First time going to Europe, suggestions?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Yes go to Spain heard people are nice.

[cFortyfive]

Driving in germany, going 180 km/h, being signaled that i have to go to the right lane, cause clearly i'm driving too slow. It does get a bit silly but its' also been reduced a lot the places you can go that fast no?

Yeah there are speed limits in a lot of places.
I'd save the trip to Aachen.

[Kalis]

When you go to London the first word of Leicester Square is not pronounced Lie-sester or Lee-caster, it's pronounced Lesta, and Pall Mall is pronounced Pow Mow (as if both rhyme with cow).

Also, don't pronounce any 'H' at the start of words, so Hampstead Hill becomes Ampstid Ill.

As you're only going to be there for a few days, just do the standard tourist stuff - Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Regent Street, Piccadilly, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Harrod's, etc.

London advice: Wetherspoons.(Pub chain)

Why on Earth would you send the poor lad to a Wetherspoons?

[Vestig3]

Mushrooms are generally sold in growshops, taste terrible and are hallucinogenic, not something i would recommend doing when on a holiday in a crowded place in a strange country unless you're into one hell of an adventure.

Goodluck getting shrooms because i will promise you that unless your a regular customer and very well informed and know the right places to go you wont find any and as a tourist you can completely forget it.

Like someone said you could visit the Heineken Museum, you could also visit the Anne Frank house.

[Longview]

when you're in amsterdam..

anne franks house is kind of a rip-off. the rijksmuseum, the van gogh museum, and the nemo science center are all pretty great places if you're into art/science/history.

for coffee shops: if you don't really care about what strain you're buying (you might be unfamiliar/don't care/whatever), you don't need to look them up beforehand. the best way to go about it is probably to ask the person working there about their products, or to ask them to recommend something depending on your preferences. you can't smoke in the street, and probably not in your hotel room either.

shrooms are illegal, but you can find grow-shops that sell truffles. the difference between a shroom trip and a trip on truffles is negligible. if you want to do truffles, you need to do a few things (for your own psychological health's sake): 1) set aside one entire day for this trip (most of them last 8-9 hours and you'll want to sleep after). 2) make sure you are in a good headspace beforehand and during. 3) start off in a place where you feel safe and secure. 4) only do it with people you trust.

i'm not gonna speak on other illegal drugs, but don't buy coke on the street. you'll probably be offered, don't do it.

make sure you go out to eat in amsterdam! there are some really great restaurants in the central area of the city.

[Acidbaron]

5) have a sober "safety" person that can stop people from doing crazy shit. (like throwing animals around)

[Longview]

5) have a sober "safety" person that can stop people from doing crazy shit. (like throwing animals around)

yea if you're doing hallucinogens with people that like to get fucked up and do crazy shit, don't. stick to weed/alcohol.

i personally don't believe you need to have a safety person, but i don't know the people OP hangs out with.

[Acidbaron]

yea if you're doing hallucinogens with people that like to get fucked up and do crazy shit, don't. stick to weed/alcohol.

i personally don't believe you need to have a safety person, but i don't know the people OP hangs out with.

Some people can appear fine and calm of character till they use something and are actually rather messed up in the head and it comes out. Better to be safe than sorry, unless you know them all really well.

[Deleted]

If the choice would be Bruges or Aachen, then I'm definitly with you on the stop in Bruges. Your brother in law is wrong.
Depending on specific route and hours, you may consider trains instead of driving. A lot of the places are well connected, especially capitals, and booking in advance can be fairly cheap. Obviously car would mean more freedom but if it's just from one capital to another you can just take the train and don't have to worry about (most likely) horrible traffic jams or parking space in the city.

[Acidbaron]

I really don't see the appeal of aachen i mean it's not bad but really for me it's just another place to go shopping.

[Deleted]

Don't eat surstromming or lutefisk even if someone pays you

[Deleted]

Don't expect that French ppl will speak English(even if they will understand it).
Don't call the Netherlands "Holland".
Don't try to say that England, Wales and Scotland are one country.

[Acidbaron]

Don't eat surstromming or lutefisk even if someone pays you

Fairly certain the smell will put you off before you even consider eating it

- - - Updated - - -

Don't expect that French ppl will speak English(even if they will understand it).
Don't call the Netherlands "Holland".
Don't try to say that England, Wales and Scotland are one country.

This is true for most of the french speaking crowd, so in Belgium (oddly enough more brussels than the south) expect the same.
I never got this why they would be offended by it, some are since it's a part of the netherlands or something and not all of it? But it's a shout people use to support their national team and athletes. 'hup holland hup'

True, most of us in europe prefer to be identified by the region. So also don't say "you europeans" al though would be hard to find some people offended by it maybe the odd brit here and there since they like to be special like that.

[Deleted]

I never got this why they would be offended by it, some are since it's a part of the netherlands or something and not all of it? But it's a shout people use to support their national team and athletes. 'hup holland hup'

It's not about them feeling offended but when some english speaking foreigner will use term "Holland" they might think of him as of "uneducated 'murican"

[Pwnytails]

Get a reaction out of those statue guards

[zoefschildpad]

If you want to see a lot of Amsterdam, rent bicycles. It takes a while to get used to the busyness of the inner city, but it really is the best way to get around. Though if you plan on getting completely hammered it might not be ideal...

Also get some poffertjes if you can find them. There are restaurants for them and you can also get them in most pancake restaurants. They're like perfect little pancake things

[Deleted]

Paris, watch out for pickpockets

[Cyberowl]

Paris, watch out for pickpockets

Watch out for French, they are everywhere!

[breadisfunny]

Paris, watch out for pickpockets

a lot of big cities have pickpockets though.

[Vestig3]

Don't call the Netherlands "Holland"

I do hahaha

Its funny that with a lot of city's its about art this and art that but when you visit amsterdam its drugs this drugs that lol what about the red light district?