How much things have changed recently?
 

So many new developments of all kinds. If you have been recently in Europe have you seen some changes? Are prices really down, if so, are they down in hotels? small hotels offer better deals than big ones? I mean are big hotels offering now larger discounts than small hotels. I have the feeling that small hotels small hotels might have less leeway to maneuver.

How about restaurants? Offers from cities, like better Passes or offers?

How about the railways? Local airlines and of course air tickets from US.

It will great to have the impute of Fedorites that has recently been there.

On the other hand what do you think of violence in places that had been free of violence before?.
For instance I do not wish to single out a destination that I love, but lately I read that
not only cars have been burnt in the suburbs but three cars were burnt in one tourist
area. I tell you, I do not wish to exagerate but I think the days we got a car in Europe
and drove carelessly from one destination to another crossing any city in between are gone for me. Years ago we looked at the map afor a route between A and B and simply drove across any city, now
I would not do it. (I would not do it in the US either. )
Have recent travelers seen anything lately, or everything looks just the same?
I wish to say that we shall go anyway.

Hi G,

I think that you have been watching too much "news".

((I))

All this sounds very vague. Europe consists of 47 different countries. Which of them are you talking about?

I would like to visit soon again mainly France, Spain, and Italy.
I have friends and relatives in all of these countries. Regarding violence I have rely mostly on their impute. In Spanish there is a say No hay mejor ciego que el que no quiere ver, meaning
the best blind is who does no wishes to see. I try to "see" though the eyes of those living there.

Actually my main inquire is regarding prices,
offers and reduced prices . The changes in security so far does not bother me that much as I stated at the end of my previous post I shall go anyway. I was mostly curious to know if visitors has detected anything different . I have not been in Europe for the last two years.

I can give you an idea about the part of Spain I live in. I work in the business too. Here prices have either gone up from last year or they have stayed the same (on the odd occasion). The cheaper bargains that are supposedly out there are for big hotel complexes and which the tour companies purchase bed spaces from.
Saying some hotels are cheaper gets the headlines.
Just like Ryanair saying they are going to charge for toilets, nothing in the news but it gets them mention.
No matter what the prices if they have gone down will not be below two years ago.

I haven't noticed anything like what you have mentioned, and I am in Europe with considerable frequency. They've been burning cars in various places in France for decades. Violence in Europe has never amounted to much, overall, certainly not the kind of random violence we experience here in the USA. Prices haven't changed much anywhere, except that they went up a bit when the euro was introduced. There aren't any noticeable discounts around anywhere that I've seen. I think you're a victim of hearsay. I wouldn't hesitate to get in a car in Europe and travel from A to B, but then I wouldn't hesitate to do that in the USA, Africa, Asia, or anywhere else, with the exception of war zones.

Hi; If you consider the euro, the prices are absolutely better that they were last September. The euro in September was 1.58 and today it's 1.32. So, in that respect you have gained quite a bit for your US dollars. Not sure about other currency. iris1745/dick

I would not drive in areas of Miami where I live, neither I would drive across let us say Los Angeles where there might be gangs areas , or Paris, where cars are being burnt on a daily basis. In the past I used to do drive across cities without knowing exactly what areas I was driving by. I would not drive across Buenos Aires, whenever there is a picketing of people that are locally called "piqueteros"
which systematically are not challeged by the police even if they are sometimes hooded and bear sticks.
Times have changed it is obvious to me, if other people do not believe it , they have the right not to believe it.
Anyway thank you very much for the information regarding Spain I hope to be there soon.

Well in the UK I dont think prices have changed much, in fact due to the lower GBP produce is actually up in price. Some B&Bs are offering specials but the ones I have seen are all for mid-week, 3+ days...and even then not great deals. Flights are about the same...

As for violence...havent noticed a change at all!

<i>Paris, where cars are being burnt on a daily basis.</i>

Assuming that it is true that "they are being burned on a <b>daily</b> basis", do you believe that they do it while you are stopped at a light, or toss a Molotov cocktail while you are driving, or pull you out of the car and then set in on fire?

At any rate, I would not advise a tourist to drive in Paris. The public transportation system is excellent even if frequented by pickpockets and driving in the city is generally a nightmare whose demands prevent the driving from seeing much more than the cars around him.

We were in Paris and SW France last September and certainly appeciated the increased buying power due to the better exchange rate. I've not been back since so can't comment on lower local prices on goods and services.

I have received some good offers from hotels and airlines, unfortunately nothing I can consider at the moment. And, those I've received tend to be aimed at business class travel so they are discounts off fairly high cost options.

We did get my husband a round trip to London for June from Virgin Atlantic for just 25,000 miles (and a $300+ tax/surcharge) which I thought was good as the miles were sitting there.

I don't drive much in major cities for a number of the usual reasons; fear of violence is not one of them. If you have those concerns, you should only do what you are comfortable with or what your relatives advise.