Winter Travel To Europe

By James Martin

Why not travel in winter? Hotels and airfares are cheap, sweaty summer crowds are a dim memory, and there's plenty going on:

• Attend Cultural events: Opera, Theater, and Symphony Winter Seasons.
• Have Fun in the Snow: skiing, snowboarding
• See Christmas Markets, Festivals and Carnival
• Enjoy Winter food - an entirely different animal from summer's simplicity!

Why Travel in Winter?

While it's great fun hanging out under the August sun slurping spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce at an outdoor cafe in Rome, winter travel offers some interesting opportunities you may not have considered. There are the obvious ones, like skiing and snowboarding. But what about the opera and orchestra season? European cultural events in historic halls are going full blast in winter.

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Off Season Travel In Europe - Tips and Tools for Off-Season Vacations

By James Martin

Travel Cheap - Enjoy Europe's Culture - Go in the Off-Season

You'll hear seasoned travelers extolling the virtues of September-May off-season travel so often you probably know them by heart: fewer tourists, greater cultural options and mingling opportunities with the locals, more relaxed atmosphere, cheaper airfares and hotel rates, and the lack of that summer swelter. But there's a reason folks travel in high season in Europe: it seldom rains, there's maximum daylight, it's easy packing light, and there are abundant tourist resources. But off-season travel still aces out high-season travel in my book, because all those problems with off-season travel can be overcome with a few tricks seasoned travelers call upon to make their vacations meaningful and fun. Read on.

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Off Season Take Offs

By Mark Kahler

Blame a lack of frequent flier miles.

The year we wanted to go to Europe, two free tickets in summer required 100,000 miles. In March, that total was just 70,000. For many of us, that gap takes a long time to close. Call it March Madness: We spent 14 days in Italy and France.

How attractive is Paris in March? How cold is the wind off the water in Venice? A shortage of miles aside, why go?

The answer can be found in your pocketbook.

Astounding Airfares

Airlines sometimes cut the number of Trans-Atlantic routes they offer during the off-season, since there are fewer vacationers. But they still have seats to fill, and generally the way to populate those seats is to discount them.

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