Most important thing = to have fun, you need to NOT BE SHIVERING.<BR><BR>My plan for doing this mostly worked while tromping around Venice and at the Christmas markets in Germany a couple weeks ago is below. Temps were mostly in the low 40’s, 30’s and 20’s at night. It was really windy at times as well. <BR><BR>Here is how this Texas thin-blooded female survived: <BR><BR>1) Silk long underwear. <BR>http://www.terramarsports.com/therma1.html<BR>These top and bottom thermasilks felt like a second skin. I used the liquid shampoo to wash and them each night, and they dried really quickly.<BR><BR>2) Handwarmers. The shake, squish, and expose to air small handwarmers / footwarmers. I budgeted 2 / day thinking I wouldn’t really use them, and I used *every single one*. They were incredible!! Some days they stayed warm for 16 hours! Warning: they are almost too hot initially to touch after they get going! <BR>http://www.warmhandsnow.com/<BR>http://www.campmor.com<BR>and Wal*Mart also has them in the hunting section.<BR><BR>In addition to 1) and 2) things I did not plan on that I absolutely needed:<BR><BR>3) A much bigger neck scarf than what I brought. One that was wider and wrapped around more times. You don’t want any single gap between your neck and the air.<BR><BR>4) A wool hat. Plan = use the hood on my coat. This cut down too much on peripheral vision. The Galleria Kauphof in Munich had a great selection of wool hats that were not very expensive.<BR><BR>Misc:<BR><BR>1) Also at the Galleria Kauphof I bought a pair of Numero Uno (made in Italy, but with this Dupont material that made them lightweight) mittens instead of gloves. Much warmer. With handwarmers inside, my hands stayed completely toasty. <BR><BR>2) Because I had on an extra layer of socks, my Dansko walking shoes were a little too snug, so I ended out wearing my sneakers that I almost didn’t bring! <BR><BR>Overall, I knew it was going to be cold, but I didn’t really anticipate how warm I needed to be since most of our activities were outdoors. <BR><BR>With a few edits, had a great time and stayed warm.<BR>

Thank you very much, FrontSight, I've copied and filed your notes. J.

thanks for the useful info. going to london and paris in january and will defintely look into the handwarmers.

The Christmas markets further north, Berlin, and Amsterdam were cold, wet, and windy as well. After much advice from this board, I tried to combine my work and leisure clothes for the sightseeing, but it was so cold I ended up having to use the casual clothes almost everyday. I took the silk underwear and wore it everyday under my slacks--great. I had to wear the hiking shoes for traction in the snow and ice on cobblestones and bridges over canals. I also bought a hat, but polyester, from REI before leaving home and I wore it everyday with a scarf--perfect. (I saw great hats at the markets in Germany as well.) I wore my ski gloves rather than my driving gloves, but didn't need the warmers.<BR><BR>I never did get the coat right. I took the microfiber allweather coat that I used for work and tried layering underneath with the silk underwear, synthetic mock turtleneck, then synthetic v-neck sweater, then coat. I was freezing in the rain. I didn't have fleece--I think it may have provided the correct bulk, but I did bring the down liner and jacket I wear to ski, which was warm, but the short jacket let the snow and rain get to my legs. Finally I tried the down liner under the microfiber coat, but my husband said if I carried any shopping bags I would be mistaken for a homeless person wearing all my clothes at one time. My long wool coat would have been the most appropriate for the conditions, but I am still not sorry for leaving it and its weight at home. <BR><BR>The funny thing is, here we are at home in the South and we are getting snow today! Feels like we're back in Europe--now if I could only find a bakery or a hot bratwurst from a stand on the street for lunch.

I recently purchased mini hand warmers from www.warmhandsnow.com. They are the kind that warm up when exposed to air. You don't need to crack them. I tried a pair and they did warm up, but not as much as FrontSight described. I'm wondering what experience other people have had with this brand. Maybe I was expecting too much?

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Thanks for the great advice, on a subject always dear to my heart -- keeping warm! <BR><BR>May I add a tip? Damart thermolactyl underwear saved my life many a cold day in Europe. It's light, and I've found it warmer than silk.

Enjoyed reading this thread so much, since I am always working on the right combination of clothing for light packing and warm traveling. I use Patagonia long underwear, Goretex,and lots of fleece but have never tried the handwarmers. Good tip.