Matthew Dean

We will be taking our first trip to Europe in August and I have confirmed my hotel reservations, but now I am starting to wonder about air conditioning. We will be in Paris, Munich, and Interlaken, how important is it to have rooms with air conditioning. Are these cities unbearable in August without it? Thanks for the assistance. <BR> <BR>Matthew Dean

Caryn

Northern Europe doesn't get as hot as southern Europe, especially in the mountains. While we Americans are often spoiled with air conditioning, you probably won't need it that badly. What I don't understand is why they don't air condition the metros in Paris. It's not too fun down there in the heat. Also, don't expect to get ice everywhere you go. Just another "cold" amenity they don't seem to have caught onto yet. And one more thing I wonder. If they don't have a/c and they keep the windows open for air, how come they don't use screens????

Frank

Message- A/C usually not needed. Check temperatures. Washington Post has a good site. As far as screens are concerned, if you're above lst floor, there are no bugs.

Frank

Message- A/C usually not needed. Check temperatures. Washington Post has a good site. As far as screens are concerned, if you're above lst floor, there are no bugs.

Marty

Even if you find that there is air-conditioning, don't be surprised or disappointed if it is not what you expect. In Paris, we stayed in an "air-conditioned" relatively modern Americanized hotel (we were disappointed), but the outside doors were open all the time and the air-conditioning was not what we were used to. It was August, and we didn't die! Everything was so wonderful there, and we spent so little time in the room that it really did not matter. In Rome this past June, we stayed in an un-airconditioned room in a very old hotel near the Via Veneto. Our friends had an "air-conditioned" room. Our room was very comfortable with a fan, but the windows in the air-conditioned room would not Close! They were on the back side of the hotel over a courtyard. They weren't very comfortable, but it was Rome and they just didn't care! You won't be in America, so don't do a lot of comparing. I bet you paid for the excitement of the differences anyway!

Marie

Well, people can talk about the wonder of it all but folks, got to say we were in Europe last August and they had a HEAT WAVE that about made me want to die. Hot little rooms, no air, if there was air it wasn't up to US standards- couldn't sleep, couldn't think, hot hot hot! Took showers, kids moaned and complained. We bought two fans and took them into the rooms. The windows wouldn"t work, no ice! halls of the hotels were hot and stuffy! We actually walked away from some hotels to find something better. Not easy. for 3 nights my husband parked the van we rented by water and slept in the van with windows open. This was not what we expected our dream vacation to be. <BR>

Helena

I'm acutely aware of the A/C dilemma in Europe, especially as I sit here in my non-A/C office, wondering if today is going to be hot and sticky or really hot and really sticky. One thing I've noticed since I've been living in Europe for almost five years is that your body actually adjusts quite a bit to the temperatures. When I go back to the US once a year for a week or two, I freeze. All the time, everywhere. I can't believe how cold the A/C is in the US. When I lived there, I loved it, and never felt cold. Now, I've gotten used to being warmer. Your body does adjust, and I'm comfortable at much higher temps than I used to be. On the subject of no screens - I though, my first summer here, that I would die. Nope. I lived. In fact, I don't even miss them! There are fewer biting bugs here than I experienced in the US (northeast US), and I haven't had a problem. THere's also something neat about having the balcony doors open at night, and the fresh breeze and the curtains billowing.... Before you panic about no A/C and no screens, try it out. It's not so bad!