I've dreamed of Europe since I was little and now we're finally going! Our somewhat indefinite itinerary includes England, France, Italy, Greece, and maybe Spain. Our only problem is, we can only go in January or Febuary. That's great for saving money, but I worry that I will get too cold to enjoy it all. <BR> We're from Seattle and are only used to one season: RAINY! I'm not afraid of a little cold, I just don't want to freeze! Any suggestions on how to deal with this situation, i.e. weather reports, clothing suggestions, indoor activities etc, would be greatly appreciated! You guys know so much more about traveling in Europe than I do. I'm anxious to hear your suggestions.<BR><BR>p.s. WE DON'T SKI! Three times down a mountain and one broken ankle were enough!

Don't know just what it will be like , but last year in Feb in Rome all we wore was sweaters!<BR><BR>Have been to London in Feb and while it was cold, even I who live in Fl didn't freeze. Just layered clothing because the inside of stores and museums were uncomfortably HOT!

<BR>Beth<BR><BR>I live in England and can tell you nothing definite about the weather in Jan/Feb! It's pretty common that our worst weather takes place in late Jan, early Feb, our dreams of White Christmases seldom come true, it's usually mid 40s F and grey! However, the one thing you can expect is the regular bright clear blue sky days, which are great if you don't mind it being around the freezing mark.<BR><BR>I've been in Paris and Brussels in January and February and both were sweater weather, although if you're walking about sightseeing then go for a couple of thin layers instead. I had lunch in a T-shirt on the Champs Elysees on Feb 20th this year and wasn't cold so it's not always too bad. <BR><BR>I also wore a t-shirt in Genoa in December last year, the temperature was in the mid 60s F, but heading north through the Appenines, the temperature dropped drastically to about 35F in Milan!<BR><BR>If you have any specific locations in mind for England, France, Italy or Greece (not so hot on Spain!) then don't hestitate to post 'em up!<BR><BR>Jim<BR><BR>In general I think you'll find

Thank you so much Jimbo!<BR> Coming from Seattle, WA, I haven't seen a white Christmas in years! We're still not sure where we're staying yet. Hope to see the Lakes District and London while in England. Normandy, Nice, and Paris while in France. And just Sicily in Italy. Any further advice is greatly appreciated!<BR> I don't have much to go on when deciding where to stay and what to see, only my childhood dreams to fulfill so<BR>Bath from Jane Austen Novels<BR>London from Dickens<BR>Normandy Beach from a sense of history<BR>Paris from 4 years of French in High School<BR>and Sicily from a mild obsession with Mario Puzo novels!<BR>Thanks again for all your help!

How long are you going for ?? The entire winter ?? That appears to be an awful lot of traveling for anything less than 6 weeks.

<BR>Beth<BR><BR>I'll deal with your country queries one at a time, and I think I'll start with England (since it's easiest for me!). Bath is a wonderful place to visit, it is full of history, has the Roman baths, the Royal Crescent and (not that interestingly!) the highest university campus above sea level in Britain! It's definitely a good place to visit, and if you fancied a bit of excitement and a lot of hills to walk with another sprinkling of old buildings, Bristol is just next door (about 30 miles away) with dramatic scenery and (my favourite) the Clifton suspension bridge. It will almost definitely be chilly there in Jan/Feb, and windy too, but nothing that can't be beat!<BR><BR>London, well there's so much info on this site you could search forever and find a conflicting argument for every possible sight. Where do you start?! I'd recommend the Millennium Wheel (to get a true feeling of how big London is), the British Museum (to see just about everything historically important that there is!) and wandering along the South Bank in the evening. Again, it'll be breezy, but what the heck!<BR><BR>More to follow. Any more places you fancy in England? Thought about Cambridge for example?

Beth, Stay south of the Alps on the Med and it will be tolerable. I would skip London and the north of France.

We're planning on 3 weeks -- a week in each country. 1/2 a week in London, 1/2 somewhere else. 1/2/ a week in Paris, 1/2 somewhere else. 1/2 a week in Sicily 1/2 somewhere else. I know it's a lot, but I'm young and recuperate quickly. Besides, I'll sleep when I get back to the states.<BR>Jim -- you're amazing. Any information you have to share on England in general is wondeful. I know I can buy a guidebook or search the postings, but I would much rather hear it from you, a native,and someone who sounds like they appreciate the same things I do. Give me all you got! Thanks again.

<BR>Morning Beth!<BR><BR>Well, back to England again. It does make a slight difference whether you're getting a flight to France or not and from where. If you're getting a good cheap flight with, say, Buzz to fly you to Paris, then you'll be going to Stansted - this is a good thing! Spend your half week in London when you arrive, then the choice is simple (ish!). Head west out of London Paddington on the train, you'll be in Bath in just less than two hours. Take a day or two there (including Bristol if you fancy) and then head back to London in order to get to Kings Cross for the 45minute Intercity to Cambridge. Spend a day in the city there looking round colleges, watching people punting (there will be some, no matter the weather!) and soaking up some old time atmosphere (oldest college there is Peterhouse, founded in 1284, the footstone in the gate is probably 400 years old and is so worn away from people walking over it that rain water collects in the middle of it!).<BR><BR>From Cambridge you're a mere 30 minute train/bus/coach/taxi ride from Stansted airport (buses go every hour from the centre of the city, probably easiest).<BR><BR>Then you're in Paris! Let me know what you think of that, then we can concentrate on the French side of things!<BR><BR>All the best<BR>Jim

Hi<BR><BR>there are no guarantees with weather forecasts !<BR><BR>But the poster above is right to say .................... Go South.<BR><BR>Historical weather records here :<BR><BR>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/weather/historical/historical.htm<BR><BR>The cheap fares go directly from Stansted to the Med. Check the top 11 cheap airline destinations here :<BR><BR>http://aerfares.net/index.php<BR><BR>There are some cheap connections Paris : South France, but I don't have details (don't go to Paris, much !) I saw one advertised in Nimes airport at Euro 53 one way.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com<BR>

Beth,<BR>You wrote<BR>We're planning on 3 weeks -- a week in each country. 1/2 a week in London, 1/2 somewhere else. 1/2/ a week in Paris, 1/2 somewhere else. 1/2 a week in Sicily 1/2 somewhere else. <BR><BR> I suggest that you are trying to do much too much. This is an "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" itinerary.<BR>Your trip will merge into one blur.<BR><BR> Keep in mind that each time you change hotels you will lose at least 1/2 day in traveling.<BR> <BR> I agree, stay South of the Alps. Europe will be there a few years from now.<BR><BR>

<BR>Beth<BR><BR>Of course, you could always "GO SOUTH" like the other posters suggest, but I do recall you saying you're not afraid of a little cold and quite fancy the adventure. One step at a time, you other posters, let's just find out where Beth wants to go specifically before saying she's never gonna remember any of it!

Hi Beth!<BR><BR>We used to live in Seattle and now live in Luzern, Switzerland. I think the weather is very comparable. It is a tad colder and jsut a little bit more snow, but not much. We have had one cold snap for 2 weeks the previous 3 years, but usually the temps are about 40 degrees during the day...of course, the higher you go, the colder it is! If you go toward the end of Feb, you should do Fasnacht in Luzern. It is the same concept as Mardi Gras and almost as crazy!<BR>Whatever you decide, enjoy!<BR>Jan<BR>

<BR>Beth<BR><BR>Hi, it's Jim again, it's late here (gone midnight) but I thought I'd check to see if you were online or checking. Not at the moment it appears, but I think it's a good idea to top your thread in case you miss it! If you have any more questions then please go for it and ask, I'll do my best to be useful!<BR><BR>Have a good evening<BR><BR>Jim

You guys are amazing! Especially you Jim. I could probably just sit back and let you plan my whole adventure! Your England itinerary sounds great. We were planning on taking the train from London under the tunnel to Paris, but the Buzz flight is half the price! What a great suggestion.<BR> So here's my next question. I would like to see the Lakes District. I'm confused by the geography of it all. We plan to fly into London, and spend the first half of the week. Would we be able to see Bath, spend a day or two there and in the Lakes District in the same 8 day period?<BR> Be careful though, you're going to get me so excited about just England that we'll never make it to Paris or Sicily!

<BR>Hey Beth<BR><BR>Firstly, a minor point, it's the Lake District, not Lakes, although when referred to briefly is called The Lakes (as opposed to the Peaks which are the Peak District!) Right, well the Lake District is in Cumbria which is quite a way up north from Bath. To ease the geography problem, imagine London, Bath and the Lake District form a right angled triangle. Bath is due West of London 200 miles, the Lakes are due North of Bath 250 miles. <BR><BR>A popular resort (bad word really, it's just a town in the hills!) is Ambleside, you could drive it about five hours. The scenery there is lovely, the hills are wonderful and green - although don't expect mountains (technically they are, but they barely scrape over 1000m, Scafell Pike being the biggest!). The only issue would then be getting back to Stansted conveniently (as you'll be coming back down the hypoteneuse of that triangle I was on about - about 300 odd miles) - I think you could just about do it, but it does depend how much emphasis you're putting on "doing" London. More information on the Lakes is found at www.lake-district.gov.uk, so have a look and see if it gets you going!<BR><BR>Buzz to Paris was the flight I took, less than an hour. Only downer is that CDG airport isn't that close to the city so you'll have to catch the Metro (if it's working, it wasn't when I went) or a bus. No big deal I guess if you're used to arriving a few miles outside of cities.<BR><BR>Anyway, I'll be back on-line for the next six or so hours, if you have any more questions, let me know.<BR><BR>All the best<BR><BR>Jim

Thank you everyone for your concern. I agree that we might be trying to take on too much but. . . I'm only 22 -- I'll sleep when I'm old!<BR>Okay Jim, I have some more questions for you! Coming from Seattle, with the worst public transportation system ever, I'm confused by the trains, among other things! So, I buy my Britrail pass, hop on a train in London and I'm in Bath in two hours, right? Can I hop on another train from Bath to Bristol, or do I have to take a taxi? Then, from Bath or Bristol, will there be a train to the Lake District? (See, I called it by the right name, I'm learning!) And another train from the Lake District back to London?<BR>The other problem I'm having is finding lodging in Bath or the Lake District. We would like to stay in a fun, maybe even quaint, B&B. I can find the names of many places, but no websites. I'd really like to see a picture before I book in advance. Since it is the off season, could I just show up in Bath and take my chances? Worse thing that happens, is I just take the train back to London, right? Our main goal, besides seeing everything, is really not to be tied down with schedules. I'm very mellow and just sort of fly by the seat of my pants most of the time anyway!<BR> I hope you're having a good day and am looking forward to your answers, plus even better suggestions, I'm sure!

Morning Beth<BR><BR>Glad to hear you can rough it, I did a whistlestop tour of Eastern Europe, taking in Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany, in 16 days, sure I didn't sleep much, sure I probably missed a lot of things, but I also saw a HUGE amount of things, so I'm with you on that one!<BR><BR>First, the train scenario.<BR><BR>To get to the West Country, i.e. Bath and Bristol, you need to get from wherever you are in London to Paddington - by far the easiest way is on the Tube.<BR>Not too sure about a Britrail pass, I guess the best is just to buy cheap day single tickets to wherever you're going (warning : rail travel here is not that cheap, it'll be somewhere in the region of 20 pounds from London Paddington to Bath - you can check all rail routes for timetables at www.railtrack.co.uk and you can get prices/timetables, although not as simple, at www.thetrainline.com). Trains from Bath (the station is called Bath Spa) to Bristol Temple Meads (the one in the centre, there is also Bristol Parkway but that's a way out) run regularly, about 3 or 4 an hour taking about 15 minutes! As for a train to the Lakes, well you'll have to pick a place to stay up there first. I'm sure it's possible, have a look at the two websites and the Lakes one I posted yesterday, find a place and check the timetables. The only issue is that some of the locations in the Lake District are pretty remote so may not be served by trains.<BR><BR>Places to stay. Well, try www.bath.org, it has an A-Z listing of all B&Bs in Bath and I think a lot of them come with pictures to give you an idea of where you'll be staying. In the main, the smaller B&B's will probably be in Victorian houses, so if you like that sort of thing you'll be sorted! I'm sure if you took some details from that site that you could just show up and make a few phone calls. There seems to be plenty to choose from! Bear in mind that these probably go a long way out from the centre of Bath, a rough guide is to aim for houses with a postcode of BA1 not BA2 or BA3 because that represents the city centre postcode. <BR><BR>For the Lakes try www.keswick.org.uk, looks like a similar affair.<BR><BR>How's your schedule now looking for days to spend in England vs days to spend in France? You said Paris (of course!) with a Buzz flight from Stansted, but also you said Nice. What are your thoughts on this now (i.e. are you planning on staying in England a bit longer now?!). <BR><BR>Hope this is useful, have a good day.<BR><BR>Jim

Hi Beth<BR><BR>You sound so excited! <BR><BR>Here are some links that may help you plan your journey. <BR><BR>http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/info/maps/uk.pdf is a PDF map of the rail network in the UK. You can zoom into specific areas and that kind of thing - it might help you with the geography of the country. <BR>Basically, most of the main rail lines originate/terminate from mainline stations in a circle around the centre of London. Within that circle (called Zone 1) you use tubes and buses to get around. Hope that makes sense. London is different from most cities in that there is no one or two "main" rail stations, there are more than 10 of them!<BR><BR>The site that map originates from http://www.nationalrail.co.uk has lots of information and links. Jim has already given you the links for 2 other helpful sites, (Railtrack for timetables and The Trainline for prices) but I also recommend www.londontransport.co.uk for travel in London. <BR>I'm not an expert on the BritRail pass things as I live in England, but from what I've read I think you have to make so many journeys to make a saving on them. You will need to price the individual tickets against the passes and see what the difference is. There are often special offers on some rail journeys and the earlier you book tickets the cheaper they will be. I think about 1-2 months in advance will get you the special Apex tickets. You can buy the long distance tickets when you get here but you will pay through the nose for them (similar to the way the budget airlines work - they only have a limited amount of the cheaper tickets).<BR><BR>From a quick search it looks to me like you could get a train from Bristol up to the Lake District, although it would involve at least one change, probably in Birmingham, and take around 5 hours. Returning from the Lake District to London will be quicker - around 4 hours. These times are just guesses as until you decide where you would like to go in the Lake District it's difficult to plan a train journey. <BR><BR>Another site for accommodation around the country is www.smoothhound.co.uk, which have mostly B&Bs listed, some with their own web sites which will be linked. If you find a place you like the look of, I would then do a search on a search engine for that hotel, see if you can find further information somewhere else. That's what I always do anyway. <BR><BR>Anyway, hope that's of some help!<BR>Karen<BR><BR>

Cold...how can it be cold with all this global warming that the Europeans blame on the US.<BR><BR>I'd pack bermuda shorts and golf shirts!<BR><BR>US