Europe in the off-season?
You gotta be kidding. Who wants to go there when it`s cold and dreary?
A lot of people, apparently. While it may be cold, Europe in winter is not as dreary as you might think. And it costs a lot less to travel there in winter and spring than it does in the peak-season summer. Air fares and hotel rates are as much as 50 percent lower.
That`s why as many as 3 million Americans are expected to visit Europe in the current seven-month off-season (October through April). That`s an estimated 45 percent of the total number of Americans who will visit Europe in the entire year.
Last year with the Persian Gulf war, few people contemplated a visit to Europe. Only 2,650,000 Americans went during the off-season compared with 3,280,000 the year before.
But this year should be a different story, even with a recession.
”A lot of people have a pent-up desire to go to Europe because they didn`t go last year,” said Frederique Raeymaekers of Belgium, vice chairman of the New York-based European Travel Commission. ”That`s the feedback I am getting from travel agents.”
Europe will be the site this year of a half-dozen mega events:
– The 16th Winter Olympics Games will be in France Feb. 8-23 in the French Alps.
– The first Universal Exposition in the world since 1970 will be in Seville, Spain, for six months starting April 20 to commemorate Columbus`
voyage to America and the 500 years of discovery and invention that followed. – Another major Columbus exposition, Colombo `92, will take place on a 12-acre harbor site in Genoa, Italy, May 15-Aug. 15. It will feature the world`s largest aquarium, now under construction.
– Mickey Mouse will be introduced to Europe April 12 when Disney opens its first European theme park, the $4 billion Euro Disney, on a huge site east of Paris.
– Come July 25, the world`s top athletes will gather in Barcelona, Spain, for the 25th Summer Olympic Games.
Many of these events get under way in early spring, but there`s plenty going on in Europe during the winter.
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At this time of year, European cities and hotels are uncrowded because the Europeans themselves are staying home rather than vacationing. That means few lines in museums, concerts and other attractions, plenty of seating in restaurants, and less difficulty in booking flights.
Beyond that, there are activities and attractions that are experienced only by winter visitors.
Fasching, the pre-Lenten carnival period, explodes in merriment all over Germany in January and February.
Two great festivals highlight the carnival season elsewhere in Europe.
The King of Madness rules at the Carnival of Nice, France`s biggest Carnival event, at which enormous papier-mache heads are paraded along the seaside Promenade d`Anglais. This winter, it takes place Feb. 20-March 8. During the March 1-10 Carnival of Venice, masks, mimes and music enliven this beautiful canal city.
Another major Carnival event will be held March 1-3 in Binche, Belgium. This colorful and world-famous Lenten carnival, staged annually for 430 years, attracts thousands of visitors.
In Portugal, Carnival brings on flower battles and processions of masked participants March 1-3. Pero Palo, a dummy representing the Devil, is carried on the shoulders of young men to his burial in Villanueva de la Vera, Spain.
Of special interest this spring will be the gathering of the Grand Regatta Columbus. Two flotillas of sailing ships-about 200 in all-will sail from Lisbon and Genoa in mid-April, arriving in Cadiz by April 29 before going to the Canary Islands and the New World.
Air fares are at their lowest at this time of year, as are hotel rates, particularly in resort areas. Finnish hotels offer weekend savings of up to 50 percent in winter. In Greece, rates are more than 20 percent lower.
For information on airline packages, contact a travel agent or the tourist offices of the European countries.