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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Low tricks of low season

By Clive Dorman

NO SCHOOL holidays in sight, we're deep into the travel "low season", but air fares are climbing when they should be falling. Thankfully, there's other competition to choose from, but Qantas' current Red E-Deals - its best online fares - look like something out of the olden days.

Its best fare on the benchmark Melbourne-Sydney route is now $125 one-way, dearer than it was before the arrival of Impulse and then Virgin Blue half a decade ago. And it's the same across the network, with $10 or so added to the best fares seemingly every month for the past few months.

Virgin Blue is pushing up its margins as well: its best Melbourne-Sydney fare is now $109, when a year ago it was $69. You can get a "cheapie" for $89, only if you travel on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and only if you're prepared to spend plenty of time online looking for that rate for travel at least a month out.

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Paris and France Monthly Events Calendar, Typical Weather and Trip Planner

By Kelby Carr

Get a Guide to Visiting any Month in the Year

No matter when you will visit France, be prepared for the national holidays, typical weather, major events and more. The month-by-month calendar and trip planner discusses the pros and cons for each month, month-specific packing tips and more. This is also a great guide to choosing the timing of your next French vacation.

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