nnrobnz

I'm just wondering if hardcore European devotees will be pleasure traveling there this year or are you making other selections this year???

elaine

You know, it's an interesting question.
For Americans there are so many other less-expensive places to go, and I haven't been to most of them (South America, Latin America, etc.) Not to mention that US $-friendly Canada is next door.
But if I'm going to spend X to go to, say, Buenos Aires, I'm constantly thinking that if I just spend X + y, I can go someplace in Europe, even for a shorter period of time.
So yes, I'm going to Europe this year and it looks like more than once, I'm thrilled to say.

bettyo70

Yes!!! The dollar situation stinks but I won't let that ruin my fun. Going to Paris in June...

All the low dollar means to me is that I will have to be more smart and resourceful about hotels, restaurants, etc.

Life is too short...so ENJOY!

Judy

I'm going to Paris with my daughters in May, will meet my husband at CDG to go to Greece. We're planning Provence in October.
I think all of this MIGHT cost us $400-500 more due to the weak $. It's worth the difference to us. We may try to economize while traveling and make up most of that without much sacrifice or effort.

Intrepid1

We are GOING for three weeks; just got back from London where the exchange rate is even worse. Travel get more expensive every year anyway so why stop now? And yes, we can afford it.

John

YUP. Going for three weeks which happens to be the longest time for me in Europe. Spending my kid's inheritance!

FainaAgain

What do you mean "hardcore"? My first trip is coming up in May, everybody tells me Switzerland is very expensive, so I'm going to see how expensive it can get

Well, maybe a shorter trip and less souvenirs because of the poor exchange rate, but I'm going doesn't matter what.

Sue4

Yes, I'm going to France in May, and hopefully again in October. But I'm trying to stay in less expensive hotels than I would have a few years ago, and I definitely won't spend my time shopping. At my age, I don't want to waste travel time worrying about the low dollar, and not going where I love -Europe!

tudorprincess

Every year we go back and forth about going to the Caribbean or to England and it really costs us FAR LESS to go to England. I've been lucky enough to get airfare for about $200 rndtrp., stay in an apartment, go to free museums, eat cheaper meals and have printed out 2 for 1 offers.
Try doing any of that in the Caribbean.
It would be nice to lay on a beach for a week but given the choice I'll always choose England.

tedgale

Good for you elaine and others. Let's travel 'til we drop.

Weak US dollar? Who knew? The Canadian dollar is strong against US currency and largely holding its own against the Euro.

Why? We have an export surplus, manageable levels of unemployment, no foreign wars and a government that can't stop running surpluses.

But I digress.

So how do we manage despite high prices abroad?

My attitude is: "Oh was that in euros? I just assumed that was dollars. Too late now."

StCirq

YEP! I'll be back. I kind of have to for business as well as pleasure reasons, but there are writeoffs to offset the euro-dollar exchange problem to some extent. And quite honestly, I'd go even barring the writeoffs. It's important for my health and sanity

I'll find ways to cut back once I get there, though. I don't need souvenirs from France after 25 years of traveling there.

WillTravel

I haven't made any firm plans. But I was looking at the cost of a trip to New York from Vancouver, and really it seems that it might cost just as much as going to Europe.

travginny

Hi Rob,

If you think the US$ is weak, my Canadian $ is even weaker. But that won't stop me. I'll spend three weeks in France this coming September.

Ginny

ilovetulips

My husband and I are going in May. This has been a trip for about 1 year in the planning. It has been a dream of mine for a long time, so we are going. We are definately trying to budget ourselves to make the dollar stretch a bit further and we decided against London because of the exchange rate in England.

bobthenavigator

Sure, we will spend 15 days in Sicily in May. Hopefully Sicily will not be too bad, but I am still planning a $6600 budget rather than my usual $5500 one.

lyb

Let's see, if I don't go this year, is there some kind of guarantee that next year the U S dollar will be worth more? No, so next year it could be worse, so I'm definitely going!

Marija

Going to China this year, though the weak dollar wasn't the determining factor.

mazuka

We've been dreaming of a trip to Italy for over 3 years now. This is the year it can and WILL happen. The price of the dollar won't deter us.

mamarosa

The state of the dollar will not stop us.......We (family of 5) are going to England at the end of May, for somewhere near 10 days, have not booked the tickets yet.

Our budget will be tight, and we'll economize where we can. Ideally, we'd wait until maybe the fall or winter to go, but we're going to a wedding and hard as I tried, they were dead set on June 3rd!

'We' are not world travellers, I have been across the pond several times alone, but this is the first time as a family.

P_M

I have already been to Europe this year, as I went to Paris in January. I have a ticket for the UK in May. No, the weak dollar will not stop me.

There are 3 things in life I refuse to do without, regardless of the cost. Those are coffee, chocolate, and European travel.