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Off Season Travel In Europe - Tips and Tools for Off-Season Vacations You are here: About > Travel > Europe for Visitors > Europe Travel Planning > Off Season Travel In Europe - Tips and Tools for Off-Season Vacations Travel Go Europe Essentials European Vacation Planning Map Europe Travel 101 - Before you Go European Distances The Best of Europe European Photo Gallery Articles & Resources Europe Travel Planning What to do In Europe Lodging - Hotels and More European Travel Maps Sex and Nudism Travel Photography Transportation Benelux Countries France Germany Austria Switzerland Greece Italy and Malta Travel Info Scandinavian Travel Spain and Portugal United Kingdom and Ireland Buyer's Guide Before You Buy Top Picks Italy Travel Guidebooks Europe Travel Guidebooks German Travel Guidebooks Product Reviews Forums Help FREE Newsletter Sign Up Now for the Europe for Visitors newsletter! See Online Courses Search Europe for Visitors Off-Season Rain in Vienna - Time to duck into a cafe for some Sacher Torte! James Martin Stay up to date! Off-Season Rain in Vienna - Time to duck into a cafe for some Sacher Torte! James Martin Email to a friend Print this page Off Season Travel Tools Historic European Climate - Cities Hours of Daylight Winter Travel to Europe Off Season Things to Do Chrismas Markets in Europe Oktoberfest Fall Tours and Trips Recent Discussions Need Help Planning a Trip Accomodation in london Mediteranean Feries Most Popular Europe Map - Distances Between Cities in Western Europe Europe's Best Nudist Beaches Europe Picture Galleries Italy Pictures Europe Travel 101 - Before You Travel to Europe for the Firs... What's Hot Power Adapters Noord-Holland - Delights of North Holland Travel Visiting Pompeii Italy Guidebooks Naples - Getting There Related Topics France for Visitors Greece for Visitors United Kingdom / Ireland for Visitors Eastern Europe for Visitors Italy for Visitors Off Season Travel In Europe - Tips and Tools for Off-Season Vacations From James Martin , Your Guide to Europe for Visitors . FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Travel Cheap - Enjoy Europe's Culture - Go in the Off-Season You'll hear seasoned travelers extolling the virtues of September-May off-season travel so often you probably know them by heart: fewer tourists, greater cultural options and mingling opportunities with the locals, more relaxed atmosphere, cheaper airfares and hotel rates, and the lack of that summer swelter. But there's a reason folks travel in high season in Europe: it seldom rains, there's maximum daylight, it's easy packing light, and there are abundant tourist resources. But off-season travel still aces out high-season travel in my book, because all those problems with off-season travel can be overcome with a few tricks seasoned travelers call upon to make their vacations meaningful and fun. Read on. Places to Go - Choosing an Off-Season Destination Seasoned travelers base their destinations on seasonal considerations. For example, I don't particularly fancy eating the traditional tourist favorites of Germany, Switzerland or Austria in summer; the food is too heavy for the heat. But give me a crisp fall day to walk the black forest or cruise the Rhine, then let me return to my hotel, take a hot bath, and go downstairs to a medieval wood-beamed room with roaring fire and I'll happily eat mounds of sausages and spaetzle while drinking lustily from a flask of homemade reisling. For Mediterranean countries, fall starts the rainy season. Over the ages, many cities have found ways to deal with the inconvenience of a daylight rain. The Italian city of Bologna features a huge network of arcaded streets. You can walk from one side of town to the other without getting wet. Medieval Europe featured houses with overhangs, it's one of the ways you can tell the older parts of a city. Old towns also offer seductive cafes. Pop in and nurse a coffee, soda, or warming snifter of brandy while waiting for the rain to taper off. Or use your railpass to take a scenic train ride . Hours of Sunlight - Off-Season's "Shorter" Days Yep, the off-season in Europe is marked by fewer hours of sunlight. This doesn't bother me at all, because I find moonlight strolls more seductive than daylight ones. If you shudder at the thought of walking "downtown" in a city after dark, consider that European city centers are quite a bit safer than most American ones at these hours, because European culture favors convivial meetings in public places along with moderate alcohol consumption. Filling the streets with good, honest people is probably the best defense against street crime there ever was. But how can you figure out how much daylight there'll be? Here's a handy site, The Sun and Moon Ephemerides . Pick your destination and the date, and the tool will return the hours of daylight to expect. Climate - What's the Off-Season Like? Here is a directory of historic climate for Europe's major cities . Packing Tips for the Off-Season in Europe Packing light is easy to accomplish when your daily wear is shorts and a shirt. Things get tricky when the weather cools. The key is layering. Everything in my suitcase goes with everything else. I wear a light undershirt, long sleeved shirt, sweater if it's going to be cold, light windbreaker/rain jacket for the rainy days. I pack two fashionable sweaters of varying warmth instead of lugging around a coat. On the beautiful days I don't end up with a coat slung over my arm that's too big for my suitcase. When it rains I simply get out my rain jacket. I can also wear a sweater into a fancy restaurant and look pretty presentable. (Europeans tend to dress more formally, especially in the off-season. You might consider throwing a tie or scarf into your suitcase.) But sweaters are big and bulky. True, but there's a fix. A sweater keeps you warm by trapping air between thin fibers, much like house insulation. Take the air out and sweaters compress to a fraction of their size. If you're stuck in the 50's, you have dad sit on your suitcase while you latch it. Today you can purchase clothes compressor bags. Eagle Creek makes some I use and recommend ( review ) ( check prices ). You'll find that you can squeeze 40-50 percent of bulk out of a sweater with these bags. The downside is that sweaters don't work as efficiently in the wind, and you may need that rain jacket as a windbreak on blustery days. The Bottom Line - What's good about Off-Season Travel in Europe Europe takes advantage of the cultural activities that enjoy a winter season. Sure, in summer you can hear short chamber music in Vienna structured for a tourist's short attention span, but you'll have to wait until the real symphony and opera season to hear the best European orchestras playing serious music for hours on end. And who cares if it's raining outside when you intend to spend your day at the Louvre? Bottom line: if you like meeting folks on their own turf, have a hankering for high culture, or just like to lounge around a roaring fire listening to a foreign language and dreaming of learning it--off-season travel is something you should try. Topic Index | Email to a Friend Our Story | Be a Guide | Advertising Info | Work at About | Site Map | Icons | Help User Agreement | Ethics Policy | Patent Info. | Privacy Policy | Kids' Privacy Policy ©2005 About, Inc., A part of the New York Times Company . 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Ski Vacations - Orbitz - Ski Vacation Packages Welcome to Orbitz. Sign In. Register now. Ski Vacations Discount Travel Directory > Vacation Packages > Ski Vacations Find your perfect ski vacation on Orbitz, whether youre seeking the ultimate in black-diamond slopes or are still out to conquer the bunny hill. Build your own trip by taking advantage of the widest selection of low fares, hotels and rental cars on the Web. Choose easy. Save easy. Accommodations for Your Ski Vacation Orbitz has a wide variety of accommodations for your ski vacation, from a budget-friendly lodge to posh slope-side condos. See a sampling of what we offer: Head to Colorado's cozy Aspen ski resorts, where star-spotting is often as easy as hopping on a chairlift. Check out the 210 Cooper Condominiums, located just steps away from the lifts and the center of Aspen. If its a mountainside lodge with a rustic atmosphere and distinctive luxury amenities you want, head to Sky Hotel. A sure winner for a Lake Tahoe ski vacation is Harrahs Lake Tahoe Resort Casino. This 525-room resort blends with the Sierra Nevadas surrounding terrain. It offers comedy, cabaret and the citys hottest nightclub, Altitude. Dine in and youll have a wide array of restaurants to choose from. There are also endless activities -- from skiing to fishing to boat rides. Preview the site of the 2010 Olympics at British Columbia's Whistler/Blackcomb where youll enjoy a ski vacation with big vertical drops and great nightlife. Find budget-friendly accommodations at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Whistler Village Center. Not only will you near the slopes, youll also be close the shopping, dining and nightlife that Whistler is known for. The eastern U.S . and Canada offers compact mountains and tradition-laden, old-time ski resorts. Take in the French ambience of Quebec's Mount Tremblant, just 75 minutes north of Montreal . Explore Sugarloaf, Maine's biggest mountain. Ski the seven mountains at Vermont's massive Killington or Stowe Mountain which offers one of the biggest vertical drops in the area. Then eat heartily at more than 50 restaurants in town. Book Your Ski Vacation Now! When you're ready to hit the slopes, visit Orbitz to book your ski vacation. Find flights, hotels with ski-in/out access, and rental cars that can accommodate your equipment. With Orbitz, you can be the King of the Mountain for a royally great deal. A Winter-White Baptism (Eyewire) Beginners Ski Vacations Separating the Weak From the Willing: Jackson Hole's Corbets Coulior (courtesy, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort/Thomas Annerby) Experts Ski Vacations Paradise for You and Your Brood: Copper Mountain Resort (courtesy, Copper Mountain Ski Resort) Family Ski Vacations Find Ski Vacations For... - Beginners Ski Vacations - Expert Ski Vacations - Family Ski Vacations - Snowboarding Vacations - Snow Tubing Vacations - Fresh Powder Ski Vacations - Best Mogul Ski Vacations - See ALL Ski Vacations My Trips | My Account | Flight Status | Site map | Contact us | Terms and conditions | Privacy | About Orbitz Orbitz for Hotels | Orbitz for Business | Advertise on Orbitz | Become an affiliate | Careers | Media | Investors OrbitzSaver Low Rate Guarantee Flights | Hotels | Car Rental | Vacation Packages | Travel Deals | Travel Guides | Cruises by 360i Orbitz guards your privacy and security. We're certified by TRUSTe and Verisign. © 2001-2004, Orbitz, LLC. All rights reserved. CST 2063530-50 From: To: Leave: Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2005 Feb 2005 Mar 2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Return: Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2005 Feb 2005 Mar 2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Travelers: 1 2 3 4 Adults (18+) 0 1 2 3 Children (0-17) --
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Yahoo! Travel Destination Guides Primary Navigation Home | Travel Guides | Hotels | Flights | Cars | Vacations | Cruises | Deals | FareChase Search Travel Travel > Guides Email this page Print Travel Guides, Reviews & Maps Click a Region Search for a Hotel City: (required) Hotel: Price per Night: Show All Less than $50 $50 - $99.99 $100 - $199.99 $200 - $499.99 More than $500 Class: Any Rating 2+ Stars 3+ Stars 4+ Stars 5 Stars Plan your perfect trip Research 500,000 places to stay and things to do in over 40,000 cities worldwide with candid user reviews , photos, maps and more. Ask questions and swap travel stories on the message boards . Save your favorite places into a custom trip plan . Get great travel deals . Browse Travel Guides United States Las Vegas New York City San Francisco Seattle Chicago San Diego Los Angeles Orlando Atlanta Honolulu All cities in US United Kingdom London Edinburgh Glasgow Oxford York Nottingham Bath Belfast Bristol Liverpool All cities in UK France Paris Nice Bordeaux St. Tropez Cannes Aix-en-Provence Lyon Chamonix Marseille Toulouse All cities in France Italy Rome Florence Venice Milan Naples Siena Sorrento Genoa Palermo Verona All cities in Italy Spain Barcelona Madrid Valencia Bilbao Malaga Ibiza Seville San Sebastian Marbella Salamanca All cities in Spain Asia Bangkok Kuala Lumpur Shanghai Hong Kong Tokyo Manila Singapore Delhi Phuket Seoul All cities in Asia Caribbean San Juan Punta Cana Santo Domingo Nassau Ocho Rios Montego Bay Varadero Grand Cayman Island Negril Havana All Caribbean cities Mexico Cancun Puerto Vallarta Cabo San Lucas Playa del Carmen Cozumel Mexico City San Miguel de Allende Acapulco Guadalajara Ixtapa All cities in Mexico Canada Montreal Toronto Vancouver Quebec Niagara Falls Victoria Winnipeg Calgary Mississauga Ottawa All cities in Canada Interest Guides National & State Parks Yellowstone , Yosemite , White Mountains Ski & Snow Aspen , Squaw Valley , Vail Top Beaches Miami , Myrtle Beach , Panama City Top Romantic Getaways Hawaii , New York City , San Francisco Related Information Popular Attractions Las Vegas Attractions New York City Attractions San Francisco Attractions Seattle Attractions Chicago Attractions San Diego Attractions Los Angeles Attractions Orlando Attractions Atlanta Attractions Honolulu Attractions Popular Cities Las Vegas Tourism New York City Tourism San Francisco Tourism Seattle Tourism Chicago Tourism San Diego Tourism Los Angeles Tourism Orlando Tourism Atlanta Tourism Honolulu Tourism Popular Hotels Las Vegas Hotels New York City Hotels San Francisco Hotels Seattle Hotels Chicago Hotels San Diego Hotels Los Angeles Hotels Orlando Hotels Atlanta Hotels Honolulu Hotels Yahoo! Travel: Your best choice for cheap plane tickets and other great deals! Help get your favorite places listed on Yahoo! Travel: suggest a hotel or suggest an attraction .
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