Help! Need to plan European vacation by tomorrow for sometime betwen 5/12 and 6/3.

Sorry that I don't have much time to help you with this!

If you want landscapes and gardens, Schloss Linderhof is a must-see. It was one of King Ludwig's residences and is absolutely opulent! It's off Rt. 95, SW of Munich (almost to the Austrian border).

Bruge is a gold mine of old churches and cathedrals. If you're into sculpture, Michelangelo's Madonna in the Church of our Lady is absolutely heart-stopping. Bruge itself is touristy but charming - I always visit if I'm near. I never fail to find something I've overlooked!

Amsterdam, as stated multiple times above, is a must.

I'm also a fan of Brussels. There's a bar/restaurant (at least there used to be...) on the main square that has a small patio. Great for people watching!

Have a great trip!!
SL
 
Edinburgh castle is a must but I'm sure you figured that out allready, 'the royal mile' is a tourist trap ran by indians, and not the bow and arrow kind neither, but it does house 'Deacon Brodys' wich is the most charming touristy pub in Edinburgh, in a similar vein: look up 'arthurs seat' wich is a hill Edinburgh has enclosed compleetly and left almost untouched, quite strange, like aliens took a random bit of highlands and dropped it on town, worth the walk, you start near the Scottish parliament, and when you get to the other side you arrive in a suburb, in said suburb you will find 'the sheeps head inn' (google map it!) wich feels, looks and smells like an ancient highlandcountry pubb you expect in Game of Thrones. Take a cab back....by now you?re miles from your hotel, drunk and exhausted :p

Also all over Edinburgh you will find adds for Ghost tours, edinburgh likes to play up it ghostly reputation, touristy and cheesy, but I took one and laughed my ass off.

For going out at night: grassmarket, newtown is full of hipsters.
 
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The Camera Obscura is definitely fun. We didn't know quite what to expect, as we hadn't come across it in our pre-vacation planning/research. If you have the time, it's worth the visit.

I can't say enough good things about the National Museum of Scotland. I'm not sure if the security is as lax as it used to be, but when we visited, you could get within inches of the works of world famous painters without the staff getting excited. Definitely not something you can see in an hour... if you go, give yourselves plenty of time to let all the good stuff soak in!!

SL
 
Thanks for all the tips, everyone.

So...after hardly having any time to really sit down and book anything, I think I finally got the last hotel/transit leg booked as of about 15 mins ago. I'm not sure I made the best choices as some were impulse buys, but hey...it's a vacation.

Wednesday 5/17 - fly to London.
5/18-5/22: Stay in London
5/22: Train to Edinburgh, Scotland (two seats on the east side of the train).
5/22-5/27: Stay in Scotland in Old Town
5/27: Fly to Amsterdam
5/27-5/31: Stay in Amsterdam
5/31: Fly home.

Still don't have a clear picture of the things we'll do in each place yet...that's for tomorrow evening, I suppose.

What a fucked up way to plan a vacation. I fucking leave for the airport in 39 hours, and I get to sleep for 3 hours, then I'm at work for about 14-16 hours, then likely some sleep, then lunch, then pack. Ha!
Me, Loose_Unit and Adamar are in Delft on the 27th for a party at my workplace. Perhaps something of a mini meet can be arranged, if you are up for it.
 
Take lots of pictures and post your trip experiences in the Travelogue thread. ;)
 
5 days in, and over 1300 photos so far.

In Edinburgh now, and a couple of quick questions:

1. We are more interest in seeing things that are impressive, than things that maybe are historically significant, but otherwise nothing of note visually. For examale, we'd rather see an impressive church where nothing happened than a less ornate one where someone of historical import was born. With that said, is it worth seeing a) the royal yacht, b) the palace, which is closed due to a royal visit, but we can still see "the Queen's gallery, and c) the royal botanical gardens.

2. I feel like Edinburg is missing a middle tier of dining between fast food/deli type places and ?? or ??? places. We don't want The Baked Potato Company, but we don't need a server with a crisp white shirt, bow tie and vest. Any suggestions?
 
We ate at Doric Tavern and Devil's Advocate so far. Both seemed too fancy and most seem quite expensive, or poorly-reviewed food.
 
I've only ever been to Edinburgh on business trips, paying with my company credit card, so I was never looking too hard for cheap places. But have you tried going some place like the grass market? It's got plenty of places to eat that are less on the tourist trap side of the spectrum.

Also, are you ever planning to get out of Edinburgh? Stirling is also quite nice and so is the countryside in general.
 
We are going o nm a day trip to Glencoe and Loch Ness tomorrow, but other than that, we are staying in the city.

Thanks for the tip. The Grassmarket area is on our list for Friday.
 
You will love Glencoe, awesome place, if you get to Loch ness, I recommend Fort Augustus, at the southend of the Loch,nice little town, pub there called the Bothy, exellent food, nothing posh about it.
As for eating in Edinburgh, like others have said, pubgrub and Grassmarket is the way to go.
 
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