Hi everyone,
Hi Casey,
Temperatures vary a lot in Europe, as they do in Australia. In general, the more southerly you are in Europe, the warmer it will be. So southern Spain won't be all that much colder than Perth in winter for example. A bit further north and you'll start to get freezing temps and then head up to Scandinavia in winter if you're a real sucker for punishment If you really don't want much cold, just start up north and head more southerly as you get closer to winter.
Bear this in mind though - Australian houses have generally terrible insulation. So even though our temperatures aren't all that cold, the houses we live in don't handle it all that well. Mostly, European houses are very well insulated, particularly further up north. Double / triple glazed windows, thick walls, underfloor heating and so on. So even if it's freezing outside, you can be nice and toasty indoors most of the time. Just rug up when you go outside.
I'm not a fan of cold weather, but really it's nothing to be overly afraid of either. All part of exploring different places!
Ahh thanks peter, gives me some peace of mind. I figured I would avoid scandinavia... but is Berlin horribly cold at that time? When I think of Winter being any colder than Perth, I wonder how I will survive haha.
Cheers
Berlin will be pretty cold for someone from Perth at that time. But honestly, you will survive just fine. Just get a nice warm coat, gloves, scarf and beanie You might find you really enjoy the different scenery that winter brings.
Hmmm, seems everyone here is focused on the weather... But what about the Schengen rules?
The maximum stay is 90 days out of any 180 period for tourists. If you want to stay longer than 90 days, you will need a Long-Stay Visa.
Here is the info on how to get a Long-Stay Visa
http://ec.europa.eu/immigration/tab2.do?subSec=38&language=7$en
PS. As a Canadian, I won't comment on the cold.
Yeah, that's a fair point. I guess I was kind of assuming a working holiday visa or ancestry visa. A lot of Australian's go over to the UK on these visas, so it's pretty easy to stay a while.
Ok thanks for the heads up! I will look into the visa's I wasnt sure if I wanted to apply for a working visa just yet. I was also wanting to visit South America after Europe. Are you say I could come back to Europe after 180 day period was over?
Also if I dont stay in one country and move between countries over an 8 month period I just thought that would be a normal holiday visa? (what ever normal is)
I am still in the planning stages of the trip so any onfo is handy
Almost all of Europe is part of the , and basically treated as one big country. (There's no border controls within that area.) Note that the 180 day period is a "rolling window", so there's no tricky solutions to get around it, although if you're particularly enamored of the UK, Ireland and former Yugoslavia (which aren't members), there's still possibilities by staying more than half the time in those countries. But yeah, a WHV for at least one of the countries is the more common solution.
The trick to staying warm with backpacker clothes is bring things that can be layered. Good quality marino undershirt, long johns and socks. The undershirt can be worn as one layer on warmer days, or a base layer under a fleece and jacket. They pack really small too.
0 Response to "How bad is Winter Europe?"
Post a Comment