Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2015/February

Things to do in Nashville, TN, USA
I'm going to be in Nashville from 31 Jan to 4 Feb. I'll be staying at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center. My wife will be attending a convention most of which I won't have to be in attendance for. I'm looking for things to do during the day. I've gone through the article on Nashville and nothing jumps out that is around the convention center. So I'm looking for other suggestions.

My preferences are:
 * Within walking distance or accessible via public transportation.
 * Cheap or free.
 * Not related to country music. I'm more of a classic rock fan.

When I've traveled with my wife to these types of things before, I've entertained myself by walking around the city and seeing historic places, nature related things, or science type stuff. For instance, in Boston I walked the Freedom Trail and saw the USS Constitution. In New York, I walked down to Wall St., saw the Vietnam Veterans memorial (I didn't know they had one till I was there and I highly recommend it!), and splurged for a ticket to the top of the Empire State Building.

Thanks!

Asked by: Dismas (talk) 11:14, 21 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Check out Trip Advisor's page on Nashville here. There's also information at http://www.visitmusiccity.com, which is the official Nashville visitor's website. RegistryKey (talk) 16:22, 21 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I'll check them out. Dismas (talk) 13:21, 28 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The Convention Center is a bit out of the way. There is only one bus (#34) that runs out that far, and it runs every 90 minutes. However, it will get you into downtown. An all-day pass is $5.25. See nashvillemta.org for bus information. 74.252.5.226 21:15, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Getting from Stockholm to Ljubljana by train in less than two days
I am planning to travel from Stockholm, Sweden to Ljubljana, Slovenia in early July, entirely by train. I don't want to spend more than two whole days during the entire trip from Stockholm to Ljubljana. Is this possible? I'll be arriving at Stockholm Central Station a bit before noon. It doesn't matter if I don't reach Ljubljana until late in the evening the next day, as long as it's not night already. What I'm most concerned about here is that I don't want to spend several hours at a railway station in the middle of the night, or book a hotel room along the way. I'd much prefer to sleep on the train.

Asked by: JIP (talk) 21:19, 10 February 2015 (UTC)


 * The German Railways timetable server (simpler version here if you prefer) is often the best way to deal with this type of question, but it is programmed to give you the fastest possible overall trip meeting your conditions. With constraints such as JIP describes, it may be necessary to do a series of separate queries for different parts of the route.  There are some details about using it that you may want to be aware of:
 * The English interface uses "connection" to mean "itinerary", not to mean a change of trains.
 * You must always supply the date in German style, dd.mm.yy; for example, July 4, 2015, would be "04.07.15".
 * It may give you routes that are not entirely by train, unless you specify otherwise.
 * If you click on a train number it will tell you the train's full route. If nothing else this may be useful because when boarding a train it's easier to find the right one if you know where it terminates.
 * If you click on a station it will give you a timetable of all trains to/from that station, grouped by hour. However, at busy stations this often includes a large number of suburban trains that you probably aren't interested in.
 * When you find an itinerary and want more detail, the "Detail" link gives you partial details, but doesn't tell you what intermediate stops the train makes (so you have an idea of which way you will go). On the simpler interface you can use the "Journey Guide" link if you want those details, but on the full interface I think you have to click on the train number for each train and pick out the right part of the route yourself.


 * In this case it does not have timetables for July 2015 yet, but to get an idea of an answer, I tried dates in mid-June 2015. What I found is that the fastest route goes via Copenhagen (K&oslash;benhavn), Hamburg, and Munich (M&uuml;nchen), but involves the sort of schedule that JIP doesn't want.  If JIP could start 2 hours earlier, then this would be a good route.  On June 15, for example, you could depart from Stockholm 10:13, change at Copenhagen, and at 20:16 you're in Hamburg.  Then catch a sleeping-car train at 21:26 and you're in Munich at 07:05 the next day.  The fastest route continuing from there is by bus, but I find by querying separately for Munich-Ljubljana that you take an 08:18 train and reach Ljublana at 14:31 with one change at Villach&mdash;only about 28 hours from Stockholm if there are no time-zone boundaries in there. Or if you wait in Munich until 12:13 you can reach Ljubljana at 18:31 without changing trains again.


 * But if you have to leave Stockholm after noon, that route gets a lot less convenient, because you miss the night train at Hamburg and there isn't another one (to anywhere!) leaving Hamburg late enough that you can catch it. There doesn't seem to be a night train from Copenhagen to Hamburg.  I considered waiting until late night to leave Stockholm and taking a night train for the first leg, but that doesn't quite work either, as far as I can tell.


 * I then went to this page on the Eurail web site and started looking at pages under it. I found that if you don't mind your train going on a boat, on certain dates there is a night train from Malm&ouml; to Berlin, and this one does work if you can travel on a day when it runs.  Unfortunately the German Railways timetable server doesn't seem to know that the train exists.  But its timetable is available here, and you can use the German server for the other parts of the trip.  So on June 15 you could leave Stockholm at 12:13, reaching Malm&ouml; at 16:44.  Then board the night train at 17:00 and reach Berlin at 06:20 (staying on board until 07:00 if you like).  Leave Berlin at 08:40 and arrive Munich 15:17.  Again it's fastest to continue by bus, but if you wait until 23:36, there's a night train to Ljubljana, arriving at 05:59 on June 17.  Presumably something similar will work in July on the dates when the Malm&ouml;–Berlin night train runs.


 * --70.49.169.244 08:00, 11 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you. I can't leave Stockholm Central Station until a bit before noon, because my ship from Helsinki only arrives at about 10 in the morning, and it takes time to get out of the ship into Stockholm and get from Masthamnen to the Central Station. I usually walk the entire distance. The only way I could leave Stockholm at 10 in the morning or earlier would be to arrive in the previous day, which would mean I have to spend a night at a hotel in Stockholm.
 * Being on trains on ships is no problem for me. I've done it previously. It's an even better experience, because they not only allow, but force you to get off the train and into the ship, giving access to the ship's facilities for the duration of the sea voyage.
 * Going from Munich to Ljubljana by bus is an option, but I'd rather go by train. You can't move around in buses like you can on trains. A decade ago, I spent many hours on a bus from Rovaniemi to Kilpisjärvi in Finland, and then from Kilpisjärvi to Tromsø, Norway, sitting on the same seat the whole time. My buttocks started to get weary. I wouldn't want that to happen again. The night train from Munich to Ljubljana would be a good idea, but it also means I would have to spend eight hours in Munich without a hotel room. This is not impossible, provided I have a place to leave my large backpack weighing almost 10 kg to. Are there storage boxes at Munich Hauptbahnhof (I assume that's the station you're referring to) for this? JIP (talk) 19:40, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Rio de Janeiro Carnaval
Having seen the Helsinki Samba Carnaval many times, I've started wondering whether I should actually go and see the original Rio de Janeiro Carnaval some day. This is still mostly hypothetical at the moment, because the flights between Helsinki and Rio de Janeiro alone are near the top of my budget. But assuming I ever go there:
 * Is photography allowed at the carnaval?
 * Where exactly does it take place? On the streets like the Helsinki carnaval or in a designated area?
 * Do I have to pay for it?
 * I am assuming the carnaval takes place during the night, unlike the Helsinki carnaval which takes place during the day. Are there daytime events too?

And generally, is Rio de Janeiro a safe place to visit during the carnaval time in the first place?

Asked by: JIP (talk) 20:16, 18 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I've never been to Rio, so I can't answer most of your questions, but Commons has a category for "Carnival of Rio de Janeiro", so it's certainly clear that photos can be taken. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:21, 18 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, photography is definitely allowed at all the outdoor events.
 * The main parades are actually a competition between the various samba schools, held at the "Sambadrome" (Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí). The parades begin the Saturday leading into Carnaval week and run nightly from 8PM until dawn, with winners announced on Ash Wednesday, and a parade with the 5 winners the following Saturday. Tickets start at R$10 and run all the way up to R$500 for the box or covered VIP seats. It is also possible to buy a costume yourself and join a parade as a dancer.
 * In addition to the official parades, there are scores of free block parties throughout the city and suburbs, where loads of people grab improvised percussion instruments and join sound trucks or drum groups in circling through the neighborhood. There are often some free concerts by famous musicians on the beach at Copacabana as well.
 * Off the streets, there are also the Carnival Balls, indoor dance parties with live music, often from samba school or renowned frevo artists, with extravagant lighting and costumes. The most famous balls include the Rio Scala Gay Costume Ball and the Magic Ball at the Copacabana Palace. I'm not 100% sure of the ticket prices these days, but I imagine they average around R$30 or so.
 * Hope this helps! Texugo (talk) 21:19, 18 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you. After reading this and the article Rio de Janeiro I don't think I'll be going there anytime soon, although a samba carnaval held for several weeks intrigues me. The ticket prices are no problem. R$10 is petty cash and even R$500 isn't impossible. The fact that the main parades are at nighttime is a problem. My main interest in seeing the carnaval in the first place is to photograph it, and photography is much more difficult at night when there is no natural lighting. Your reply didn't exactly specify whether there are daytime events with samba dancers too. But my main concern is safety. After reading the "Stay safe" section in Rio de Janeiro I felt like if I were to go, I would be at constant risk of mugging just about everywhere. I assume the carnaval is in the centre of the city, which should be less dangerous than the favelas, which the article warned me never ever to visit alone. I have no interest in visiting them. But even the centre sounds extremely dangerous, particularly at nighttime. I'm quite sure plenty of foreign tourists have visited Rio just to see the carnaval though. Is it safe? What should I take into account?
 * Anyway, the Rio carnaval for 2015 should be already over, and the flights alone would take up almost my entire budget. If I ever go, it will take a couple of years at least. JIP (talk) 20:48, 22 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Lighting along the Sambadrome is comparable to stadium lighting, if that gives you an idea. I don't imagine it to be that difficult to photograph, though to get good shots you would probably want to go for the box seats. The sambadrome is indeed near the center, but as I mentioned, the block parties and balls are spread throughout the city. And yes, loads and loads and loads of foreign tourists go there to see Carnaval. By and large, if you stay with the crowds (which isn't hard during Carnaval), pickpocketing would usually be much more of a concern than actual mugging, though I don't know how much equipment you are talking about carrying around. Texugo (talk) 17:36, 24 February 2015 (UTC)


 * All the photography equipment I would be bringing along is a DSLR camera, two lenses and an external flash. It all fits into a Löwepro camera bag smaller than a children's school backpack. I would leave my actual luggage at my hotel, wherever that might be. Are there hotels to recommend near the Sambadrome?
 * I could try to avoid pickpocketing by wearing some sort of vest or light jacket and putting my wallet and phone in an inside pocket, but the camera bag would still be hanging off my shoulder. Or should I take the phone at all with me? Do Finnish mobile phone operators even work in Brazil?
 * At night time, the Carnaval at the Sambadrome itself would be the only reason to be outside my hotel at all. At day time, I'd like to see some block parties and balls near the centre, or just explore Rio in general, in safe areas. But if the parades take place nightly from 8 PM to dawn, it would mean I wouldn't get any sleep during the night. I can manage an entire night without sleep here and there, but two weeks of sleepless nights in a row could well prove fatal. And I wouldn't want to sleep during the day, as that would mean I would miss seeing Rio at day time, and might also have health issues.
 * Anyway, assuming I ever muster up enough money and time to visit Rio, I would go there just for the Carnaval. Is it safe to travel there alone, assuming I never venture out of the centre? JIP (talk) 19:01, 24 February 2015 (UTC)
 * There are a few hotels downtown, but most of the most popular and safest places to stay are nearer to the beach in the South Zone (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, etc.) or West Zone (Barra da Tijuca). I personally wouldn't recommend staying downtown. Also, I think you misunderstood a bit: the parades run from Saturday to Wednesday, with a follow-up winners' parade the next Saturday. It's not two weeks as you commented. And I doubt there are many who actually go there and stay all night for nights in a row. When I went, I just went for one evening from about 9PM to 1AM or so. I wouldn't expect you'd want to be there all night every night. Texugo (talk) 19:13, 24 February 2015 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks. If I ever go, I would probably try to see most of the parades, but not necessarily all. 1 AM sounds like a good time to get back to my hotel and sleep, I've done it many times both here in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. I figure that would mean I would miss out in seeing all of the parade, but I would see the most of it. Is this correct? JIP (talk) 19:29, 24 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I suppose if you did that, you'd see a over half of the parades. Keep in mind, too, that some of the samba schools are more famous/impressive than others, generally the ones which are in the "Special Group" (including Salgueiro, Mangueira, Beija-Flor, Imperatriz, Unidos da Tijuca and a few others). These groups usually parade at least twice, once on Sat or Sun and again on Mon or Tues, so you might want to schedule as to whether you want to see these twice or save your time. You can see, for an example, the 2015 schedule here.. Texugo (talk) 20:15, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

What are my options for travelling from the French Alps to the Austrian Alps?
Hi. I am looking to travel next week from the French Alps (Bourg St. Maurice nearest train station) to Austrian Alps (Bregenz is the nearest Town) and was hoping to get some suggestions? Things to take into account - I would like a relatively efficient journey (not too much chopping & changing, and not too expensive as its a return journey within a few days) and I will be taking ski kit with me, so if using flights I would have to check baggage, which means added cost. If anyone can help with any suggestions, whether that be flights or train journey, I'd be grateful! Many thanks! If you know roughly how much the journey would cost that would be great too...

Asked by: 90.42.15.218 12:29, 26 February 2015 (UTC)