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Tourist info resources for the VFR traveller

My philosophy in terms of VFR travel is : pick a time frame, book a plane, form a crew and go where the weather is good !

So I know the rough area where I will go on short notice, and I then need to pick a destination.
On the aviation side, using EuroGA and SD, I know how to find fuel, the lowest fees, the long enough runways, the best service …..

And, on a trip, I like to stop and enjoy the areas I travel, not just refuel, talk to some pilots and take off again
I need/want to manage my future flying potential by offering my girlfriend some interesting (I mean cultural, historical or picturesque) destinations to discover, even if it means landing at a more pricey airport etc…

What I would like my fellow forumites to share is : how to you get info on a specifc area/city, how do you pick a destination in a area ? Sometimes I look for a thriving city with museums, sometimes for a charming village …
Example : I am in Nortern Germany, weather is good on Southern Sweden today, are there any charming little town where we could enjoy a day before taking off to somewhere else ? I would need 2-3 possible spots, then to choose the easiest from an aviation perspective (airport, weather, transportation, online reviews….)

I hope you get my point

LFOU, France

For me, it is an iteration:
Geographical area of interest → wikipedia, lonely planet/tripadvisor forums → pilots forums asking for recommendations (pilotes-prives.fr, euroga.org, pilotundflugzeug, flyer forum), SD pilot reports, eddh.de pireps (several thousands, but german language) → refining the choices.
The most precious to me are forum recommendations, I store them by region to be able to pull them according to the weather.

Bremen (EDWQ), Germany

My approach: First I do check the airports/airfields whereI haven‘t been before. Then google the area around about interesting things to do and to see.Then ceck the destination by flying to the field. Sometimes the choice on one day is better than on other days, but it is never boring.

EDDS , Germany

We are all different. I wouldn’t fly to a specific place unless

  • I have to be there for a reason (could be any reason, but not tourism)
  • There is a fly in or an air show there

I still have a vague dream of flying/touring with a TMG in the mountainous areas of continental Europe. Then knowing about the nice places would be given of course.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Ok, so there is no miracle app that glaives you point of interest and how long is needed for each one.
I guess I will just google « [name of the area] tourism » and see what I find.

LFOU, France

Yes I think different people just like different things. But the main obstacle to producing such a product is the same one which has always been present with any kind of tourist guide. You can’t make enough money by selling them in shops, and today’s widespread use of google for everything has reduced that even more. So they need to be packed with adverts. France used to publish a guide called Delage (mentioned on EuroGA in various posts) which was packed with adverts by hotels etc. I had a copy c. 2002.

I think a good start is wikipedia. For a city, that tends to be pretty good for tourist attractions. Not so sure about some of the forums mentioned; I know some of them and they are pretty “local”, as national-language forums tend to be. They are also loaded with posters who don’t go anywhere but post on the internet all day

Tripadvisor is also good but you need to read it between the lines because it can be stuffed with fake reviews; this is especially a problem with restaurants and such. Justine recently sat next to two guys on a flight and their full time job was writing fake reviews on social media

Also an “app” is a problem in that you need to keep updating it all the time. A website is a much better vehicle for delivery of that type of content.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@peter: i recommend the tripadviser forum, not the reviews. Regarding other forums: I‘d suggest posting in english forums for tips for the UK, french for tips regarding France, germans for Germany (they all accept english posts). I always got excellent tips from local pilot forums asking for [your interest and style here]. Astonishingly, even pilots are sometimes able not to take flying first and to take the stand of a non-pilot, spouse, family with childs, you name it.

Last Edited by a_kraut at 18 Mar 18:43
Bremen (EDWQ), Germany

I didn’t expect a specific solution, more like a recommendation for an easy-to-use and synthetic tourism site/forum/app.

Thanks for the advice about the trip advisor forums.

LFOU, France

Jujupilote wrote:

an easy-to-use and synthetic tourism site/forum/app

You mean a wife?

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

« Smiley rolling on the ground laughing »
Indeed, I told her it would be her job, but geography is not one of her strong points. We’ll just see

LFOU, France
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