Yeah our UK-resident Italian friends were genuinely concerned for our wellbeing when we told them we were off to Napoli for NYE (it was just for 2 days en route to Rome for my b'day). We saw some Asian solo-tourist with a camera round his neck get violently mugged, bottled etc in the street around 8pm; some locals stopped and scared off the muggers.

Also, saw around 3 shady as fuck looking fuckers follow another Asian girl and try to unzip her backpack; lots of shady as fuck alleys that just seemed to have dodgy fuckers eyeballing you.

Everywhere shut up around 11pm, windows getting blocked up. Young men in hoodies with scarfs round their faces throwing big-boy bangers down the streets - these were loud af, ear splitting. Midnight rolls around and people are letting fireworks off from their windows. A little drunk, we ventured out from the hotel hoping to find a square or something. Mistake - people started throwing firecrackers out of the windows at us, had to take shelter round some corners and pick moments to run. Streets were filled with smoke, cars not stopping at lights etc etc. Warzone.

Recommended as an experience.

nick_md wrote:

Yeah our UK-resident Italian friends were genuinely concerned for our wellbeing when we told them we were off to Napoli for NYE (it was just for 2 days en route to Rome for my b'day). We saw some Asian solo-tourist with a camera round his neck get violently mugged, bottled etc in the street around 8pm; some locals stopped and scared off the muggers.

Also, saw around 3 shady as fuck looking fuckers follow another Asian girl and try to unzip her backpack; lots of shady as fuck alleys that just seemed to have dodgy fuckers eyeballing you.

Everywhere shut up around 11pm, windows getting blocked up. Young men in hoodies with scarfs round their faces throwing big-boy bangers down the streets - these were loud af, ear splitting. Midnight rolls around and people are letting fireworks off from their windows. A little drunk, we ventured out from the hotel hoping to find a square or something. Mistake - people started throwing firecrackers out of the windows at us, had to take shelter round some corners and pick moments to run. Streets were filled with smoke, cars not stopping at lights etc etc. Warzone.

Recommended as an experience.

So it's the Italian Middlesbrough then, check.

Naples is ace.

Monkey World is on Wool, right next door to Bovington Tank Museum if that's your thing

Lulworth Ranges in easy distance from there, as well as Chesil Beach. The whole coastline down there is pretty gorgeous. Weymouth I remember as being quite old in it's clientele, but that was a while ago. You have to check out Durdles Door, great spot for a picnic, then maybe look at Poole Harbour and Corfe Castle, some lovely roads round that way



The Pig on The Beach is the yellow circle above swanage, proper lovely place to eat, and the grounds and vbiew are pretty sweet too, not cheap but not crazy either

I second the pig on the beach.

If the little lad likes steam trains Nick, catch the one from Swanage to Corfe castle and back.

Definitely, didn't realise Swanage railway was still running

You might well enjoy Brownsea Island, and Poole Harbour really deserves a look

fullspectrum wrote:

Any recommendations for Weymouth or the Dorset coast? My only holiday in 2 years is going to be there Mon-Wed next week. Pretty jazzed for Monkey World and somewhere to eat called the Crab House Cafe.

Sandbanks has a very nice beach, and Nick the fish in Poole does the best fish and chips.

Any recommendations for:

Seattle
Vancouver
Toronto

I'm off there on Honeymoon start of June - fly to Seattle for 3 days, Vancouver Island for 5 days, Vancouver for 3 days, Rockies for 10 days, then fly to Toronto for 3 days (with a day at Niagra falls). Thanks guys!

MattyJ wrote:

Any recommendations for:

Seattle
Vancouver
Toronto

I'm off there on Honeymoon start of June - fly to Seattle for 3 days, Vancouver Island for 5 days, Vancouver for 3 days, Rockies for 10 days, then fly to Toronto for 3 days (with a day at Niagra falls). Thanks guys!

Dude should have made time to visit whistler. An hours drive from vancouver. One of the most stunning scenery drives in the world. Also whistler is awesome. In vancouver Stanley Park is a defacto visit and the aquarium near the park is nice.

There is a free alternative to CN Tower in seattle, I will check my travel itinerary for when I went to seattle when I get home. Seattle market has Starbucks no1. Ignore that, next to it is a French bakery who do some amazing pastries. Also in that row is a Russia bakery who do amazing sour pie things (there is queue for the place). We had one for breakfast every morning. Sneaker shops are nigh on none existent in seattle for some bizarre reason.

Oh, vancouver is full and I mean full of people from the far east, which means some very fashionable stunning women. So don't get caught by the missus checking them out. Wear sunglasses

MattyJ wrote:

Any recommendations for: Seattle Vancouver Toronto I'm off there on Honeymoon start of June - fly to Seattle for 3 days, Vancouver Island for 5 days, Vancouver for 3 days, Rockies for 10 days, then fly to Toronto for 3 days (with a day at Niagra falls). Thanks guys!

I've been to Toronto a lot (various close friends out there) and so I'm irritated with myself for not having a better list, but...

Toronto Island - I'm really fond of Toronto Island.  It's basically an escape from being in the city whilst, you know, not having to actually leave the city.  You pile onto the ferry, and just escape for a bit.  It's actually 3 (I think) connected islands which work as a large park.  There are beech areas, and a little amusement park, but really it's just a nice place to have a stroll, with some nice views of the city and the lake.  You can hire bikes, which is definitely the best way to get around the island.

CN Tower. - It's a tower, you go up and remark on how high you are.  (This is not, as you'll have gathered, something that particularly excites me).  If you don't go up it though people will forever be telling you that you should have done.  It's quite pricey, but you can get a City Pass ticket which gets you into the tower, the aquarium, Ontario Museum, Casa Loma etc - and certainly if you're thinking of visiting at least a couple of those it's absolutely worth it, and brings the price down.  Alternatively, given it's a romantic affair, you might want to consider booking a table at the restaurant (360).  Certainly in the past if you went to the restaurant, you got admission to the viewing tower, glass floor etc as part of the price of your meal - but you definitely need to book. 

The AGO - If you like art then the Art Gallery of Ontario is worth a trip - it's a nice space in its own right, and has a decent collection.  Of course if you don't like galleries it's pure tedium.

If you want to go shopping then, well, it's a city, there's an embarrassment of options.  Personally I quite like just strolling around Queen Street West, which has quite a few small shops, and lots of nice cafes.  You may not like it if you're particularly averse to hipsters though.

Definitely check what's on when you're there - there are quite a few nice theatres, and there are often open air events, either in the parks, or on Yonge-Dundas Sq.  There's an amusingly weird Mystery Dinner Theatre place on Yonge as well if you fancy an evening of silly entertainment and food.

I'm afraid I can't direct you towards specific restaurants and the like, as I simply can't remember them all, but you wouldn't struggle to find decent places to eat.  (There's also a large China Town if that appeals).

Oh, and tragically The World's Biggest Bookstore isn't there anymore, so I'm afraid 9 year old Reg can't visit.

Sorry 9 year old Reg.

Also, forgot to say, the one thing I was tempted to do at CN Tower is that there's now the option to go outside and hang off the edge of the roof (albeit attached to a very strong rope).  I opted against it after seeing the ridiculous price (about $200) but given it's a special occasion it might be worth it??

(That one's probably not for 2017 Reg)

Well if they're charging $200 you'd expect at least some of was spent on decent rope

or capitalism, you pays your money you makes your choice

MattyJ wrote:

Any recommendations for: Seattle Vancouver Toronto I'm off there on Honeymoon start of June - fly to Seattle for 3 days, Vancouver Island for 5 days, Vancouver for 3 days, Rockies for 10 days, then fly to Toronto for 3 days (with a day at Niagra falls). Thanks guys!

Vancouver City is pleasant enough... Appealing in itself actually, though Stanley park, to quote Beano, truly is boss.

Grouse mountain is also amazing.

The magic of that side of Canada though, is in Whistler, the skiing region.
There are some beautiful sights going up that way. Some incredible geographic features.

Whistler is amazing (as is Mount Joffre a few miles beyond that), but the jewel of BC may well be Vancouver Island... The main city, Victoria looks, at first glance, like a rich, but sleepy English city... Like Bath, or Canterbury. But when you start to walk around, it's like a completely different world. Especially in good weather.

Victoria's just a fraction of the island too. Vancouver Island is pretty similar in size to Britain itself, but it apparently has world class surf, a sub tropical rain-forest, and a large(ish) population of Grizzly Bears. The surrounding seas are also teaming with Orca, Seals, Sea Lions and Whales. Whether you're based in the city, or on the island, definitely look into taking a marine tour boat out for a day, despite the cost.

That said, I also hear great things about Toronto, but I will be very surprised if it makes for a better holiday destination than BC.

...

Oh, and congratulations!

Vancouver is all about the seafood. Eat your weight in oysters.
Alternatively, get honking on Granville St and eat your weight in Poutine...


g.man's adventures in Vancouver begin here

g.man

Weight, what?