like in August? Ive heard that not a lot is open and all the locals go away for thier holidays so its only tourists.
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
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Most factories/workplaces across Europe have a 2 week shutdown, but thats end of July/early August.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
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Does that affect everything like restaurants and tourist attractions etc?
Edit:
Apparently its the whole of August but only affects shops etc but tourist attractions are still open.
[Edited on 01-07-2010 by jibjob]
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
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I really wouldnt have thought so. Its mostly factories and industry type places.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
User status: Offline
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According to the wonder that is google, its the whole of August and its shops aswell but tourist attractions are still open its just a lot quieter.
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
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Hmm, not sure then tbh. I only know because my Dad works for a Swedish company and he has the same holiday every year.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
User status: Offline
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I'll have to look into it more to see exaclty what is open and whats not. Its about 15-20% cheaper in August.
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