Frequent Miler on the Air - Weekend in Europe, where should Greg go? | Coffee Break Ep125 | 10-14-26

Episode Date: October 14, 2026

This podcast episode is sponsored by Saily. Saily is an ESIM service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saily gives you flexible prepaid data plans in over 200 destinations worldwide. Download Saily from your app store and use our code FREQUENTMILER at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. https://saily.com/frequentmilerGreg is going to Berlin, but he may not stay in Berlin for the weekend. He hasn't yet booked a flight home, so he could hop over to another European city and fly home from there. Nick recommended Prague, but are there other places Greg should consider?Coffee Break: Weekend in Europe, where should Greg go?(00:17) - See our August 28th podcast "Hidden Gem Awards" here(01:20) - See Carrie's suggestions here(02:53) - Feedback about Prague and other options by train(06:55) - Flight options(10:03) - Other listener/reader suggestions:(17:19) - Greg's decision...Subscribe and FollowVisit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie YoderCheck out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of the Voyascape Network, a collection of some of the world’s best travel podcasts. Explore more at Voyascape.com. For advertising or sponsorship opportunities on this show and across the network, email [e-mail] or you can find more information at Voyascape.com/advertsing.

This is a Voyescape podcast. You can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world at voyescape.com. This podcast episode is sponsored by Sayley. Sayley is an e-Sim service app created by the security experts behind NordVPN. Instead of paying absurd daily rates to your home carrier or swapping SIM cards on arrival, Saly gives you flexible prepaid data plans and over 200 destinations worldwide. Setup takes just a couple of minutes on your phone before you leave. your data activates automatically when you touch down.

Plus, in order to reduce your data consumption, Saly actually blocks malicious sites, trackers, and annoying ads while you browse. Whether you need a quick gigabyte for a weekend away or unlimited data for a longer adventure, Saly keeps you connected without any surprise bills waiting for you at home. Ready to upgrade your international roaming? Download Saly from your app store and use our code frequent miler at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. Details are in the show notes. Today's coffee break, weekend in Europe, where should Greg go?

Welcome to Frequent Milers Coffee Break, where we focus on a single topic related to miles and points. Each coffee break is limited to 20 minutes or less or your money back. In a previous podcast episode called Hidden Gem Awards that we released in late August, I talked about how I'm going with my wife to Berlin. she's going to be there for a meeting, and that we've been to Berlin before, we've been to lots of different towns in Germany, and I was kind of thinking about making the weekend, when she's out of her meetings on Friday afternoon, doing the weekend somewhere else in Europe, somewhere we haven't been before, just do a really quick little trip to somewhere.

And we hadn't booked our return home yet. So we can go somewhere and then return home from that somewhere, basically, is the idea. In that conversation, Nick recommended that we go to Prague, and I very much like that recommendation, but we also asked for listener input. Following that, though, our own Kerry wrote a blog post with her recommendations of where I should go after Berlin. And so what we're going to do now in today's coffee break is go through Carrie's recommendations, as well as the other listener and reader recommendations that supported Carrie's recommendations. And also, if we have time, we'll also cover some other recommendations that were outside of

what Carrie had suggested. Yeah. All right. So I love that Carrie organized hers by how you might get there, train, plane, et cetera. And I read her recommendations with a lot of interest because Carrie and I have been to a similar number of countries, but she traveled much slower than I did. So she has far more experience in all the various places that she's been probably than I do. So I'm always interested in hearing her thoughts. So I was excited when Carrie said that by train, she might recommend Prague. She agreed. She said Prague is an obvious choice, just a four-hour train right away and one of those must-see European destinations, which Greg has somehow not yet seen in all his years traveling.

True story. This is far from undiscovered with quite a large tourist crowd to contend with, but there's also so much worth fighting the crowds to see. I love the affordable food scene, the beautiful buildings, and the gradual departure from Western Europe's buttoned up culture. So I thought that was spot on. I mean, she's right. It's absolutely gorgeous.

And she's not the only one who agreed that Prague might be a good idea. idea. So Mark said Prague, 100%. You can start your culinary journey on the train, check railways, serve legit check food and draft beer on the train with seat service in first class. Once you cross the border from Germany to check you, happy hour pricing goes into effect and everything is cheaper. That's interesting and good to know. I took the train actually, but I'm pretty sure I took Deutschebahn. So I did not know any of that. So that's good to know. Christine says, Nick absolutely nailed it with his recommendation. of Prague instead of staying in Berlin for the weekend, book the Mozart Prague Accor Hotel for a unique palace stay. You'll have views of Prague Castle and you can walk everywhere. Be sure to grab a drink at Treaders Bar and dine at pasta fresca. My husband still thinks their Italian food is better than anything he ate in Italy. Stroll the bridge, hike up the hill to visit Prague Castle and check out the old Jewish cemetery for a moving experience. You won't regret visiting. Totally agree with you there. Paul! Paul! Paul also seconds my recommendation. He says, I'd second Nick's recommendation and you could, Paul, if you weren't third or fourth here. But you can third or fourth that that Prague should be on the list and just wanted to offer one specific Prague must hit. The restaurant, now, I'm not going to know how to pronounce this. It's S-P-E-G-L-E maybe.

J-L-E. Yeah, J-L-E, right, not G. Sorry. So anyway, I don't know how to pronounce that, but, but anyway, Paul says you should definitely go there and I'm intrigued by the. this too because he says the vibe is immaculate and the system is pretty fun there's no menu just colored skewers that tell you how expensive a particular dish is you walk up grab it order drinks to the table rinse and repeat i've hit michelin spots in prague many times in the past and this is still by far my favorite culinary experience on this list sounds great i like that that sounds delicious and i also really enjoyed the restaurant scene and i was not necessarily a foodie that I wouldn't say at the time that I visited. But I just enjoyed the vibe there.

So I can imagine that sounds like a cool place I'd like to visit too. Viv gives another plus one to Prague. It mentions that Vilnius and Riga are interesting too, as is Krakow and Bratislava. But Prague would probably be my first choice if you've never been there. Krakow did come to my mind. There was a place, I don't know if it's still open a restaurant called the Podgrisca. Oh, man, I imagine what that place just looked like and felt like.

and I love to go back if it's still there. So that's another good recommendation, but I would agree that Prague probably first. Magnetic Rose says Prague is my favorite city in Europe. It's an easy train ride from Eastern Germany and a very scenic ride along the, is this the Moldau? Is that how you pronounce that? Batava River. Highly recommended taking a walking tour of the old city and then take underground slash tram to the new city on the other side of the river.

There you can eat at the Panorama Restaurant at sunset, a converted famous Soviet radio tower with crawling babies going up the side. Gorgeous views of the city? I don't know about that one. Crawling babies going up the side. That's interesting. I'd be curious about more of that. So, all right.

So quite a few people say Prague, Greg. Yeah. Got that down at this point. Clearly can't go wrong with Prague. Right. Now, another of Kerry's recommendations was a city in Poland that starts with a W. I suppose it's pronounced Rocklaw, but I've never actually heard it pronounced. I've just seen it on the map. So if that's incorrect, please do correct me out there. I've never tried to pronounce that one. So we're going to say Rockla. Rocklaw is an adorable adorable adorable adorable option and about five hours away from Berlin by train, it's got a beautiful market square known

for colorful buildings that look like little dollhouses and just an overall adorable quaint village feel to it. So that's another option that might be an interesting one for you. Apparently, you know, not too far away from Berlin. And I've enjoyed trips to Poland. So I think that's another cool recommendation. But then Kerry moves on to flights. And she says, if you're willing to fly, some other places to consider include Riga in Latvia. Carrie says, Grite could fly nonstop to Riga Latvia, where he'll yet again see beautiful buildings and get to experience a cultural vibe that's a little different than the standard Western European flavor with a bit more of that northern feel.

Pickled fish, anyone? Now, I think I mentioned on that Hidden Gems podcast that I saw a couple of really cool SLH properties in both Riga and Latvia and also in Tallinn-Estonia. And so there was a place in Riga that looked pretty cool that I think might be, might fit your vibe anyway. I can't remember the name of it, but there was an S-L-H property. property there that I thought looked interesting when we did our 100K vacay challenge that was one of the destinations that I looked at going to. Yeah. Of course, as much as I like fish, pickled fish is

not like my favorite dish. What? Not pickled fish? Wait, so do you not like pickles? Are you like anti-vinegar? What's going on? No, I love I love pickles. I love vinegar. But yeah, pickled fish, I don't know. It's just not my thing. You know, I say that. I haven't had pickled fish before, but I like pickles enough that I feel like that's how I would really enjoy fish. It's pickled fish. So I'm on the other side of that one, Craig. All right. Well, let me know how it is. I'll have to let you know someday. All right. Next up, Kerry mentions Budapest and hungry. Budapest is one of my all-time favorite European cities. It has it all, as far as I'm concerned, great food, beautiful architecture, the famous and quirky ruin pubs, bathhouses and gorgeous views

from the hilltop over the river. This is another one that would get Greg a little outside of that buttoned up feeling of the rest of Western Europe. And so I think that's a cool recommendation. I love Carey's recommendations for places to get off the beaten path, you know. Yeah. Not that Budapest is off the beaten path, I guess, but it feels a little different. Right. You know, Budapest is another one that I haven't been to amazingly, although I've had plans to go there that have fallen through. So it's been high on my list. But yeah. So it's definitely an attachment. attractive option for sure. Yep. And then last from Kerry, she mentioned Warsaw in Poland. I think

Warsaw is somewhat underrated. The Old Town Square is beautiful. There's a unique food scene with paroogies, ricotta pancakes and stuffed cabbage rolls. And this is another one that yet again, I'll co-sign with Kerry on. We went to Warsaw a couple of years ago when Taylor Swift was maybe it was last year, year before I can't remember which year when Taylor Swift's big tour was going on. I got tickets for my wife to see Taylor Swift there in Warsaw because it was far less expensive. in Warsaw than it was in most of the rest of the world. So we went to Warsaw specifically for that. And I loved it.

I was like, oh, wow, this is a cool European city that we hadn't been to before. So I thought that was a great recommend. When I read Carrie's recommendation, I was like, oh, yeah, that really is a good recommendation if you've never been before. Oh, totally. I love all of these recommendations. So it's been really hard to, you know, weed them down. Well, we'll be right back after this with other listener, reader suggestions and Greg's

final decision. All right, and we're back. So we had some more listener and reader suggestions that were outside of what Kerry had suggested. So I picked out some of my favorites from those suggestions and put them in the notes. And Nick is going to let us know what those suggestions are. Yeah. So we had a couple people mention, and this is another one that I've seen in the map plenty of times, but don't necessarily know how to pronounce. Gdansk, Poland, that begins with a G. I don't know whether the G is silent. is just done. This is why I asked Nick to read the reader suggestions because I didn't know how to pronounce these things. That's right. Me either. Me either.

But I've seen it on the map anyway. So FDII or I'm sorry, fight I guy. Fightai guy. It says it has a beautiful historic center, fascinating history and is relatively affordable. It can be really fun and it's an underrated city for a weekend. All right. I mean, I think that's a good weekend trip suggestion. Perhaps I haven't been.

This is a place I haven't been. But Kerry, not our carry, but. but Kerry with a K, agreed with this suggestion and said, when I took my choir to perform in Berlin, we took a train to, again, Gdansk, Poland. It's a beautiful city, part of the medieval Hanseatic League with Dutch-looking architecture, a famous lique, is it goldwasser, and plentiful amber. And then there's another thing that started in Gdansk that, again, I'm not positive how to pronounce. I see what you're doing to me here, Craig. But Kerry says one of one of Carrie's favorite cities. Amber, that's another cool thing that we did see a bunch of that somewhere else in Europe.

I want to say in Slovenia, a bunch of things made with Amber that were just really pretty, a lot of the crafts. So that intrigues me as a potential interesting option. Have you ever been there? I have not. No. I don't think I've been to Poland at all. So, yeah. Oh, okay.

All right. It's a good suggestion for sure. All right, next up, split Croatia. So Anu says my husband and I ended up there as a last-minute pivot last week on a recent trip. We totally loved it. It's less than a two-hour non-stop flight from Berlin and works really well for a short stay. It was an unexpected highlight of our trip. Very scenic, many places to explore, good shopping, beaches to swim at, and great restaurants.

The people are incredibly kind. This is another one that I love. We went to split kind of on a whim years and years ago, and I thought it was gorgeous. And, you know, I've been to Dubrovnik also. Dubrovnik is very popular, especially because of Game of Thrones. I don't love Dubrovnik as much. And it's not that I don't like Dubrovnik. It's just, it's so touristy, I feel like at this point that I didn't enjoy it as much.

Enjoyed Split far more, actually. And it's not that Split doesn't have tourists, but I enjoyed it more. Yeah. During the Flying by the Seed of Our Points Challenge, I went to Croatia, but to Zagreb, So I wasn't on the coast. And my number one kind of regret of going to Croatia was not going to split from the things I had read. Like I wanted to go to Dubrovnik as well. But I've heard so much about how overcrowded it is with tourists.

But split just sounds really ideal. So it's definitely high on my list of things to do. Yeah, yeah, definitely. That was a good recommendation. I like that one. Oh, here we go. Tellin Estonia, Dave says, tell in Estonia, we're on the back of a trip through,

seven northern European cities now. Just finishing a four-day stint in Tallinn, Estonia, which has been one of our favorites. Anyone with the All Accord Platinum status match will want to check out the Swiss Hotel Tallin. It's right in the middle of the most interesting spots to visit. Great service, and if you book the executive king

room for not much more than the base room, I'm told you stand an excellent chance of a one level up bump to one of the excellent corner suites we've enjoyed. A second bathroom, marvelous views, and the rare chance in major European cities to spread out without breaking the bank. We about $700 worth of a core points for the entire stay.

And again, that was a four-day stint. So, either three or four nights, not bad for a perfect location. Yeah, yeah, again, talent sounds awesome. All right. Next up, Stockholm. Easily one of the, oh, sorry, this one came from Oliver. So Oliver says Stockholm. Easily, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

There's a fantastic category four Hyatt there, the Hotel Horizon. I think you've been to Stockholm before, or maybe you haven't. I have, but it's so brief. it was it was during the three cards three continents challenge and we arrived at night left the next morning I was I really loved what little I saw while we were there it's so beautiful so yeah this this is also a great option I really do want to take my wife to see Stockholm at night along the river is just so beautiful you know I've never been to Sweden and So years and years ago, before I was in Miles and Points at all, my wife and I were working online as like 2010, 2011.

We flew to Europe and landed in Europe the day that that volcano in Iceland blew up and it closed all the airports in Europe for like two or three weeks. And when they reopened, Ryanair ran a sale from like three euros each way all over Europe. And so we booked every single week. We had an apartment in Berlin and every single weekend we booked to fly somewhere just about. And so we had flights booked to Stockholm. but we went to Norway first and we were hit with such sticker shock in Norway. We were like, we just can't afford to go to Stockholm. There's no way we can go back to Scandinavia again.

So we canceled the Stockholm trip. But I regret it because now I've still this, you know, here we are 15 years later. And I've still not been to Stockholm. So yeah, yeah. I want to see one of these days. Especially now that the flights and hotels would be covered with points. Next up is Hamburg. Phil says Hamburg is less than two hours.

away by train and it's a thriving modern city. It's near the sea and boasts a thriving music scene. And if Greg is a Beatles fan, it's a pilgrimage of sorts. Now, this, of course, is in Germany and you said you've been to quite a few towns in Germany. Have you been to Hamburg before? That's why I put this on the list. I have not been to Hamburg, despite having been to many German cities. So, Hamburg has been on my list as well of places I want to go. It's really tough deciding between all these options, all these great options. They're so cool. Yeah, I mean, there's quite a few here that I've been to and enjoyed, but there's also

quite a few on the list here that I really either haven't been to at all or have only very briefly been to, like Budapest is a great example of one that like I was there very briefly during one of our challenge trips, but I definitely want to see more of it. So, so yeah, I mean, this is a tough one. I don't know if, you know, if you only have one place to go for the weekend, how do you pick? Although, of course, you know, with this hobby, one of the things I love about it is I never feel like it's a decision I can't, you know, I can't change in the future. Like I can't, I could always go back and see something else on the next trip or the trip after that or at least I hope that I will

in the future. So, so I don't feel like I'm giving something up when I pick something of this sort as much as I would have in the days before miles and points. And that's kind of nice and freeing, lets you pick whatever it is you want. So ultimately, Greg the Frequentiler, what is it that you've decided? Where are you going to go for the weekend? All right. So one of the, uh, record, recommendations that we didn't read was a guy named Alex had written in saying his wife, who has a PhD in art and history, in Czech art and history, would be available to give us a tour of Prague if we went there and, you know, highly recommended Prague. And so I reached out to Alex and yeah, it's set up. We're going to get a private tour from.

from someone who really knows the stuff. And, you know, I don't know a lot about Prague, but I do, you know, I've read enough things, even fiction that takes place in Prague, and there's clearly a lot of very rich history there that is fascinating. And so I just felt like I couldn't give up that opportunity. And, you know, it was high-end list anyway,

and plus it was the number one recommendation from many people. So we're going to go to Prague. Nice. I'm excited to hear that. I'm excited to hear what you think of it because we were so enamored with Prague years and years ago. We just kept saying that every time we turned around a corner, we were like, wow, how does the city keep getting more beautiful? So I'm excited to hear what you think of it and really excited to hear what you learn about it now that I know how you're doing it there. So that's going to be, I'm sure, a really interesting way to visit Prague, give you a really unique experience. It really should be. And if anyone is going to be in Prague on the last Saturday in October, Let me know. Maybe we can meet up for drinks after dinner, something like that. This episode was produced and edited by Carrie Yoder, music by Annie Yoder. If you've enjoyed what you've heard today and you'd like to get more of this in your email inbox each day or each week, go to frequentmiler.com slash subscribe to join our email list.

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