well... i'm so looking forward to my trip to Prague and Vienna.. leaving on Tuesday for only a 1 week stay. i checked the 10day forcast.. and HAHA.. it will be raining for at least the first 4 days. I'd like to hear some GREAT rainy vacation stories!! (i am really excited about being chilly.. coming from 100+ temps)

A rainy vacation story? OK!

DH & I went to Cortina skiing with our ski club back in Jan 2004. We had a 3 day extension in Rome. It rained a lot! I had packed my umbrella so I was pretty OK. DH had forgotten to pack his umbrella. He ended up bargining with an Indian man in front of our hotel on the LAST night we were there for an umbrella. He was so proud that he was able to bargin this man down from 10€ to 5€.

The next year we went with the ski club to Engelburg, Switzerland and had a three day extension in Athens. The first day we were there it POURED ALL day!!! Once again I had packed my umbrella and DH had not. After walking for some time in the downpour he decided to buy an umbrella from a street vendor.

I tease him about his European umbrella collection.

This year we are going to Paris.....(LOL)

We spent 17 days in the U.K. in June-July this year and it rained every day except the last. We didn't let it change anything about our trip - we went hiking, visited castles and ancient sites (all outdoors), took scenic drives, and saw just about everything we had planned to see. Pictures can always be taken from underneath an umbrella (and sometimes they even turn out well). Its unlikely to rain nonstop all day every day. Don't let it get you down!

In europe in the fall it rains quite frequently.

But, rain is often not all day and is usually not heavy rain as you can get in hot climates - but light rain or even drizzle.

Unless you're planning on hiking a lot it should have no effect on your plans.

Take a sturdy folding umbrella and 2 pair of comfy water-resistant walking shoes and you should be fine.

&quot;<s>Unless you're planning on hiking a lot</s> it should have no effect on your plans.&quot;

There is no inclement weather, only inappropriate clothing. - Old travel adage

thank you so much for your comments.. i purchased an umbrella today (never had one of those before) and i will pack accordingly (thanks Robespierre - so true)..it will be WONDERFUL !! cheers!

Just as a matter of curiosity - where do you live that you've never owned an umbrella.

(I never understand all the people who are worried about it raining on their trip to europe. In almost all of the US it rains fairly frequently - except in the winter when it snows or sleets. And no one changes their plans - except for a picnic or a day at the beach - you just go ahead and do whatever.

After all, we're not made of marshmallows - no one is going to melt in a little rain.

&gt;&gt;In almost all of the US it rains fairly frequently - except in the winter when it snows or sleets. &lt;&lt;

In the most populated state in the US, we rarely get rain from about mid-May through mid-Oct. Many years it never rains during this period. Growing up in LA, I never used an umbrella, and if some kid in my school carried one, we usually beat him up (just kidding).

When I went to college in the mid-west and it rained for the first time, everyone had an umbrella - except me. I got drenched and I skipped class &amp; went and purchased one.

Not much sleet or snow here either. I remember only 2 times in 60 years where it snowed in either the LA or San Francisco area (except at higher elevations where few people live).

We spend 2 months vacationing in Europe every year - normally 5 weeks in June &amp; 4 in Sept. It's difficult to get used to the fact that it sometimes rains in the summer elsewhere.

Stu Dudley

My last umbrella blew up in a 1986 windstorm in Bellingham. Since then I've discovered the packability of a Columbia rain/wind parka with a shiny red rubber rain hat.

P.S. Summer lawns in Portland the last few years don't look like they get much summer rain any more either.

But Stu - what do Californians do in the winter when it does rain? Dash between the raindrops?

I know that much of California is a car culture - but I've seen lots of pedestrians in San Francisco. Don;t people there own umbrellas?

We were in Luzern for 4 days. On Monday the weather was very nice, on the warm side. Tuesday it rained on and off all day. Neither one of us has an umbrella. The cheapest one at a shop in the train station costs 12.90chf. We did not buy it. After that day, no more rain. I used to carry an umbrella but no more. We are in Dijon right now staying at Coco's flat, no rain, not like last year. There was an old post about it because I got bored, lonely and could not think straight.

Hey nytraveler, not sure why you thought i was worried about the rain.. absolutely the opposite.. i LOVE the rain. i live in AZ - never owned nor used an umbrella - i dont run between the raindrops nor worry about getting wet. during our monsoons, i walk much slower wherever i'm going, so i can enjoy the raindrops. ....p.s. i lived in NY for 10 years and never used an umbrella there either.. just never felt it necessary. ..actually, i'm starting to wonder why i bought one now! well, happy travels all.

In Seattle, it's a silly local badge of honor to go without an umbrella. We just get wet.

It's raind most of the day here in the San Francisco area - quite unusual.

nytraveler - Yes - we do use umbrellas.

Usually the first time it rains in the fall, there are dozens of fender-bender accidents on the roads because people have forgotten how to drive on wet surfaces.

suze - my cousin who is a Seattle native never uses an umbrella. Just pulls up the raincoat hood over her head and off she goes into the storm. Once when we were visiting her in Seattle and it was pouring, I asked for an umbrella &amp; she said she didn't own one.

Stu Dudley

For those in the US, the Dollar Tree stores have really great umbrellas that fold very small, but open to 42&quot; --- I always stock up with a few for traveling; who cares if you leave it behind somewhere?

Yup, we're funny like that! I own a couple umbrellas that people have given me but they are never around when it's raining. In the trunk of my car when I'm elsewhere, like that.

I think for traveling, as to the original question, a hat or hood is much easier to deal with than an umbrella.

Oh, we all own umbrellas in Switzerland. You can find umbrellas picturing swiss crosses, cows, mountains and so on.

In fact, umbrellas make great souveniers.

SFr. 12.90 for an inexpensive umbrella sounds right.

I'm also in the non-umbrella camp. I like to have a cute hat instead.

I recommend bringing two pairs of good walking shoes if you know it will be rainy, so that one can dry while you wear the other. There was a thread here a few years ago about stuffing wet shoes with newspaper to dry them more quickly.

My rain on vacation story is that once, in Paris, in the afternoon of a drizzly day, the sky let loose with a torrential downpour. I enjoy rain, but this felt like someone pouring huge buckets of water on y

I'm also in the non-umbrella camp. I like to have a cute hat instead.

I recommend bringing two pairs of good walking shoes if you know it will be rainy, so that one can dry while you wear the other. There was a thread here a few years ago about stuffing wet shoes with newspaper to dry them more quickly.

My rain on vacation story is that once, in Paris, in the afternoon of a drizzly day, the sky let loose with a torrential downpour. I enjoy rain, but this felt like someone pouring huge buckets of water directly onto our heads. The nearest attraction was the sewer tour, so we avoided the rain by learning about where the run-off (and, er, other things) went. It was surprisingly clean down there, and very interesting. (We were reaidng Les Mis at the time, so it had added interest for us.)

We emerged to clearing skies and a glass of Calvados at a nearby cafe.

Well I must own at least a dozen umbrellas - one really good folding one for traveling and one really good full-size one for heavy rain. And the rest promotional items (everyone here seems to give away free umbrellas).

And every time it rains lots of stores put umbrellas for sale right at the door - and street vendors sell them from big cardboard boxes.

I read somewhere they they are the most frequently lost item on the NYC subway system.