Eastern Ukraine isn’t an ideal tourist spot at the moment.
But the minefields are a banger scnr
The internet has broken my brain.
scnr is a new one on me and in an attempt to figure it out, my brain did not land on the now rather obvious “sorry, could not resist” but “skibidi cap no rizz” as some kind of ironic initialism
I’m gonna go and find some grass now
I only git as far as SNCF, the French railway company. Just a transposition and a single pen stroke away.
git commit -m “Zoomer/alpha humor acronym database extended with new entry for scnr”
I read it as scenario ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I read it as scenery. Probably because the thread is about travel.
“smoke copium, non-resident”?
skibidi cap no rizz
our brains are mush fr 😭
Russia in general also.
Common tourist places during tourist season are usually the worst. I took a 10 day trip to Paris one summer and it was a mix of the most popular tourist places (Louvre, Eiffel tower, etc) and some underground shit my sister found.
Every tourist place was jam packed with annoying tourists, costly and had tons of scammers surrounding it. Every less known place was really awesome, aside from one sketchy neighborhood we had to walk through where we were followed for a while.
I’d also say that Northern Europe has generally been much more pleasant to travel through, for me.
Had a couch surfer stay with us a while in Kuwait. He’d been everywhere. He said that, of all places, Moldova had no redeeming qualities. Granted, things might have changed in 10 years. Does anyone care to weigh in?
Avoid coming, because i hate you
Not sure what answers you looking for, if you want to have a carefree vacation just read some reviews of specific countries and regions.
If you are backpacking or planning a multi-country trip I would check the crime rates of the places, there are many websites with the statistics available, like THIS
As a general rule of thumb popular places and big cities will have the highest crime rates, while smaller cities and countryside the lowest.
Also I would avoid solo trips and backpacking in general in the rural parts of less-developed countries, like Romania, etc.
Pretty much thats it. Europe as a whole is probably one of the safest travel destinations in the earth with some planning and common sense.
Ignorant North American here but I’m now legit wondering what happens to people backpacking-possibly-solo through places like Romania. 😬
Natural hazards like “If you twist an ankle you’ll get no comms service and be eaten by a bear.” aside, of course.
Buddy system is never a bad idea. :)
Nothing happens to them because all the bad parts of Romania aren’t in places where backpackers would go. Only “bad” part of visiting Romania is that tourism isn’t as developed as in other countries. So not as many signs/information/buses to and from places. That also makes lots of places harder to find and reach but also a lot more pristine. Romania’s countryside is one of the best, hands down.
I’d say Romania is actually relatively safe crime-wise for tourists. Comms services are better than in my homecountry (always had 4G on my last trip to Romania even in rural places in the mountains, while I sometimes do not have any signal in German high-speed trains between two large cities). Dangerous widlife is actually an issue. Lot’s of bears, wolfes, snakes, etc. Also bad tourist infrastructure in really rural places.
No problem, its not some golden rule you should follow (especially from an internet stranger) but it’s mainly bad roads, bad economy (poor police/ambulance availability), the little Roma villages/gipsy makeshift living areas, where I would not show up alone with any valuables (similar to gipsy ghettos near big cities) and last but not least wildlife. While bears and other predators are not uncommon, rabid dogs are also a possibility.
Before somebody accuses me hating Romania (its a beautiful country with incredible landscapes and the capital and developed parts are very popular tourist destinations), the above is also applicable for many other europen countries. This is why I strongly suggest doing some research before planning such trips, as the relative safety and enjoyment of a holiday can vary from region to region within a small country. This is why its borderline impossible to give a straight answer to the original post.
Yeah this makes a lot of sense, thank you for elaborating!
I think I understand the idea: Plan things out, have backup plans, have some sense, and one should be fine. You can’t just expect to get a friendly rescue within the hour.
I think this is common here in North America too, for instance, people get into trouble because they treat a National Park like a theme park, and underestimate the realities of the wilderness.
They won’t have maps, or enough water, or will try to pet a buffalo, or poke around in caves, or snap selfies dangerously close to the edge of the Grand Canyon. It’s insane how little they consider the dangers of the wild.
Nothing. Romania is generally fine. I hitchhiked an couch surfed solo. Had only good experiences.
Don’t go to Amsterdam.
Why? Amsterdam is always a great time.
Well, it’s more like we don’t want them to come here.
As an American (but an immigrant), who wants to go to Amsterdam, what can I do to be mindful and not annoying?
Don’t get really drunk or stoned and end up being obnoxious.
Try to be aware of traffic (especially bikes) and of blocking sidewalks/alleys etc. Look both ways on every lane of traffic you cross (including both bike lanes).
Try to branch out your trip from the exact center of the city (or by the train station) and don’t rent an Airbnb inside the city center (they drive up local rents).
If you’re standing on red bricks or red tarmac, you’re probably blocking the bike lane.
If you can’t see the bike lane, it’s likely that you’re standing in it (they aren’t always marked).
As someone planning on going in a year or two, this is really good advice. Thank you.
don’t get drunk and fall in the canal and drown when you’re trying to take a piss
I had a great visit there in 2013. Nearly everyone speaks English, but don’t just assume, ask (in Dutch) if they speak English. Very walkable, with pretty great transit. Lots to see just walking around. Just be a normal person and you’ll be treated fine.
Tbh even if you speak Dutch, they’ll just reply English. That’s the weird Amsterdam behavior
This happens in a lot of countries. For me I noticed it particularly with young people in Germany, and pretty much anyone in Norway.
Can make it slightly frustrating when actively trying to learn the language by speaking with people 😅
I think that’s kinda common in a lot of countries. If you look like you aren’t from there then they will speak in English.
I dont think so. I even replied in dutch and they still continued in English. The only place that ever happened to me
Don’t
Digitalprimate
Oh simply be polite and most of all have a sense of your surroundings/situational awareness, i.e., don’t get in the way. You probably want to spend as little time in the main “downtown” area (roughly central station to the Rokin) as possible.
Although everyone under 80 years old speak near-native English (I exaggerate), you’ll endear yourself by learning to say good morning, good evening, thanks, and please in Dutch and to start conversations by asking “Is English ok?” in Dutch.
Basically just don’t be a jerk and the native Amsterdamers will happily take your holiday money.
True, but also if you go to Amsterdam as a tourist, you’ll end up in the tourist trap places. Shady coffee shops, tours of the red light district, and over priced bars where you have to pay for toilet usage. And you can be rushed through the Anne Frank house for a price.
Fair enough!
It’s still possible, in my opinion, to visit as a “tourist” (I live in Haarlem now, so technically I’m a tourist when I go) and avoid all the trashy stuff. You can seek out the cool little neighborhoods like the Jordaan or de Pijp.
wat is dit nou weer voor onzin?
it’s one of the more friendly capitols in europe
Ten opzichte van welke andere hoofdsteden?
I visited Amsterdam last month and loved every bit of it.
As someone planning on visiting there in a year or two, do you have any advice?
The public transport system will make you feel like you’re in the 2030s. Super simple. Have your smart phone or smart watch connected to a credit card, or just have a chipped credit card, and you boop your way in any transport, you boop your way out and it charges you for whatever distance you traveled.
The hotels are incredibly expensive there and we didn’t take one in the old city, but somewhere at a reasonable distance from a subway station a little further from the city center.
Do not neglect the possibility to bike in the city. We were walking everywhere, or taking trams or the subway, and I wish we biked more.
Boat tours are cool, you learn a lot. Lots of museums to visit. And if you can afford it, try these restaurants for an extraordinary experience : Wilde Zwijnen (The Wild Pig) and Moeders (Mothers).
You can visit Windmills with a 40 minutes bus ride. Pretty nice things to see and to taste (cheese!!!).
Thanks for the advice! I’ll be sure to keep it in mind :)
this is an extremely tourist friendly city. but it’s also filled with drunk pieces of shit at night. they will try to fight you for a cigarette.
Yeah for sure, avoid big groups of British English speaking dudes for sure (and some of my best friends are English and they would agree!)
drunk people are garbage in general but English drunk people in Amsterdam are just fucked
And drugged pieces of shit as well. It’s a horrible city if you don’t do that kind of stuff
I’m reading this at Amsterdam airport. Trying to get the hell away from here asap.
Why?
because they don’t know how to pronounce Schiphol and therefore are probably lost and too touristy to ask for directions
Skelmersdale.
Almost every reason given sounds like a description of my home of Florida.
Feel free to cross post to [email protected] , a laid back discussion community for Europeans
is there a good or suggested community for people looking to move to europe who are looking for advice? or is that place welcome for such discussion? dont want to intrude.
This is definitely a discussion that can take place over there!
France
The news say Eastern Ukraine, though take that with a grain of salt as I haven’t been there personally.
Depends. Are you white? Would you be recognizable as a “foreigner”? In the latter case avoid all of Germanys provinces, especially in the former East. Do not travel alone and be wary of the cops. They are usually the same groups as the local Neonazis.
As a European from elsewhere in Europe, I’m never going back to Milan. Maybe it’s fine if you’re into fashion, but if you’re not there’s not much to look at except a cathedral which resembles every other cathedral, and it’s impossible to get a photo of it without also having a friendship bracelet scammer in the frame, actively harassing you.
All tourist locations in Italy and France have people trying to scam you (and some non-scammers just trying to sell you cheap toys), but Milan is the only place I’ve been to where they’re straight up harassing you non-stop. Go to Pisa instead, it’s super relaxing there and you can marvel at their past mistakes in structural engineering. A far better deal.
Scammers abroad: Troll with randomness. Laugh at inappropriate times. Nod at them while making the eating food gesture. Randomly start pointing down a street like you’re trying to give directions but just shrug. Pick a random sports team name and say, “Gooooo EAGLES!” while nodding and dancing. Basically pick some random thing, pretend they said it, and you’re going along with it.
If they’re pointing to friendship braclets, you say “9 o’clock.” even though it’s 1:30. If they keep doing it, you just laugh, nod, and clap.
My favourite is pretending I’m deaf and making up signing. When they start gesturing, I repeat the gesture in shock. When they nod, I act disgusted like they’re sick in the head.
They will very quickly move on since you’re a waste of time. The more awkward you make it, the better, especially if you’re drawing looks from others.
I just don’t engage. You don’t have to talk back and they get the hint rather quickly that there are more rubes nearby.
That is hilarious but too much effort. A simple ‘Fuck off’ should suffice.
That does work too, but not on the ones that put shit on you and demand payment, usually operating as 2+. Their tactic is intimidation and drama—playing the victim to you—but it can not be beaten if you’re playing the role of a happy idiot, providing random or exact opposite behaviour to what they’re attempting.
One of these guys walked up and gave me a handful of birdseed, prompting a flock of pigeons to come perch on my arms. I most certainly did not hand over the money they wanted for the experience I didn’t ask for and was somewhat disgusted by.
I’d imagine stealing your passport or wallet would be the real goal there.
I’ve used very similar techniques on men in bars who don’t think no is a complete sentence.
I’m well past the age for shame. I will make a fool of myself if it means some twerp will think twice about harassing a woman who’s repeatedly turned them down
I’d never considered doing the same for scammers - great idea! I’m just overly polite and that makes me seem like a target I think.
I have personally yelled, “Fuck off! No means no you fucking creep!” at the top of my lungs in a crowded bar. It was genuine, but over the top so every other person would turn and see them, ruining their chances of “picking up” at that establishment, forcing them to leave.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah I’m fine. That guy just needed to learn a fucking lesson.”
I liked the middle finger statue
Pisa is bad too, it is just the tower and crazy tourist prices.
How about Venice?
Terrible, not a real city, like the other person said, feels more like a theme park for tourists. Already did 20 years ago, last time i’ve been, never going back.
Venice kind of has a Disneyland vibe.
There aren’t any scammers, the place is filled with history, and is relatively well kept and run. The flip side to it is that feels like a theme park at times.
It also has Disneyland prices.
I was in Venice pre-covid. I spent a day walking around and soaking in the sights and sounds. Sat by myself for an hour listening to some guy play the chello. It was beautiful. Never got harassed by street peddlers or scammers unlike in Milan. The architecture was beautiful like nothing else. Its a city trapped in the Renaissance era.
We were in the mood for a chill day, so it was nice to just chill in a park and walk through some random old neighborhoods until we stumbled across a restaurant. There’s nothing chill about Milan, though, at least not where a clueless tourist would find it.
Pisa has a few other places, but you can see the city in a day and not miss anything.
I really enjoyed visiting Cimiteiro Monumentale in Milan. A historic cemetery with lots of lavishishly designed huge tombs. Very few tourists there and no scammers whatsoever.
Funny you should say that; I went to Florence some years back and we took a day trip to Pisa and had to deal with the worst, most aggressive scammers I’ve ever experienced.
We may have just gotten lucky. I also had a great time in Venice once by wandering off randomly and ending up somewhere I can only assume tourists don’t normally go. We bought some fruit off a boat which was both delicious and very affordable, so I assume the target demographic was not tourists. I’m pretty sure that’s not the universal experience of Venice either.
Bude. Don’t go to Bude. There is nothing to see there.
Canary Islands. Great place, but the mass tourism is actually killing them, provoking skyrocketing rent and shortages of power and water.
removed by mod
Indeed. My girlfriend lives there, last time I was over we went to the big demonstration against mass tourism. I felt a bit sick at the airport listening to all the north European pensioners talking about how they rent a place year round for 800€/month just to spend the odd week now and then there. While many locals working in tourism make minimum wage, around 1300€/month I believe.
Hey that’s exactly what my rent / wage split was in the UK last year. The only reason anything got better is that minimum wage went up while my rent hasn’t yet.
how is rent related to tourism?
Airbnbs/rentals drive up the cost of housing.
They should just make short renting of apartments illegal.
Think about it for a second, no, half a second and see if anything occurs to you.
I assume because demand outstrips supply, the “value” of the rental units is inflated and landlords can charge more, pricing out locals
