I’ve gotta repost this for some of the new members. Some of these questions (highlighted) are just too perfect for questions getting asked in here and in “transport” forum….
 
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1) Do a SEARCH. I know you might find it amazing, but you aren’t the first American to go to London, Paris, & Rome. Others have walked before you, and they (amazingly enough) have posted. You can answer 99 % of your W. Europe questions that way.

2) If you have questions about train times, Deutsche Bahn can help. We don’t know on this board, off the top of our heads, what time the express from Berlin to Munich runs on a Tuesday in April. Deutsche Bahn does. Find the link in our transport forums!!!

3) Don’t start a new post for every question…ESPECIALLY when the first one is still unanswered. You can “reply” to your own post, with more additional comments or questions, and it’s all in one place then.

4) Don’t ask which is better, Florence or Rome. They both suck [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/003.gif[/image])) Just kidding

5) Don’t ask if you can see 10 countries in 10 days. You can, but you won’t SEE any of them. So there’s your answer.

6) This is EuroTrip. Not CHINATRIP, nor FRENCH POLYNESIA TRIP. Thus, questions about places not in Europe (refer to a atlas for clarification) should go in the rest of the world forums, not favorite places!

7) This is not a dating service (DWOP). You are not suave, and “american girls” won’t fall prey to your crap. Go back to some chatroom somewhere.

8) Brugges is touristy in the summer

9) So is Prague. If you go there, it’s not “undiscovered Europe.”

10) Going to Iraq, even if for a fistful of soil, is a BAD idea.

11) The Balkans are a lovely place to go for something more off the beaten path. That said, in August on the coast, it will be shoulder to shoulder people. Europeans travel too….

12) If I didn’t answer your question here…..press the “New Topic” button and go at it….

13) “Which railpass is best for me?” requires an itinerary for anyone to answer.

14) Busses in Europe (just as they do in the US/Canada) suck. Thus, getting the “Europe by Bus” to go all around Europe from London to Greece will suck. Yes, it is cheap, yes, there is a reason for this…

**only possible exception is busses in the Balkans. Sometimes, due to the wars, there isn’t a choice.

15) Yes, theft occurs. But theft also occurs in the USA or wherever you are from. You only hear the horror stories. People always forget how many people go to Europe and have no trouble at all with theft or crime. There are millions of instances of safe travels compared to the handful of “horror” stories. The same logic applies when in your own country: If you are smart, use common sense, and use appropriate safety measures, you will have no problems and your trip will be unforgettable.

16) If you have to ask, “Is this too much for TWO weeks?” then you probably answered your question

17) Give people something to work with instead of just “Italy, Suggestions?”. What are you looking for? quiet beaches, clubs, history…etc. Otherwise you’ll only get an arguement about how many days Venice is worth.

18) Don’t ask 8 questions in your opening post.

19) No matter how many times its been covered before, address ALL QUESTIONS RELATED TO GREECE (i.e. greek islands) to luv the beach.

20) sickboy is always right. If in doubt, you Sir or Madam, are wrong.

21) If you have a question about where to stay, post it in the hostels forum. If you want to know how to get from place a to b, there’s a forum called transport. Bullshit goes in the pub.

22) Give your post a title that tells people what it’s about. “Scandinavia”, “where to go kayaking?” or “southern Europe itinerary” are good titles; “please help”, “itinerary” or “European trip” are not.

23) You will NOT be gassed on the overnight train.

24) Just don’t go

25) Don’t ask if you should wear a Canadian flag pin or some other ridiculous shit if you are an American.

26) Don’t wear a “Bush-4 More Years” t-shirt either [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/001.gif[/image]

27) Is it REALLY worth it to save the couple bucks by staying in a 10-bed hostel room vs. a double/trip/quad? No, prob. not. Do you stay in 10-bedded rooms at home regularly? If so, go for it.

28) 1.35 USD = 1.00 EURO, roughly. Seems to be a complicated concept for many of you

29) Dont ask if you need a money belt to walk around a city in. Maybe for a night train, sure, it’s not a bad idea, but do you walk around at home with one?

30) Rick Steves, while he has one of the more palatable travel programs is a tool. If you are in Turkey like his video, it’s highly unlikely that you will encounter wandering nomads who will invite you in for tea which progresses to nationalistic dancing.

33) When on a night train, follow the steps below for a hassle free trip

a) Enter the compartment immediatly slamming the door shut and securing it with a large 2 X 4 (which you will carry with you of course). Proceed to wrap the door with 10-gauge chains and a padlock.

b) Using duct-tape, seal off all possible airflows from the outside of the compartment. Use plastic sheeting over the window to in effect turn your compartment into a saferoom. This will prevent you well against gassing when coupled with step ©

c) Put on your gas mask. You will not want to remove this at any point during your journey.

d) Don’t show your passport to anyone, not even a border guard. If the “border guard” continues to pressure you, a quick blow to the jaw with the 2 X 4 should work

e) If sleeping in a couchette, utilize bio-hazard spray acquired from the US Dept. of homeland security to clean the area of any pathogens.

f) Do not sleep a wink. Maintain catlike reflexes at all hours of the night. Be ready for intruder to descend from above. Possibly consider reinforcement of ceiling with lead.

g) When getting off train in arrival station, put on full riot gear (especially if arrival station is Prague’s Hlavni Nadrazi). Run at full sprint through the station taking out whatever and whomever is in your path.

34) Most of Europe is crowded in July/August. Asking that question is like asking if Disneyland is crowded during Spring Break. You can avoid this, by going to less touristed places. Some suggestions:

a) Albania. Why not. It’s near Montenegro, Italy, and Greece. [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/001.gif[/image]
b) Minsk, Belarus. Yeah, so it’s ruled by a dicatator/stooge? And so what that your transit visa might cost upwards of $100. You won’t see tons of tourists, that’s for sure.
c) Eastern Republik Srpska, Bosnia.

35) “Where’s the best place to party in _______”. Just like at home, or anywhere, this information usually changes. Chances are that if Let’s Go, or any guidebook for that matter, tells you that a club is the hottest in _______, by the time it is published and all the backpackers go, it has either a)went out of business or b) is filled with drunk and fat 45 year old men looking for backpacking American girls (think DWOP).

36) Deleted due to non-relevance any longer!

37) Luv the beach is male

38) Seraphim is female

39) You can wear whatever kind of clothes in Europe that you want! I tend to hope that most of us travellers are more individualists that the rest of everyone, and we wouldn’t wait to see what someone else does, before doing it ourselves.

40) Unfortunatly both Croatia & Prague are no longer anywhere near “undiscovered.” Thus, when going to either any time of year that is remottly warm outside, it will be very crowded & with the exception of some smaller towns in Croatia, touristy. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go, you should just know what to expect.

41) Backpacking means bringing a backpack AND WEARING IT YOURSELF! [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/001.gif[/image] I’ve seen many girls in Europe travelling with guys who make the guys carry their packs all around. If you can’t comfortably carry it, don’t bring it.

42) Girls…your hairdryers, straightening irons, curling irons, etc will all most likely work fine in Europe. Just get a plug adaptor (the small $2 thing) not the enormous power inverter, as those appliances usually have them built in.

43) When creating a post on this board, for the love of god, make the title descriptive. Don’t use ones like:

“HELP”

As no one will want to help you [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/001.gif[/image] If you instead say “Help, looking for budget accomodation in Brasov” or something like that, in all liklihood, Radu will come to your assistance!

44) The US State Department Travel Warnings are ridiculously over-cautious. Please, for the love of god, don’t follow them to a “T”. For example, the State department has a “Travel Warning” against travel to Bosnia/Hercegovina for the danger of land mines, yet, not one tourist has been killed by a landmine in Bosnia. Just use common sense. In the same thought though, if there is a travel warning, you may want to enquire with your insurance company to see if you are covered in that country, as many insurers policies aren’t valid in “dangerous areas.”

45) Travel warnings by Australia’s foreign ministry can be even more paranoid. They can make a perfectly safe country sound like a war zone.

For a more accurate synopsis of what goes on around the world, follow the news, look up statistics and recent news on different countries, and see what guide books have to say about the countries you plan to visit.

46) The Herr has never made a useful post

47) Most people don’t like Brussels, Frankfurt or Bucharest. That doesn’t mean you won’t like it though.

48) Lots of people, both male and female, have travelled solo in Europe and have been perfectly safe. That doesn’t mean there are no dangers in Europe, but probably not more than at home.

49) Yes, it’s useful to know more than just one language. And yes, some of the locals do speak English. If you find yourself in a situation where you have no common language, sign language and pointing to phrases in a phrase book or dictionary will probably work just fine.

50) You’re not too old to travel because you’re over 30. You’re not even too old to travel because you’re over 70, providing you’re still fit and healthy.

51) You can become rich without any effort through pyramid schemes, as numerous posts on this board have proved

52) People aren’t REALLY from the countries they say they are on this site, unfortunatly Seraph isn’t from East Timor. This is intended to be a joke. In addition, DWOP prob. isn’t from Albania either, even though we all know now that he is a true patriot!!

54) It is certain that DWOP is not Albanian. A real Albanian wouldn’t offer to meet random tourists from a website and oh yeah offer you a job in a cigarette smuggling ring (if he really ran a cigarette smuggling gang, he wouldn’t be so transparent about it). DWOP is using contemporary developments in Albania in order to post jokes. He’s mildly entertaining, but unfortunately I’ve seen some of the newbies taking him seriously.

55) When sending messages to Smackey, remember….“I might be slow responding as i am in kazakhstan at the moment”

56) I don’t know what’s so “good about London” either, I’m not a fan. Maybe I’ll have to try Manchester some day [image]http://www.eurotrek.net/forums/images/smiles/001.gif[/image]

57) Bump is just a way to get this post to stay near the top. Any “new activity” makes it move to the top. This wouldn’t be a problem if we actually had a moderator, or a way to create & maintain “stickies” but we don’t. Thus the reason for this post anyhow.

58) When registering do not misread the fields and instead of a user name enter your E-mail address for all to see. Whoops.

59) FromNorway is also male, but for some reason he doesn’t like to be referred to as “man” or “dude.” It’s odd, but we ask of all of you to comply.

60) Asking ‘where are the best places to get laid’ makes you look really stupid. Chances are (to speak with another poster) that if you can’t manage to get laid at home, your chances are pretty slim abroad.

61) If your “where to get laid?” post doesn’t get answered in Nightlife, post it in Favorites of course

62) FromNorway prefers more cordial monikers such as ‘chief’, ‘tiger’, or ‘Quisling’

63) No matter how many times it’s said, LTB will always be confused for a She, but HE is still to S. Europe what Don is to flights.

64) Polite conversation in bad german with an old man sitting next to you in a train station may result in him poking you with his finger as he excitedly practices his english on you. “Das ist your Arm? Das ist your Head? Diese sind your Ears?”

65) Don’t use giant fonts. It causes people with normal size monitors to have to scroll

66) When you do a “bump” post, once someone else posts a bump or something else, you can go back in, delete your post, and this will help to clean up the board!

67) When someone makes an effort and gives you a lengthy reply, it doesn’t hurt to say thank you (also that will get your post back on top again and maybe get you even more help)

68) Euro-chick paradise is situated in Estonia and Iceland, home to world’s largest concentration of damn HOT blondes.

69) Show yourself of and tell the world by sewing and attaching an American badge or pin onto your backpack upside-down. If not, set it on fire.

70) If you’ve got a question about tours in Europe, Lofton26 is your man!