Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2018/January

where is corkvand,hungary?? my great-great grandfather came from here in 1901
Asked by: 72.95.222.109 03:08, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. The place doesn't show up on any online maps. Perhaps the translation from Hungarian to English was a bit off? Or the interpretation from speech to text was different from the actual place name? Hiàn (talk) 03:13, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * No results when inputting that term into a web search, and all similar spellings I could think of came up dry on Google Maps. Do you know what language Corkvand is? Also, do you have any idea what big city might have been nearby, if any? It's also possible that it is now in Slovakia or Romania. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:14, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Vand maybe Wand, German (Austrian) for wall? But still do not find anything. --Traveler100 (talk) 07:04, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Cork maybe Zsörk, Csók, Kirk, Kirch. Most deviations of spelling are coming up with places in Norway. --Traveler100 (talk) 09:34, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * It doesn't sound (or rather look) anything like Hungarian. Maybe you are looking for Kolozsvár, nowadays Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania (Erdély), Romania. Do you know the region in which "Corkvand" is located? Vidimian (talk) 12:56, 16 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Ask the Hungarian embassy? Or your oldest surviving relatives? Pashley (talk) 14:17, 16 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Are the immigration documents still extant? How is the place of origin spelled there? Hobbitschuster (talk) 16:07, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Parking (with a private car) in Amsterdam is difficult and very expensive like in London or different?
Parking (with a privet car) in Amsterdam is difficult and very expensive like in London or different? (The same question about the city Eindhoven)

Asked by: 37.46.38.34 14:41, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Hello. Travellers should not need a private car in the Netherlands, especially in the cities, as they have an excellent and cheap public transport system. You may want to read Rail travel in the Netherlands for information about this. I imagine parking in Amsterdam is not as expensive as London, but it will still be very expensive and the traffic will be bad. My Dutch colleague Wauteurz may be able to give a better, more detailed answer than this, if (s)he has the time. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 17:01, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Would depend on where you are staying in Amsterdam. If your hotel is right in the centre then use of the car parks on the edge of the city next to a train station, park there for a few days and take the local train into the centre. If your hotel is a little out of the centre check if they have parking and what the fees are and how far to walk to a tram stop, this can be a good solution. Trying to drive and park in the centre of Amsterdam just takes up a lot of time and money. Have no experience of Eindhoven but would not think is as big an issue. In any case, having to drive will restrict what you can drink and other thing you may wish to enjoy in the city. --Traveler100 (talk) 17:15, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I am always a bit puzzled why people think they have to force their ton and a half of scrap metal into urban centers clearly not built for that, but yes, I would imagine Amsterdam is just as uncomfortable and expensive to put a car into as most of its European peers... Hobbitschuster (talk) 20:58, 19 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Depending on the time of year you're visiting Amsterdam, finding a parking spot for your (rental) car can either be a huge or enormous burden. Amsterdam, aside from tourists, attracts many daily commuters from all over the Randstad, and like most cities in the Netherlands, it's centre is filled with one-way and pedestrian-only roads. Generally, bringing your car to a large Dutch city, whether that be Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Eindhoven or Groningen is bound to negatively influence the way you experience the city, as well as take up a lot of time that you could spend roaming and exploring the city by looking for a place to park your car.
 * As an alternative, I'd advise you to pick up an anonymous OV-Chipkaart at the Amsterdam Centraal train station's servicedesk once you arrive (I believe Schiphol and Eindhoven Airport too have such a service desk) and use the public transit system instead. This card lets you travel on busses, trains, metros, trams and bike (OV-Fiets), though I'd advise you to refrain from the latter, as the weather right now doesn't exactly make for the best cycling situations (though this depends heavily on the time of year you're visiting). Generally, your OV-Chipkaart will allow you to get virtually anywhere with relative ease. Amsterdam itself is nearly entirely covered by a tram and metro network, so that shouldn't be a hassle. Eindhoven doesn't have any of those, but instead has a pretty decent coverage when travelling by bus (when travelling solely by bus, an OV-Chipkaart is not a necessity. As of late last year, credit and debit cards can be used to purchase a ticket, the Chipkaart is generally an easier and quicker alternative). Should you have any issues or further questions, feel free to reach out to me. -- Wauteurz (talk) 10:48, 20 January 2018 (UTC)

Red light District in Amsterdam
Asked by: 73.185.166.107 13:59, 25 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Yeah, what about it? -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 14:18, 25 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Have a look at Amsterdam and Amsterdam/Binnenstad, maybe you can find whatever information you're looking for there. Otherwise we do have some Dutch contributors here that perhaps can answer your questions. --ϒpsilon (talk) 14:41, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Beacons for air traffic
In the beginning of regular air traffic some routes were marked at night with beacons or lighthouses along the route. Does the Wikipeda has an article about this subject. Streckenfeuer mentions that the US Army build such a route already in 1921, but without any references. Asked by: Eingangskontrolle (talk) 16:43, 30 January 2018 (UTC)


 * This is Wikivoyage, not Wikipedia. Please direct your question to the Wikipedia Reference Desk. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 17:45, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Take a look at Airway beacon --Traveler100 (talk) 17:46, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * At the WRD, they advise people who want to know something related to "Travel" to ask it here. The question relates more to engineering and technology but it's not entirely unrelated to travel. ϒpsilon (talk) 18:22, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry I was unaware that the link would led me outside wikipedia.
 * Hey, no problems. And feel free to browse around WV a bit if you like, maybe you feel inspired to travel somewhere or add some attractions or restaurants from your home town :). ϒpsilon (talk) 18:47, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Was unaware of this topic, but looking on the internet there appears to be a few in Germany and the USA at least. Are there enough remains of these still in existence to mark out a route for a microlight or a long distance hiking trail? Maybe an Itinerary article candidate? --Traveler100 (talk) 18:57, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I guess day beacons (wp) don't count (and they were built rather for sea navigation, really) but this one, named after a pilot mysteriously got lost during her circumnavigation attempt in 1937, comes off the top of my head immediately after seeing this. There are probably others dispersed throughout the remote Pacific Islands. Vidimian (talk) 20:05, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Going to Andorra
I'm planning on a day trip next month from Toulouse, France to Andorra by train & bus (because direct bus schedule only leaves me 1 hour to explore). On the page, it says that "The French railway company, SNCF, operates one bus per day (TER Midi-Pyrénée, dep 09.35, 26 min, €3.20, SNCF discounts apply) from the train station of L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre (also called Andorre-L'Hospitalet-SNCF or simply L'Hospitalet) to the first town after the Andorran border." I was unable to find anything about this bus service. The only thing I found was from a user from another travel forum who mentioned that this bus service was cut but I can't tell whether this user's info or Wikivoyage's Andorra page is up-to-date. OhanaUnited (talk) 03:25, 27 January 2018 (UTC)


 * The bus info on in the train section of Andorra is old - it was on the page 5 years ago. However I did find a possible bus online, which runs twice per day, but I would suggest phoning to confirm. This came from a link on, which I followed found from L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre. Please update the Andorra page when you know more. AlasdairW (talk) 23:34, 27 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the train schedule. I did find the bus schedule but as you can see, the earliest train from Toulouse will arrive at L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre station at 9:21am but the bus leaves from this station for Andorra at 8:50am. So I wouldn't be able to connect from the train to the bus. Someone from Tripadvisor mentioned the bus at 9:35am and it was corroborated by another individual, but this was back in 2014/2015. Then someone mentioned in 2016 that this bus was cut "a few years ago". If someone has more recent info, please share and update the page. OhanaUnited (talk) 03:33, 28 January 2018 (UTC)


 * I don't have any updated info, but it is my understanding (from a trip to the neighbouring French department of Ariège in summer 2016), that the only reliable way of getting into Andorra from France is by private car. This was one of several reasons why I decided to miss out Andorra. But if you're desperate to get there and are not flexible enough to get the train / bus the night before, renting a car for the day may be the only way to do it. Good luck, ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 12:29, 28 January 2018 (UTC)

Why is Andorra so ridiculously hard to get to? Hobbitschuster (talk) 22:55, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
 * A low population and being slap bang in the middle of the Pyrenees makes building good infrastructure difficult and not cost-effective. You can't even fly there. Still, it's within a three hour drive of two major cities (Toulouse and Barcelona, if you're wondering), so it's only "ridiculously hard to get to" by European standards. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 23:28, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
 * If you have to drive, it's not included in my definition of "easy to get to". Hobbitschuster (talk) 23:46, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
 * The bus/train schedules work better (but not perfectly) if you are doing the journey in reverse. Leaving Andorra la Vella at 06:30, arriving in Toulouse at 10:15, leaving for the return journey at 16:00. This is fairly common for rural villages anywhere, as public transport is generally aimed at getting locals to cities for hospital appointments etc. I think that there are also better connections with Spain than France. L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre is only a few miles from Andorra, so cycling or walking over the border might be an option. (You can fly by helicopter from Toulouse, but that is 2200€.) AlasdairW (talk) 23:53, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
 * It's almost as if they didn't want tourists... Hobbitschuster (talk) 00:18, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * It's only hard to get to if you don't want to spend the night and don't have a car. If you're spending a night or two, it's easy to get there by bus from Barcelona, and I've heard the same is true of getting there from Toulouse. That being said, my impression is that most tourists get there by car. —Granger (talk · contribs) 00:34, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Also, suggestions for OhanaUnited: When you get to Toulouse, you could consider asking at the train station. They might have more up-to-date information than what's available online. You could also consider Blablacar. Maybe you'd be able to find a way to do Blablacar one direction and bus the other direction, or some other combination of bus, train, and other service. —Granger (talk · contribs) 00:48, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree with the sentiment that the bus/train schedule didn't make it convenient for day-trip tourist like myself. And User:Hobbitschuster literally said what I was going to say. Thanks for the lead on Blablacar. It gave me some ideas and I might be able to stretch this into a two-day trip (not to mention better time and the roundtrip costs less than a one-way ticket by bus). I keep forgetting about Uber. Could have tried to Uber from L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre to El Pas de la Casa, but you're at the mercy of whether there's Uber drivers in the area. I guess Andorra can become a candidate for Off the beaten path lol. OhanaUnited (talk) 04:30, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think Uber operates in France and L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre has a population of 89 so probably don't have any taxis. The neighbouring Andoran town of El Pas de la Casa has a population of 2,996, so may have taxis - see . AlasdairW (talk) 20:34, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

At any rate this is the bus website and there seem to be two daily buses between L'Hospitalet and Andorra (if the website is up to date, that is). There seem to be more frequent departures from Lleida Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:02, 31 January 2018 (UTC)


 * Andorra is indeed OtBP, as are to a lesser extent Liechtenstein and San Marino. At least 20 years ago you needed a car so that on your way out the French customs would have something to take apart looking for a million tax free cigarettes you've supposedly purchased in Andorra :D.
 * Anyways, in addition to what has been said above, if you feel touristy, there might be some kind of tours from Toulouse to Andorra. Or if you're into hitchhiking, that might also be an option. ϒpsilon (talk) 21:20, 31 January 2018 (UTC)