Dubrovnik: Go! Beautiful and small city, well worth the visit.
- There is a bus that takes you from the airport directly to Pile Gate in Dubrovnik. It's worth taking and saves over taxis.
- Recommend staying right in the old town: http://www.booking.com/hotel/hr/alberto-apartment.en-us.html?aid=325635;label=yho748jc-review-xu-244c10c141de89b7-XX-unspec-us_az-com-L%3Axu-O%3Aunk-B%3Aunk-N%3Ayes;sid=aec11318ea1e9edddd504c7d0ca969ef;dcid=4
- We LOVED this place. Alberto met us at the gate and walked us in (Dubrovnik is a little maze of tiny streets and alleyways that look like streets!)
- It does have a balcony, full kitchen and can sleep up to 4 (double bed, and two singles with two bedrooms.) The balcony was the true appeal. Recently renovated. There is a small studio apartment available as well.
- Quiet place off the center, behind the Cathedral. Alberto showed us around to orient us and made very good restaurant recommendations: Taj Mahal (bosnian cuisine), Restaurant Kopun. Additionally we went to: D'Vino Wine bar, Dalmatia Konoba (local cuisine), Gaffe Irish pub, and all were wonderful.
- Things to do
- Mount Srd cable car and walk
- Walk the wall surrounding Dubrovnik
- Day trip to Mostar- BEAUTIFUL Unesco World Heritage site. We chose Metro Tours based on tripadvisor reviews, and they have a location right on the main street in Dubrovnik old town. Long day but well worth going to (and you tick off another country, Bosnia-Herzegovina!)
- Walk all around the old town. The city is very small and there is a lot to explore: two monestaries, a synagogue, museums. A day trip to the neighboring island was recommended, but we didn't due to the rain.
- We spent three days plus an evening, and this was more than enough time to see the city. For those who like to move, a day would be enough plus a day trip. No cars are allowed in the old town. Note: there are a LOT of steps.
Amsterdam:
- My friend who lives there characterizes Amsterdam as a large village, and I agree. It's very walkable, public transportation is easy and walking along the canals is beautiful.
- Restaruants:
- Tomo Sushi- yum!
- Moeder- local cuisine, very good!
- &samhoud- yum! We went to a yelp event here and stayed for a four course meal; unsure if this is a general offering but it was amazing. The restaurant itself is beautiful though quite expensive, but they do offer a 'street food' menu during the day which is affordable and looked quite good.
- Things to do:
- Anne Frank House- powerful and well done museum with a heart-breaking story
- Rijksmuseum- incredibly well-done and lots of amazing pieces
- Sex Museum- interesting and guaranteed to make the fair blush
- Walking along the canals to see the beautiful views, collections of many bikes, and the houseboats
- Koekenhof- incredible gardens of more tulips and other flowers than you've ever seen. Even slightly off-peak time, it was incredible
- Zaans Shane- windmills. Quaint small town with 6+ working windmills. Some cute shops to walk around in, and check out the stroopwafel (syrup waffel.) Yum!
- Red light district: no trip to Amsterdam would be complete without walking this area at night. You'll feel like you're back at a college frat party again, the only difference being the red lights!
Paris: the most beautiful city in the world (in my opinion). This was my first repeat, and with only two days, I had certain things I wanted to see again.
- Hotel: stayed at Hotel Design Sorbonne- very cute boutique hotel right across the street from the Sorbonne. Great location. Tiny room but well appointed-- I had forgotten how tiny paris hotels are!
- Things to do:
- Notre Dame- we didn't climb this time but the views are amazing
- Rodin Museum
- Palais du Luxemburg/gardens: worth a quick walk around as we stayed closeby
- Pantheon and St Etiene du Monde: St Etiene is one of the most beautiful churches I've seen (and I'm obsessed with churches!) Right behind the Pantheon. Unfortunately closed when we went.
- Montmantre and Sacre Coer- a hike but worth it. Montmantre is a beautiful and quaint area and Sacre Coer the highest part of Paris with amazing views. Gets very busy but gorgeous. There is also the cemetary here where Jim Morrison and other famous peeps are buried.
- Picasso Museum- it was closed when we went, but I saw it the last time and it's worth the trip. It's in the Morais neighborhood which is very pretty as well.
- The Louve- magestic museum impossible to be seen in one or two days.
- Worth getting the Carte de Musee (museum card) if you enjoy museum. It allows you to not wait in the long queue for many places, and allows multiple entrances-- a great advantage for the Louve
- Musee D'Orsay- beautiful smaller museum (though not small by any means!) with an impressive collection of impressionist paintings
- Arc de Triumph is worth seeing as well, and climbing to get some amazing views.
- Versailles
- Dining:
- Laduree- macaron. Hands down the most amazing thing EVER.
- Le Coup-Chou- just as amazing as I remembered from over ten years ago. Quaint, low ceiling with beams, fireplaces, small rooms and incredible food (duck was fantastic!!)
- Domaine Lintillac- four in Paris, very good food and pretty affordable
- La Ferrandaise- they do a three-course tasting and it was incredible. Very small place and they pack you in. The food and service were great though not inexpensive.
- Recommendations: get a cheese plate and some wine. The selection is often huge and amazing! also, paris is known for apertifs (pre-dinner drinks) and digestifs (after dinner.)
- Jazz- the jazz in Paris is well-known. We went to Le Petit Journal, a small jazz club in the Latin quarter and were not disappointed (note: they charge a ridiculous amount for your first drink, and successive drinks are much less. It was something like 20E for a small carafe of wine!)
Have fun!!
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