h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Go over the border to Switzerland!!! We're living about 10 minutes from both France and Germany, you know...

Well that's certainly the idea! It *would* be a silly not to meet you for the sake of 10 minutes, after all

...and another quick recap for those who don't read backlog

Post 1: Yes, that's right everyone, the King is making a royal tour around Europe. Not only that, but I'm doing it during Winter too, specifically to bring joy into the dull, drab months of cold. So what's the itinerary?

Well, I arrive in Paris on the 16th of January, and shortly thereafter embark upon the tour of Europe - or some thereof, anyway. At this stage the destinations include most regions of France, Tuscany (Florence) and Venice in Italy, somewhere or other in Germany, and possible brief stops in Switzerland and Denmark, with a week or so in Finland. Following that, I'll be spending the remaining time (2-4 weeks, depending on how long the tour lasts) in Paris before stopping over in London on Saturday the first of March on the way home.

So... any advice, offers of accommodation, and particularly offers of a h2g2 meet to coincide with the time I'll be in your neighbourhood (or possibly to entice me to extend my royal tour to your neck of the woods) would be gratefully and gracefully received.

Come now, there must be *more* good advice for me, surely!

Well, if you want some advice...

very briefly, Berlin, from personal experience, is a must. Prague, from what i've heard, likewise; I am still looking forward to going myself, but i think Prague is the single most recommended European city.

In England, don't limit yourself to London.

France, likewise, but i realise you don't plan to. Try Chartres if you're interested in Cathedrals. The lower Loire (praps based in Tours) for some great countryside and Chateaux. Bordeaux and the Landes department for the wine-type chateaux, although the Route des Vins over near Beaune is also pretty cool.

If you're over that way don't miss Lyons.

heading south from there check out the Gorges de l'Ardeche and make a stop in Avignon where they have the palais des Papes and generally cool stuff.

that means you're on the way to Marseilles-on-the-med, where you need to amble around by the waterside in the Vieux Port, checkin' out boats and fish (to be eaten, rather than fed regularly)

er, whilst you're down south, there are 'arenas' in many southern towns. I'm not saying you actually have to see bulls stabbed to death for entertainment, but the arenas at Arles, Nimes and other towns are fine old Roman remains, specially Arles (where old Van Gogh was very active, at one stage)

er... well... there's more. Toulouse is sposed to be pretty cool... and then there's the massif central, the alps, the Pyrenees and... well, quite a lot of other stuff...

And got to Belgium! Bruxelles is great, although I don't really have any other European cities to compare it to...

A297128

Yep, I'm definitely not going to limit myself to London in France England I have to, because I'm not going to have the time or money to tour everywhere I want to, which is just about everywhere - I'd rather do it as a dedicated trip. The only reason I'm going to London is because it's an included stopover and at least I get a day to meet some h2g2 friends!

I've heard quite a bit about Prague lately for some reason - maybe all the local travel writers got sent there on a group discount or something It's definitely on the list So is Berlin - in fact, it's really the only particular city in Germany that I've any idea about. The girl I'm travelling with might have more ideas though, as she wanted to go there

Toulouse, the Alps, probably the Pyrenees... in fact, I think the majority of places I'm thinking about in France are Southern/Eastern, other than Paris of course. We'll at least have more time in France than in any other one country, so we'll probably have a fair range of places to go to

Belgium eh? Hmm... maybe. I did mention that I only have 2-3 weeks didn't I? It's the eternal problem, wanting to see so many places but not wanting to just have 2 hours in each city - I can't imagine anything worse, including not getting to see places at all. I'd much rather bank on being able to return another day. Which I will. Hopefully

Thank you both

Saturday 1st March

If you know you are in London then and want a meet up, the best thing to do is to announce it somewhere like: A435791 or possible here: A676901 although more people look at the first one.

When Pierce was over we managed to get more than a dozen people together (see A828821) at a pub called the Head of Steam in Euston, which was easy enough for people to find. It's really not the nicest of venues but you can't miss it.
I could make suggestions for more interesting pubs if you tell me which part of London you have in mind or I'll even point you at places where the focus isn't on if that's what you'd prefer.

Also, don't forget to read this! A672095

Have you thought of reading the Guide Entries on the places you're thinking of visiting? Have a look at the list: C45

Well, I could offer accomodation in the very middle of Germany, Frankfurt that is... It's a 2-room-flat shared by my boyfriend an me, but during Frankfurt Book Fair up to 8 people were visiting us and slept in the living room - no prob, as long as you've got a sleeping bag!

skugga - I *do* have a sleeping bag, but probably won't have it with me - too much bulk, you see. But hey, if we make it to Frankfurt I'm sure we can meet up for a drink or two somewhere

coelacanth - I'll be in London on Sunday the 2nd of March, for roughly 8 hours. I hadn't really thought of a semi-organised h2g2 meet, but... well, I know it'd make Cafram jealous, so maybe I should alert the appropriate people and see what might be able to be organised I hadn't been to the general categories page for some reason, I've just been finding entries willy-nilly - you're far more organised than I And thanks for the link, but I've organised 3 h2g2 meet-ups now Granted, only in Melbourne with a maximum atendance of 5 people, but hey, we do what we can do you know?

Hey, I'm jealous regardless of whether you get to a meet or not!

Awww... but hey, at least you've already *done* some travelling - at least let me catch up, okay?

KC, you'll have to check out Aachen (A356898), too!

Actually yeah, that's somewhere I'd like to go, though I know nothing about it (not having clicked the link yet ) - there's just something about the name

Hey...I think I've been there!

So what's it like then?

For those interested in the France portion of this little tour of mine, Frankie Roberto's trying to set up a Paris meet in 2003 - the thread is F99162?thread=225319 and I'm sure you can find the article from there

KC, we are the lucky people with 2 sleeping backs, at least 4 duvets and amounts of pillows to sell - or to join the Spanish Inquisition at Monty Python's Flying Circus... Just feel free to pop in at any time!

Not the soft cushions!

I mean, thanks

*laughs* You're welcome

You don't have any *gulp* comfy chairs do you?

Tihihiiiii.... *thinks about buying some just for KC's visit*