Travel Forum / Destinations / Europe / October 2003

I'm looking for ideas on Homestays, Hostels, Cheap/Budget travel in
Europe.
Places, websites, etc. I'm a 24 year old college grad from the East
Coast. I'm thinking about doing the whole "Eurail/hostels/backpacking

Has anyone here had experience (good or bad) with this booking
service?  I've searched but haven't turned up much so far.
Darby Jo

My parents are considering going to Barcelona for a few days over
Christmas - arriving on the 25th. I was wondering if people know
whether there will be much to do in the city during that time. In
particular, will the restaurants, bars and tourist attractions be

The few German language CDs I've heard always pronounce
the personal pronoun for the English 'I' as ich, making the sound
of ch in the back of the throat.  My latest conversational class
has a teacher that pronounces it as ish (the last three letters from

Just wanted to ask everyone a quick question about getting from the
airport to the Piazza Navona area.  My wife and I will be arriving in
Rome on Nov 8th, 2003 at 8am and I was wondering if it is better to
try the train or grab a taxi.  I realize the taxi is going to be more

I was booking train tickets this morning on Rail Europe's website.  We
always get reservations along with the tickets, and had no problem on most
of our legs.  However, from Siena to Rome, the website reported no
reservations available.  Does anyone know, is that just for this ...

I have been several times in london. in Bayswater, Marble Arch or Nothing
Hill area. This time, Im planning to travel there again and have found a
nice hotel in Victoria area, just in Belgrave Road.
Is this area safe?... Are there any pubs, restaurants, etc to dinner?.

In London and Paris, can you use locally purchased phone cards to
make international calls from a cell phone equipped with a
British or French SIM?  Would the call be charged as a local
mobile call to the local access number and then the international

Looking for reasonably priced twin room for 1 or 2 nights next month.
Must have off street parking.
Need to be able to get to and back from NEC ( after show) by public
transport. Would also like to be able to get into City centre by Public

I see from the DB timetable that most trains from Vienna to Bratislava
terminate at Bratislava Petrzalka station now, and that this station
appears to be in the middle of nowhere.
Are there regular trains onward from there to the main railway station, or must

After listening to the Savvy Traveler on Sunday, DH got a bee in his bonnet
that we need to go to Switzerland, and that we need to use this outfit:
http://www.swissmadetours.com/  I've been to Switzerland before (without
him, when I was much younger) and loved it, but I thought I'd ...

We are planning a trip to Rome and are trying to decide in which area of the
city to stay.  Because it's a very important ocassion (15th wedding
anniversary), we want to say at a *very* nice hotel.  Those seem to be in
the Via Veneto area, but we are wondering if we'll be doing a ...

[My apologies if this is a duplicate post; the first attempt, several
hours ago, doesn't seem to have gone through yet...]
We're planning a week-long trip to France this coming winter.  We're
going to start our trip in Paris -- spending about three days there --

...brought to me from paris. ooo la la, yummy!

We are planning a trip to Paris next March (2004) and are considering
renting an apartment for a week.  Are there arrondissements that
should be avoided?
Has anyone rented an apartment from an owner or an agency and had good