The travel tips & local knowledge thread

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I’d suggest booking the museum skip the line tix in advance- you’ll still have to wait in line but for much less time- and it will ensure you get to do a lot more stuff while you are there
Re Cinque Terre- hiking between the villages is spectacular- but often some of the trails are closed due to damage- but you can hike what is open and train the sections which are closed
Thank you Matty01! This helps a lot!
 
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Once again I’m tapping into the worldwide Omega Forum body of knowledge.

We’re heading up to beautiful Quebec City in mid-March. It’s probably not the nicest time of the year to go, but it’s school vacation and my wife has a couple weeks off. We have wanted to visit for years. It’s a nice 7.5 hour cruise up from Rhode Island. Everybody else goes south to escape the New England winter; we head north!

We’ll have four nights and three full days in the area, with drive days on either end. I booked a room at A Priori (pictured above), a highly-rated boutique hotel in the old part of town.

Does anybody live near Quebec City? Does anyone have experience and “must see/don’t miss/be sure to” advise - restaurants, museums, sightseeing, hiking, etc?

Thanks in advance!
Pete
 
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https://omegaforums.net/threads/retirement-road-trip.145823/
Once again I’m tapping into the worldwide Omega Forum body of knowledge.

We’re heading up to beautiful Quebec City in mid-March. It’s probably not the nicest time of the year to go, but it’s school vacation and my wife has a couple weeks off. We have wanted to visit for years. It’s a nice 7.5 hour cruise up from Rhode Island. Everybody else goes south to escape the New England winter; we head north!

We’ll have four nights and three full days in the area, with drive days on either end. I booked a room at A Priori (pictured above), a highly-rated boutique hotel in the old part of town.

Does anybody live near Quebec City? Does anyone have experience and “must see/don’t miss/be sure to” advise - restaurants, museums, sightseeing, hiking, etc?

Thanks in advance!
Pete
Pete, I lived there as a teenager and visit regularly. We normally stay at Manoir D’Auteuil. And on our most recent trip I heard that famous people stay at the Auberge Saint Antoine (you are famous, I see you on TCM all the time, Mr. Backus!) Try the Continental for excellent French cuisine. Old world is how Anthony Bourdain described it when he visited. (Google Anthony Bourdain Quebec City). Reserve now. And for Breakfast, well your hotel will have you covered but you can try “La Buche”. You can have dinner there also. Show up hungry. Reserve a bit in advance. For coffee look up Cantook. They have at least two locations. Their coffee is so good that I order some online. But it’s very low key. You may be sitting right next to a bunch of big burlap bags full of coffee beans.

Rue St Jean is touristy. Rue Cartier is about a ten or fifteen minute walk West off Grande Allée and has shops, restaurants and a market.

Keep going West on Grande Allée and you will reach place Ste Foy (there are watch stores in there) and Place Laurier (once the largest shopping mall in Canada).

Your photos show shops below the Chateau Frontenac (also a great place to stay). The Capitaine D’Abord has nice men’s clothing down there. Take the stairs down and come back up with the Funiculaire.

There are several ski resorts - Mont St Anne was the best one when I was a kid. There are Falls (Chutes Montmorency) about 45 minutes East on the North Shore. Driving along the St Laurence river on the old road (132 and 138 if my memory serves me well) will be nicer than taking the freeway on your road trips.

Have a look at my link (if it worked) or search « Retirement Road Trip » on this Forum for more photos from a trip I took last May.

Have fun!
 
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https://omegaforums.net/threads/retirement-road-trip.145823/
Pete, I lived there as a teenager and visit regularly. We normally stay at Manoir D’Auteuil. And on our most recent trip I heard that famous people stay at the Auberge Saint Antoine (you are famous, I see you on TCM all the time, Mr. Backus!) Try the Continental for excellent French cuisine. Old world is how Anthony Bourdain described it when he visited. (Google Anthony Bourdain Quebec City). Reserve now. And for Breakfast, well your hotel will have you covered but you can try “La Buche”. You can have dinner there also. Show up hungry. Reserve a bit in advance. For coffee look up Cantook. They have at least two locations. Their coffee is so good that I order some online. But it’s very low key. You may be sitting right next to a bunch of big burlap bags full of coffee beans.

Rue St Jean is touristy. Rue Cartier is about a ten or fifteen minute walk West off Grande Allée and has shops, restaurants and a market.

Keep going West on Grande Allée and you will reach place Ste Foy (there are watch stores in there) and Place Laurier (once the largest shopping mall in Canada).

Your photos show shops below the Chateau Frontenac (also a great place to stay). The Capitaine D’Abord has nice men’s clothing down there. Take the stairs down and come back up with the Funiculaire.

There are several ski resorts - Mont St Anne was the best one when I was a kid. There are Falls (Chutes Montmorency) about 45 minutes East on the North Shore. Driving along the St Laurence river on the old road (132 and 138 if my memory serves me well) will be nicer than taking the freeway on your road trips.

Have a look at my link (if it worked) or search « Retirement Road Trip » on this Forum for more photos from a trip I took last May.

Have fun!
Thank you, Steve! Exactly what I was looking for!
 
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Thank you, Steve! Exactly what I was looking for!
Pete, once we left the Cantook coffee shop we entered a record store and David Bowie’s Lodger album was staring right at me. So I opened it and saw the photo for myself (thanks for the Fratello article @Robert-Jan ). It was very cold so I was wearing my “Steve McQueen” jacket. (Not a Santa suit).
 
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G’day I’ll be heading to Germany France and Italy for work next month (wine buying for an Australian based wine retailer) I’m lucky enough to have some downtime- some days free in both
Rome and
Bologna
Wondering if anyone has any recommendations of interesting things to do/see/eat in either region?
Am open to day trips too
Cheers
Matt
 
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Hello everyone
I have a work trip next year and will have a couple of days downtime in each of
London
Bilbao
Madrid

I’m wondering what suggestions you can make for touristy activities and great places to eat (not necessarily high end)

Cheers

Matt
 
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Hello everyone
I have a work trip next year and will have a couple of days downtime in each of
London
Bilbao
Madrid

I’m wondering what suggestions you can make for touristy activities and great places to eat (not necessarily high end)

Cheers

Matt

For food in London I never miss St John. Baudry Green is having a moment. La Fromagerie remains epic. All three are excellent, unpretentious, and relatively wallet friendly.
 
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For food in London I never miss St John. Baudry Green is having a moment. La Fromagerie remains epic. All three are excellent, unpretentious, and relatively wallet friendly.
Awesome, thankyou
 
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For food in London I never miss St John. Baudry Green is having a moment. La Fromagerie remains epic. All three are excellent, unpretentious, and relatively wallet friendly.

St Johns rang a bell
Found this, in a rather large ‘to read’ pile, a chrissie gift from my bro who ate there in 2011

have started reading and will eat there next March…
 
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Hello everyone
I have a work trip next year and will have a couple of days downtime in each of
London
Bilbao
Madrid

I’m wondering what suggestions you can make for touristy activities and great places to eat (not necessarily high end)

Cheers

Matt

If you want to eat real Madrid food with a bit of a twist try Taberna de La Elisa: https://www.tripadvisor.es/Restaurant_Review-g187514-d991377-Reviews-Taberna_de_la_Elisa-Madrid.html
Also, Matador, for the vibes and authenticity: https://www.tripadvisor.es/Restaurant_Review-g187514-d990964-Reviews-Matador-Madrid.html

Anyone near Old Forge? We are coming up in May for 5 days and booked a vaca rental through https://www.newyorkrentalbyowner.com/search/adirondack-mountains/old-forge. I'd love to plan ahead and figure out some fun things to do or find any good spots for swimming, foraging, hiking, scenic trails (nothing too difficult or extensive), or cool historical places. And, of course, food recommendations are always welcome!
Edited:
 
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Apt because I am going there next week!
I’ll be there a couple of weeks after you
 
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Siena and San Gimignano are both superb, worth spending a day
Cinque Terre is superb

@Matty01 , I owe you one big time and wanted to say thanks! Your photo spread and advice was spot on and spectacular.
We spent a month in Northern Italy and these were definitely our favorites!
Have a nice, cold Limoncello and send me the tab, Brother!

Maybe we can have a meet-up at the Palio race in Siena?

Photo from San Gimignano:
Edited:
 
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Pleasure- glad it was useful to you (also a nice way for me to remember the trip)

Siena? I may well be there next feb as I need to visit a brunello/chianti/morellino producer who is close by... a bit early for Palio... that said, wine and Limoncello form part of a Paleo diet 😗

@Matty01 , I owe you one big time and wanted to say thanks! Your photo spread and advice was spot on and spectacular.
We spent a month in Northern Italy and these were definitely our favorites!
Have a nice, cold Limoncello and send me the tab, Brother!

Maybe we can have a meet-up at the Palio race in Siena?

Photo from San Gimignano: