I can't believe all this negativity about the weakening dollar. I have traveled to Europe many times during the past 12 years and you first timers have no idea how good you have it NOW. It is all relative. So what if the dollar is worth less now than it was a month ago, look at the past 10 years to get the real picture...Again, IT's ALL RELATIVE. Ben

excerpted from http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1354718<BR><BR>Author: Anne ([email protected])<BR>Date: 03/18/2002, 03:52 am<BR><BR>Message: Just did a conversion rate yesterday (Euro to dollars), and I noticed the Euro was a bit stronger than it was a couple months ago - is this temporary or should we be prepared to pay more this coming year?<BR><BR>-------------------------------------<BR> <BR>Author: Sheila ([email protected])<BR>Date: 03/18/2002, 04:06 am<BR><BR>Message: It's getting stronger and you can expect it to continue<BR><BR>----------------------------------------<BR> <BR>Author: Rex ([email protected])<BR>Date: 03/18/2002, 11:53 pm<BR><BR>Message: Seems like it always gets a little bump up in the summer - - one more reason it's called high season.<BR>

Ben is absolutely right. Historically, the French franc, for example, was 5 to the American dollar. There was a big but brief blip in the early to mid-80s, where you got 10 francs to the dollar (amazing!), and then it reverted to 5 francs to the dollar until about 1993, when it went to 6, and then a year or so later to 7. I think some of you haven't been travleing long enough to appreciate what the norms are, and don't appreciate how CHEAP travel in Europe has been for you in the last decade. In the end, the euro will probably end up being about equal to the dollar, as predicted. You'll still get more bang for the buck traveling in Europe than in the USA, I believe. And I don't think it's going to have much of an effect on travel in Europe. People who love to travel in Europe will always find a way to do so - go for fewer days, stay in cheaper hotels, eat at less fancy restaurants, whatever...they'll still go. ANd remember that many of the people traveling in Europe are Europeans. For them, the euro's just a euro - they can budget now easily for a visit to almost any country.

Here's a way to compensate for those few cents' difference (which, granted, can add up): don't buy bottled water. The water is just fine practically all over Europe (I'd avoid it in Turkey), but we still see tourists buying and carrying liter or two-liter bottles everywhere, every day. You can save about a dollar per person per day if you drink from the tap. Anybody disagree?

Must be the same people that think the reason the Germans drink beer with their meals, and the French drink wine with theirs, is because the tap water is undrinkable.

As an American living in Germany with a wad of Euros in the bank, I'm thrilled!! It's about time, anyway. A few years ago the mark traded at 1.67 to the dollar. Right before the Euro it was 2.20 to the dollar. Ouch!