“Stockholm? In February?!”

February 6, 2008 at 9:52 pm · Filed under Czech Republic, links, Sweden, USA, winter travel and tagged: links

The waiter at the Greek restaurant we stopped at for dinner wasn’t the only one to question our sanity, but the numbers speak for themselves: nearly every youth hostel bed in the city was booked last weekend, when we were there. Februrary is a fantastic time to go to Sweden.

Tim’s having a great time at Skansen, Stockholm’s Open Air Museum.

In fact, February is a pretty amazing time to go just about anywhere. Last February, Veronica and I went to New York City, and it was so quiet and clean that I felt like I was in some alternate-reality movie set New York. Locals might have been kept indoors by the weather, but we flew out of Toronto in a blizzard, and found the temperatures positively balmy.

Toronto Pearson Airport, Flight Cancelled

Coat? Who needs a coat?

I’ve been thinking about off-season travel, why I love it so much, and how to make it work. If you’re not prepared for the weather, a trip to somewhere cold can be miserable, but if you’re comfortably bundled, it might be the best time to go. Cheaper prices, shorter lines…

I’m glad I didn’t have to wait around in this weather!

The New York Times is catching on. Under Wintry Skies, a City Revealed explains why you should visit Prague this winter. Rag’s got a point: when we were there in October, you could have body-surfed the crowds.

Does anyone know where the Charles Bridge is? I can’t see past these @&#$ tourists!

So, go to Prague, or Stockholm, or New York, or Quebec City in February. My coat’s a completely ingenious custom job, designed for winter travel, but if your mother isn’t as cool and handy with a sewing machine as mine is, you can always dress in layers. It works.

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