Smoking policy in Europe
 

We are considering a tour of central & Eastern Europe. Are there no smoking areas in resturants, hotels, public transportaion?

Sad to be the party to bring you the bad news, but Europe in general is a generation behind America in restricting the use of smoking materials in public places. You likely will find that smoking is banned on domestic airline flights. Overseas flights restrict smoking to certain seats. On railways, we found that some designated cars permit smoking. To tell which is which, look at the car's ceiling. If it is a tannish hue, you are in the smoker. They don't pay much attention to signs unless the conductor enforces the "nicht raucher" ban. Hotels? Forget it. Some deluxe hotels, yes. Otherwise, no. When statistics catch up with the population death rates and certain nations give up their monopolies on the production of tobacco products, we will see movement to restrict this smelly, rotten, puking habit.

I have to agree with Arizona. In Europe everyone smokes anywhere, anytime, anyplace. There is a topic in this forum about the sloppy way americans dress. I agree with that, if you see an american lady walking down the street with a cigarette in her hand she is really looked down on but, in Europe no one thinks twice about a sharp looking European women dressed to the nines with a cigarette dangling out her mouth. Yuck? You can smoke where ever you want in Europe and say your sorry if you don't smoke.

I have to agree with Arizona. In Europe everyone smokes anywhere, anytime, anyplace. There is a topic in this forum about the sloppy way americans dress. I agree with that, if you see an american lady walking down the street with a cigarette in her hand she is really looked down on but, in Europe no one thinks twice about a sharp looking European women dressed to the nines with a cigarette dangling out her mouth. Yuck? You can smoke where ever you want in Europe and say your sorry if you don't smoke.

I have to agree with Arizona. In Europe everyone smokes anywhere, anytime, anyplace. There is a topic in this forum about the sloppy way americans dress. I agree with that, if you see an american lady walking down the street with a cigarette in her hand she is really looked down on but, in Europe no one thinks twice about a sharp looking European women dressed to the nines with a cigarette dangling out her mouth. Yuck? You can smoke where ever you want in Europe and say your sorry if you don't smoke.

I don't want to start a flame-war here, but merely want to clear up some misinformation! Although the original question was about C & E Europe, the replies seemed to take Europe as whole. I'd just like to point out that here in the UK at least there are many no-smoking zones. All buses I travel on, for example, are non-smoking; there are non-smoking bars and there are always non-smoking sections in restaurants etc.

Also in Belgium we have restrictions regarding smoking: no smoking in public places (train stations, post office, bank, ...), every restaurant must have a non-smoking area, etc. South European countries like Italy, Greece, Spain don't seem to have these restrictions.

Oooh, I didn't mean to ruffle feathers. Having just returned from Turkey, perhaps I was still gagging from the cigarette fumes. Recent trips to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria -- much the same experience. Especially Poland. It seems I do recall seeing some progress in this area in England. Restaurants and tea rooms were fine. Most pubs we visited were blue with smoke in the evening. Possibly ventilation problems? However, our trip last year to Scandinavia was almost smoke-free -- congratulations!

Dear CJ. Europe is a CONTINENT with more than 50 countries. Of course smokinghabits is different between Macedonia, scandinavia, lithuania, germany, cyprus, Finland, malta, russia, monaco, france, bosnia-hercegovinia, Italy, belarus etc. etc. for example 60 % of the men smoke in Greece, while in sweden 19 % of the men and 23% of the women smokes <BR> <BR>WASA

A thousand pardons begged, You are right about Europe. My experiences were in Italy, Spain, Malta and troughout the Med. I am sorry if I offended anyone but there ARE place in Europe that have no smoking polices. Have a great trip anyway and let's hope it doesn't go up in smoke.

Hi everyone! I am not writing to join the debate, just to share my experience! I just got back from France,Italy, Monaco, & Switzerland where all the trains I rode had smoking and non-smoking sections. Furthermore, the smoking sections were the smaller sections...I always sat in non-smoking and nobody ever smoked that I could see. However, my Europass was first class and I suppose it could be more lax in second class. I was also fortunate enough to find several hotels (budget 1 star hotels, no less) that had non-smoking rooms available...you just have to call around and ask! And, if its any help to you, I am one of those people who is extremely, extremely sensitive to smoke (I nearly gag when a smoker is near me, even if I can only smell it on their clothes) and I didn't believe hotel owners who told me that, while they don't have non-smoking rooms, their rooms don't smell. Guess what? They didn't smell. I don't know if European hotels are better at airing out rooms than US hotels, but I never once had a hotel room that smelled anything like smoke, as long as I was sure to emphasize when I made my reservation that I am very sensitive and would appreciate having them air out/clean the room carefully. Finally, as far as restaurants go...that's the bad part. The upshot: many European restaurants have outdoor tables where you might not be as suffocated! Have fun! Kimberley

I heartily agree with Kimberley and the others. Living in one of the most progressive pro-health/anti-tobacco states in the nation (Massachusetts), and as manager of a tobacco control program for 6 Boards of Health, I knew my family and I would be subjected to tobacco smoke ad nauseum in our recent trip to Switzerland and Italy. So I planned accordingly by purchasing train tickets in advance here in the US with reserved seats in the non-smoking cars (2nd class in Switzerland, 1st class in Italy). I also knew *not* to fly Alitalia which seems to be the only airline left in Europe that allows smoking. Lastly, we made sure to eat outside wherever possible and since it was so hot and we love to 'people-watch', it worked out perfectly. I must admit that it was heartwrenching to see so much smoking, especially in my line of work! If you have money to spare, there is a resort outside of Geneva that is 100% smoke-free called "Le Mirador" and they have a website too. THE best gelato (ice-cream) in Florence-if not in Italy forbids smoking inside and it is called Gelateria Carabe on Via Ricasoli.

I don't want to start a flame war, but what is all the fuss about smoking? I live in the Czech Republic -- where admittedly many people smoke -- but guess what? It's great to live in a place where people are free to make their own decisions about how to live their lives. Is it inconvenient sometimes? Yes. It gets smokey in bars and clubs, and sometimes I don't stay long in a pub because it's too smokey. But mostly, it's not that bad. In fact, it feels free. It's much better than sitting in some sterile no-smoking environment, where people are smug and haughty in their own tightly regulated, mostly stiflingly boring health sanctuary. It's not all about longevity -- sometimes it's about freedom. Europe is freer than the States in this regard.

Arizona, if you stayed smoke-free in Scandinavia, you obviously missed the arrivals area at Kastrup airport in Copenhagen (*cough,cough*). Mark, some of us prefer the freedom to breathe clean air, and not die before our time. I don't particularly care when smokers die, but I resent having to help pay their medical bills while they're in the process of doing it.

Anna, <BR> <BR>I appreciate that, it just seems as if people focus on longevity, health and control (ie. security concerns) over simply relaxing and letting the cards fall where they may -- to the detriment of their enjoyment of life. Everyone dies ... even non-smokers. Mark

Obviously Mark, you have not suffered the agony of watching someone die from a disease that is *only* caused by tobacco (smoked, chewed, or snuffed)!!! Or for instance *why* the incidence of asthma in children is sky-rocketing thanks to selfish parents who have the 'right' to smoke near the developing lungs of their children. Until that happens (and I hope for you that it never does-it's a horrific way to end your life) you will never understand the rationale behind *why* tobacco must be addressed as the lethal addictive drug that it is. Economic factors from non-smokers paying for the medical bills of smokers, to CEOs of companies paying so much more for employees insurance, increased sick time and long term disability, cleaning their worksite more often, etc...There is more...I could go on! It is obvious that the deceitful manipulation of the public by the tobacco industry is alive and well in your country! You have my sympathy :-(

Michele - ********DITTO****** my hat goes off to you girlfiend. <BR>

<BR>We just came home from two separate trips, one to Switzerland, second one Norway and Denmark. With a few exceptions I noticed more "no smoking" policies than on previous trips. I am an asthmatic, and the slightest irritant can send me into an attack, so of course we look for non smoking sections etc. Our hotel rooms never smelled of smoke, usually always got non smoking section in restaurant, and any trains taken. <BR>However, in Lausanne, even in the outdoor cafes, it was awful and we just couldn't get away from it. Connecting in Amsterdam airport was bad as usual (they even smoke in the posted no smoking area). But on the whole, I do believe there has been an improvement over the years.

All of our flights, the long one from the U.S. to Amsterdam, the shorter one from Amsterdam to Warsaw, and the bunny hop from London to Amsterdam, ALL were no smoking flights. We flew Northwest & KLM, so don't know if other airlines are the same, but I was happily surprised that all these flights were now smoke-free. <BR>In Europe, many people freely smoked in the restaurants, and would light up before their meal and immediately after eating their meal some would sit there smoking 2 more cigarettes without regard to anyone else in the place, who would like to eat their meal without ingesting lots of smoke. My kids starting calling me the "magnet", we would sit down and the smoke would come right our way. <BR>Maybe that's one reason for so many outdoor cafes, which we eventually chose over eating inside, smokers still surrounded us, but at least we weren't confined in a close space with it. <BR>Also, the trains had no-smoking cars available, which I would definitely request, we walked through the other cars just to see what they looked like, and came upon a smoking compartment and it literally choked us up. <BR>Many hotels we stayed at had no-smoking rooms and even no-smoking floors. We did, however, stay mostly at the "chain-hotels" i.e. Holiday Inn, Marriott, etc. <BR>In general, Europe is coming along and accomodating those who need or want non-smoking areas.

So Europe's coming on is it? Give us more Marshall aid or Development aid and we might even do better. Smoking kills, sure, but so does eating hamburgers and drinking cola. And before the tolerance question comes in, have you ever had to face hordes of US tourists munching into hamburgers and complaning, in the middle of France, that the village has no MacDonalds? <BR>Thanks to the USA for being so generous in saying Europe is coming on. Can we say the US is coming on when the death penalty is abolished there?