Cigarettes and Western Europe
 

What's the status of cigarette smoking in France/Italy/Germany/UK these days?
Is smoking permitted in: hotel rooms/restaurants/bars/clubs/the street/public conveyances
DH smokes (alas!), so this will matter quite a bit in trip planning.
Thanks!
QuinnAdams

The only place in Scotland where you may smoke is in the open air or in your own home. Most pubs and other public places now have a small group of smokers standing outside in all weathers. I'm so glad I gave up smoking many years ago, given the weather just now!

For France : you can smoke in the streets (or home).
Public transports, schools, hospitals and stores are strictly non smoking.
Restaurants and cafes are allowed to have a smokers zone (until next year, then they will be non smoking).
Hotels have individual policies.
Don't know for bars and clubs.

in GB (ex scotland) you can smoke in pubs, clubs, bars (a very small number are N/S). restaurants are generally ok (some are N/S). many b&bs are totally non-smoking but most larger hotels offer smoking or n/s rooms.

this all changes soon as american style smoking restrictions will soon be implemented (i believe next summer).

Italy: smoking is prohibited in all public places. Smoking permitted only in free air and at home You can still order a smoking or no smoking room in some cases but the majority of hotel rooms are non smoking already.

In Wales, smoking is currently allowed however many pubs and most public places either do not allow it or provide no smoking areas.
But smoking is becoming very taboo here.

Until next Summer when it will be banned in all public places.

About time too !!!

Muck

In the UK, laws vary by province and are outlined at www.forestonline.org/output/page17.asp Although smoking is banned on all public public transport (but typically at the owner's discretion in taxis), English airports all (well, all I've used lately) have enclosed, indoor, smoking areas.

BettyB might slightly mislead you about Scotland: smoking may be permitted in designated hotel bedrooms too, though this is at the hotel owner's discretion. 100% non-smoking hotels are now beginning in Scotland, but they're still the minority.

Many thanks to all for the information -- very useful in making our choices. I agree with Mucky and BettyB and am glad that I gave up smoking - nearly 20 years now - although I'd say it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done!

Of course my travel agent never bothered to mention the potential hotel situation or ask about smoking or non-smoking, but armed with your good advice I will now know what questions to ask! DH is a very considerate smoker, but I would have felt terrible if we arrived at a hotel only to find that he would have to go outside somewhere to have a smoke! I'm picturing a cold, rainy night with him in pajamas and a rain coat, boots, scarf, hat, umbrella and a cigarette standing outside some hotel trying to smoke without burning his gloves. Say -- that's an anti-smoking commercial for sure! Anyway, it would be great if he quit, but that has to be his choice and thanks again for letting us know what to expect!

QuinnAdams

That's exactly what we have here. Someone in an apartment across the street still smokes and you see him at all hours standing out under the awning - rain, sleet or snow - puffing away. And its the far end of the awning since the board ruled there is no smoking allowed within 10 feet of the front door of the building.

(No longer a problem in our building since the last smoker died about a year ago.)

And I am not aware of anywhere in western europe where you can smoke on public transit.

Most European trains provide for smokers (either with dedicated cars or "zones" within cars).

The "zones" usually only designate areas of a sealed tube where some people can light up, without physically isolating the smoke, which does not observe the regulations.

Sometimes the zones are separated from the rest of the car by ostensibly airtight compartments, but these never work because the flow of air into and out of the smoke zones isn't controlled adequately.

I live in Scotland.You cannot smoke in pubs,restaurants,etc.....(unless you go outside)...This does not really affect me much....I don't smoke....But I am sure that I was getting affected by other people's smoke...I used to notice that before the ban that my clothes would stink if I went to a club or late-night venue.....I'm sure that people will generally accept the new law,even though there are still some old-timers who speak of how great it used to be to light up a "ciggy"when you went for a pint in the pub........

No smoking in restaurants anywhere in Italy except for outdoor cafes. No smoking in the dining room of our hotel in Rome and didn't notice anyone smoking in the lobby either. No smoking on the trains we took from Rome to Naples and back again. No smoking on public buses.

"american style smoking restrictions"
Have you ever been to Missouri? Maybe East/West Coast U.S. style smoking restrictions would be more appropriate as you can still belch out cancer fumes in bars between KC and St Louis.

As a smoker who grew up in the lovely town of Hermann, Missouri (about half way between KC and STL), I'm glad that small towns still have the legal right of "working it out" by civility, rather than big city rules for all.

Don't rely on posters here.

"I am not aware of anywhere in western europe where you can smoke on public transit." says one

"Most European trains provide for smokers (either with dedicated cars or "zones" within cars)." says another.

Do either of them have the foggiest idea of:
- what they're talking about?
- what the questioner asked?

Fact:
- Smoking is permitted on virtually no trains in the UK or Italy. (I say virtually, because this is an operator's decision, and there's bound to be a small railway company somewhere that hasn't bothered)
- Smoking will be banned from trains in France in Feb 2007
- Robespierre's observations are correct about Germany.

To confirm what flanneruk wrote above :-)
<<<- Smoking will be banned from trains in France in Feb 2007<<
Smoking is banned from trains in France since 2004.

The February 2007 smoking ban in France will apply tor restaurants, cafes, hotels, all office places....

Norween,
Does that then mean that Flanners posts shouldn't be relied on either.

lol

:-)

Muck

NY traveller

Did you really mean that people are not allowed to smoke inside their own homes? Good grief.

A small clarification - the Smoking Ban in France for restaurants, cafes, bars, hotel etc will start in 2008 - not 2007. 2007 applies to hospitals, schools, trains, airports.

Just the mere fact that until now, smoking was not banned in hopsitals shows you how far this country has to go !

I am still dubious about restaurants and cafes in 2008 following the rules, but belive me, I hope to be proved wrong.

And don't even start in on the Italians, Spaniards, Irish pubs, etc following the rules so why not the French - remember the French are the exception to just about everything under the sun - god bless 'em !

-Kevin