My girlfriend and I are traveling to Europe from the end of November until January. We plan on spending almost all of our time outside due to COVID, eating at the Christmas markets, and taking in the sights. Do you know if you can purchase HotHands or any other disposable hand warmers in Europe?

We are only bringing backpacks, and dont want to waste space packing them

There are rechargeable ones online, but they only last a few hours on each charge

Thanks!

out of interest, if you can recharge them, why are they called disposable?

The rechargeable ones aren't disposable. But I'm guessing people were going to recommend those, so I was just mentioning why those won't work for us

Buy some gloves when you get here if you find you need them.
Better than any handwarmers reusable or disposable. Don't buy disposable ones - very polluting, though the reusables aren't a lot better.

I've never needed more than good gloves -- I have some of disposables I occasionally use when at my place at Tahoe, but I've never taken them to Europe.

If you have good hand circulation (as I do) then regular gloves or a pair of ski mittens may be sufficient..
If you have circulation issues, such as Raynauds, or even if you just get cold hands and you'll need some help HotHands handwarmers are a great option.

Terra Therm is a European equivalent of HotHands. Amazon sells them in Europe. You could order some and have them sent to to yourself at your first hotel. I don't have firsthand knowledge, but I would assume they are also available in local stores. You can look up this brand online at stores in the cities you'll be visiting., or shop at terra-therm.com

Another vote for either bringing a good pair with you (easily can be stuffed in a backpack) or find a good pair there.

I brought a pair with me to Iceland but ended up buying a glorious handmade wool pair while there. I'm an ice skater and wear them on the ice - 10 minutes later, they're off because they are very effective!

You don’t say where you are from, or where in Europe you plan to travel, but HotHands is available on Amazon.co.uk. For what it’s worth, I grew up in Wisconsin, and where I live in England seldom find the need for gloves in winter. Now that I am older and circulation poorer I keep a pair of gloves in my car, and for country sports have silk lined leather gloves, which keep my hands warm all day. Woollen gloves are also useful, inexpensive, and easy to pack as they weigh next to nothing.

Chestnuts. Just saying. Hot roasted chestnuts.

I'll buy a bag of roasted chestnuts (though vendors seem fewer and farther between than they used to be), put them in my pocket and keep my hand warm until the chestnuts are cool enough to eat, then a few blocks later - repeat. Two bags is abut my limit over an evening . . .

Don't know where you are going (Europe is a big place), but a place that sells ski clothing and gear will have them. Decathlon, AS Adventure (Belgium).

Where are you from and where are you going? We visit Europe often in the winter (usually Switzerland, Austria, Germany) and have never needed more than a pair of mittens - which are warmer than gloves IMO - and we do a lot of winter hiking. Down mittens are the best if you run cold, but we seldom need more than fleece.

We're wrapping up a month long visit to Switzerland (and a bit of Italy) and have been more warm than cold.

Maybe a pair of these? They kept Bernie warm at the inauguration.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...meme-jen-ellis

For me, standing, eating and doing everything I could to remain “outside” during a winter trip to Europe and shivering and finding ways to stay warm would be much more of a hassle than any relatively minor symptoms I might experience with the latest variants of Covid that seem to be those of a minor cold or flu. If you were to even contract the bug. Each person, of course, must gauge their own health and beliefs on their own, however. Could you not just go and have fun?