Christmas NB from Basel Nov. 30, 2014

BlueEyes49

My three friends and I will be traveling along for this much anticipated trip. We are all novice Christmas Markets visitors and are excited about all the fun possibilities. I must admit we are somewhat anxious about the weather as we will be coming from a very mild warm southern Georgia. Planning on lots of layers of silk underwear, turtlenecks, sweater, hats and gloves. Any fellow travelers? We will come in to Basel on Saturday to see the markets there and allow ourselves some time to adjust to the jet lag. Any suggestions or recommendation about the trip from veterans greatly appreciated.

TauckTim

Hi BlueEyes49,

Your anxiety about the weather is quite understandable, but if you layer sufficiently (and/or have at least one coat suitable for winter) you should be fine! The average highs along the way on this itinerary hover at around 40-45 ºF, with the lows at around 30-35 ºF.

I hope this helps – and I hope you and your friends have a fantastic time on this trip!

-Tim

WEG

I always take toe warmers for the Christmas river boat ....helps alot

BlueEyes49

Tim...thanks for the reassurance. I have a great down coat that I used in China several years ago...in fact I'm wearing it in NYC in my photo avatar. We are planning for cold weather and will not let that deter us from having a great time. Actually we Southern girls are hoping for at least one day of snow...as we never experience that in our little part of the world...

WEG...I have the foot and hand warmer packages already with my clothes. They are great...had lots of experience with them following our local high school football team during state playoffs when we have had to travel into northern Georgia.

Thanks to both of you for taking time to reply...

TauckTim

Hi BlueEyes,

Your down coat should definitely be sufficient even on very cold days or days with wind chill, especially if you wear a sweater underneath! And who knows about the snow — you might well get lucky and have some!

-Tim

Jensen1320

Blue Eyes am I correct in assuming you arrive into Basel the Saturday of the cruise? The cruise ship will leave at 16:00 so not sure how much time that will give you to adjust. We follow you the next week but will arrive into Basel on the Wednesday before the cruise. Like you we are from the warmer climate, South Florida, so it is a challenge with clothing. However, sometimes you will over react to the unknown which results in too much clothing. It is, from what I can gather, a somewhat more casual kind of trip so keep that in mind.

jdurkin

re toe warmers.

I had to look them up. Who knew! I didn't even see … well, hear, to be honest … of anyone taking them to the sub-Antarctic when I was there this last March. I don't think it has anything to do with us being a hardy lot. More to do with pure wool socks! I had heard of hand warmers …. from the link on the Tauck Antarctic trip page!

Who says people don't share useful info here!

Cheers,

Jan

BlueEyes49

That's funny Jan...I guess because we are just not used to wool socks lots of hunters in our area use the toe/foot Warner's. Actually I used the toe warm warmers like hand warmers. It was cool enough here today that I wore my new boots to see how they will hold up to a full day walking.

jdurkin

Ooh, I have to ask. If you don't wear wool socks in the cold, what the heck do you wear? I mean, it does get cold here in the winter ...1 ...2C. (I know that doesn't get close to your northern & mountain winters, but it is still pretty chilly.) And nothing beats a finer wool for dealing with summer heat. A fine wool top is the absolute best thing for 40C + heat. I'm not talking about a thick wooly jumper but a fine micron woollen garment.

Cheers,

Jan

BlueEyes49

Jan...where I live is in extreme southeastern Georgia, near Jacksonville FL our winter is usually in Jan/Feb. and when we have a freeze it might last maybe 2 days at a time and get up to usually mid 50-60's during the day, so we never wear wool socks in the winter and in the other 10 months it is sandals and flip flops. We wear a lot of cotton wicking fabrics here. We laughingly joke here we have two seasons....really hot summer and mild summer...although we are supposed to have our first freeze on Wednesday morning, but it will be 80 tomorrow...

jdurkin

Okay! I get it! Sheep are for roast lamb, not keeping tootsies warm at home. But truly, do keep in mind the wicking qualities of fine micron wool. Absolutely brilliant. Wonderful for travelling, too. Swish, swish in the hand basin, wring out in the towel and dry in the morning. I love linen and wear a lot of it in our 35C + summers, but I don't have to iron the fine wool ... certainly not while travelling!

Cheers,

Jan

kldmorrow

Anyone going on the Nov 29 Christmas NB departure from the Pacific NW? I'm traveling out of Seattle on Thanksgiving Day and will arrive in Basel on Friday.

British

I think tou will have better luck if you repost this as a new topic since the original date has passed