Travel tips I wish I had known….

It is a bit annoying to return from a fabulous trip and then discover “tips” that would have made it even more fab!  I follow a couple of good travel blogs – one being Rick Steves of course, and the other is Eurocheapo. So here is a little aggregation of tips from Eurocheapo which may be of interest if you are going to Venice, Pisa or Paris.  Their travel writers are extremely knowledgeable, and provide a mine of useful and current information.  Bloggers Bryan Pirolli and Theadora Brack both contribute excellent material if you are going to Paris – I really enjoy Theadora’s blog and am following it in anticipation of returning to Paris sometime soon… but meanwhile here are the aforementioned tips:

• Avoiding crowds at tourist sites in Paris  
• 10 ways to see more in Paris …
• Pros and Cons of visiting Paris in August
• Notre Dame Walking (and Reading) tour

And be sure not to miss the good advice in the latest posting on attractions close to major tourist sites in Paris, and Pisa , like Musee du Quai Branly near the Eiffel Tower and the Duomo beside the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I was right beside both places and the Baptistery too,  but regretfully didn’t make time to see them.

The Baptistery, The Duomo and the Leaning Tower

Now for some tips on Venice – Monica Cesarato and Jessica Spiegel have good advice for us:

• Venice -How to avoid crowds at the city’s main attractions 
• 5 sure ways to save in Venice  
• Venice – 10 things to do for under 10 Euro 
• Venice supermarkets etc – this is one thing I thought about after we returned home. I would love to return to Venice and take an apartment, but you would need to shop for food etc – and I can honestly say I never really noticed a supermarket! I was too busy looking at iconic sights like this:

I have the Eurocheapo Widget on my home page so that I instantly see the numerous new postings. If you are traveling to Europe anytime soon, I suggest you visit the site for yourself – the information is current and helpful even if you are are not on a restricted budget.

Incidentally, Rick Steves has a nice little posting on catching the Eurostar to Paris – one of the most exciting trips I have done – going through the Chunnel was exhilarating and scary at the same time!

 A tip slightly out of left field now – if you are going to visit Positano in Italy as I hope to, it might be worth taking a look at the new Kath and Kim movie,  Kath and Kimderella  – the Italian scenes were shot in Positano, so it could be full of whacky tips (and nice scenery) for us would-be visitors!