Wikivoyage:Tourist office/Archives/2018/March

which year would the best time to visit in Togo?

Asked by: 41.149.73.50 10:06, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

I assume you mean what time of year? With the caveat that I haven't been to Togo, here's what the Wikivoyage article about Togo says about the country's climate:

The climate is generally tropical with average temperatures ranging from 27°C on the coast to about 30°C in the northernmost regions, with a dry climate and characteristics of a tropical savanna. To the south there are two seasons of rain (the first between April and July and the second between October and November).

So if you're visiting the southern part of the country and want to avoid rainy seasons, it sounds like your best bet is to come between December and March or between August and September. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:20, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Norwegian

Is there a Norwegian equivalent of ordering a drink 'on the rocks' or do you just ask for the drink with ice?

How would you ask for this in Norway? Asked by: 86.144.11.177 19:03, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

I'd wager there'd be plenty of people around who speak sufficient English to understand your order either way... But maybe our resident Scandinavians can help? @Erik den yngre: @Ypsilon: @LPfi: (I am probably forgetting some here). Hobbitschuster (talk) 19:49, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure you can ask for it in English. In Norway I'd ask for "[name of drink] med is", Erik likely knows better if there's some other expression. ϒpsilon (talk) 20:08, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Correct, "whiskey med is" (=with ice). --Erik den yngre (talk) 22:21, 15 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank you very much. 86.144.11.177 19:35, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

How can we stay safe in major airports

How can we stay safe in major airports such as JFK

Asked by: 197.231.200.105 08:35, 18 March 2018 (UTC)

There's nothing to be afraid of in JFK. Just be normally sensible. Ikan Kekek (talk) 00:51, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Remember that there is a lot of security presence in airports. You're never more than a few hundred meters from a cop if something happens. Most criminality happens behind the scenes (drug and people smuggling, baggage theft...). --Xuxl (talk) 13:19, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

However, said security personnel tends to be very no-nonsense and has a worse sense of humor than the average German. Hobbitschuster (talk) 15:56, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Try not to touch surfaces, use disinfectant on hands before eating. Watch where other people are going with their heavy luggage. Make sure food is fully cooked. --Traveler100 (talk) 16:21, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Memorial Day in New England

My wife and I are planning a Memorial Day Weekend road trip to New England, leaving Buffalo the morning of Thursday, May 24 and arriving in Boston late the same day. We plan to stay with friends in Watertown, Massachusetts on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, then spend Sunday night, May 27, at a hotel in or around Newport, Rhode Island where we'll be visiting other friends of ours, then head home on Monday.

My wife is pretty insistent on a beach day in Cape Cod at some point that weekend. I'm aware that this is probably going to be a nightmarish monstrosity of crowds and traffic, but I want to try to ease the headache as much as possible. Here are some questions I have.

• Are there any beaches on Cape Cod that are "off the beaten path" and might be less crowded?
• In a holiday weekend scenario, how long would driving from the Boston area to Cape Cod take? Is it worth it to even try, or should we cut our stay with our friends short and shell out for a hotel room somewhere on the Cape? If so, how far ahead would we need to book? Have we already missed the boat on that?
• Apparently, a commuter rail line extends from Boston to Hyannis. How realistic an option would this be? That is to say, are there any worthwhile beaches on the inner portions of Cape Cod, or are they all further out from Hyannis towards the national seashore?
• Is the water temperature even conducive to swimming at that time of year?
• Anything else to watch out for or that would be good to know?

Pinging ButteBag, who's been less active lately but seems like definitely the one to ask about this. Obviously, if others can be of assistance, please feel free to chime in.

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 00:16, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Andre! Please enjoy New England! I bet you guys are going to have a great time. Here's a few quick (if incomplete) answers for you.

• LOL
• It takes about 2 hours w/o traffic. Everyone will tell you about how bad the traffic is (and it is bad). BUT. Since you're coming from Watertown, the trick will be to leave uncomfortably early. We did something similar last year (on the 4th of July!) We left the city at 6am, and got to ptown by 8am. It honestly wasn't bad. You're just going to get choked by the bridge on the way out, so be prepared to hang out "above the elbow" until after dinner. It'll be a long day.
• It does go there, but... you'd be missing out on what makes the cape the cape. If you have the coin, the transit option I would recommend is the fast ferry from boston. It's also 2 hours and you get the cool sea voyage aspect. Plus it's not as bad to be without a car in ptown. (I'd spend the money on this instead of a hotel on the cape.)
• LOL (but it's a little warmer on the bay side)
• The people / restaurant ratio is not in your favor on the cape. You're going to wait longer to eat than you want to, so I'd recommend bringing snacks.
• BONUS: If it fits in the schedule, check out the Matunuck Oyster Bar when you're in Newport. Very New England, we love it. It's also right next to a (less trafficked, more relaxed) beach.

--ButteBag (talk) 00:26, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Thank you, ButteBag, that's a big help in refining my plans. My wife and I especially like the idea of saving the beach day for Rhode Island (if we do it at all - I admit, Memorial Day is pretty early for anything in that latitude), and the fast ferry from Boston to P-town sounds intriguing too. I have a few follow-up questions if you don't mind:

• Does the fast ferry accept cars, or only pedestrians? (From the wording of what you wrote it sounds like pedestrians only, but I want to be sure.)
• How much of a difference would it make if we left a day early, did the Cape on Wednesday the 23rd overnight to Thursday the 24th, and then backtracked to Watertown?

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 01:03, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Awesome! That beach is also where the ferries to Block Island depart from, if you guys really want to get off the beaten path.

• None of the ferries to ptown take cars, but the ones to Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket do. You can get a full day out of ptown w/o a car, and even renting bikes is easy. Everything is flat and close.
• IMHO it's more about the time you leave, and not the number of days you're there. You can choose between waking up too early, or sitting in traffic too long. But yes, skipping weekend travel will help avoid the worst of the traffic. Also the best time to rent a hotel on the cape is yesterday, the second best time is now. (eg.. accommodation availability may make this decision for you.)

Good luck! I hope people aren't jerks to you!

-- ButteBag (talk) 00:16, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

I know this discussion has already been archived and technically shouldn't be further edited, but I returned from my trip to New England just yesterday and I wanted to follow up here with some points for the benefit of anyone who might happen to be reading this.

• We ended up shuffling the order a little bit from what I described in my original post: we stayed our first night, Wednesday the 23rd, in Yarmouth, swung up to Provincetown to hit the beach and have dinner, and then did Nantucket as a day trip on the second day, Thursday the 24th, before heading to Newport for the night. From there, it was onward to Boston from Friday the 25th until Sunday afternoon the 27th. If I could do it over again (and if I hadn't promised my Newport friends a visit), I'd have picked either the Cape or Nantucket and spent both Wednesday and Thursday nights there, and saved Newport for another time. In particular I have to say that although Nantucket was the highlight of our trip, the price of the ferry ($179 for two round-trip, passenger-only tickets on the Hy-Line high-speed boat, including parking for the day in the onsite lot in Hyannis) is not really worth the money if you've only got a few hours to spend there. The slow-speed ferry tickets were somewhat less expensive, but that would have meant even less time on the island. Anyway, there's plenty on both Nantucket and the Cape to fill two or three (or more) days apiece, and these are definitely the kind of places where a slow easy pace reaps rewards.

• The difference in tourist traffic on Cape Cod from midweek to weekend was astonishing. Our aforementioned hotel in Yarmouth cost $95 for the night on Wednesday, and we practically had the place to ourselves. Nantucket on Thursday was noticeably busier but still pleasant. However, on the road from Newport to Boston on Friday night, the Cape Cod-bound traffic on Route 24 and I-93 (heading the other direction from us, thankfully) was pandemonium.

• Newport is small enough to do in a day, especially if you're content to tool along Ocean Drive and see the mansions from outside rather than going inside any of them. It's a good choice for those with limited time on their hands.

• If you've only got two days in Boston, get comfortable with the idea of triaging the most essential attractions onto your schedule, and give up on the idea of getting to know the city in any real depth. We chose the Freedom Trail as the can't-miss activity to showcase. My advice: completing the whole thing all in one go is a bigger ask than its seemingly modest length of three and a half miles (5.6km) might indicate at first. You have to take into account the fact that the streets are hilly, the cobblestone paving in many sections makes for a challenging walk, and Boston can get incredibly hot and muggy at certain times of the year. Good walking shoes are a must. We did Boston Common through Faneuil Hall in the morning, took a break for lunch and shopping at the market, and later that evening took an Uber to the Paul Revere House and completed the North End leg before dinner.

• Regarding ButteBag's comment "I hope people aren't jerks to you!" - with my New York license plates on full display I was prepared for the worst, but one thing that astonished me - especially in an obviously tourist-oriented area where repeat business at restaurants and such is minimal - was how impeccable the customer service was. Everywhere we went, it was not just efficient but sincere and heartfelt. Rest assured that the "Masshole" stereotype, at least in my experience, is entirely unwarranted.

-- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 19:58, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

Nigeria

Is Nigeria a safe place to visit? Asked by: 105.112.37.138 11:17, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

A good place to start answering this question is by looking at our Nigeria article, specifically the warning box at the top of the page (updated December 2017), and also the Stay safe section. I have no experience of the country, so have no informed opinion of whether it is safe or not, but the governments of several western countries clearly seem to regard all or part of Nigeria as unsafe for their citizens to visit, citing terrorism from Boko Haram and the Zika virus as potential threats to visitors. I would also recommend reading the travel advisory given by the government of your country, if yours is not one of those listed in the warning box.

Now, like I said, this is just a starting point to give you an overview. If there are any Wikivoyagers with recent experience of Nigeria, they will be able to give additional information. From what I can see, safety level vary greatly depending on the region, but hopefully somebody else with actual experience can confirm this. --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 13:18, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

The U.S. Department of State has issued a level 3 "Reconsider Travel" warning for Nigeria (see https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Nigeria.html). While this is only the recommendation of the State Department, it is a pretty good sign that there exist some good reasons for you to avoid Nigeria. It also means that if you're a U.S. citizen, the U.S. government will have limited ability to provide aid to you in an emergency. I would recommend looking at the travel advisories issued by your home country's government ministry in charge of foreign affairs and reading the warnings they have issued with respect to travel to Nigeria. Based on the U.S. warning, I would certainly not recommend visiting solely for tourism. TheMrP (talk) 21:22, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

Government travel warnings, while a useful tool to get a general feel for the situation as TheMrP said above, should still be taken with a grain of salt. There are any number of reasons why a government might caution its citizens against travel to a particular country that may not have a completely objective basis; these may include anything from political disputes to a simple unnecessary overabundance of caution. In short: there's definitely good information in those warnings, but they're not the be-all-end-all; your mileage may vary, especially if you have a lot of previous experience with travel to developing countries and the like (and thus would regard entreaties to stay away from political demonstrations, avoid overland travel at night, etc. as "advice from Captain Obvious"; personally, I find that many of these warnings are oriented toward the more naïve end of the traveller population). -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 23:56, 14 April 2018 (UTC)