European Travel has been on hiatus for the past two months or so, and I would like to apologize to all of you who have been faithfully reading my articles. I recently moved from San Francisco to Seattle, and only now am settling down and getting back to work. Hopefully, I will be getting back into my usual routine, and have a new and exciting article on-line every two weeks.
One of my new co-workers left for a trip to England today. "But isn't it going to be cold there?" she was asked repeatedly by other co-workers. "And rainy?" People in Seattle generally don't seek out vacations where there's a lot of rain - enough of that at home. But she just smiled broadly and announced that she was going to have a wonderful time, and started listing all of the items she planned to buy.
She had good reason to smile. With the lower prices that come with autumn travel, she's going to have a lot more available cash to raid those English stores. Money formerly spent on airfare and hotel can now be used to stock up on Waterford and cashmere!
Autumn is a great time to plan a trip to Europe. Between mid-September and mid-December, prices decrease and crowds thin out. Instead of waiting two hours on line to get into the Uffizzi gallery, as you may find yourself doing on a July afternoon in Florence - come October, you may find that you have Botticelli's Birth of Venus all to yourself. You may find that your airfare has dropped several hundred dollars, all because you're flying in November instead of August. Of course there are also drawbacks, but the positive generally outweighs the negatives. The only things you're missing when you go to Europe in the fall are the crowds, high airfares and premium hotel rates.
Weather
October is generally an all-around, very pleasant month for travel. Weather conditions will vary depending on elevation and location, but unless you are heading to Northern Scandinavia, Moscow, or planning on an alpine trek, daytime temps will be comfortable enough for outdoor activity. In Paris, for example, there will be some days that are chilly and rainy, perfect weather for a visit to the Louvre. Other days will be warm and sunny, pleasant enough to sit out on the Champs Elysees with your café au lait, and watch the world go by. As October leads into November, days will become shorter, darker, and with an increased chill in the air. You may need to pack a warmer jacket, but it is highly unlikely that you will experience biting cold or snow, unless traveling into the mountains, Scandinavia or parts of Eastern Europe
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