travel to cities in Europe
August 28, 2010 2:13 PM Subscribe
europe-cities is a beautifully organized, practical site for information about traveling to cities in Europe. All the information is in one place: info about specific cities, cuisine, history, overview information, weather, a variety of cultural interests from English Christmas Markets to Hungarian culture. And, best of all, finding the cheapest/best places to stay.
To make it easy to search for cheap places to stay in Venice l Vienna l Zurich l Stockholm l Rome l Prague l Paris l Nice l Munich l Manchester l Luxemburg l London l Lisbon l Krakow l Istanbul l Innsbruck l Helsinki l Glasgow l Geneva l Frankfurt l Dublin l Copenhagen l Bilbao l Berlin l Barcelona l Athens l Amsterdam l Milan
(for flights, this MeFite comment)
To make it easy to search for cheap places to stay in Venice l Vienna l Zurich l Stockholm l Rome l Prague l Paris l Nice l Munich l Manchester l Luxemburg l London l Lisbon l Krakow l Istanbul l Innsbruck l Helsinki l Glasgow l Geneva l Frankfurt l Dublin l Copenhagen l Bilbao l Berlin l Barcelona l Athens l Amsterdam l Milan
(for flights, this MeFite comment)
Granted, I am a jaded ex-tourism industry bitch, but meh for Rome. Looks like another affiliate aggregation site with the usual bland pat SEO-ed text caged from multiple guidebooks.
Knowing about the various commissions taken by booking engines and their ilk, I always try to book directly with Mom & Pop's Cool Cheapo Accomodations; profit margins in budget accomodations can be narrow enough without a 20% middleman commission on top of things.
posted by romakimmy at 4:31 PM on August 28, 2010
Knowing about the various commissions taken by booking engines and their ilk, I always try to book directly with Mom & Pop's Cool Cheapo Accomodations; profit margins in budget accomodations can be narrow enough without a 20% middleman commission on top of things.
posted by romakimmy at 4:31 PM on August 28, 2010
They've omitted Köln, which does not bode well. And I 2nd romakimmy... smells very SEOy.
posted by bruceo at 7:29 PM on August 28, 2010
posted by bruceo at 7:29 PM on August 28, 2010
English Christmas markets is an odd choice to highlight, with some exceptions, most are just recent copies of German Christmas markets. Not necessarily rubbish but you'd be better off in Germany.
posted by biffa at 2:05 AM on August 29, 2010
posted by biffa at 2:05 AM on August 29, 2010
I would be extremely wary of this site: the entry on 'Leeds' is illustrated with Leeds Castle, which as any local or visitor will tell you...is actually 250 miles away in a completely different part of the country (and best visited from London)! There are other rookie mistakes - the hotel selection is very odd, and frankly even wiki will give you more detail on the local attractions and museums. It may be more accurate for countries other than the UK, but I would certainly not use it.
posted by AFII at 3:35 AM on August 29, 2010
posted by AFII at 3:35 AM on August 29, 2010
At the risk of piling on, I agree with the general criticisms above. The London entry is two years out of date (in that it lists Livingstone as the mayor), and the attractions it lists seem strange, and not really the best of London (there's a St Patrick's Day Parade? Who knew?). Then there are some basic errors (Arsenal London and Chelsea London are the names of football teams? Really?).
It looks better for accommodation, though it's a bit slow. I'd probably stick with lastminute.com or tripadvisor.com or hostelworld.com or Google Maps (if I know the area I want to stay in).
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:50 AM on August 29, 2010
It looks better for accommodation, though it's a bit slow. I'd probably stick with lastminute.com or tripadvisor.com or hostelworld.com or Google Maps (if I know the area I want to stay in).
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:50 AM on August 29, 2010
The pages for Helsinki are very thin, and when you click on Eating out it gives you only a list of bars (no restaurants), at least one of which closed a couple of years ago. This site is really not worth anybody's time.
posted by keijo at 6:28 AM on August 29, 2010
posted by keijo at 6:28 AM on August 29, 2010
This is a bad web site and you should feel bad for posting it. :)
Seriously, though, it is pretty bad. The first city I chose, Florance, had an error message. I decided to look at London hotel prices and to get to a page with actual prices you have to click through 2 pages.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:02 AM on August 29, 2010
Seriously, though, it is pretty bad. The first city I chose, Florance, had an error message. I decided to look at London hotel prices and to get to a page with actual prices you have to click through 2 pages.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:02 AM on August 29, 2010
Yeah. The Hungary entry is strangely put together, with odd grammar, and lacks any real feel for the country. Redigested Wikipedia, perhaps.
posted by Michael Roberts at 11:22 AM on August 29, 2010
posted by Michael Roberts at 11:22 AM on August 29, 2010
May I add to the pile-on?
London > Useful Information > "Mayor: Ken Livingstone." Oh dear.
"the British capital is often referred to as the Green City" ...as a Londoner, I've never heard of this.
...etc. etc.
posted by normy at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2010
London > Useful Information > "Mayor: Ken Livingstone." Oh dear.
"the British capital is often referred to as the Green City" ...as a Londoner, I've never heard of this.
...etc. etc.
posted by normy at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2010
"The countryside of England hides many areas of outstanding beauty and it was an inspiration for such great artists as Emily Bronte, J. M. W. Turner or John Constable"
One of these is not like the others.
What a strange website. Is this what a content farm looks like?
posted by normy at 11:33 AM on August 29, 2010
One of these is not like the others.
What a strange website. Is this what a content farm looks like?
posted by normy at 11:33 AM on August 29, 2010
Well, *hangs head and waits with trepidation for negative pile-on
I have to admit it was not for the cultural information that I like this site so much. It's because it offers extensive info about the cheapest places to stay, lots of them in every city, from 19 Euros on up with pics. Not just hostels but pensiones, bed and breakfast places, little hotels. I had no idea those prices were possible in Europe any more.
Example, I could visit Barcelona and stay at a bed and breakfast, dormitory for 14 Euros. Or in the city center for 39 Euros. Or a huge list of places to stay in Berlin for 10 Euros a night and up. Rome for 18 Euros, Sorrento for 25 eu. I was impressed with that.
Not only does that make Europe a place I can afford to visit but the site does have maps, weather and basic (although yes, flawed and flimsy, info).
If there is another site that has all in one place general info, maps, weather and an extensive list of cheap hotels in every major city and many other smaller towns in Europe with easy booking/calendar etc, may I sincerely request somebody shares the link as a way of putting this site into perspective.
posted by nickyskye at 5:25 PM on August 29, 2010
I have to admit it was not for the cultural information that I like this site so much. It's because it offers extensive info about the cheapest places to stay, lots of them in every city, from 19 Euros on up with pics. Not just hostels but pensiones, bed and breakfast places, little hotels. I had no idea those prices were possible in Europe any more.
Example, I could visit Barcelona and stay at a bed and breakfast, dormitory for 14 Euros. Or in the city center for 39 Euros. Or a huge list of places to stay in Berlin for 10 Euros a night and up. Rome for 18 Euros, Sorrento for 25 eu. I was impressed with that.
Not only does that make Europe a place I can afford to visit but the site does have maps, weather and basic (although yes, flawed and flimsy, info).
If there is another site that has all in one place general info, maps, weather and an extensive list of cheap hotels in every major city and many other smaller towns in Europe with easy booking/calendar etc, may I sincerely request somebody shares the link as a way of putting this site into perspective.
posted by nickyskye at 5:25 PM on August 29, 2010
Yes, describing Soho, Brick Lane and Chinatown in London as 'off the beaten path' is strange to say the least. A lot of their shopping destinations are no longer open. "The Tesco chain sells canned wine." Chessington is way out of London and doesn't have many 'favourite cartoon characters.' "Home of the Chelsea London and Arsenal London football teams...Hyde Park attracts horseback-riding enthusiasts."
"The city is situated on river Mercy, at its estuary. It's centre of borough. The population is about half a million. People who of Liverpool are called formally 'Liverpudlians' and informally 'Scousers'. They have very distinct and difficult to produce accent called the Scouse."
It needs a very good editor before it could be remotely reliable.
posted by mippy at 3:30 PM on August 31, 2010
"The city is situated on river Mercy, at its estuary. It's centre of borough. The population is about half a million. People who of Liverpool are called formally 'Liverpudlians' and informally 'Scousers'. They have very distinct and difficult to produce accent called the Scouse."
It needs a very good editor before it could be remotely reliable.
posted by mippy at 3:30 PM on August 31, 2010
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posted by event at 2:53 PM on August 28, 2010